My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Wow, it's been a long time between reviews. So long in fact that I've forgotten the formatting I normally use for these reviews. Luckily Blogger lets me have multiple tabs open within the same session, so I can refer to an old post and look professional. I thought I'd get this one out of the way as it's been on the burner for a while, so without further ado, lets get to the review...

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic television series

First up, congratulations for making it this far into the review. Those first three words in the title are probably enough to send most people running away in fear and questioning why they ever came to this site in the first place. Knowing the pre-conceptions surrounding My Little Pony, this is understandable and not entirely baseless, but it's the last three words of the title that make all the difference.

A bit of background:

MLP: FIM (as I will refer to it from now on) is the fourth cartoon iteration of the MLP franchise which started way back in...I can't exactly remember, but I'll hazard a guess at 1986. Starting out as a line of toys from Hasbro, an accompanying TV special was created to try and increase sales. The animated feature was called 'Rescue from Midnight Castle' and saw the pony residents of Dream Castle in the MLP universe team up with a human girl, Megan, in an attemp to rescue their friends who were kidnapped by a winged demonoid called Scorpan for his master Tirek's evil plans.
I found the feature quite entertaining when I first saw it in ~1988 and apart from the shallow character development of the ponies, had quite a lot of good points.
Between the first airing of Rescue from Midnight Castle up until 2009, the franchise went through 3 progressive versions. In summary, all of these had one thing in common. They all pandered to their target audience of young, shallow, girls who were only interested in bright coloured things and looking pretty. I'm not saying all viewers who watched the shows were young, shallow, or even girls, but that was target Hasbro was going for.

Change (for the better):
Enter 2010 and the fourth re-boot saw a major shift in the way it treated its target audience. With an experienced and passionate crew on board behind the scenes, episodes weren't just a way to promote the product, they were a medium for conveying the core message of the show which, as the title suggests, is 'Friendship'. For the first time, the series became the main focus of the franchise rather than the toy line.

(A word of warning, there may be some spoilers below if you haven't seen any episodes.)

The show revolves around six main pony characters with a slew of supporting characters. The first two episodes are presented as a double-episode arc and introduce us to Twilight Sparkle, a bookish pony from the city tasked by the ruling alicorn (pegasus+unicorn) Princess Celestia to oversee the festivities in nearby neighbouring town of Ponyville, and while she's at it, perhaps taking some time off from studying to make some friends. While in Ponyville she and her longtime friend Spike, a baby dragon, encounter Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Together they make up the core group affectionately dubbed by fans as the 'Mane Six'.
Each has her own abilities and peculiar personality traits, along with strengths and weaknesses which the show portrays by the interactions between each of the ponies and against certain plot elements.
Pinkie Pie is a hyperactive, fast talking pony who loves to eat sugary treats and loves to party. Applejack is a down-to-earth pony who works on her family's local apple acreage. Rainbow Dash is a tomboyish pegasus with a fondness for excitement and a speed (the spacial kind, not the narcotic) addiction. Fluttershy is a very shy, softly spoken pegasus who loves animals, and Rarity is a self-made fashion designer with a penchant for all things classy, and can sometimes appear a bit snobbish.
The first two episodes see Twilight Sparkle uncover an astronomical event which will see the return of Nightmare Moon, an alicorn who was banished to the moon 1000 years ago. Acording to legend, the only way to defeat her is to summon the (very convenient) six Elements of Harmony: Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, and a sixth element of 'Magic'. (Hint: see the title of the show for what the sixth element really is).

I won't go into too much more detail as I think you should watch the show to find out more about the story, suffice to say that the above themes and plot elements play major roles in the way the rest of the season and subsequent season(s) episodes flow.

Noteworthy aspects of the show:
The animation is based on a Macromedia/Adobe Flash style, with vector lines and lots of flat solid colour objects. If you have seen any "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" then you know what I'm getting at. If you haven't, then all I can say is the animation is top-shelf and very much better than 99% of all flash based animation on the interwebs. It's more about the style showing through than about any efficiency gains to be had by going with this type of animation, and the care and attention to detail put in by the animators can be seen in each scene. Colours are vibrant, objects and backgrounds have a high level of detail, character movements and facial expressions are 'animated' and convey the feelings of the character extremely well.

The sound is another part of the show where a lot of effort has been put in, both in musical score and effects. Minute details such as hoof sounds being different on stone compared to wooden floorboards, to the 'whoosh' of objects moving fast around the scene. They're all there. The background music is also present in appropriate scenes and eccentuate the visuals without ever being overbearing. The show also contains many musical numbers which drive the plot and are also quite catchy. I put them on par with broadway productions (and also just as hammy sometimes).
Voice acting is great and the cast has been choser really well.

