My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
A review
A review
Well, I can save you plenty of trouble and give you a review in two words:
(those would be Me Gusta, for all you living under a rock folk)
In the last quarter of 2010, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic began airing on television. Developed by Lauren Faust, the show was aimed to the demographic of young and female. Little girls, to be more exact. But what followed next, was something that nobody could have predicted. Shortly after the show’s original airing, Cartoon Brew published an essay entitled "The End of the Creator-Driven Era in TV Animation", which criticized the brand-backed show and said that "today networks clearly prefer established properties over original ideas, and dislike dealing with individual artists who have a clear creative vision".
The members of the 4chan message board /co/ got wind of this essay and found it to be a rather questionable essay, thus beginning to watch the show as well. And… well, they warmed up to it. This spread to 4chan’s most infamous board, /b/. From there on out it was completely out of control.
The fandom of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has grown exponentially amongst people of all ages. These fans of the show have started to call themselves “bronies”, a term which can be split up between Bro and Pony.
And, honestly, after watching five episodes … I have to agree that this isn’t just one big massive joke.
The story of Friendship is Magic takes place in the magical Equestria, ruled over by Princess Celestia and her sister. Our main heroine is a young pony by the name of Twilight Sparkle, a bookworm through and through who’s only friend is a baby dragon by the name of Spike. Whilst the first two episodes are a two-parter, the others are stand-alone in nature. It’s in these episodes that we are introduced to our other heroes: the hyperactive fun-lover Pinky Pie, the tomboyish and loyal Rainbow Dash, the kind and shy Fluttershy, the glamorous and generous Rarity and finally the honest and always helping Applejack.
It’s at the end of this two-partner that Twilight is given an assignment of princess to learn more about friendship by staying in Ponytown alongside her friends. From there on the stories are stand-alone, whilst still moving the overarching plot along by an ending narration by Twilight, stating what she has learned about friendship.
Staying true to the nature of these kids shows, each episode has something to teach to the young minds that are watching. Fun is that it doesn’t shove these messages down everyone’s throat, but delivers it with a simple yet funny and heartwarming story.
What I like about this show is how it manages to appeal to all ages like that, using a brand so girlish that the vast majority of boys wouldn’t even touch the toys unless it was to perform “experiments” on them that would result in Mad Scientist level freaks of nature. Many of the jokes used are written quite well and are in fact solid enough to make even adults laugh in enjoyment. Not to mention the slapstick used in the animation that reminds me of cartoons aimed for an older audience.
Now that the topic of animation has come up, I can say that it is very stylized. It uses a lot of colors and tends to go for some very cute imagery, definitely intended for girls of a younger age. But, as a manly man … that is watching My Little Pony, I can safely say that it is very well done. Kinda reminiscent of Batman: The Brave and the bold, in terms of animation.
Ending notes:
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is a children’s cartoon that is enjoyable for all ages. If you’re still prone to turn on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon from time to time, then feel free to give this show a try. And even if you aren’t, check out the first five episodes at the very least.
Parents, don’t be afraid to show this to your kids … no matter which gender they might be.
9/10
Never did I ever think to voluntarily watch episodes of My Little Pony. It was a girl’s show with girly toys and pinkness everywhere. And so, when the entire internet went cuckoo-bananas over this show, I just had to check it out for myself. And as you can see, I don’t regret it in the slightest.
I think I’m a Brony now. My god.
In the last quarter of 2010, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic began airing on television. Developed by Lauren Faust, the show was aimed to the demographic of young and female. Little girls, to be more exact. But what followed next, was something that nobody could have predicted. Shortly after the show’s original airing, Cartoon Brew published an essay entitled "The End of the Creator-Driven Era in TV Animation", which criticized the brand-backed show and said that "today networks clearly prefer established properties over original ideas, and dislike dealing with individual artists who have a clear creative vision".
The members of the 4chan message board /co/ got wind of this essay and found it to be a rather questionable essay, thus beginning to watch the show as well. And… well, they warmed up to it. This spread to 4chan’s most infamous board, /b/. From there on out it was completely out of control.
The fandom of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has grown exponentially amongst people of all ages. These fans of the show have started to call themselves “bronies”, a term which can be split up between Bro and Pony.
And, honestly, after watching five episodes … I have to agree that this isn’t just one big massive joke.
The story of Friendship is Magic takes place in the magical Equestria, ruled over by Princess Celestia and her sister. Our main heroine is a young pony by the name of Twilight Sparkle, a bookworm through and through who’s only friend is a baby dragon by the name of Spike. Whilst the first two episodes are a two-parter, the others are stand-alone in nature. It’s in these episodes that we are introduced to our other heroes: the hyperactive fun-lover Pinky Pie, the tomboyish and loyal Rainbow Dash, the kind and shy Fluttershy, the glamorous and generous Rarity and finally the honest and always helping Applejack.
It’s at the end of this two-partner that Twilight is given an assignment of princess to learn more about friendship by staying in Ponytown alongside her friends. From there on the stories are stand-alone, whilst still moving the overarching plot along by an ending narration by Twilight, stating what she has learned about friendship.
Staying true to the nature of these kids shows, each episode has something to teach to the young minds that are watching. Fun is that it doesn’t shove these messages down everyone’s throat, but delivers it with a simple yet funny and heartwarming story.
What I like about this show is how it manages to appeal to all ages like that, using a brand so girlish that the vast majority of boys wouldn’t even touch the toys unless it was to perform “experiments” on them that would result in Mad Scientist level freaks of nature. Many of the jokes used are written quite well and are in fact solid enough to make even adults laugh in enjoyment. Not to mention the slapstick used in the animation that reminds me of cartoons aimed for an older audience.
Now that the topic of animation has come up, I can say that it is very stylized. It uses a lot of colors and tends to go for some very cute imagery, definitely intended for girls of a younger age. But, as a manly man … that is watching My Little Pony, I can safely say that it is very well done. Kinda reminiscent of Batman: The Brave and the bold, in terms of animation.
Ending notes:
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is a children’s cartoon that is enjoyable for all ages. If you’re still prone to turn on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon from time to time, then feel free to give this show a try. And even if you aren’t, check out the first five episodes at the very least.
Parents, don’t be afraid to show this to your kids … no matter which gender they might be.
9/10
Never did I ever think to voluntarily watch episodes of My Little Pony. It was a girl’s show with girly toys and pinkness everywhere. And so, when the entire internet went cuckoo-bananas over this show, I just had to check it out for myself. And as you can see, I don’t regret it in the slightest.
I think I’m a Brony now. My god.
Bronies for life!
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