Ponies Don't Have To Be Girly
Having earned an opportunity to adapt her favorite childhood toy into an animated series, a skeptical Lauren Faust (The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), was determined to prove that “cartoons for girls don't have to be a puddle of smooshy, cutesy-wootsy, goody-two-shoeness". This was accomplished by incorporating aspects normally not associated with stereotypical girls, such as providing one of the main characters with a tomboy-ish look and attitude through the speedster weather manipulating pegasus pony Rainbow Dash. Also, instead of largely focusing on adventure stories like the original My Little Pony did, FIM's episodes are centralized more around friendship narratives, due to its intended younger audience. Typically the show depicts the main six ponies learning that it is hunky-dory to be different or they can get into quarrels but still be friends, alongside the idea that girls shouldn't ever be restrained by what others say they can or can't do. In fact, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic's cunning presentation and strong commitment towards good messages, friendship, and tolerance has been applauded by critics.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's Premise
Friendship is Magic takes place in the land of Equestria, inhabited by varieties of ponies (including variants of unicorns and pegasi) with all kinds of other creatures, like dragons and hydras. The central character is Twilight Sparkle (introduced in “Friendship is Magic Part 1”), a unicorn pony sent from Canterlot by her instructor Princess Celestia, the benevolent ruler of Equestria, to the town of Ponyville to study the magic of friendship. According to an ancient prophecy in the beginning episodes, Night Mare Moon (the corrupt form of Celestia's younger sister Princess Luna) returns, promising to blanket Equestria in eternal night thus causing Celestia to vanish.
Twilight Sparkle unwillingly sets off with five other ponies following her: Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, to locate the Elements of Harmony. During their quest the ponies befriend one another and display a noble quality that's linked to the Elements of Harmony: Applejack represents Honesty, Pinkie Pie represents Laughter, Rainbow Dash represents Loyalty, Rarity represents Generosity, Fluttershy represents Kindness and Twilight Sparkle represents Magic. With the power of the Elements, they are able to stop Night Mare Moon, reverting her back into a repentant Luna. As the sun rises, Celestia reunites with her sister and explains that she knew Twilight Sparkle had the magic to trounce Night Mare Moon, but she needed true friendship to enter her heart first. And then Twilight Sparkle's new mission becomes to remain in Ponyville with her new-found friends while continuing her research on the magic of friendship and reporting her findings.
Episodes after the two-part pilot, “Friendship is Magic Part 1 and 2” involve the ponies dealing with issues in Ponyville, amongst themselves, or around locations (Everfree Forest, Appleloosa) in Equestria. The characters grow through these experiences and Twilight Sparkle has Spike, her assistant and the main source of FIM's comic relief, scrawl a letter to Celestia about what she had discovered or learned about friendship. Continuity exists, because during the first season the ponies are preparing themselves for the Grand Galloping Gala (mentioned in the episode “Ticket Master”) that occurs in the season one finale, “Best Night Ever.”
Another key motif of FIM are cutie marks, iconic emblems that magically materialize once a pony finds his/her special talent in life. The underlying meaning of the cutie marks is similar to the concept of human puberty. They tend to appear between the ages of 12-18 years old. One episode, “The Cutie Mark Chronicles” tells the backstory of how the main cast received their respective cutie marks. A trio of fillies called the The Cutie Mark Crusaders, consisting of Apple Bloom (Applejack's sister), Sweetie Belle, (Rarity's sister), and Scootaloo (a pegasus that adores Rainbow Dash), haven't gotten their cutie marks yet. Spurred by the teasing of classmates about their blank flanks, the Cutie Mark Crusaders dedicate themselves to unearthing their sought-after natural gift with humorous results.
Unexpected Watchers and Internet Fame
Friendship is Magic's desired effect was to entertain and teach young girls and their mothers. Like Nickelodeon's Spongebob Squarepants (1999-Present) has done for years, the satisfaction of the target demographic was met along with an older unanticipated fan base: bronies. A portmanteau of the words “bro” and “pony” proudly naming and emphasizing male older enthusiasts from ages 13 to 35. For older female fans, there's the term Pegasister; a portmanteau of the words “Pegasus” and “sister”. The overzealous fandom has lead to “anypony” and “somepony” replacing the words “anybody” and “somebody”. This slang derived from the cartoon is known as “Bronyspeak.” Websites such as Deviant Art and Canvas have become a breeding ground for fanart (original characters, ponies transformed into human form and other creations related to MLP: Friendship is Magic). Likewise, an ever-growing fad of splicing FIM clips with music, famous audio, movie trailers, TV shows, and video games has overtaken the video sharing site Youtube. Hub, the network that broadcasts Friendship is Magic released a ponified version of Katy Perry's “California Girls” called “Equestria Girls”. It is now regularly seen as an advertisement for the animated series. BroNYCon, initially a small convention solely devoted to MLP: Friendship Is Magic of 100 attendees has blossomed into an attendance of 800 people by the third BroNYCon. For the upcoming fourth BroNYCon, the special guest is none other than Lauren Faust herself and the event will last two days, its longest since it began. Custom made plushies and original sketches of the ponies have sold for triple and four digit numbers on Ebay. I've got male friends that have endured the needle for tattoos of ponies. That's how popular Friendship Is Magic is.
