Print

[fimoman]

Well, here's something I don't think anybody ever expected to take over the internet. But amazingly enough, it has become probably the current biggest memetic trend on the net.

I mean, this is the franchise that WASN'T cool back in the 80s, in the glory days of 30-minute toy-commercial cartoons. So why is this show so special?

It was only a while ago that I finally gave into the hype and gave the show a watch. Here's my general review on the show (POTENTIAL SPOLIER ALERT!):

Needless to say, it completely defied all expectations. This show has pretty much everything that previous incarnations of the brightly-coloured equines never had:

1. Decent stories. The first 2 episodes are a 2-parter pilot episode in which we are introduced to our mane characters. The story itself is pretty entertaining, with action, coherency, backstor, and an impressive twist at the climax. It serves well to suck the viewer in and keep them watching the series. After the 2-parter pilot, the series falls into standalone slice-of-life episodes. But these smaller plots are genuinely very entertaining and fun to watch. They are a relatively even mix of big dramatic fantasy episodes, and more down-to-earth, almost sitcom-episodes. And at the end of each of these episodes, one or more of the characters will muse on what they have learnt from the events of the episode, giving the audience a little moral guidance on the subject of friendship. A cliche indeed, to have a little morality lesson at the end of an episode (Having been done to death by previous cartoons), but for some reason in this case, it just seems to work.

2. Appealing characters with genuine personality. Each of the mane characters is different and appealing in their own way, from the quirky and random party animal, Pinky Pie, to the softspoken, timid Fluttershy, to the proud, tomboyish Rainbow Dash. They all have their own little traits, and throughout the series they have all had some very fun moments (Including Fluttershy beating a basilisk in a staring-contest, Pink Pie going crazy and holding a party for a group of inanimate objects, and Rainbow Dash's crowning glory, when she flies fast enough to generate a rainbow-coloured explosion and a sonic boom at the same time!). The voice actors are superb too.

3. Gorgeous animation. The older series suffered from the 80s-style animation, with rather stiff movement, cheap studios and occasional flaws. This series has moved no to Flash animation, but is done expertly, with fluid movement, flawless animation (Except for the famous Derpy-Hooves, where one of the background characters was drawn cross-eyed) and eye-catching visuals. The characters themselves are heavily stylised compared to their previous incarnations, but honestly its a big improvement.

4. Catchy music. Given the relatively low budget of the show, all the music is computer-made, but expertly so. The background music is a pleasent mix of country-western, orchestral, and rock music. It matches the style of the show well. As for the occasional musical numbers, they are a delight. Catchy as heck, with great singers, great beat, and once again proving once and for all that the keyboard can be as mighty as the rock band/orchestra.

5. Humour that is actually funny. Very often, 80s cartoons suffered from very weak and very dated humour. However, given that this show was produced by the same person who worked with Powerpuff Girls, Codename Kids Next Door, and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, the jokes work, and work well. A general mix of classic cartoon humour, with visual gags, slapstick humour and even the occasional media reference.

6. A lack of excessive girliness. No question, the show is pretty girly looking at first glance. All these bright-coloured ponies with big shiny eyes, in a world covered with flowers and cute animals. But that's about where the girliness ends. The characters aren't overly girly, they don't obsess over boys or cry at the slightest provocation or have "girl-talk" (and any time they do, it's usually as part of a joke). The humour and stories are accessable to boys and girls, which may help account for the predominantly male fanbase.

But above all, it acts like it is a genuine cartoon, and not a glorified toy commercial! It's produced as a proper show, with the intention of entertaining the audience, rather than to conince them to buy the toys. In fact, I think that if someone watched it, and was unaware of the previous cartoons and merchandise, they would never know that it was based on a toy line. Come to think of it, the show itself is probably much more popular than the toyline itself!

So, all in all, it's a great show that has rekindled my respect for modern, Flash-based cartoons, and has given me a new interest for me to keep a secret from my friends.

