40 years. No mean feat for an intellectual property that started so simply. Now we look back from the vantage point of G5 to the time when ponies just frolicked and occasionally saved the world. Plus we get to see the young women who carried memories of that toyline into adulthood.
Catch the full review, with some spoilers, after the break!
We've quite the doozy to journey through this time! Three stories, each with a different writer/artist teamup. The biggest of which features a curious tale with even more unique artwork.
Friendship is Forever
Written by Sam Maggs and drawn by Keisha Okafor, this story delves more into the human side of things with artwork that makes me scratch my head. I get the sense that it is a case of "putting in a lot of effort to look this simple." The point-of-view character in this story, Julie, is on the cusp of entering sixth grade. As such, I think the artwork is meant to reflect someone of that age attempting to put their thoughts onto paper. The end result is often a portrait-view of the characters with very little detail by way of shading, but an emphasis on decorations to their clothing. The hint of a greater skill level lies with the varied line thickness around the characters. Most kids would strive for a uniform line. A professional has moved beyond that rigidity.
Surprisingly, the G1 ponies featured in this tale are depcited very accurately to the original toyline, as if they are more real than the childen playing with them. These six ponies will serve as a golden thread weaving through all three tales. The featured ponies are Butterscotch, Blue Belle, Snuzzle, Cotton Candy, Blossom, and fan favorite Minty.
These ponies are presented as the binding interest that unifes Julie and her diverse range of friends. Melanie is the group's athlete while Tiffany is more about developing her intelligence. Kelly is the group's social butterfly, which puts her in a different track that the sensitive and quiet Julie. It seems as though there's very little to bind this group of friends together except for their mutual love of the franchise and the fact that Julie's family works at a ranch that raises horses.
I understand the desire to present MLP as an appeal to the most diverse array as possible, both ethnically and socially. However, this is a slight-of-hand. While it's easy to assume that people are drawn together over superficial interests like toys, the real draw of a dydactic relationship is shared values. The girls could play with any toy and still be friends. It's how they choose to play that shows their common bonds.
Our story starts with them questioning if they could really save the whole world. A daunting idea that becomes more solidified when they overhear that a developer is looking to turn the ranch into a mall. Julie feels the same kind of powerlessness when confronted with this problem. A struggle that is only exacerbated by her first day in middle school. While she doesn't appear to suffer any bullying or social awkwardness with her peers, she and her friends all begin to drift apart as external demands take priority.
Thus we reach the point where this story turns bonkers. Julie dreams of a magic book that she then uses to bring her pony toys to life, only to get captured. This was a common trope back in the 80's. A snoop like Penny Gadget or April O'Neil would go too far into enemy territory for information, and often wind up bound and gagged with their fate in question. A shortcut to raise the stakes. I mostly remember it happening in cartoons aimed at boys, so I'm surprised to find it here.
If you thought a magic book in a dream was crazy, just wait. We learn that the evil developer is an evil magician looking to build two malls in different lands. It's up to the reunited friends and their ponies to defeat him!
Before you can say "Shyamalan Twist!" we learn it was all a dream. But it's okay because Julie's real-life friends still reconnect with her and the plans for the mall are scrapped.
What we have here is a coming of age story that is tackling the concept of change, but backs off in the end. Julie does not have to adapt to the change or accept that there are indeed some things that are beyond her control. She gets everything she wants without any true effort her part. Dreaming a fantastic scenario is nice, but having reality match feels disappointing. I think the biggest mistake is not involving a discussion with Julie's parents. They could have used her fondness for MLP as a secret language to help her process her feelings. Yes, the world is ending; and a new one is being born. There will be new friends, and those don't require that you think any less of the friends you have right now. Things change and we grow and adapt with them. Much like The Lego Movie a property can be used as a medium to facilitate growth. But here, it's a means to stifle change.
There are some nice moments, but I think this story is conveying the wrong message in an attempt to hype up the IP.
Tales of Dream Valley
We get a return to familiar territory as Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch go through a collection of Argyle's old books. Amy Mebberson tackles these visuals and is quickly becoming my MVP for G5 artwork. I love the way she depicts all the characters. They are recognizable without being slaves to the movie style. If anything, witnessing scenes like Hitch trying to lift a book box caries far more vitality than some of the Make Your Mark specials.
This is the most humorous of the three stories as Jeremy Whitley has the leads react to biographic blurbs about the connecting G1 ponies. Which brings up a point of contrast. If you were a Transformers fan back in the day, you would get toys that featured a full biography of an Autobot or Decepticon's personality, their view on the war, and their falabilities.
My Little Pony didn't get this treatment. