If you are bored and have pony opinions, send a soapbox in! We are low on them again for the first time in a while. As always, these are the opinions of fandom members, not us here at EQD. If you'd like to submit your own soapbox, hit up this post for infos.
Have some headlines:
- Setting Our Expectations for G5
- Why My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) is Better Than My Little Pony: A New Generation
- About Sparky. Why Wings are not Related to the Maturity of the Dragons
- Friendship is Magic Miniseries: Young 6
By: Alexander Bea
(I posted this on the subreddit, but I'm sending it here in order to get the word out to as many people as possible.)
With "Make Your Mark" releasing this week, I'm reminded of an article posted on Equestria Daily about how "Friendship is Magic" changed over the years. The author talks about how the early seasons, especially Season 1, were intended for a "fleeting demographic." As a result, the stories in these early episodes were simple enough for the young children of 2010-2011 to understand. As an example, the Season 1 finale is the only season finale to not have its plot revolve around the fate of Equestria, instead revolves around a Gala gone wrong. The decision to have the royal wedding at the end of Season 2 hijacked by a Changeling invasion, and later the controversial decision to turn Twilight into an Alicorn at the end of Season 3 marked a shift in focus from a show targeted towards a "fleeting demographic" to one that grows with its audience, allowing for more mature stories such as the Orwellian-esque plot of the Season 5 premiere among other things.
With the successful launch of G5, the target audience for the MLP brand has effectively been reset, this time aiming for the young children of 2021-2022, not to mention the fact that the MLP team is still adjusting to this New Generation of Ponies. As such, we should expect the stories in these early episodes to be simple plots revolving around the lives of the Mane 5 in Maretime Bay as the MLP team finds its footing. As for when will we expect some form of escalation? My guess is either by the end of Season 1, most likely in a post-credits scene, or sometime around Season 2.
Why My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) is Better Than My Little Pony: A New Generation
By: Derpasaurus
Ever since it premiered last September, I've seen a lot of people compare the G5 movie to the G4 movie from 2017, with many saying the former is superior to the latter in every way. I personally couldn't disagree more with this sentiment, as I find the G4 movie to be way better. There are several reasons I think this way, but for the sake of this soapbox entry, I'll limit it to three points.
1. Animation: The G4 movie featured beautiful 2D animation that stayed true to the show's style while also taking advantage of the larger budget that comes with making a feature film. As for the G5 movie, they just copied the rest of the animation industry and went with CGI. Granted, the CGI does look pretty nice, but while the G4 movie has a unique style that it can clearly call its own, the G5 movie doesn't look that much different from what you'd see out of Pixar or DreamWorks.
2. Voice Acting: When it comes to animated movies, there's a lot of debate over whether characters should be voiced by celebrities or veteran voice actors. The G4 movie picked the best of both worlds, having the characters from the show voiced by their original voice actors while introducing new characters voiced by celebrities. The G5 movie on the other hand chose to have everyone be voiced by celebrities, knowing full-well they'd be replaced with cheap sound-alikes for the series proper. Thus, we end up with a very inconsistent voice cast.
3. The Villain: Personally, I feel like the G4 movie's villain, the Storm King, is really overhated. I'll admit he doesn't have much screentime in the film, but the screentime he does have is very entertaining. He manages to be really funny while still feeling like a major threat, which in a way, kinda reminds me of Hades from Hercules. Not to mention, he has a very intense death scene. Meanwhile, the G5 movie gives us Sprout, a whiny mama's boy who becomes a dictator for a very petty reason, manages to brainwash Maretime Bay way too easily, and ultimately gets away scot-free. Not only is he really annoying, but his role in the film feels like it was shoehorned in at the last minute. You could easily remove him and you'd still have a perfectly coherent story with a beginning, middle, and end. Some might argue the same thing about the Storm King, but if he wasn't in the G4 movie, Tempest's turn to villainy wouldn't be nearly as justified, and she wouldn't have been able to redeem herself as easily.
Now keep in mind that I didn't hate the G5 movie. I thought it was a decent film for what it was, but I honestly can't see how it's better than the My Little Pony movie we got just a few years prior.
About Sparky. Why Wings are not Related to the Maturity of the Dragons
by: SergioF
You probably saw an image complaining about how in g4 dragons needed to go through "puberty" (molting) to have wings, while in g5 Sparky "ruined" the continuity/logic of the series because he was already born with them. I know that many will think the same as it. For what, I would like to show why I do not agree.
For a long time during the series, many of us wondered why Spike didn't have wings like the other dragons. Was it half something else? It was special? Different species?, etc.
In the end it was simply that he had not gone through the molting process, so many people believed that a dragon with wings was a sign of maturity.
However, this has been nothing more than a mere assumption of the fans, because NEVER (and if I'm wrong, please let me know) was it explained in the series that the dragon's maturity and the growth of his wings were correlated with each other. In fact, in the entire "Molt Down" chapter, not even Smolder mentions it (as the image wants to show us).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31MiCQepbAs starts in minute 3:05.
Spike's wings were going to be a big change in his physique, so why would Smolder tell him about the smell but not such an important detail like that? Well (and here I am theorizing) because maybe she knows that, just as there are dragons with spikes and others not. Wings could also be present on some dragons and not others.