Thank you for listening, and I hope you'll forgive me for prattling on. I've just been meaning to put out a review for this show somewhere. Long story short: I'm Fimoman, and I am a Brony.

Any other fans of the show on here?

[PleoKymm]

All right. You caught me. I was going to create a topic about this show myself. I am addicted to it. My favorite episodes are Look Before You Sleep, Winter Wrap-Up, and Applebuck Season. I like all the ponies, but my favorite (for now) is Fluttershy. But Applejack is a close second.

PS: My phone recognizes "Fluttershy" as a word... Is that a good thing?

[barrettgazzy]

Interesting review on this show Many thanks  Sounds like something my little girl will happily sit down and watch she Loves Ponies in fact she loves every animal lol but def ponies ever since i bought her a Butterscotch pony 1 Xmas ago . 

[Crewella]

I'd have given my front teeth for a Butterscotch pony when I was a kid - I'm still tempted now!   I was a pony mad child, and as an adult I still love horses and all forms of animation - I'll go have a look!  Thanks! 

[fimoman]

Interesting review on this show Many thanks  Sounds like something my little girl will happily sit down and watch she Loves Ponies in fact she loves every animal lol but def ponies ever since i bought her a Butterscotch pony 1 Xmas ago . 

Indeed. And given the superior quality of the show, you'll most likely enjoy sitting down and watching it with her. Keep an eye out for the A-team reference in "Dragonshy" and the Benny Hill reference in "The Ticket Master"

[Willow]

I LOVEEEEE this show! 

Go Rainbowdash! 

[latrine]

Oh I think my bf would definitely kick me out on this show.. he already teases me endlessly about Pokemon and I just started watching the new ThunderCats series which was my favorite as a kid.  What channel is it on?

I had like, every freaking My little pony figure when I was a kid and they were in pristine condition because I was so horse mad at the time I took care of them, cleaned them carefully, brushed them like the real horses I also got to play with.. lol.  but I gave them all away to a little girl who didn't have any when I grew out of them.  when I think about how much they'd be worth now.. lol.  But I'm glad someone else got to enjoy them

- Sarah

[Comarorobotcollector]

OMG i cant wait until the next season so exsited lol 

[fimoman]

Oh I think my bf would definitely kick me out on this show.. he already teases me endlessly about Pokemon and I just started watching the new ThunderCats series which was my favorite as a kid.  What channel is it on?

I had like, every freaking My little pony figure when I was a kid and they were in pristine condition because I was so horse mad at the time I took care of them, cleaned them carefully, brushed them like the real horses I also got to play with.. lol.  but I gave them all away to a little girl who didn't have any when I grew out of them.  when I think about how much they'd be worth now.. lol.  But I'm glad someone else got to enjoy them

- Sarah

In the USA, it's on The Hub. But you can find the episodes in pretty good quality all over the net.

[Crewella]

I do like the very stylised animation on this show.  It suits it! 

[pirpintine]

me and my fancee both love that show! hahaha

its amazing how something that most people just go "my little pony! its for young girls!"  has mannaged to be transformed into something sweet, but funny.

[latrine]

Ohh I really like the hub.. I watch the old fraggle rock episodes they play, another childhood favorite, it seems like a REALLY nice channel for kids and for everyone but they seem to play nice stuff on it.  I will check out the my little pony thing when bf is plowing lol

- Sarah

[fimoman]

me and my fancee both love that show! hahaha

its amazing how something that most people just go "my little pony! its for young girls!"  has managed to be transformed into something sweet, but funny.

Heh, well, like I said in my first post, part of that is probably due to the fact that they got Lauren Faust (Who worked on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Powerpuff Girls, Codename Kids next Door, etc) to lead it, rather than someone from within Hasbro like they did with the previous incarnations. Hasbro apparently gave her alot of free reign with the show, with minimal executive meddling (The only major case I know of was that Princess Celestia was originally going to be a queen. However, in a case of executive meddling done right, apparently Hasbro made her change her original designs for some of the monsters, like the manticore and the dragons, because they weren't scary enough!)

