A retrospective of My Little Ponies cartoons

[Peach Wookiee]

It's like all Trekkies are nerdy virgins. Some fit the stereotype; some don't. And Skywalker, that NIN vid... ewww....

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I believe it was Tony Slattery, on the original Whose Line Is It Anyway?, who once described MLP as something along the lines of "Why is everything so garishly colored? It's because we all take methamphetamines".

 

[Trekker4747]

What extreme? Having pony avatars? Posting a thread for discussion of the show?

Thread bombs everywhere, mentioning the show at every. Possible. Opportunity. Abundance of the pony avatars and thread-bombs, constant mentioning of the characters, and the "friendship is magic" meme. It's like everyone has had this thing cranked up to 11 and it's all over a Saturday Morning cartoon show targeted for young girls.

That's it and all I can say. It just seems like a lot of devotion and reaction for a girl's cartoon. Yeah, yeah, there's good themes and elements in there, things that other demographics can enjoy, etc. But it's still My Little Pony.

As a child of the 80s all I can think of is that pink aisle in the toy store filled with MLP and the show being that annoying thing that came on when I wanted to watch GI Joe or something.

I can see liking the show but it just seems to have gone very, very, very far into near insanity where it has creeped into virtually every aspect and corner of the internet.

 

[Amaris]

What extreme? Having pony avatars? Posting a thread for discussion of the show?

Thread bombs everywhere,

There are several dedicated, heavy traffic thread bomb threads on this board. Even so, thread bombs are still posted outside of them on a daily basis, and I'm not even counting the MLP ones in that group.

mentioning the show at every. Possible. Opportunity.

This is a special interest message board comprised mainly of science fiction, fantasy, political, social, and general discussion fora. What do you expect? People are going to discuss what interests them.

Abundance of the pony avatars and thread-bombs, constant mentioning of the characters, and the "friendship is magic" meme.

Picard facepalm.
I am not a merry man.
Fully functional.
Shut up, Wesley.
Ensign Redshirt.
Rotating Nacelles.
Sombreros.
Carl Spock.

Also, Friendship is magic. Laughter, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness and Honesty are valued traits in forging friendships. They do create strong bonds between people, between friends.

It's like everyone has had this thing cranked up to 11 and it's all over a Saturday Morning cartoon show targeted for young girls.

We like the show, and we find value in it. There's no need for any justification here.

That's it and all I can say. It just seems like a lot of devotion and reaction for a girl's cartoon. Yeah, yeah, there's good themes and elements in there, things that other demographics can enjoy, etc. But it's still My Little Pony.

You like a show that has actors with rubber foreheads, green paint, laser guns, English speaking extra terrestrials living on planets that have environments almost always compatible with human life, traveling on super large space vessels that break the laws of physics and travel faster than the speed of light, while the crews inside are safe to go about their business.

There are times when the crew's DNA is completely altered, and instead of dying due to catastrophic damage to the body's internal neural structure, they're unharmed, and even revert back when the problem is solved.

There are people on this board who like an alien who can control aspects of time and travels the universe in a police call box, taking companions with him, and saving the galaxy from roving robots that yell "destroy! destroy! destroy!" before they kill you.

There is a large fan base on this board who watches cartoons like G.I. Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, and they're women. Are you finding any of that unacceptable? Something these people shouldn't be doing? Something you find odd or creepy about it? You can tell me. I won't judge you.

As a child of the 80s all I can think of is that pink aisle in the toy store filled with MLP and the show being that annoying thing that came on when I wanted to watch GI Joe or something.

Then perhaps you need to update your perspective? Surely things have changed all over the world somewhat since the 1980s? A 30 year gap between experiences may mean a new view at things. Give it a chance.

I can see liking the show but it just seems to have gone very, very, very far into near insanity where it has creeped into virtually every aspect and corner of the internet.

That's just how the internet works. Right now, it's ponies. It has been so many other things, and will be so many more things. Bronies aren't harming anyone. Quite the contrary, they're trying to find positivity in an increasingly cynical society. People who want gray and black and white. People who want bitter, hardened characters in their television shows. Why is that okay when a smiling, cheering pony is not? What makes the cynicism better?

