Flashinthepan On /co/! Massive Interview Thing! (Updated Question Set 15!)

Good news! Flash popped up and answered a bunch of questions again, so I finally get to play ghetto journalist like I originally wanted to with this blog!  Incoming lots of copy pasting.

For those asking who Flashinthepan is:  He is a layout artist for Friendship is Magic who answers questions on /co/ every once in a while.

For those wondering what the > are for: It's a 4chan thing that changes your text to green, usually used to quote someone else or imply something
Example: 

Poster one: TWILIGHT IS BLUE
Poster Two: >implying twilight is blue when she is clearly purple

------>>>>Note, I didn't write these questions, they are copied from the post!<<<<-------

Everything is after the page break! (Updated Question Set 15!)

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Question Set 1 

1.) Have you ever made Crass and vulgar images of the ponies on a storyboard to let off steam?

1a.) I don't do boards, but at least a third of the people on staff have doodled off-colour pony drawings. I know some of the board artists have too.

2.) Is working on MLP fun? Are YOU a Brony?

2a.) I like the show, so.. I guess I am a brony, yes. Also, I'm posting here. I also like working on it! Everybody wins.

3.) Was Luna not planned for many episodes, or was she removed from the general overview for any particular reason?

3a.) I think she just... wasn't written into the first season. Maybe they had a lot of other story ideas or whatever? I have no insight into that part of the production process, unfortunately.

4.) Do any of the crew working on MLP:FiM have children? Do they watch the show as well? Does that affect the way the episodes are created at all? I'm trying to ask how you all come up with what you feel is a "good" episode.

4a.) There are some staff members who have kids, and I think at least a couple of them have kids who watch the show. As for what makes a good episode? The people in charge are experienced, they know what works and what doesn't - we all just try to make something we'd enjoy.

5.) Hey Flash! You and Glamor(Haven't seen her in forever either) get into S2?

5a.) I don't know if Glamourkat has signed a contract yet, but to the best of my knowledge she's on for S2. Me too.

6.) Have executives or producers exerted more creative control over the series for the second season or plan to? Also, what is the relative success of show thus far? On a premium channel it doesn't get as much exposure as most cartoons on other networks do.

6a.) Last I heard (which was, admittedly a few months ago) Ponies was pretty much tied for top rating on HUB... with Pound Puppies nipping closely at its heels.

7.) Who is your favorite pony? You've probably answered this, but I don't know myself.

7a.) Pinkie Pie, but only marginally - I like'em all.

8.) Hey Flash, do you guys ever brainstorm about other monsters you'd put into the show?

8a.) Not me, but I'm sure somebody does. Probably mostly the writers.

9.) Is it true that Weird Al Yankovic said that might work with the show?

9a.) You guys know as much about that as I do.

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Question Set 2

1.) What is with the obsession this show seems to have with mustaches? It's funny as hell and I love it.

1a.) Dunno? Probably just cuz it's funny as hell.

2.) Have you drawn something new for us? I like your art and my FitP folder is way too small

2a.) See attached, bro. These are all new.

3.) Say Flash, are you a shipper? are other animators shippers? If so, what do you ship? (Spoiler text:Fluttertreexbloomberg is my OTP)

3a.) Nope. I once started reading a fan-fic (because why not) and then I couldn't finish it once they started kissing. I think a couple of the staff are sorta half-assedly into it, for the laffs, but ... probably not? Or if they are, they don't share it at work. FluttertreexBloomberg is My OTP

4.) This one's been bugging me: How do you guys spell Mac's name? McIntosh like the actual apple, or Macintosh?

4a.) Hmm. Not sure. My guess is McIntosh. But I'd have to check... and.. don't have time for that.

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Question Set 3

1.)  Faust confirmed on dA that absolutely no one that participated on working on that episode had any intention of a religious tone to the episode. The lesson at the end was purely "trust your friends" and shit. I don't get why people are still so upset over it, but I'm agnostic, not atheist, so maybe that's why.

1a.) Haha, actually, I had the same "seems kinda..
unscientific" response to it, but the phrase "leap of faith" just provokes a kneejerk reaction in me. I still like the ep.

2.) What does the team think of Pokey?

2a.) I'm afraid we don't think very much of Pokey at all.

