"My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" (MLP:FiM) is the latest animated show based on the "My Little Pony" (MLP) franchise created by toy maker Hasbro.
This show premiered on October 2010, and is developed by Lauren Faust, creator of "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends", animator for "The Iron Giant", writer for "Powerpuff Girls", and wife of PPG's creator Craig McCracken.
New episodes air on Fridays on Hub, Hasbro's propaganda outlet. Episode premiere times are as follows:
- 13:30 ET
- 10:30 PT
- 17:30 GMT
Look, you came this far, you might as well keep reading to get a primer on what drives this thread and its dwellers. Bear with us.
Why should I care about this?
If you care about animation, the main thing you should know is that this show may be considered the spiritual successor to "Powerpuff Girls" and "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends".
Everybody knows that MLP is geared at little girls, and the main objective of the animated shows has always been to advertise the line of toys, by shoving as many colorful ponies in saccharine situations down the viewer's throats as possible.
Enter Lauren Faust. Driven by her love of the franchise and by her dedication to her quest to create girl-oriented entertainment that can be enjoyed by everyone, she jumped at this opportunity to bring some credibility to the MLP animated franchise, something considered almost impossible due to decades of neglect by Hasbro.
Picking up cues from her experience on her previous shows, she endeavored to bring into MLP:FiM the following admirable features:
- A compact cast of easily identifiable, likeable characters, following certain archetypes but with surprisingly multi-layered personalities.
- A world with well-defined rules and mythology.
- Simple but well-written stories revolving around the theme of "friendship". This may seem somewhat limiting, but allows for relateable and realistic conflict between characters that can be resolved within the 22 minutes of each episode.
- Excellent voice acting for every. Single. Character.
- Extremely appealing character designs and surprisingly fluid and detailed flash animation, particularly for character expressions.
- Great comedy sense, with cartoon wackiness mixed in with surprising references to other shows and popular culture (nothing too obtrusive, don't worry).
- Morals that are transmitted in a way that doesn't feel like getting hit with a stick in the head, and that apply to adults as well as children.
- A lack of the cynicism that seems to infect most pop culture these days. This is a genuinely good-natured show, and a welcomed change of climate to those tired of the rudeness and nastiness that is pervasive in almost everything we see on TV.
Who are these ponies?
The show prominently features six female ponies who live in the town of Ponyville:
Twilight Sparkle - The Nerd
Applejack - The Country Pony
Rainbow Dash - The Hot-Shot
Rarity - The Diva
Fluttershy - The Shrinking Violet
Pinkie Pie - The Joker
What about those other ponies, and that dragon?
Spike - The Token Male
Princess Celestia - The Tyrant Wise Ruler
Nightmare Moon / Princess Luna - The Sorrowful Heart
The Cutie Mark Crusaders (Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom) - The Kids Next Door
I'd like to give it a try, how can I watch it?
Hasbro seems to consider this show as an advertisement vehicle for their toys, and thus far has been letting fans post every new episode on Youtube. Episodes are also available for full purchase via iTunes.
Fan consensus is that a newcomer should start with episodes 1 and 2 to get introduced and acquainted to the characters, and then try a few more episodes to adjust to the ongoing tone of the series, which is much different from what is shown on the pilot. Recommendations for getting up to speed include:
- Episode 1.7, "Dragonshy"
- Episode 1.9, "Bridle Gossip"
- Episode 1.10, "Swarm of the Century"
- Episode 1.11, "Winter Wrap-up" - great for those who are more musically inclined
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: For heaven's sake, you're grown people watching My Little Pony! Even the show creators must cringe at the very idea!
Well, someone had the great initiative to go and ask Lauren Faust herself about this. Let's see...
Yup, this fandom is endorsed.
Q2: Who the hell is Derpy Hooves?
Derpy Hooves is the name fans gave to a certain background character who has repeatedly appeared in several episodes of MLP:FiM.
Back in episode 1.1 (17:32), an apparent animation error caused one of the generic background characters to briefly appear with crossed eyes. Other instances of the same generic pony appeared with eyes in correct position, but for some reason, this particular scene stuck with some viewers.
The fandom, back then only a fraction of what it is today, inexplicably warmed up to that particularly silly looking pegasus pony, and crossing over this element with the popular "derp" meme, named her "Derpy Hooves". Soon, this phenomenon grew out of proportion, with several fans developing Derpy's character to great detail, and establishing her as a mainstay in the MLP:FiM "fanon".
The prevalent view is that Derpy works for the Ponyville post office as a mailpony, despite her vision impairment. Some people insist that she is mentally handicapped and affected with Wernicke's aphasia. Some others affirm that, apart from her sight problems, she is a totally normal pony, if only a little airheaded.
The production team for MLP:FiM is undoubtedly aware of this phenomenon. After Derpy's first googly-eyed "appearance", which was probably accidental, there have been several instances that point to some kind of integration of this character in FiM canon, due to the volume of fan response. Some of these instances are:
- Being created as a generic background pony, she appears in several episodes. However, the production team now seem to go out of their way to specifically make her appear with the same crossed eyes that made her popular.
- In her appearance in episode 1.15, she is shown as apparently working with a delivery company, giving echo to fan characterization.
- In episode 1.11 (17:23), the leader of a squad of 4 pegasi alludes to a missing member of her squad, referring to her by the name Ditzy Doo, and Rainbow Dash describes her as a "feather-brain". Earlier in that episode (6:41), we had gotten a glimpse of that same squad before Ditzy got lost, and it seems like the missing member is indeed the pegasus fans know as Derpy. Although this episode was written way before the "Derpy phenomenon", it is possible that, should Ditzy make an appearance in the future, the producers may use "Derpy"'s model to portray her.
Q3: Where are all the male ponies?
They're there. We see them often on the background, even though they're not as numerous as the females and are rarely given speaking roles. The most prominent so far has been Big McIntosh, Applejack's older brother.
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Last updated: 30-01-2012 22:13 AM UTC