Is this really the hill upon which you want to stand your ground?

 

[Kemaiku]

*sigh* the new show deliberately opens up the world of Equestria for everyone to enjoy, the core message of the show is to love, tolerate and befriend. It even shrugged off a lot of the shallow materialistic approach of the previous shows and took a real chance replacing it with a moral message risking a very short lived airing life, but instead found a huge following of people all over the world from every walk of life.

I love the show, its amazing, it makes me happy, even one of the songs can brighten up my day. If you can't find the value in it then I pity you, but its still up to you, your choice.

But given the shocking, disgusting, nightmare inducing things I've seen Trek fans make over the last 20+ years, going ape shit over one fledgling fandom over a few naughty pictures when theres gigabytes of filth from your own a few clicks away is the height of hypocrisy.

 

[Admiral2]

That's it and all I can say. It just seems like a lot of devotion and reaction for a girl's cartoon.

No it's not. The bronies here are right. It's no more fanatical than a bunch of other obsessions played out on these very boards. It may seem odd that it's male devotion for a "girl's cartoon", but odd doesn't mean insane.

Like I said, I'm not a brony, but there are girls' manga and anime that I've gotten obsessed with. For example, ARIA is a series that I devoured because it was a beautiful, calming, well-told story. No guns, no 'splosions, but still well worth my time and money.

And frankly, all this is a matter of perspective. I have yet to understand the appeal of Firefly or Harry Potter, and yes, at times I've considered their fans crazy...It doesn't mean they are. It just means they see things in these series that I don't and want to spread the word. I don't have to accept the word, just acknowledge they have a right to spread it.

As a child of the 80s all I can think of is that pink aisle in the toy store filled with MLP and the show being that annoying thing that came on when I wanted to watch GI Joe or something.

As a child of the '80s, you should have also noticed that the very first MLP was produced by the exact same people who produced your GIJoe (that was the only reason I tried it back then), and though it was cutesy with singing seahorses they used the exact same formula: good guys, bad guys, climactic battle (with rainbows). It's probably the only reason the craze got started at all...just like with the Joe cartoons.

So if this all bothers you so much, blame Marvel/Sunbow.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Whose Little Pony Is It Anyway?

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2nvTO6bRW8[/yt]

 

[Kemaiku]

Great find

 

[Jetfire]

That is a great vid.

 

[Kemaiku]

Found this further down the page:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozKmbhsgxis&feature=related[/yt]

Bad Pinkie!

 

[Showdown]

Thanks for the vid link.

Your welcome. I found CR's page completely by accident. I was looking up if Freakazette ever appeared in a Freakazoid site.
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/cr/ff/13272-ff04

Ugh watched through the video and its probably just as well I didn't bother with G1-3, its really hard to believe its the same franchise, even if some of the Ponies carried over to G4 they're so different.

Yeah it's kind of like comparing Superfriends and Justice League Unlimited, or Batman by Adam West, Joel Schumacher, Bruce Timm, and Christopher Nolan. Classic Looney Tunes vs their newest incarnations. Same franchise, same characters, different creative teams.

Ponies are annoying. DOWN with the ponies!

If you don't like ponies, then here's a retrospective he did for Ghostbusters. Enjoy.

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/198-ff/12737-ff01

Trekker4747, I'm not a fan, so I understand your point of view. It looks insane from the outside, but fans see it completely differently. It's a ton of fun. No amount of talk will change anyone's views, yours or theirs.

And as for it being a "girls" show, lot's of franchises expand their markets beyond the target audience, either intentially or accidently. Executives love it because it means more money. Many creators go out of their way and try to give their tv shows a broader appeal, to boys and girls of all ages. Sometimes it happens by sheer luck. Look at Power PUff Girls, Power Rangers, and Rurouni Kenshin. I'm sure there's a lot more.

And for all of you who don't like this pony craze, all I can say is it can be a lot worse. All of them could be into the cartoon that I really like. Just think about it for a minute. People posting up stuff like this...
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxePPBg8ats[/yt]
Horrible isn't it? Ponies don't seem so bad anymore.