3.) Do you know how many people (if any) are in charge of quality control, such as being another set of eyes to look out for art or animation flubs?

3a.) Actually, the stock runs have slightly tweaked eyes... but they're... not meant to look like that. Don't really know how that happened.

4.) I have to ask, how do you feel about your fandom nowadays? Were not too disturbing are we?

4a.) Meh, it ain't no thang. Parts of the MLP fandom were too disturbing before FIM even started. Do you think YOU'RE too disturbing? Live and let live.

5.) Hey man, you said Sonic Rainboom was animated in-house, just wondering, was Over a Barrel as well? Or can you tell us which other episodes were? Just curious

5a.) Eps 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26 all in-house. (The last four because the layout teams moved on to animation and other series at the studio ended so we had more crew handy).

6.) I had always wondered whether or not the respective crews could keep straight faces when working. I mean, I know you're all deadly serious about your jobs, but I just can't help but see the crew taking little breaks every now and again because they can't help themselves.

6a.) Haha, we take breaks all the time. It's a lot of work, but we aren't super dour or anything. At least, not all of us.

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Question Set 4

1.) why "worked"? you got fired or something?also, do you know when MLP FiM is going to air in mexico or latin america? keep being awesome

1a.) I was in the layout department, layout hasn't started yet. That happens in the second half of may. Will be going back to Ponies, yes.

2.) Does the team get jealous of all the praise Lauren seems to be getting but no one else? Are they relieved they dont have to put p with her DA retards? Do they even care about the internet?

2a.) Most of the staff don't care about the internet, but the directors and a few of us lower functionaries definitely pay attention. I wouldn't say we get offended that Lauren gets all sorts of praise, that's just the nature of creator-driven TV shows. There's a huge crew, but it's not like fans can go around talking to everyone.

3.) Hey Flash, who decides what ponies are put in the backgrounds?

3a.) Whoever lays out an individual scene decides who gets in the background, unless there's a specific instruction in the board. For BG ponies there usually aren't.

4.) Do you have fun drawing the ponies?

4a.) Since it's flash, we actually do very few new drawings. Only for really custom stuff. That's fun to do, but time consuming, so we can't do it that often.

5.) So like. How many days does it take to do one episode?

5a.) One episode from start to finish can take almost a year, including gaps for lawyers to clear stuff, etc. etc.

6.) I know you can't really talk about future episodes, but I have to ask: will we continue to see the same background ponies in season two? I mean, the fandoms gotten quite attached to lyra, bon-bon, OPPP, et al, and some here have speculated that all the interchangeable ponies will be completely different next season for marketing reasons (so hasbro can sell them as recolors).

6a.) Same BG ponies, as far as I know (there's no way we'd waste such good re-use!) but there might be a few new ones, too. Not really sure.

7.) d'you like the fanarts? the 'bad' ones? not badly drawn, but the horror-inducing ones, like Dead Space crossovers.

7a.) Frickin' love the fanart. I love that I'm part of a production that gets fanart MADE. And.. the volume. Holy crap.

8.) hey flash! you know the name of twilight's mom?

8a.) Sadly, I do not know her name.

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Question Set 5

1.) Will Cloning Happen Less Often?

1a.)  Weeellll, cloning will still be necessary for really big crowd scenes. And... it will only be in my scenes. And maybe other people laying them out, those people who care. It's reeeeally easy to get a crowd shot in your scene list, grab six incidental ponies, and then just spam'em all over the place. It happens. Sometimes lazy, sometimes just... that's how it has to go.

2.) is it true you all cannot accept fan ideas for legal reasons? I.e. we can't suggest ideas to you all?

2a.) Well, I haven't been told this specifically, but it's not really something they tell the front-line staff anyway, since there's little reason (UNTIL NOW) to expect that there'd be enough of a fan-base to actually interact with. It does open a can of worms, maybe? Dunno. Law ain't my thing.

3.) Do you have a favorite NOT pony character? Like a monster/pet/or whatevs. Besides Spike.

3a.) Hmm. I think Gummy's pretty funny. But I haven't really though too much about it. ... Probably Gummy.