My second argument is that nothing more and nothing less than in the second season, in the chapter "Dragon Quest" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yezHaOP9PKI&t=150s), minute 2:30, we are shown a young / adult dragon in the foreground (so it was not some animation error) without wings.
Even so, this is not the only reason why Sparky was born with wings, we have 3 theories that I read on derpibooru:
1.Dragons have evolved in such a way that everyone is now born with wings.
2. As said before, there are different species of dragons. Just as in ponies only pegasi are born with wings, Sparky could belong to a species of winged dragons from the beginning.
3. Being a "co-star" in the series, there is a (minimal) chance that Hasbro will make him special to the rest of the dragons and be something unique in his species.
MLP doesn't stand out as having the strongest continuity of all, but this is NOT a script hole in my opinion.
Do you agree? Disagreement? Why? Write me in the answers, I will be happy to read your point of view.
Friendship is Magic Miniseries Young 6
By Double C
For this miniseries we will talk about the Young 6.
The Young 6 were a great addition but I feel like there was more that the creators could have done to develop them more. Like with the Pillars, it will be a part 1 and 2.
For Gallus, he has more to explore about what inspire him to be a royal guard and others. It’s most likely he had a hard time knowing what to be after he graduates and just making pranks that got one everyone’s nerves. I think what influences him to join is Flash Sentry and Fizzlepop Berrytwist aka Tempest Shadow. When he perhaps is sent to Canterlot for discipline, Twilight was too busy and assigned Flash and Fizzlepop to help him. I can see some troubles in the beginning but Gallus would see Flash as brother figure and Fizzlepop and a sister figure. This would help Flash develop his character more and Fizzlepop showing how reform she has come. Another thing that could have worked is Gallus forming a friendship with Spike since both are orphaned since they were young. If Spike had a fallout with his adopted family, Gallus would tell him to be happy they adopted him and not end up alone and bitter like him.
For Smolder, she has also more to explore about her family and relationship with Spike. She is the only one who we haven’t seen or mention her parents. It would be interesting to see what their opinion is on both the school and Spike. Like their children, they also have something they like that would be out of character for a dragon’s tough stereotype. If Spike had one thing he would be afraid of is meeting Smolder’s parents since he doesn’t know what to do. If there was one thing fans like is the bond Smolder and Spike have. While I do see a potential ship between them especially they are opposites and help each other but I kind of see a brother and sister relationship. Perhaps Ember knew she could help Spike understand dragon customs and toughen him than the Mane 6 could. I also think Ember would at times tease Spike and Smolder of getting married in the future and Twilight and Garble being angry for saying and thinking that.
For Silverstream, there were some parts that could have been shown like her relationship with Queen Novo and Princess Skystar. It was disappointing that we never saw Novo and Skystar in the show except a non-speaking cameo in The Ending of the End Part 2. It would have been fun to see Silverstream having family time with her parents, brother, aunt, and cousin all together. Also we never got to see Sky Beak as a seapony and Ocean Flow as a Hippogriff. One story that would be heartwarming is her inviting Gallus to spend the holidays with her family since he doesn’t have one to celebrate with. This will give more character for her family more character development and Gallus a real sense of what true love of a family is.
For Ocellus, we could have seen more of what other abilities changelings have. While no long feed on love, but do reform changelings still sense love from others? Some fans theorize that they can still sense love when others have feelings towards other even a small crush. Another that DisneyFanatic showed that Mothball looked into Screwball’s mind to see the ones she cares. If they do then she would be constantly annoyed by everyone including her friends about someone they have a crush on. But Cadance could help her get over these problems since she perhaps had others annoy he as well when she was young. One story that would be interesting and funny is her finding out that each of the Mane 6 has a crush on someone. Also would like to see more of her parents and siblings of their personalities and hobbies. She could also explore more of customs that changelings now after their reformation.
For Sandbar, it would be fun to see his family and losing his cool. We only saw his parents and baby sister make two cameos. It’s safe to say that his parents also have the same cool and relax personality like him. I can see them having family time by hanging out at Fluttershy’s sanctuary to help al the animals there. An interesting story is him babysitting his sister and knowing what personality she has at her age. Along with Spike, I can see him snap and lash out when someone like his friends do something really stupid. I’m mean Ned Flanders is a good person but found his breaking point so why not Sandbar.
For Yona, it too would also to be fun to see her family. Her family had made few appearances which show she has her parents, grandparents, brother, and sister. It would be fun to see what else each one is interested in and their personality besides what Yaks are known for. It showed in the end that she works at Rarity’s boutique which gives some hints of what she wanted to do after graduating. Like Gallus, she must have had a tough time knowing what to do and Rarity came to help her. Making cloths for either fashion or practical would be the best why for her to be calm and focus. There must have been hard times especially when she ripped cloths out of frustration but got the hang of it.
Like with the CMC, I don’t ship the Young 6 since they are young and have a long way to go. While Yona and Sandbar are hinted to be together in the final but it has never been confirmed by Jim Miller. Who do you ship the Young 6 with?
