My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic! Discussion

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by solomon

Now let's be clear here.

There is nothing wrong with the Ponies, but I hardly see any real "depth" or extra layers to the show. Not like the 90s WB TV toons at anyrate.

MLP:FIM is an all around well made cartoon, it's not written as if children are idiots nor comes off as a half hour toy commercial like it's ancestors. In that sense it reminds me a little of Disney's early TV output from the 80s (Ducktales, Gummi Bears and such) it's hardly high art, nor is it brimming with nuance but well done for what it is.

I guess one thing that affects some bewilderness at the show's wide appeal is that the bar was set so high with animation gleefully targeting dad as well as the tykes with in the same timeslot, that something like this seems like it's retroceeding with a lack of "overt" appealing towards adults.

Then again, it's all in the eyes of the beholder. Powerpuff Girls wasn't as wink wink nudge nudge like some of the aformentioned Warner Toons yet it had a wide age appeal and it shares a lot of the same staff as MLP:FIM!

To a certain degree, the depth isn't in the show so much as it's outside the show. The depth is in the miles of external speculation, character, and world building that the fans read into the show. So if people just watch some episodes, they probably won't see the full appeal.

I also don't think that "appealing to adults" has to mean snarkiness, violence, dark humor, sexual jokes, or pop culture references. There are all sorts of appeals. Take K-On!, for example...it doesn't appeal to adults in the same way the mainstream viewer would think of, but it definitely appeals to adults. It appeals to me because I love utopias, and I think it's very interesting to look at Equestria in a SFnal lens.

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by solomon

There is nothing wrong with the Ponies, but I hardly see any real "depth" or extra layers to the show. Not like the 90s WB TV toons at anyrate.

Then again, it's all in the eyes of the beholder. Powerpuff Girls wasn't as wink wink nudge nudge like some of the aformentioned Warner Toons yet it had a wide age appeal and it shares a lot of the same staff as MLP:FIM!

One of the reason's i compared MLP to animaniacs is because when it comes down to it, animaniacs wasn't really known for its "depth". Batman the animated series was known for its depth, but not really animaniacs. It was just well animated, well written comedy, with colorful characters.That's what the mass appeal for it was. Even looney tunes falls under this; sure they would occasionally have an episode that allowed the cartoon to be a step beyond just fun, but for the most part looney tunes is remembered for its colorful characters, its comedy and its animation. the writers for these series main concern was always the question of how they could get a laugh out of their audience. The cartoons were just plain fun...

Originally Posted by einhorn303

To a certain degree, the depth isn't in the show so much as it's outside the show. The depth is in the miles of external speculation, character, and world building that the fans read into the show. So if people just watch some episodes, they probably won't see the full appeal.

Now this is true; the fandom has caused quite a stir and can be a lot of fun in and of its self.

Like is the case of Derpy. For those that don't know; in the first episode it seems some animator on the team decided to give one of the background ponies in a crowd scene a goofy face. Fans noticed the goofy faced pony and the fans just went nuts with their imaginations. Fan art and fan fiction went wild and the little pony got its own very noticeable fan base.

What makes it even more fun is the fact that the directors of the show love the fandom aswell. They have taken to include little easter eggs for the fans. Most noticeable would be Derpy who occasionally pops up just standing in the background with her trademark face, or less occasionally for an actual quick gag. Others however would be including certain ponies as extras that the fans had taken a liking to. Its actually really funny seeing what the fanbase manages to come up with

[FireChick]

I love MLP:FIM! It's so cute! Rainbow Dash is my fave!

[Kyouka]

cant wait till next weeks episode

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by kyouka

cant wait till next weeks episode

There's not gonna be an episode next week:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...282011-2012.29

..we'll have to wait til March 3, unfortunately. Though it's great that we're finally getting a Fluttershy episode.

[Kyouka]

Originally Posted by einhorn303

There's not gonna be an episode next week:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...282011-2012.29

..we'll have to wait til March 3, unfortunately. Though it's great that we're finally getting a Fluttershy episode.

worse news ever

[Vexx]

What Animaniacs (and Looney Tunes) were known for the massive abundance of puns, inside jokes, cultural reference parodies -- sometimes hundreds in a single cartoon. The fans took pains to spot them all (I participated to some extent, some of us even got to visit the production studio and much of our work formed the basis for one episode that parodied the fans -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNJ6dFwh8a4

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/cl...nimaniacs.html

Animaniacs<-TinyToons<-Looneytoons<- many live acts that derived from vaudeville (Marx Brothers, Abbott&Costello, many many other stars of the 30s/40s/50s).

My Little Pony has a fair amount of "easter eggs" but it relies more on character and relationship exposition.

[Kyero Fox]

Originally Posted by kyouka

worse news ever

which part? that its march 3rd or a fluttershy episode?

and why do people think Iron Will is gonna be a girl? for gods sakes people "WILL" is a male name it's like thinking Big Mac would be a girl. or the donkey's name.

its gonna be Sean connery XD

[Kyouka]

no week of pony's

[SteinsFate]

Originally Posted by solomon

Now let's be clear here.

There is nothing wrong with the Ponies, but I hardly see any real "depth" or extra layers to the show. Not like the 90s WB TV toons at anyrate.

Because there isn't any depth to it. It's an extremely shallow pre-school show for little girls. And that's why people like perverting it. It's why the most popular thing to do with the show is to do fanart of the ponies swear, kill each other, and other stupid stuff. It's why any 'depth' people say the show has is entirely made up in their head and fanon junk. It's why a character who hasn't done anything but have crooked eyes is hailed as the greatest and most popular character on the show despite just being a background extra.

