My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Olivia Bauer · October 27, 2011, 11:16:13 AM

It's no secret that I hate my own childhood. I was stupid an easily impressed. However some shows from my past such as Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, Powerpuff Girls and Codename Kids Next Door stand out in my mind as some of the best for their humor. But all of these shows have one thing in common, a woman named Lauren Faust.

Faust is a brilliant cartoonist who can make her cartoon apply to kids of any age and gender. While she doesn't go the Animaniacs route and fill her shows with inappropriate and obscure adult humor, she also doesn't treat her child viewers like they're morons that like to see bright colors. Which brings us to today's subject, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

You just hear the title and expect to get diabetes just from saying it out loud. I was immediately skeptical of the show with such a title. I despised My Little Pony during its early days. I hate the movie, the toy line, everything about this stupid Hasbro toy. This is because I am a heterosexual male. I have too much testosterone for that kind of crap. I avoided this new series like a bio-hazard. What got to me was the huge number of men my age that are fans of this new series. MLP: FiM, began an internet phenomenon. About 1/3 of people who are frequent internet users now go by the title of "Brony". A Brony is a name for a male fan of the cartoon. This started a flood of memes which I found pretty funny. I didn't watch the show but I found the memes pretty hilarious. After a while I decided since I'm such a Faust fan I might as well give the show a try. The results surprised me. I liked it! I can't believe this but I actually enjoyed watching it!

It's humor is much like her other shows and it doesn't treat the viewer like an idiot. It teaches good morals and if I had a kid I'd let them watch it. The characters are memorable and very unique and none of them are unlikable. Overall, its pretty good. I guess you could say I'm a Brony but I do have some downsides to the show as well.

Here's the show's flaws. While it has some pretty tomboyish humor it is still indeed, My Little Pony. I don't mind cuteness, I read Slightly Damned for God's sake but sometimes they just have some moments where I feel like I'm going to puke rainbows. One of the worst parts is the damn theme song. The song begins with the usual "♪ My Little Pony! My Little Poonnyyy~!♪" from the old '80s commercials. Every time I hear it I bash my head on the desk and contemplate chopping my balls off. The worst part is the second episode of the first season. I hate episode two. It's horridly generic. I can't even go into detail but it pulls out almost every children's cartoon cliché you can imagine. However with all it's flaws I will say one thing. I really love the premier of Season 2.

In Season 2 we're introduced to a new villain named Discord. He's basically a God of Chaos who torments people and spread Chaos, messing with the laws of nature just to get a laugh. I have to admit, he's a really fun villain! For those of us here who play Oblivion, think "an evil version of Sheogorath". Now here's why I love him. He's an omnipotent being who messes with reality for fun, he makes the main cast question their own ethical code. Who does he sound like? That's right! Q from Star Trek! That's not the best part. He's voiced by John de Lancie! The guy who played Q! Yeah, Q is in My Little Pony! Though what really gets this villain points is probably the most awesome yet random scene ever. Be advised, the clip I'm about to show is awesome and hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpva4FEb_wM

Not too bad for My Little Pony, huh?

Olivia Bauer · October 27, 2011, 10:04:42 PM

Wow, I think I broke a record for my longest comment.

akiratubo · October 27, 2011, 11:14:11 PM

You hate the original My Little Pony movie? The one where dragons kidnap the Ponies for the Devil so he can turn them into monsters to pull his chariot?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-Ll5zaPcIE

Olivia Bauer · October 28, 2011, 07:49:29 AM

Quote from: akiratubo on October 27, 2011, 11:14:11 PM
You hate the original My Little Pony movie? The one where dragons kidnap the Ponies for the Devil so he can turn them into monsters to pull his chariot?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-Ll5zaPcIE

http://www.badmovies.org/movies/mylittlepony/

InformationGeek · October 28, 2011, 09:25:22 AM

In my ongoing attempt to know the what is in and out in the forshaken lands of the Internet, I have come across the new craze in the My Little Pony franchise. I sort of diminished it for the longest time, not really showing much interest in it. However, curiousity and the fact the team involved in the reboot of the show, I decided to give it a whirl myself. It's pretty good, very good. Solid humor, morals that really actually fit into the plot and don't feel phoned in (I personally loved the episode where main character started freaking out because she couldn't come up with a moral to report back to her boss), good animation, very catchy music, and solid voice acting. The best part as well is that the show is also very riff-able as well. That second episode you brought up AJ Bauer about you hating it, I personally found it laughable. I personally said outloud when they combined their friendship powers together, "With their powers combined, they summon Captain Friendship!"