4.) It has been a while since I've seen you here

4a.) Yeah, sorry dawg. I've been crazy busy with work and some other projects. Also, I don't like to come into these threads without any art to offer, so I need some time to at least do ONE drawing.

5.) how the devil do you spell the names of Celestia's pet Phoenix and that bloody owl? There's probably about five different spellings for each of them

5a.) No clue. I think I saw someone say "Filimina" (derived from "Filament") which I kinda liked... but.. I've never seen the script so I couldn't say. I checked the build, but her name was totally different. I don't remember what it was, though.

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Question Set 6

1.) The fact that MLP is tied for the top ratings on The Hub really makes me wonder what kind of people the non-internet demographic is made up of. I personally have only watched it on TV once, but I did so with my fifteen year old sister-in-law (she didn't even like MLP when she was younger), my five year old nephew, and twenty three year old brother-in-law, and we all loved it.

1a.) Yeah, I know there are target-demographic kids out there who are watching the show. And... as for the ratings on HUB, I SHOULD qualify that with the fact that it was total hearsay, and for all I know Hasbro was just telling our studio that so we would keep doing stuff. (... We're doing all the new Pound Puppies stuff, too.. everything from episode 8 onwards. Hasbro decided to give us the rest of the series.)

2.) What does the studio think of Trixie FlashInThePan? For a one shot character, she has become quite popular.

2a.) As with Pokey, I think most of the studio doesn't really think much of her. Although the people who worked on that ep probably remember her better.

3.) Hey Flash do you have any of the toys?

3a.) Yup. A lot of people at least have the McDonald's toys. Or, at least one or two of them. Or one or two of the little moulded plastic ones.

4.) how harmonious a workplace was the the FiM group during season one? Did you and your coworkers/superiors get along pretty well, or were there big egos/blowups/shoutfests (and if so, could you tell us about them? Even if you can't name names, gossip is fun).

4a.) Haha! Even if there were gossip, I wouldn't talk about it. But there wasn't really much drama that I remember. Some people were really overworked, though... especially some of the animators. It's a hard show.

5.) I actually have a question myself, Flash. When you started working on the show, did you ever think that the show would be popular as it is now?

5a.) I never, ever, ever thought it would become this popular.

6.)  Who voices the super minor backgrounders anyway? We have heard voices change before.

6a.) Yeah, the incidental ponies don't actually have specific voices or voice profiles assigned to them. I would guess it's just... whatever actor is handy?

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Question Set 7

1.) Is looking at 4chan at your studio considered strange?

1a.) Meh, when Applebuck Season aired, the director sent out a studio-wide IM broadcast sending everyone to 4chan to see the feedback.

2.) I know that Hasbro was responsible for giving Celestia the title of Princess, story structure, and has tried to push some ponies into the spotlight, but do they have any say in the actual plots of the episodes and/or do they give you any guidelines/suggestions to follow.

Just off the top of my head, I notice that Rarity has had, I dunno, five or so episodes where she played a major role, while someone like Applejack has had three episodes, two of which she was sharing the spotlight with another pony. Are these things that Hasbro suggests (IE: More Rarity, less Applejack) or is it just the way things happened to turn out?

2a.) My guess is that this is just how it turned out. I really have no idea, but that's the kind of thing that would get hashed out in the script-writing process, and that's so far-removed from me that it may as well be on Mars.

3.) Do you have to make each ponie with each body part or do you have multiple background ponies that look different already drawn or is there some type of script that randomizes their line and fill

3a.) There are no scripts - it would be impossible to control and would look like pony-vomit. Any idea of how many random iterations it would take to wind up with an appealing design/colour scheme? A zillion, I bet. Well, it could be just two or three, but that would be lucky.

4.) Have you met Tabitha (rarity VA)? Does her voice give you goosebumps? Does she know how much the internet loves her for her amazing voice?

4a.) Haven't met her, the voice acting happens on a different floor, sadly. So I have no idea if she knows what the internet thinks of her.

5.)  What do you think of john joseco (Drawfriend that composes like 20% of my drawfriend posts lately, almost as machine tier as madmax!)

5a.) A lot of good stuff, a lot of stuff that doesn't interest me so much, but... well, I'm just hella-impressed at the sheer volume he cranks out. Good heavens.