One very interesting thing I have learnt about the show however, is that it's sudden explosion of popularity wouldn't have occurred if it weren't for negative press coverage the show got before it was released. A magazine had published a scathing article anticipating yet another cheesy attempt to cash in on the pony franchise with little attention given to quality or entertainment. Those "fine folk" over at 4chan read the article and trolled the living daylights out of the writer of the article, and some of them decided to take a look at the show when it did come out. When they saw what good quality the show was all round, they told other 4chan users, who told others, and so on and so on and so on... Until now where we get whole message boards and websites dedicated to the show, with nearly every background character being given a fan-nickname, cosplayers, fanwork (Ranging from fanart and fanfics, to fandubs, covers of songs, fansngs, and even fully animated tributes), and memetic mutations up the wazoo!

[Magnnus]

I'm surprised that it took this long for a My Little Pony thread to show up on these forums. This community seems ripe with potential, and likely actual fans.

In case the previous statements weren't a give-away, I'm a huge fan of the show as well. It's a darn good show, and the only aversion that some people seem to have against it is stereotypes regarding this category of show and misguided comparisons to previous incarnations. Probably the biggest reason that this, show targeted at young girls, is appealing to all ages and genders is because the creators of the show understand that little kids aren't stupid and girls aren't timid. When you remove those assumptions about your target audience it's not too hard to create a show that has wide appeal.

My favorite aspect of the show is definitely the very real and three dimensional characters. My personal favorite is Pinkie Pie. She is a super-hyper party pony, and is the kind of character that generally annoys the heck out of me, but she avoids the critical pitfall that usually goes with these characters, that being the bimbo effect. Instead her hyper mannerisms are matched by a quick mind. While the bookworm of a unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, easily takes the cake for book smarts, I'd place Pinkie Pie beside or above her in actual intelligence. She also has a realistic backstory to match her present attitude, which shows that the writers have a good understanding of psychology. Instead of hyper jubilant full grown pony being a hyper jubilant little filly, she actually has the saddest childhood of the mane cast. To quote her, "There was no talking, there was no smiling". This may seem unrealistic to some, but contrast is needed to truly appreciate life. What better way to be happy with a modest present than to know a worse past?

*Potential Spoilers Below*
Her breakdown moment is also very realistically done. Along with her hyper-activity she is also known for her general fearlessness, which is what actually leads to her breakdown. It is true that she is about as brave as one can be, perhaps to a fault, but there is at least one innate fear shared by nearly all mammalian species that one is born with and simply cannot overcome, that being the fear of abandonment. Pinkie Pie is brave, lacking fear, which gives her little opportunity to develop courage, and she is hit hard when faced with a fear that she is biologically blocked from ignoring.
*End Spoilers*

Well, it seems that I ended up writing far more than intended, and tomorrow will likely be a long day, so I'll just end by saying that this is a great show that I'd highly recommend to anybody.

All the episodes can easily be found on youtube by the way, and Hasbro seems to be making a point to not take them down, so I wouldn't feel too guilty about watching them there.

[barrettgazzy]

My little girl is now hooked to the show 

[Comarorobotcollector]

I like this show too  .Oh yeah look up a fan made story called cupcakes,there are three parts ands is sooo scary 

[Talon]

I hardly remember the My Little Pony TV show although I probably watched it in the eighties growing up. Just out of curiosity, I swung by Youtube and watched one of the "Friendship is Magic" eppisodes and I have to agree with everyone's ideas. It's cute without being overdone and the characters seem very believable. I watched the episode called "Mare Do Well". A little Pegasus called Rainbow Dash learns a valuable lesson about what being a hero is. I wish all cartoons had something to teach. It makes for an entresting ensentive to pay attention to keep the audience engaged. I have to say I liked it.
Talon