Character depth is probably one of the best parts of the show. As we follow the main characters from episode to episode, we find that they aren't just one dimensional and they aren't just a reflection of the Element of Harmany they associate with. They come across as being just as complex and interesting as any real life human you might meet. Twilight is very intelligent but suffers from performance anxiety and is slightly obsessive/compulsive. Pinkie Pie is erratic and always trying to put a smile on everyone's face, but that's because her childhood has its roots in the mundane. Applejack is a hard worker and has common sense but doesn't have much wordly experience and can be downright stubborn at times. Rainbow Dash is competitive, always trying to be seen as the best, but hates to lose and may be compensating for her shortcomings by bragging about her acheivements. Fluttershy has confidence issues and also has a scary side to her personality. Rarity is caught between appearing as the high class sophisticant that her job entails and letting her true personal feelings show through.

Some of the subject matter that is touched upon in some episodes is also quite relevant and viewers may be able to draw parallels with their own experiences. Topics such as segregation, racism, greed, superficiality, and pride, all get touched upon, usually alongside their opposites such as tolerance, acceptance, sharing, inner beauty, and humility, to name a few. The younger audience will get the general message trying to be conveyed but older viewers will be able to read the subtler grey areas which the writers have not left out.

The target audience of the show is initially young girls, but the writers and producers have been wise enough to realise that these days, young girls run the gamut of personalities with their own likes and preferences. They've therefore catered to a wide audience and included enough variety and depth of interest so as to hopefully not pidgeonhole their audience and definitely not patronise them. The unexpected offshoot of this is that the show hasn't just been popular with young girls, but both males and females across a large spectrum of ages. When you dissect the show to see what makes up the core of what MLP:FIM is, that fact isn't so suprising.

The good:
- The animation, the sound, the music, the story, the characters, the themes. Everything I mentioned in the section above.
- Pop culture references. There are a ton of references throughout the show but unlike shows like Family Guy and Southpark, they are subtle most of the time and only blatant when that is part of the joke.
- The fanbase. The fans of the shows are some of the nicest and most talented people around. People who associate themselves with the core themes of the show are by their nature, good people.
- The staff. The people who work on the show don't shun their fanbase or their reactions to the show. They take on this feedback and embrace it to produce something the fans, whatever demographic they belong to, will enjoy.
- The fan-produced art. OMG, there are some amazing visual and audible works of art out there which you wouldn't guess come from a single person working in their spare time on their lone PC at home. Search YouTube for 'PinkiePieSwear' and 'Swag' to get some good examples. A Google image search of 'MLP wallpaper' brings up lots of (literally(and literary)) fantastic images. Apologies for the nested braces.

The bad:
- Plot holes. There are some plot holes from time to time and you may be required to suspend belief on occasion. You're already watching a show about talking, flying, magic ponies, so this shouldn't be too hard.
- Newtonian physics is often ignored. Search for 'My Little Pony Physics Presentation' on YouTube. You can see that a number of examples where entertainment has been prioritised over portraying reality accurately. Some may argue this falls into the (The Good:) References section above but in a very remote way.
- The 'Fan' base. With every show, there are bound to be bad seeds (no S3Ep4 pun intended) out there. Some people take parts of the show and mix them with other seedier parts of the internet, or use imagery for their own selfish outlet, such as snapping frames from the animation and attaching demotivational words in a meme-like way. Personally, I don't have a problem with this and have actually used some choice images and fan-art to sarcastic effect. I see it as just another facet of a widely accepted show, and I rate these things on their merits. Others may not agree with my point of view on this and I just have to accept that as they have to accept my view.
- Political Correctness. There has been some debate about the sexual orientation of Rainbow Dash and the portrayal of Derpy Hooves as possibly mentally challenged. To my knowledge (which might be wrong), I believe Hasbro has revoiced the original talking part of Derpy. To that I say, those people kicking up a fuss are probably the same people who don't want to believe that homosexual and mentally challenged people exist. *(Just an update to this. I read somewhere that the re-voicing was done because the original voice work was intended to be a one off and not expected to make any appearance later. For continuity they had to realign the voice with that used in subsequent appearances, which is a shame because I really prefer the original voice work.)
- Pink Princess Celestia. In the show, Princess Celestia is white, so why are there toys of her which are pink? Princess Cadence (who appears later in the series) is pink and I'm not too certain about prior generations, but G4/MLP:FIM Celestia is white.

Overall:
I think MLP:FIM is great. If this were a different show and everything other than the fact it was about ponies was the same, I would still rate it a great show, and that is the best part about it. All the aspects that make the show so good are the transferable ones. It is the writers cleverly twisting the plot; the animators putting the subtle touches to a scene that no one will readily notice, but will subconciously absorb and make the scene so much better; the music setting the mood; the voice acting bringing the characters to life.
All these aspects come together to make the show what it is, which is a fun, clever, enjoyable show for anyone.

Score:
9.5/10.

PS: After watching the first season I didn't think of myself as a brony. Then I brohoofed someone, which apparently makes you a brony. I guess I'm a brony.
PPS: My favourite is Applejack, then Princess Celestia. Must be something about ponies with headgear...