6.)  hey flash! what do you think of trollestia

6a.) Trollestia is the Bestia.

7.) Flash, did you see this yet? Lauren's Twilight just sold for an astounding $6200.

7a.) That is mind blowing. And.. yeah. I can't even imagine. But hey, good for Japan!

8.) Why do you have to post porn (Not directed at flash)

8a.) .... did you not see the post when I said I've saved some of Disco's ... most graphic work? It doesn't bother me, and I don't even notice. (No time to really look at the images anyway, haha).

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Question Set 8

1.) Will Daniel Ingram be composing the songs for season 2?

1a.) Nooooo clue. Probably?

2.) Well keep working yourselves to death bro, cause it's worth it. This cartoon is really a gem - you're making an animation that will be remembered fondly for a long time, by many people!

2a.) Yeah, dude. Those of us who pay any attention to the internet have been really heartened by responses like "This show has made me happy again." ... And here I thought it was going to be my darkest moment of corporate shillery (until I actually started working on it, of course.)

3.) So... what's with the gender transformation of Caramel?

3a.) Different people working on different scenes, without telling each other about a random colour swap they did on a BG pony? ... But I prefer the Fanon.

4.) You said other animators draw off-coloured pony art. Any chance of sharing some of those?

4a.) Haaaaaahaha, no way in hell. That kind of thing doesn't even last long around the studio, really. Not everyone's into it.

5.) Pound Puppies confirmed for soon to be good.

5a.) Pound Puppies confirmed to be slightly higher budget. The other studio had a lot of factors working against them, so I don't want to badmouth... but I do think it will be at least a little better, yes.

6.) Hey, FitP, I noticed an adult pony in the background once. It looks suspiciously like an adult scootaloo, Is this just a coincidence or did the character design of scoots come from this background pony?

6a.) Gotta be a coincidence. But I'm not sure where she comes from, since she's not in the general file for incidental ponies (that I remember). She must be elsewhere, like "incidental_party_pony" or something.

7.) So, you don't think much about Pokey. Or Trixie. Fair enough. Are there any background ponies or minor characters that you DO really like, or are they all just 'yeah, whatever?' I can understand being blase about them as a group, but surely one of them must have stuck out to you

7a.) Well, Trixie isn't really a backgrounder. Pokey would really have only shown up to whoever worked on the scene, and (for us) as a silly gag. (Sorry, guys.) But yeah, I'm sure everyone has BG ponies that they like to put in scenes more often, just because their designs appeal more or less. I always liked both Derpy and Lyra, before the show even started airing.

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Question Set 9

1.) Drawfriend sad that he has too many commissions to do and can't draw flash's request (Found below all of this)

1a.) It's cool. It doesn't have to be soon. I'd love to see what you whip up.

Oh! And Applejuice! I didn't notice those, because the posts were so short and I'm kinda skimming past the pictures. Funny! (And fast, holy crap.)

2.) This is how I feel about Superjail. The animation is improved (subjective really, some people prefer the old less fluid animation) but I personally don't like how Titmouse is trying to make each episode feel more complex. I don't watch Superjail to connect with the characters, it's just not the point of the damn show. BUUUUUUUUUUUT I don't want to start an off-topic shitstorm while FitP is here so please disregard I suck cocks etcetera. (lolwut?)

2a.) Haven't seen any of the new Superjails yet. One of my buddy's really stoked on it, though. I did see a clip, though. Holy cow, ANIMATION.

3.)  Hey Flash, is it intentional that these ponies always appear together? (AJ and Rarity, PP and RD) someone said something about contrasting.

3a.) A lot of that is stuff that would've happened in the boarding phase. If it's just kinda... generic group action, then they'll put them in the scenes however they choose, but some of that stuff will have come out of the scripts. By the time it gets to us, the placement of the main cast ponies is pretty much decided already.

4.) Since you do pick up Disco's work every now and again, are you missing this one?

The guy is our resident monkey's paw, so every request has to be worded rather specifically. And if you word it too specifically, well, he decides to make it ridiculous anyway.

4a.) Oh yeah, I saw that one. Loved it. I think my favourite of all of them is the CMC's watching the horror movie, though. Their expressions crack me right up.

