After learning that her friends, as well as herself, are the magical Elements of Harmony, studious unicorn Twilight Sparkle is sent by her mentor, Princess Celestia, to Ponyville to study the magic of friendship with help from her friends.
When a new all-girl band comes to Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer fears they have more sinister plans after they call for a school wide "Battle of the Bands", which begins to ruin friendships.
Via a magic mirror, Twilight Sparkle travels into an alternate universe in order to recover a crown that was stolen from the Crystal Empire. Upon her arrival she is horrified to learn that she has turned into a human.
In the land of Equestria, a precocious but introverted bookworm named Twilight Sparkle is the personal protégé of its ruler, Princess Celestia. Sent to Ponyville to oversee a celebration, Twilight faces the return of a menace she feared and defeats it with the power of friendship she discovers with some locals. Now charged to learn more, Twilight and her new friends face life's challenges from personal problems to grave threats to the land with a growing appreciation of the friendship they share and the magic it makes possible. Written by
Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
Even though Twilight Sparkle is the main character of the series, she is actually featured in less episodes than secondary character, Applejack. See more »
Goofs
Due to an animation error, a background pony was cross eyed in one particular episode and was noticed by the fan base. Writers of the show owned up to the error and instead of correcting it, added a new character based on the error, and hence Derpy Hooves pony was added to the cast! See more »
My wife and I debated the merits of the show and the phenomenon of "Bronies." I've always been one to not knock something until I've tried it (within legality, of course) so I sat down to watch a few episodes on Netflix.
After finding myself saying, more then once, "just one more episode!", I've come to the conclusion this show is worth the time. Once you've viewed it, it's not hard to understand why this show is good. Simply put, it's fun where it has to be, lighthearted, and deals with a number of difficult subjects in a tactful manner.
The entire premise of the show deals with the weekly adventures of six ponies (not counting the Cutie Mark Crusaders) as they discover the true meaning of friendship, the ups and downs of it, and understanding the power that such bonds have.
The animation uses Adobe Flash and it gets a LOT of mileage. It's not breathtaking nor will it blow your mind, but for the target audience (and unintended whom grew up on the Internet), it's perfect. The show is brightly colored without being a headache. Also, in certain episodes, it is used to massively dramatic effect when switched up/toned down. Some of the more "intense" animation scenes do make one nod in approval. It's meant to be cute without being "cutesy".
The voice acting is simply top notch. The talent involved would be enough to make Pixar take notice. The crew is extremely versatile and talented. The songs (usually one per episode minimum) are cute and catchy without being painful, and the entire ensemble shines. The individual characters are distinctive, full of personality, and engaging to follow.
The show follows an "adventure of the week" format rather then over-arching multi-episode stories for the most part, but this fits the motif of the show and means anyone can pick it up without missing a beat. The characters continue to evolve over the course of the show, and there is sufficient nods to the previous episodes "lessons" to keep the continuity hounds happy. It's not perfect, but there are more hits then misses. Even then, the misses are negligible.
Where this show really shines, for the target audience, is how it deals with subjects like racism, tolerance, self esteem and staying true to what you believe in. The more touchy subjects are taken care of in a subtle manner, but they are there when you think about it after the fact. Long story short, the creative team did an incredibly fine job. More or less, if the subject matter were a baseball, it gets crushed 450 feet time and again.
For the parents, there is enough witty dialogue and humorous situations to keep them entertained without boring them to death. This helps to make the show unique in the fact it can be genuinely entertained by the whole family. The character development of the Mane cast (see what I did there?) helps in this regard. There are no pauses to force a lesson down and the pacing of the shows tends to be "just right".
As far as the "Bronies", Hasbro tends to embrace them as well. They don't flag parody videos for the most part, keep them engaged in various ways and give them a few token bones in the show itself. While one character, Derpy Hoooves, got named and was later redacted for obvious reasons, this is just an example of how they try to appease the Bronies. Granted, this wasn't the best example, but it shows the lengths they are willing to go. They do this right 99% of the time.
