Twilight Sparkle and her friends find themselves in the middle of a territorial conflict between a pony town and a bison tribe.Twilight Sparkle and her friends find themselves in the middle of a territorial conflict between a pony town and a bison tribe.Twilight Sparkle and her friends find themselves in the middle of a territorial conflict between a pony town and a bison tribe.
- Twilight Sparkle
- (voice)
- Applejack
- (voice)
- …
- Pinkie Pie
- (voice)
- …
- Rarity
- (voice)
- Spike
- (voice)
- Pinkie Pie
- (singing voice)
- Braeburn
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Sheriff Silverstar
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- …
- Little Strongheart
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Chief Thunderhooves
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- …
- Directors
- Writers
- Lauren Faust
- Dave Polsky
- Bonnie Zacherle(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFluttershy calls Spike "Huffy, the magic dragon". This is most likely a reference to the song "Puff, the Magic Dragon", with lyrics depicting the loss of childhood innocence released in 1963 by the American group Peter, Paul and Mary.
- Quotes
Rainbow Dash: [in the sleeping car of the train at night, whispering] Psst! Pinkie Pie, you asleep yet?
Pinkie Pie: [whispering] No, are you asleep yet?
Rainbow Dash: [whispering] If I was sleeping, how could I have asked you if you were asleep?
Pinkie Pie: [whispering] Oh yeah!
[giggle]
Rainbow Dash: [whispering] When we get to Appleloosa, you think we'll have to carry that heavy tree all the way from the train to the orchard?
Pinkie Pie: [whispering] What tree? You mean Bloomberg?
Rainbow Dash: [whispering and sarcasm] ... No... Fluttershy.
Pinkie Pie: [whispering] Fluttershy's not a tree, silly!
Twilight Sparkle: What's going on?
Pinkie Pie: Rainbow Dash thinks Fluttershy's a tree!
Rainbow Dash: [whispering] I do not think she's a tree! I was just...
Twilight Sparkle: Did you saayy she was a tree?
Rainbow Dash: [whispering] No. Well... Yes. But not exactly...
Twilight Sparkle: Ya know she's not a tree, right?
Pinkie Pie: She's not a tree, Dashy!
Fluttershy: [suddenly entering the conversation] I'd like to be a tree!
- ConnectionsReferences The Appaloosa (1966)
- SoundtracksYou Got to Share, You Got to Care
Lyrics by Dave Polsky
Music by Unknown
Sung by Shannon Chan-Kent
Arranged by Daniel Ingram
Piano performed and arranged by Steffan Andrews
That is not to say that it didn't have any misfires. It did (a fair share of them), in all its seasons, even in the mostly solid though not completely settled Season 1. Found "Over a Barrel" to be the season's first misfire, there were a few disappointing episodes, mostly when following on from very good or more ones, beforehand but they still managed to be above mediocre. "Over a Barrel" is not unwatchable, don't consider any of the 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' episodes that even those that didn't do anything for me (those exist), but for up to this point of Season 1 it was rather lacklustre.
It is a shame because "Over a Barrel" actually starts very promisingly. The train segment was pretty brilliant, with some hilarious dialogue and the Fluttershy being or not being a tree dilemma amused. The animation is vibrantly coloured and it's not hard to see that much care went into putting detail and finesse to the backgrounds and drawing.
As is often the case with the show, the music avoids repetition, isn't too loud and the placement isn't random. Not everybody will like the theme song, have never had any problem with it myself. The voice acting is very good, though other episodes before and since did better at having standouts.
Not much else however works. Didn't really care for any of the characters in "Over a Barrel", and these are characters that are usually easy to identify with and their interactions and relationships interesting. None of them really are likeable, with Pinkie Pie being incredibly annoying here, and all of them are out of character for the worse. Rainbow Dash's character writing is a complete distortion and Rarity (after the previous episodes did so well developing her) is dumbed down, the amount of complaining is complete overkill. The bison are not interesting and it seemed that the episode didn't know what to do with them, while the conflict completely lacks tension and is just bizarre in especially the climax.
Despite a promising start, "Over a Barrel" practically falls apart after that segment and it feels like a different episode altogether. The story never grabbed me and the writing after the train segment descends into dumb and cheesy land. The show is more often than not great with providing relevant and relatable morals delivered with enough force but also tact, but this moral (not the most interesting or innovative of ones to begin with) was the most shoehorned in one of the season and is more confused and stupid than the one for "Feeling Pinkie Keen", also introduced and happening at an as close to an inappropriate time as one can possibly get.
Summing up, very lacklustre despite beginning so well. 4/10
- TheLittleSongbird
- Sep 23, 2019
Details
- Runtime23 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1080i (HDTV)
- 480i (SDTV)