The conception for the witch and her two daughters - one short and fat, the other tall and skinny - is a pale composite of Disney characters. The movie tries to be funny, but most of the attempts are derivative and lack real humor. Unlike the great Disney classics, however, there is also nothing that will move them - and there are very few bones of wit thrown to the poor parents who will have to sit through the film with children of this age group. All this may be enough to keep 3- to 7-year-olds entertained for an hour and a half on a hot summer's day, and there is certainly nothing in this sanitized fairy tale that will frighten or alarm them unduly. Danny DeVito is funny as the voice of the ugly but sweet Grundle King, and Madeline Kahn, Rhea Perlman and Cloris Leachman bring some life to the clumsy witch daughters and their sinister mother. There are a few cute scenes, and Tony Randall, who does the voice of the Moochick - a befuddled wizard who helps the ponies - is charming. The witch and her wicked but incompetent daughters are finally defeated by the little ponies and their human and magical friends. A wicked witch can't stand all their merriment and decides to obliterate them by sending ''the smooze,'' a living slime that threatens to bury them and turn their world gray, just as Professor Coldheart is forever trying to freeze over the warmth of the chubby little Care Bears. ![]() The little ponies live in Dreamcastle and romp around happily in a toy-shop idea of childhood beauty - all bows and pastels and musical jingles. The film, which opens today at the Criterion and other theaters, follows a standard good-vs.-evil plot. Invent the toy, blitz the children with television commercials for it, maybe throw in a television special that shows the toy in action, and finally top it all off with a full-length cartoon movie that will sell the toy and the movie tickets all in one gooey package. ''MY LITTLE PONY,'' a full-length animated film based on a pastel toy with a bushy tail, is probably the longest self-advertisement since ''The Care Bears.'' Both of these sticky-sweet creations typify a new idea in marketing.
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