Make no mistake though, Hasbro and Faust (whom did the most to resurrect the franchise) stay focused on the target audience and that is where the magic to this show is, and I think that's what does it. They've evolved as necessary while staying true to the original premise of the show. New characters come, such as the CMC, that add rather then detract from the show. Minor characters, such as Big Macintosh and Cheerilee, get their own episode as well. Ultimately though, the show never strays from the premise. These things are always a precarious balancing act and the Powers That Be, with this show, do it well.
Basically, "My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic" manages to blend multiple elements and makes it click in a way that's enticing and just downright fun. Granted that Hasbro and their crew did this to help a flagging franchise, but they really do have lightning in a bottle with this show. It succeeds on many, if not all levels. Simply put, it isn't really groundbreaking or revolutionary, but is more a celebration of what animated shows should be. Simply magical.
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My wife and I debated the merits of the show and the phenomenon of "Bronies." I've always been one to not knock something until I've tried it (within legality, of course) so I sat down to watch a few episodes on Netflix.
After finding myself saying, more then once, "just one more episode!", I've come to the conclusion this show is worth the time. Once you've viewed it, it's not hard to understand why this show is good. Simply put, it's fun where it has to be, lighthearted, and deals with a number of difficult subjects in a tactful manner.
The entire premise of the show deals with the weekly adventures of six ponies (not counting the Cutie Mark Crusaders) as they discover the true meaning of friendship, the ups and downs of it, and understanding the power that such bonds have.
The animation uses Adobe Flash and it gets a LOT of mileage. It's not breathtaking nor will it blow your mind, but for the target audience (and unintended whom grew up on the Internet), it's perfect. The show is brightly colored without being a headache. Also, in certain episodes, it is used to massively dramatic effect when switched up/toned down. Some of the more "intense" animation scenes do make one nod in approval. It's meant to be cute without being "cutesy".
The voice acting is simply top notch. The talent involved would be enough to make Pixar take notice. The crew is extremely versatile and talented. The songs (usually one per episode minimum) are cute and catchy without being painful, and the entire ensemble shines. The individual characters are distinctive, full of personality, and engaging to follow.
The show follows an "adventure of the week" format rather then over-arching multi-episode stories for the most part, but this fits the motif of the show and means anyone can pick it up without missing a beat. The characters continue to evolve over the course of the show, and there is sufficient nods to the previous episodes "lessons" to keep the continuity hounds happy. It's not perfect, but there are more hits then misses. Even then, the misses are negligible.
Where this show really shines, for the target audience, is how it deals with subjects like racism, tolerance, self esteem and staying true to what you believe in. The more touchy subjects are taken care of in a subtle manner, but they are there when you think about it after the fact. Long story short, the creative team did an incredibly fine job. More or less, if the subject matter were a baseball, it gets crushed 450 feet time and again.
For the parents, there is enough witty dialogue and humorous situations to keep them entertained without boring them to death. This helps to make the show unique in the fact it can be genuinely entertained by the whole family. The character development of the Mane cast (see what I did there?) helps in this regard. There are no pauses to force a lesson down and the pacing of the shows tends to be "just right".
As far as the "Bronies", Hasbro tends to embrace them as well. They don't flag parody videos for the most part, keep them engaged in various ways and give them a few token bones in the show itself. While one character, Derpy Hoooves, got named and was later redacted for obvious reasons, this is just an example of how they try to appease the Bronies. Granted, this wasn't the best example, but it shows the lengths they are willing to go. They do this right 99% of the time.
Make no mistake though, Hasbro and Faust (whom did the most to resurrect the franchise) stay focused on the target audience and that is where the magic to this show is, and I think that's what does it. They've evolved as necessary while staying true to the original premise of the show. New characters come, such as the CMC, that add rather then detract from the show. Minor characters, such as Big Macintosh and Cheerilee, get their own episode as well. Ultimately though, the show never strays from the premise. These things are always a precarious balancing act and the Powers That Be, with this show, do it well.
Basically, "My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic" manages to blend multiple elements and makes it click in a way that's enticing and just downright fun. Granted that Hasbro and their crew did this to help a flagging franchise, but they really do have lightning in a bottle with this show. It succeeds on many, if not all levels. Simply put, it isn't really groundbreaking or revolutionary, but is more a celebration of what animated shows should be. Simply magical.