Topic for people who like MLP:FiM

[Caleb13]

Speaking of the .mov series, the sequel to shed.mov, magic.mov, got released today.

Hey gyus, did you find MAGIC.MOV somewhat lacking (as I did)? I mean, the previous installments were much more scandalous and shocking. The creators practically turned Rarity and Fluttershy inside out, not unlike the infamous "Friendship is Tragic" fanfic. But while Twilight's antics in MAGIC.MOV are clearly over the top, they're not that far from her actual neurotic behavior in the MLP series. The creators even neglected to include another "Spike smokes dope" bit.

Well, at least Celestia unceremoniously dies, which brings MAGIC.MOV somewhat closer to the feel of the previous installments...

[Kate]

gives the video really simple names and adds a ".MOV" after

Actually if you don't change the video title, Youtube uses the filename you uploaded it as by default, so they probably just made the video, encoded it with Quicktime, and just uploaded it as-is without bothering to change the title at all.

[Starcatcher Xero]

I would just just like to add my two cents about MLP:FiM. I first heard about this show from a few lady friends of mine, and I later learned that a few male friends like it, too. So, I thought I'd give it a shot. Personally, I think it's a light-hearted, good-natured, well-written, high-quality show with vibrant colors and interesting characters ... and I love every minute of it! Yup, I'm hooked, and I'm not ashamed to say so. With all the crap on TV these days, it's really nice to find a show that leaves you with a cozy, happy, warm feeling after every episode. If ever I need to cheer myself up, I turn on an episode of MLP, and it's even better when a bunch of my friends and I can watch all together. Rainbow Dash kicks ass, and I just ADORE Fluttershy. She's such a sweetheart. Plus, she reminds me a lot of myself, which is why I like her so much. When you get attached to a particular show, it helps when you personally identify with one or more characters. My friends all agree that I'm the Fluttershy of our little nerd herd. Sure, people can call me gay and a fag and whatever all they want. I don't care. I'm a straight guy, that's the truth, and you can believe whatever you want. When the opening sequence starts, that theme song kicks in, and we see Twilight Sparkle riding down on a hot-air balloon, I always think "I have never been more secure in my masculinity than at this very moment." And it's true, too. You have to be pretty secure with yourself to watch a show like MLP without feeling like it's damaging your image, your machismo, your manliness, like you have to give up your "Man Card" if anyone catches you. Allowing yourself to embrace and enjoy the things that you like, not worrying about your image, and not giving a flying frak with others think is a sign of maturity. I have absolutely no problem saying, "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is one of my favorite shows." In my book, it's right up there with Doctor Who. It's so awesome! /)^3^(\ I'm a brony, I'm not ashamed of it, and if you don't like, that's fine. You know, whatever floats your boat.

My two cents have now officially been added.

[darkhaven3]

What I really don't grasp is how this current generation is much different from the previous series from the 90's, and at times I can't help but wonder if -- for example -- Ed Edd n' Eddy (one of my ultimate fucking favorite shows this lifetime) had any kind of extremist zealot cult following on the scale of MLP when it was still fresh in the US in the early 2000's. Was there an equivalent of "bronies" but for EEnE at some point? What about PPG and like, Ren and Stimpy and shows like that?

[printz]

They're less "apparently only for little girls but watchable by everyone" than MLP.

[Zippy]

What I really don't grasp is how this current generation is much different from the previous series from the 90's

I imagine it's the quality of the cartoon itself. I haven't seen any episodes of older generation MLP cartoons and only a mish-mash of the Friendship is Magic series, but what I have seen and read basically tells me that the older material is pretty much standard toy hawking schlock specifically designed to get little girls to pressure their parents or guardians into a purchase. The team behind the current generation has a much loftier goal: making a good work of art. In this case, of course, a cartoon. And the work they put into this one shows. It is a high quality work of art. And exceedingly good artistic works, including cartoons, will often draw an audience far in excess of the target. The older stuff may or may not have done the job it was intended to do (sell toys), but I imagine the goal for this series has been set much, much higher by its own creators and the resulting fandom is just a clear indicator of how well they're meeting that goal.

[Starcatcher Xero]

Yes, I do believe Zippy has figured it out. I think you're right on all counts there. There's something about this current generation MLP show that is much different than that vapid 80's cartoon. It's not a bunch of idiot ponies sitting around having a tea party for 20 minutes while the watcher is sitting there in a drooling stupor thinking "Oooo, look at the pretty colors!" The themes and stories are much grander than that, and at no point does it insult your intelligence. And, yes, the fact that their fanbase is much wider than their intended audience is proof that they are doing a fantastic job making a quality show. They've even acknowledged the wider fanbase and in season 2 have started adding in subtle things that the older audience could pick out. For example, one of the early season 2 episodes starts in the Ponyville bowling alley, and they added in background cameos of 4 characters from "The Big Lebowski". Pony-fied, of course. What 6-year-old would recognize and appreciate that reference? Plus, a mistake in the animation in the first episode caused fans to generate a character based on that mistake, which the creators have since acknowledged. Now that character has graduated into a full-fledged background character, Derpy Hooves, who even had a few lines of dialogue in a season 2 episode. Hers is quite the interesting story. And, I'd just like to say that I am firmly in the "Save Derpy" camp, but that's another story.