The popularity is just memes and stuff. No one actually discusses the show, they just post stupid pictures and stuff, because there isn't anything to discuss. It's trying to hold a conversation about Dora the Explorer.

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by Vexx

What Animaniacs (and Looney Tunes) were known for the massive abundance of puns, inside jokes, cultural reference parodies -- sometimes hundreds in a single cartoon. The fans took pains to spot them all (I participated to some extent, some of us even got to visit the production studio and much of our work formed the basis for one episode that parodied the fans -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNJ6dFwh8a4

Eh, i wouldn't say that's what those cartoons were known for. They were known for their solid comedy and colorful characters; anything else was just icing on the cake.

Though pop cultural references do pop up from time to time in mlp
Benny hill, Pepé Le Pew, pokemon , Indiana Jones and so on

Also the easter eggs themselves have in a sense taken on the same role of those pop cultural references when it comes for things that fans can spot.

Originally Posted by SteinsFate

Because there isn't any depth to it. It's an extremely shallow pre-school show for little girls. And that's why people like perverting it. It's why the most popular thing to do with the show is to do fanart of the ponies swear, kill each other, and other stupid stuff. It's why any 'depth' people say the show has is entirely made up in their head and fanon junk. It's why a character who hasn't done anything but have crooked eyes is hailed as the greatest and most popular character on the show despite just being a background extra.

The popularity is just memes and stuff. No one actually discusses the show, they just post stupid pictures and stuff, because there isn't anything to discuss. It's trying to hold a conversation about Dora the Explorer.

You clearly have never visited a pony thread the day after a new episode aired. On some of the other forums I go to the new episodes usually generate quite a bit of discussion mostly about what what worked and what didn't; and if something didn't work, what could have been done to make it better... Hell the threads get about as much attention as some of the anime threads on this forum. Granted the amount of discussion is limited due to the fact that MLP has no on going story like most animes which leads to people to discuss speculation, but the point is that the episodes do attract a lot of talkback; even more than other western cartoons on the same forums. Then after a couple of days, the threads descend back into fanart and fanfiction posts until the next episode arrives.

Actually one of the reviewers over at thatguywiththeglasses has done a few reviews on individual MLP episodes. The first of which was a review of an episode he really liked, and the second was one he thought was pretty bad

[solomon]

Now unlike SteinsFate, I'm not pissing on the show in the least.

But I do share some of his sentiment.

MLP may have an occasional reference, but it isn't nearly at the same level and scope of the Warner toons.

Like someone said before, it mainly relies on story and character interaction.

In this case it's well done, although I also don't think it's crazy to understand why a lot of older people kinda don't get the hard on bronie culture. Because the story and character writing isn't really anything worth creating a hard core fandom over (IMO), it's the BASIC level of quality people should expect from a show of it's ilk.

I can understand the dissecting and discussion of SOME anime, because in the American sphere, the anime did SO many things narratively, thematically and visually that the American industry NEVER DOES.

MLP doesn't have that exceptionalist quality (IMHO). To me it's like Arthur or some average to good Disney stuff, a very well done show for considering the age it's targeting, that manages to be easy enough for older people to watch (provided they aren't heavily jaded).

There is nothing wrong with that, but in some cases I think people are vastly overrating it by liking a decent show that isn't complete and utter tripe like it would have been if it were 86 all over again. Then again a lot of people do that with anime sometimes, but what do I know.

[Kyouka]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2CRjPO73Dg


i am outrage from what they had done

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by kyouka

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2CRjPO73Dg


i am outrage from what they had done

I fail to see the problem. Then again, I'm jot a hardcore brony, so I generally don't give a hoot about stuff like this, unless it effects the main cast.

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by kyouka

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2CRjPO73Dg


i am outrage from what they had done

I actually think Derpy's new voice is cuter (and less like Tabitha St Germain thinking she was voicing a colt).

[solomon]

Anyone see this? Actually quite funny. Especially the first half

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trCf9eCmIHY

[Kyouka]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tOtP...ature=youtu.be Preview is Up

[Slayerx]

Some fun Pony stuff

My Little Pony Friendship is witchcraft
An abridged series; there are a few of them, but this is the only one with female voices and songs =p

There's about six episodes so far

Spoiler:

"Read it and sleep"-
what happens when two ponies get trapped with a fangirl... who likes to write fan fiction... about her friends

Sample of one of the songs

Originally Posted by einhorn303

I actually think Derpy's new voice is cuter (and less like Tabitha St Germain thinking she was voicing a colt).

The voice itself is indeed cuter; but the acting itself needs work

[Dilla]

Man, people can be pretty creative.

Originally Posted by Slayerx

The voice itself is indeed cuter; but the acting itself needs work

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by Dilla

Yes, i've seen it before
And it brings up what i think is the funniest thing about the whole derpy debacle. Despite the director trying to give the fans what they wanted and the fans raising shit storms when they get it taken away... in the end... what the fans have done with derpy is still better. I always enjoyed all the images and how her voice has been handled by fans more than her speaking cameo

Heh, actually if she had to have such a big cameo, i think i might have liked it more if they didn't let her talk; maybe even give her the chance to talk only for her to get interrupted... Like that old episode of the simpsons where we get to look into the future and throughout the episode we are teased about maggie's ability to talk. I would have found that hilarious

Originally Posted by CrowKenobi

While finding more MLP/anime openings, I stumbled across these:

And speaking of Derpy
It seems someone went and animated this