Connie's Warwick Davis Fanpage and Leprechaun Center

The White Pony

The White Pony
Released 1999
Directed by Brian Kelly
Starring Olivier Gruner, Warwick Davis, Carly/Natalie Anderson

From the back cover of the video:

Twelve-year-old Leah has always wanted a pony. When she gets a job on her uncle's farm, she believes her dream might come true. Little does she know she has begun an adventure in which she will encounter a magical leprechaun, battle her evil cousin and bring a fairy-tale princess back to life - all in search of her beautiful "White Pony." This sparkling tale will warm the hearts of boys and girls the world over.

Warwick Davis has two leprechaun series going at the same time: the horror series for teenagers and adults, and a kinder, gentler series aimed at children in the four-to-seven age group. The first movie in the children's series was A Very Unlucky Leprechaun; this movie is the second installment.

In this film, a horse-loving English girl goes to visit relatives in Ireland who own a horse farm. In no time at all, she runs into trouble with her bratty cousin and her strict-but-basically-decent uncle. She is promptly befriended by a nice leprechaun named Lucky, who needs her help in capturing, training, and ultimately freeing an enchanted white pony.

The movie has this much in common with the horror series: the film is not a direct sequel to the first one. Although the character of Lucky seems to be the same, there is no reference at all to the events or other characters in the previous movie. Like the first film, The White Pony was produced by horrormeister Roger Corman; unlike A Very Unlucky Leprechaun, it is a completely straightforward children's movie, with no horror references at all. This movie is easier for the kids to follow; it doesn't have any confusing plot twists. The heroine is a bit older this time, and although she gets thrown off a pony several times, there aren't any moments in the film that are truly scary. The movie has a race near the end that's rather similar to the race in the first movie, except that this time they're using ponies instead of go-carts.

This movie will be particularly appealing to girls who love horses. The heroine starts out completely inexperienced with the beasts, and ends up being an excellent trainer with her very own pony. Talk about wish fulfillment.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about this movie is watching Warwick work with the "ponies," which look like full-size horses to me. Several interviews he gave at the time Willow came out made it very clear that he's afraid of horses, which after all are a LOT bigger than he is. And in Willow, all he had to do was ride them. In this movie, he walks under them and frequently fools around in very close proximity to their hooves. He looks like he's in grave danger of being kicked, and I wanted to reach into the screen and drag him to a safer place.

The White Pony ends with a declaration by Lucky that we may be seeing more of him soon. However, this hope for the continuation of the series doesn't seem to have worked out, and so far there have been no additional sequels.

There are more pictures in the Warwick Davis Pictures section.