5.) What do you think of all the indie games for FiM coming out by the fans? We have the 2d MMO, a 3d MMO, a stand alone MMO, the MLP:FiM Flash Game, anything catch your eye?

5a.) I've only seen bits and pieces, clips here and there (mostly on EqD), but I'm super impressed. I really hope Hasbro doesn't decide to cease-and-desist them. (I"m not saying I've heard any suggestions that they will, just that I hope it doesn't happen.)

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Question Set 10

1.) It's great to see you back, FlashintheP. I'm going to go through the archive and see what you've mentioned. By the way, selfish question here, still reading fanfics?

1a.) Answered earlier.. unfortunately I haven't read ANY since I last appeared. Whoops.

2.) I'm gonna ask again: Any least favorite episodes or those you don't like that much?

2a.) Hmm. I haven't really thought about this much... I wasn't suuuper stoked on Look Before You Sleep? Though I remember laughing when I watched it. Dunno. I don't really have a list of favourite/least favourite eps.

3.) >Pound Puppies >Higher budget. That's it. I'm gonna have to watch some episodes now.

3a.) >just_as_pinkieplanned.jpg

4.) But you said nobody noticed Derpy until after we had made such a commotion over her. No, no, no, this doesn't add up at all!

4a.) Cross-eyed Derpy I mean. I liked her design.

5.)  When you're working on the show, what's your daily schedule like? Are you going into work 9-5-ish, or do you have completely bonkers hours, or what?

5a.) In layout we get paid from 9-6, and most people manage to keep those hours. A few people work longer, others a little less. Animators... worked their asses off all the time. A lot of people stayed late very frequently, a lot of people worked weekends, too.

6.) I guess he liked her design...can you blame the guy? She is a recolor of Rainbow Dash, the very best pony, after all

6a.) It always bugs me when people say she's a recolour: her mane IS slightly different. ... I'm pretty sure. It's thinner, ain't it? There's a couple other incidentals who have the same mane. I'm pretty sure none of the incidental characters would be direct recolours of the main cast ponies.

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Question Set 11

1.)  He cheated and had those drawn beforehand. Also, see? Praise from an animator. Don't stop drawing Juice. (Someone posted old art of flash's request)

1a.) Well now I'm all grumpy for having been tricked. (Seriously keep drawing. Those are goofy as hell and it's refreshing.)

2.) We've seen a few alcohol-related jokes (in the last episode, Pinkie said the punch was 'spiked,' and in the first episode, Twilight was pouring herself a very stiff drink...). Is there alcohol in Equestria, and do ponies drink it? Unofficially, that is; I know the official answer would be something like 'it's a little kids show, so we're never going to show ponies drinking booze.'

2a.) Nah, I'm not amazing, I just have some spare time. I'm pretty sure Word of Faust from way back when was that the Ponies Do Not Drink. Although goofy jokes about the ponies being drunk occasionally happened around the studio. I'm pretty sure.

3.) Are you going to watch the wedding tomorrow?

3a.) ...Nope. I certainly don't care. Even though technically they are my royal family, too.

4.) Where are the angry Christians? There should be millions of them by now. (About alcohol in the punch)

4a.) Common joke? I've heard it in a bunch of cartoons before, I never knew what it meant when I was a kid.

5.) You seem like a cartoon guy. What other cartoons ya liked? Past and Present

5a.) Looney Toons was my favourite growing up. Adventure Time and Sym-Bionic Titan are my favourites now. Samurai Jack is my favourite Ever. Plus I watch some animu.
 

6.) Wonder what Flash thinks of Scootabuse

6a.) Scootabuse is scootabuse. Shrug? I ain't into it, but it was kinda funny the way you guys responded to show 24.

7.) Are there any backgrounds you liked working more on than others? Cloudsdale/Canterlot/Ponyville

7a.) Haha... well, the layout artist in me says that my favourite backgrounds are the ones that need the least alterations to make them work in the scene. Since they're all Flash BGs, we can tint and tweak and nudge elements until everything is staged perfectly. It takes a long time. But Cloudsdale is pretty cool.

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Question Set 12

1.) What do you think of Railgunner?'

1a.) Sigh. Funny thing is, that one doesn't really interest me at all.. but I remember back when that first Pinkie/Rarity one was done months and months ago, I was compelled to save it, because it is really well done. (Though their hooves weirded me out.)

