My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Page 75

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
A semi-Definitive Introduction

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is overrated. Open it up, watch the first episode, and you'll be thinking "surely this doesn't deserve a 75 page and growing thread on TL of all place". And you'd be right. FiM is overrated.

Why? It's a kids show. Sure, there are jokes in there only adults would get, but the core plot of most episodes are pretty straight forward. Blame it on the genre, or the fact that it's only a 22 minute show and there's a limit to what you can do in that time, but in the end the plots are straight forward. Sometimes their execution is pretty unexpected, but not always.

Let me tell you what happened when I first watched this show. I sat down and saw big-eyed ponies start walking across the screen. That's bizarre. I missed some of the funny stuff they were doing with that opening episode because, well... talking candy ponies. Didn't take me long to realize something, though: the voice acting was top notch. Wow that was nice, and pretty voices too. So, I was content to watch the episode and just listen to the voices a bit.

The plot of the first episode (which is not necessarily recommended as a starter episode) kind of hooked me. It had a mythic feel to it, that, if it wasn't for being about ponies, might fit in one of my favorite fantasy stories. So the plot drug me along and I watched the first two episodes. Some stuff made me cringe, other made me smile, nothing to big. Although, the walk animations for the ponies reflects real horse physiology; the way their hips and shoulders raise as they step mimics the bunching of muscles and shifting of pones in an actual horse's movement. That's cool, obviously someone on the team creating the show did their homework and went the extra mile. And the faces are expressive, and unlike some animated stuff, the characters moved a lot. Excelling voice acting, semi-realistic walking animations, and expressive faces... so, huh, this isn't just a day job for corporate slaves or something. An animator isn't going to look back on his work here with shame.

Woah, someone is caring about this show, puting their heart into it. Someone is trying to make art. Maybe, we'll see. I mean, that can't sell me on a little girl's show, but it is pretty significant.

So I watch some more. The animation is just a pleasure to look at. Drift off half asleep, if you want, just watch it, it's cool.

Wait, am I relating to the characters? Girl ponies? Odd. Well, the plots are pretty simple though. Not sure how many I'm going to watch...

26 episodes later I'm a big fan. I'm so excited for season 2! Here's the deal: you've never consumed a story like this before. Obviously, it's a little girls cartoon, that excludes most of TL from having consumed a story like this before. But it's more than that: there's never been this mix of... things in a show before. It takes getting used to.

Talking emoting ponies takes getting used to. A mostly female cast takes getting used to. Such a diverse cast takes some getting used to. And, it takes a decent amount of episodes to actually understand the characters and the world well -- though it's an enjoyable journey.

In fact, all the things you look for to say whether or not something is going to be good -- like a summer action movie or a new series -- you're probably not going to find here. No manly lines, explosions, scifi...

Well, here, let me give you an example. Pick from the following two summaries which you want to go spend money to see:

(Read in epic movie trailer voice)
When a string of murders happen, John Rodero is locked away for a crimes he didn't commit. But twelve years in prison can change a man, and twelve years is a long time to find out who killed your fiance. When the prison makes a mistake, he busts free. Now he's on the streets. It's time for him to take down the crime syndicate responsible for the murders, dodge the law, and...

(shot of 12 boy getting grabbed and fumed unconscious)
Save.
His.
Son.
(bunch of action shots) (Fade to black)(Movie release date)

OR

(Still reading in epic movie trailer voice

When the unicorn Twilight Sparkle's studies near completion she's assigned her hardest task yet: Move to a new town, make friends, and learn what being a friend means. She'll meet everypony in Ponyville, and find adventures with a special six. It can all be a little more than overwhelming!

But a dark myth hangs overhead, one that holds the fate of all ponies in its hand... one that will take more than just her magic to solve. Or...

The Night.

Will Last.

Forever!

(Lightening strikes, evil woman laughter, fade to black.)

(Themesong sung by a happy-sounding woman My little pony! My little pony, ah ah ah ah ah!

Okay, now do you see what I mean? The dark myth thing gets me interested, but generally speaking there is a lot less of that initial appeal, the obvious "I'm going to like this". (Note: the whole dark myth thing is resolved in two episodes. The rest of it is more "challenge of the week" style.)

So, as I said, you've never consumed anything like this. And it's going to take a while to get used to the change. But, there are legions of fans to show that, yes, the show does grow on you (most people, not all, mind you), and we end up really enjoying it. I just don't want you to walk into the show expecting to instantly see the reason we love it so. Most of it's greatest moments come in the second half of the season, and they're moments that require you to watch the first half to appreciate them.

So, if you're brave, watch some ponies. Maybe you'll be a fanatic by the 10th episode, maybe you'll just mildly enjoy it by the time you reach 26th episode. But, in any case, we really love it and want to share it with you.

Still not sold? That's fine, no rush. Enjoy the weird memes, if you like. I'm off to expose my family to the goodness... :D