In general, another thing I personally like about this whole show is its fandom and what is spawns. So many things: horror stories involving Slenderman or Hostel level violence with cupcakes, funny artwork, silly fanmade games (someone is making a fighting game), and my personal favorite, the parody trailers that I keep posting around. So funny, especially the recent Zombieland I saw.

With cartoons like this plus Young Justice and the upcoming sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, I feel a better that kids are still getting solid cartoons to watch like I used to see when I was a kid. Though I understand why people have such a negative view on the show, especially with crap like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST2N-9ATKCc

Mutant ponies! What the hell is up with their legs?!

tracy · October 29, 2011, 12:47:33 PM

It's actually stuff like this that makes me glad my daughter is now 20.

indianasmith · October 29, 2011, 03:18:57 PM

You must turn in your man-card immediately!

It will be returned after you show proof of having viewed the entire Friday 13th Franchise, and both CRANK movies.

Olivia Bauer · October 29, 2011, 07:08:34 PM

Quote from: indianasmith on October 29, 2011, 03:18:57 PM
You must turn in your man-card immediately!
It will be returned after you show proof of having viewed the entire Friday 13th Franchise, and both CRANK movies.

InformationGeek · October 29, 2011, 09:26:39 PM

Quote from: indianasmith on October 29, 2011, 03:18:57 PM
You must turn in your man-card immediately!
It will be returned after you show proof of having viewed the entire Friday 13th Franchise, and both CRANK movies.

Are you kidding? The testosterone levels oozing from the Crank films could kill him!

indianasmith · October 29, 2011, 11:53:51 PM

Desperate times call for desperate measures. If he doesn't quit raving about ponies, I'm fully prepared to give him a full Schwarzenegger transfusion!!!!!

Olivia Bauer · October 30, 2011, 09:19:12 AM

Quote from: indianasmith on October 29, 2011, 11:53:51 PM
Desperate times call for desperate measures. If he doesn't quit raving about ponies, I'm fully prepared to give him a full Schwarzenegger transfusion!!!!!

Can Schwarzenegger make chocolate milk explode? No? That's what I thought!

AndyC · October 30, 2011, 01:12:54 PM

My daughter likes it, so I've seen quite a few episodes, and I think it's a really funny cartoon. There have been a number of times it's made me laugh out loud.

And I have to give credit to anyone who would put an homage to Benny Hill in a show like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8iWgoOxaYU
And they did it in more than one episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN-9-2MRo2I&feature=related

Kaseykockroach · October 30, 2011, 01:23:13 PM

For a show that's clearly targeted at an exclusively female demographic, I thought this show must have some kind of extremely compelling element, be it great artwork or subversive writing, to allow anyone lacking a vagina to admit being a fan of this show. So I watched a few episodes a long time ago.

It doesn't. It's just crap to babysit little girls. Removing the femininity aspect, it's not even well animated or designed crap. This show does not warrant the attention it's getting. Peace out. :)

Olivia Bauer · October 30, 2011, 05:05:51 PM

Quote from: Kaseykockroach on October 30, 2011, 01:23:13 PM
For a show that's clearly targeted at an exclusively female demographic, I thought this show must have some kind of extremely compelling element, be it great artwork or subversive writing, to allow anyone lacking a vagina to admit being a fan of this show. So I watched a few episodes a long time ago.

It doesn't. It's just crap to babysit little girls. Removing the femininity aspect, it's not even well animated or designed crap. This show does not warrant the attention it's getting. Peace out. :)

You are entitled to your opinion and while I disagree with you I'm at least proud of you for watching it before judging it. Most people who hate the show didn't even bother watching a single episode and I thank you for trying.

InformationGeek · October 30, 2011, 06:03:34 PM

Quote from: Kaseykockroach on October 30, 2011, 01:23:13 PM
It's just crap to babysit little girls. Removing the femininity aspect, it's not even well animated or designed crap.

So your beef is with the animation then and not the writing?

As for the remark about it being for little girls, having watched a lot of the show, there is no way this show is just for little kids. There's some freaky stuff going on in there, such as characters suffering from psychotic breaks for instance. Plus, there is humor for an older audience. The creator did say this was a show for both kids and adults. On the plus side, like AJ said, you at least gave it a shot, which is more than others would do.