Lauren Faust's reaction to this unforeseen audience has been extreme appreciation (further evidenced by her Deviant Art page and forthcoming BroNYCon appearance), stating, she had assumed people "to instantly label it girly, stupid, cheap, for babies, or an evil corporate commercial" while encouraging people to keep an open mind about Friendship Is Magic before it premiered. She hadn't expected older people without kids to view it, but said, "The fact that they did and that they were open-minded and cool enough and secure in their masculinity enough to embrace it and love it and go online and talk about how much they love it — I’m kind of proud."
Faust has even acknowledged a majority of the fan-created aspects of FIM and displayed them back in the animation. For example, a gray background pony with a cross-eyed stare (an animator's mistake) from the first episode has been dubbed by fanatics as Derpy Hooves and constructed a fleshed out personality for her, despite the character's marginal screen-time. Faust responded to them by keeping the cross-eyed “derpy” expression, name, and her already built personality. In the recent season two episode, “The Last Roundup,” Rainbow Dash addressed the gray pegasus as Derpy as she wrecked Ponyville's Town Hall while trying to help put up ribbons. Other ponies have been given names by FIM aficionados too, notably, DJ P0N-3 (a sunglasses wearing disk jockey) and Doctor Whooves (his name is a nod to BBC's long-running sci-fi TV series Doctor Who).
Why Friendship Is Magic Works: Old-School Yet Fresh
Friendship Is Magic's humor is centered around slapstick, visuals (i.e., not cutaway gags like Family Guy uses!), and character interactions.
The best example of all three is with the character Pinkie Pie, the pink bubbly party throwing pony. She is highly cartoonish. Pinkie frequently speaks in non sequiturs and sings songs. In addition, her eyes bulge, her neck stretches, and she possesses an exaggerated cheery skip akin to the Looney Tunes skunk Pepé Le Pew. Her retro cartoon connections are farther highlighted in the season one episode “Griffon the Brush Off”. The A.C.M.E. inspired contraptions she employs to pursue Rainbow Dash are reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote's tactics for chasing the elusive Road Runner. In addition, she shows an awareness of the cinematic and cartoon elements of the show too. For instance, in “Over A Barrel”, Pinkie deliberately breaks the fourth wall. During the concluding fade-out, she pops up and complains directly to the viewer about Twilight Sparkle's voice-over, exclaiming, “HEY! That's what I said!”
On top of that, FIM's stories are remarkably complex, for a children's show. The lessons aren't always clear-cut and even when they are, the episode's well-done narrative manages to largely deceive then delight viewers. Also, opting to write twenty-two minute long episodes allows for overall better pacing, stronger characterization, and spacing for the jokes. The animation's allusions to cinema (Star Wars), television shows (I Love Lucy), video games (Pokemon), classic cartoons (Tom and Jerry) and popular culture (Zay Tonday's Youtube song “Chocolate Rain”) assist with solidifying Friendship Is Magic's non-traditional admirers.
As if their adorableness wasn't enough for anypony!
Ultimately, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an unprecedented equally endearing and hilarious anomaly. Halfway through its second season, adventures revolving around “girly ponies” being friends continues to draw in new viewers and keep its genuine devotees eagerly counting down to Saturday each week. More mainstream cartoons (The Cleveland Show, American Dad) could learn from the structure, the flow, funniness, and heart FIM sincerely presents every weekend. Yet at the same time the show caters to the fans; those that care about these animated ponies the most. In response to Friendship Is Magic's popularity, Faust responded with:
“From the messages I’ve received, these episodes have lifted spirits, brought parents and kids together, changed perspectives and inspired the most unlikely of people in the most unlikely of places. Who would have thought it from a show about candy colored ponies?”
I couldn't of said it any better myself, Lauren.
Links:
Why So Pinkie? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wsk5XhqfuI
Equestria Girls TV advertisment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTPqjKk_xCo
New episodes of My Little Pony: Frienship Is Magic are on at 1 PM every Saturday, only on The Hub! http://www.hubworld.com/
My Little Pony: FiM episode 1: Give it a glance and decide for yourself! Warning: You may become a Brony or Pegasister as a result. Heh, you're welcome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ec7Y79TBFQ
P.S. The MLP: FiM Friendship Express DVD is now in stores. Five episodes for ten dollars. Do your part and purchase it to show your stalwart support of Hasbro and Faust's magnificient cartoon series (versus choosing to view them only for free online, ahem), insuring any new MLP: FiM DVD releases, thanks!
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