2.) hey flash! you have a DA?

2a.) Nope. I'm also trying to remain pseudo-anonymous, so I'm not gonna post my website. (Not that it's really a big deal, I'm not saying anything I'm not allowed to, but.. yeah.)
 

3.) I guess what I'm saying is, I hope the creators keep putting as much love in the second season as they did for the first.

3a.) From what I hear, Season 2 is going to be kinda crazy. I have no idea HOW, but season 2s almost always are amped up from a first season.

4.) Hey FlashinthePan, any chance that we'll get to see some of the one shot characters from Season 1 return? Photo Finish, Trixie, Gilda, etc? Or does Hasbro have no intention of bringing any of them back and focus only on brand new characters?

4a.) This really is a writing thing... or possibly storyboards. Probably some of it is taken into consideration, but I'm not sure how heavily. The staff have their own ideas about what constitutes a good show, and for the most part they are probably going to stick with those.

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Question Set 13

1.) Has there been any consideration to writing a subplot that goes throughout a season? I like the whimsicality of each episode, but It would be interesting to see more plot continuity throughout the season

1a.) As far as I know, that has never really been an option. S'gotta be episodic, just like (almost) every other western cartoon out there. Even Sym-Bionic Titan could kinda work as an episodic series. Kinda.

2.)  >Flashinthepan in the thread >LETS ALL DISCUSS PONY MASTURBATION You crack me up /co/. Hey Flash... what do you think about all the pony shoes and shirts and stuff?

2a.) Pfft, I lurk these threads now and again, I've seen some things, lemme tell ya. As for your question, I am as stoked on the shirts and shoes as I am on all the other fan production. It's surreal how much stuff people are making.

3.) Dragon Age Two is generally considered to be a rushed-out piece of crap that has about 6 unique areas that each get used about 10 times each, as opposed to Dragon Age one that had very little reusing of any area.

3a.) Weeell, here's hoping that doesn't happen with us, hey?

4.) > any chance that we'll get to see some of the one shot characters from Season 1 return?

If they are, I don't think he's allowed to tell us, right?

4a.) Eeeeexactly. It's Rule Number One.

5.) So flash... Pulp or no pulp? For orange Juice that is.

5a.) I used to be all about No Pulp. But then I manned up. (Now it's just whatever I get served when I ask for a glass of orange juice at breakfast.)

hahaaaa, and with that, I will probably head off soon. Will answer one-or-two of these posts more of questions, and then that'll be that.

It's been fun, /co/. Wanted to get one more visit in before the season ends, because who knows what's going to happen to these threads once we get into the black hole of summer. (Hopefully people will go outside and play.)

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Question Set 14

1.) >Flash saved the Pinkie X Rarity pic RG did, Mah gawd

1a.) Yeah, I never thought it'd happen either. But I can respect a good painter when I see one.

2.) Yeah, I doubt Lauren and others would willingly just rush through a series, unless "some" outside force forced them to. Lauren seems like she's a little girl in a carboard box displaying her puppets she crafted with love...I question what kind of obscure care-free world she lives in. Also...those damn dolls she made of her alien rock band-project-thing....spooky.

2a.) Well, here's the thing-- if the shows are being amped up (as they usually are in second seasons), but we're not getting any more time to DO them.... yeah, there's a risk of some rushing. The show was ALREADY kinda rushed. So hopefully it doesn't get unmanageable.

3.) When you're putting together scenes, do you give any consideration to male-female ratios? I know the show's target demographic is young girls, and as such most of the ponies are female, but there have been some crowd shots with 0 males present and others with a near-50/50 ratio. Is that a coincidence, or are some of the layout people more conscious of pony gender in their scenes than others are?

3a.) Really, most of the time it just depends on if we get a file full of male ponies in it when we grab our scene or not. If there's a male pony file, we'll put some in the scene. If not, we probably won't go and hunt them down.

4.) We all have speculations as to when season two is going to start, but do you have any solid dates?

4a.) No idea.

5.) Was anyone from the show involved in the Mcdonald's toys?

5a.) Dunno, probably.. not?

6.)  Thanks! To be fair, it only took me like, 5 mins on each drawing.