 

[Technobuilder]

Thanks again.

I'd been toying with the idea of starting up my old World of Warcraft account for a month or two... And now I don't have too. lol

I do miss a couple of online only friends, and my "Time-Lost Proto Drake", but otherwise meh.

Caveat: God help me if they ever start rolling Pandarians.

Although...

I did kind of want that Flaming Hippogryph mount from Firelands dalies...

(Oh damn it.)

 

[Jetfire]

I actually like that WoW vid.

I am actually glad they have free to play up till lvl 20 with BC content.

 

[Technobuilder]

Wait what? How so?

I heard something about that, but I don't understand.

Burning Crusade content starts at 58ish, why would BC content be included up to just lvl 20?

Or are you saying you have to buy BC and you get F2P till you hit lvl 20?

 

[Jetfire]

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3128270

With the launch of Rage of the Firelands (patch 4.2), we introduced the World of Warcraft Starter Edition, a replacement for the previously available free trial. The Starter Edition allows anyone to play for free up to level 20 without the time restrictions placed on trial accounts -- all you need is a Battle.net account and Internet connection. The Starter Edition also opens up some new features that weren't available in the old time-limited trial:

Players with the WoW Starter Edition can create draenei and blood elf characters, which were previously unavailable with trial accounts.
The two starting zones associated with these races are also available to people wishing to try out the game.
The gold limit has been raised to 10 gold, allowing Starter Edition players to purchase mounts when they reach the appropriate level.
When you reach level 20, your characters will stop gaining experience. However, you are free to continue playing and exploring Azeroth for as long as you wish -- or you can roll an entirely new character to try out a new race or class. You can also choose to upgrade to a full, paid account at any time and continue your adventures beyond level 20.

With the launch of the Starter Edition, all existing trial accounts, including expired ones, have been reactivated. That means if you've tried WoW in the past, your trial-account characters are now accessible once more.

It sure beats the old trial crap.

 

[Count Zero]

Thanks for posting that video, Showdown. It was very entertaining, funny and informative. I've only ever watched the new MLP show which is really, really good - funny, self-aware and positive in a mature way.
I once watched a clip of one of the old shows and wondered what the fuck that was. It featured some of the characters also featured in the new show, like Pinkie Pie, but it was devoid of any substance or fun, like a peek into bizarroworld. (It seems it was G3.) I concluded that the older shows were crap. After seeing the retrospective it appears I might have done injustice to some of the older shows at least, well G1, anyway. The villains look like fun. I'm not interested in the theme of G2, I think. It was fun seeing some of the characters also appearing in the new show but being different.
So, is part 2 of the retrospective available, too?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I will say this about all the MLP craziness:

I am no longer ashamed to be a 41-year-old VeggieTales fan.

I was going to give all my VT videos away, thinking I was too old for it, but now that I see how many of you lot are into this pony stuff, I figure, what the hell.

 

[Amaris]

I will say this about all the MLP craziness:

I am no longer ashamed to be a 41-year-old VeggieTales fan.

I was going to give all my VT videos away, thinking I was too old for it, but now that I see how many of you lot are into this pony stuff, I figure, what the hell.

If you like it, it doesn't matter what other people think. When it comes to such things, "too old" is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Too right!

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0J-T2lr0Ms[/yt]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvAwXLb6jSQ&ob=av3e[/yt]

 

[Showdown]

Thanks again.

No problem.

Thanks for posting that video, Showdown.
...
So, is part 2 of the retrospective available, too?

Your welcome. Not yet, but I'll keep an eye out.

I actually like that WoW vid.

Thanks Jetfire. I love WoW and proud of that vid my brother and I made. We took every oppurinity to show it, including this time. The horrible thing I was referring to is the Total Drama series, the show with that theme song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ06-WbaSr0&feature=related

I like the show and pretty sure no one else here does. Its a guilty pleasure and I don't recommed it. I mention this because there are shows some like that others don't. Be glad theres no nor endless thread here about who should have won and who should end up with who.