[leileilol]

It didn't win an Emmy nor was it nominated, so the whole "popular because quality" thing is bullshit.

Dexter's Lab and PPG were emmy nominated in the past, and they didn't have cults... okay so PPG has a similar minicult with OCs but they were never preaching it 'in your face and down your throat' and trying to put a PPG macro to everything and it wasn't related to its early popularity - it came years later into the Miguzi era.

[Trance]

It didn't win an Emmy nor was it nominated, so the whole "popular because quality" thing is bullshit.

Though I'm iffy on their "quality" argument as well, Friends won six Emmys, so the whole "Emmy = quality" thing is bullshit.

[Enjay]

And here I go again accidentally stumbling in to this thread and reading the posts before I realise where I am.

[remove unkind to ponies and bronies post]

Where's the Board index link... ah, right, got it. [teleport noise]

[leileilol]

Friends won six Emmys, so the whole "Emmy = quality" thing is bullshit.

Friends is animated?

[Trance]

Friends is animated?

I believe my point has gone completely over your head.

[Caleb13]

...and at no point does it insult your intelligence.

You're kidding, right? First of all, I do watch and I do like the show. But let's not idealize it. The premises of first two regular episodes (Ticket Master and Applebuck Season) have been done to death in dozens of other shows. Except for 5-year-olds, everybody knew how they were going to end. Baby Cakes was likewise predictable (watching it actually made me physically sick and I... oh, I digress, nevermind), I mean, who has never seen some form of babysitting-gone-wrong piece? Heck, Baby Cakes was not even funny! And what the hell about Dragonshy or Stare Master? Those are practically deus-ex-machina-incarnate episodes.

[Starcatcher Xero]

It didn't win an Emmy nor was it nominated, so the whole "popular because quality" thing is bullshit.

So ... your criteria for quality is simply whether it was nominated for an Emmy or not? I'll bet you only buy video games that Game Informer gives a 9 or a 10. No offense, but having so-called "experts" tell you what's quality and ignoring all else seems lazy to me. You gotta stop letting others shove their views down your throat, and go out and FIND what you like. Like with video games, there are quite a few good shows that don't regularly make Top 10 lists, but you wouldn't know it if you don't go looking for them.

... they were never preaching it 'in your face and down your throat' ...

I don't like it when my fellow bronies do that, either. Those obsessive, psychotic fans that do that gives the rest of us more calm, sensible fans a bad name. They're being unreasonable and imposing, and I don't condone that behavior. I've only given my opinion here, and I don't intend to impose it on anyone, just as I wouldn't want anyone to impose anything on me. Hell, I've only once ever asked if a friend of mine would like to give MLP a try, and that was only after he already expressed curiosity in it. (And he's hooked now, too. ) I wish the other fans weren't so completely over-the-top about it. Some brony hate is, unfortunately, well deserved in that respect.

... trying to put a PPG macro to everything ...

Yeah, well, that's internet culture for you. You can count on internet culture to one of two things. 1.) Take a good idea and run it straight into the ground. 2.) Take a bad idea and run it straight into the ground. The memes that exist are always adapted to MLP to be shared with the fanbase, and new ones are always being formed, and there's always someone who finds the meme new enough or funny enough to build a billion of them. It just keeps going until it seems like everything is saturated with ponies, and it doesn't ever stop. This is why I couldn't care less about most internet memes and don't follow them at all. Most of them are completely worthless and unfunny, and the sheer number of examples of that meme make them even more worthless and unfunny. So, yes, I'm not a fan of that, either.

...and at no point does it insult your intelligence.

You're kidding, right? First of all, I do watch and I do like the show. But let's not idolize it. The premise of the very first regular episode (Ticket Master) has been done to death in dozens of shows. Except for 5-year-olds, everybody knows how it is going to end. Baby Cakes was likewise predictable (watching it actually made me physically sick and I... oh, I digress, nevermind). And what the hell about Dragonshy or Stare Master? Those are practically deus-ex-machina-incarnate episodes.

You're kidding, right? Give me an example of a show in which every episode has brand new stories that have never before been devised in the history of forever. Yes, themes and stories are repeated, but that happens everywhere and in every medium. I'll bet there were plenty of times in other shows in which you similarly knew the outcome before it happened. I say, so what? If you don't like certain episodes, that's perfectly fine, but don't criticize it for something that many other shows also do in abundance. Plus, yes, I understand that the main demographic is young children, so it doesn't bother me that the creators would sometimes stick to old, familiar, tried-and-true story frameworks that have been done a billion times in a billion ways. They do it because it works, and I personally feel that they do fairly well presenting it in a way that isn't obvious and condescending.

Me? Idolize the show? Heh ... well, given what I've said already, it sounds like I do, doesn't it? But, I'm not sitting in front of my keyboard frothing at the mouth feeling like I "MUST DEFEND MY PONY'S HONOR!!!1!!" No, I'm just calmly stating my opinions. Given how fanatical bronies can get, I'm quite mellow about my fandom. I really don't do anything that screams "I'M A BRONY!" except actually watching the show, and maybe having a few pictures, and occasionally having conversations like this. It's just that I can have a lot to say (and this post proves it), and sometimes I may come off as being more passionate than I really am. I do love MLP, but I assure you, I have no maniacal laughter that accompanies it. Well, unless it's part of a joke.

[Trance]

Uh... chill, guys?