6a.) Yes, they do have an "immediate" quality. (Which is a good thing.) Still.

7.) Request done ENJOY!

7a.) Haha, thanks!! Send your job application to Studio B Productions. (Or, actually, wait, we're called 'DHX Media Vancouver' now... so you might have to look that up instead.) And then be prepared to move to Vancouver. (Also, Season 2 is already all crewed up. But we DO need people for other shows.)

8.)  I'm gonna finish this one tonight.

8a.) Hurrah!

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Question Set 15 (New!)

1.) Have any other staff members made comments referring to either Lyra or Bon-Bon? Or any

of the background characters really (except Derpy. I think it's pretty obvious at this point that

everyone on the staff has acknowledged her).

1a.) Mmmmm inasmuch as some of us have responded to the fan response to them, yes. But at least
one crew member is definitely having fun with Lyra, given how many funky poses she ends up in.

2.) I noticed the "derp eyed" pony make a few more appearances that weren't in the background.

Was this done in response to the fans obsessing over the background character?

2a.) Yes. Until the internet noticed her, I'm pretty certain nobody on-staff (except the person who posed
her out) knew she was even there in that first episode.

3.) I wonder what he thinks about the fact that there's a 25000-word origin story for Pokey over

on Equestria Daily...

>slaps forehead

Oh yeah, he's right here. HEY FLASHINTHEPAN! What do you think of that?

Really, I just want to know what you think in general of some of the really long fics people

have written. I assume you don't have the time (or inclination?) to read them, but what do you

think just of the fact that they exist and that fans put so much time and effort into writing MLP

fanfiction?

3a.) Yeah, I was waiting for the fanfic question. I regret to say to anyone who recommended a bunch
of stories to me the last time I was here... I never read any of them. Didn't have any time. I haven't even
read any webcomics in months (until the last week or so).

4.) Not really much of a question, but will you guys make sure that Pinkie Pie always stays SO

RANDOM? Her wacky cartoon takes are the best thing. n_n

4a.) I'm sure there are no plans to change Pinkie Pie's core trait.

5.) I'll post my stuff if you post yours.

>Carrot

>Bon-bon

>Lyra

>Ditzy Doo

>DJ pon3

Top 5 bg ponies

5a.) I'll probably be dumping a lot more of the "noticed" bg ponies into my scenes (and cloning them
less frequently) now that I know which ones people like.

6.) >One episode can take a year

If it was traditional animation or 3d I can see this.

But, you aren't even having to redraw everything. Do the voices and scripts take that long?

6a.) Well it's partly because the episodes are staggered - the directors/Lauren can only approve so
much at a time, so there's a bottleneck there. But, yeah, pretty much. There's a fairly small crew in each
department. I don't know about scripts, but boards get 5 weeks, builds probably get 3 weeks, design

gets... I don't know how long, layout gets 3 weeks, animation 3 weeks, then there's.. all the other stuff.
It adds up.

7.) Do you have any favorite artists?

7a.) Yep. I've already mentioned that I dig MadMax and MS's stuff, but I also really like Noel's work
(haven't seen her around), and Disco is frickin' amazing. And funny. I've saved some images with
subject matter I never thought I'd save, because they're just that well drawn.

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Question Set 16

1.) From what I gather, it's production time is cut down significantly from season one (April through December, according to one site). Is it true that the team is expected to crank out a whole season in less than a year's time?

1a.) Top Draw doesn't do the whole process - as far as I know they just do backgrounds and animation. Unlike last season, they are going to be animating all of the episodes. It's not a budget thing, it's just that there's so much going on at the in-house studio right now that we simply don't have the crew/hardware to sustain a full operation from start-to-finish.

2.) Someone insulted his draw request, yeeeesh

2a.) Hey jerk, you're a jerk. Stop being a jerk.

3.) I drew a pic of flutershy

3a.) Needs some work, but keep practicin'. Wink and thumbs up.

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AND HIS REQUEST!

Get to work drawfriends! If we get enough I'll just do a "Drawfriend Flash request edition".

Also the Great and Powerful Trixie is saddened by the lack of Great and Powerful Trixie love.  Pokey tier status is nowhere near good enough for the Great and Powerful Trixie.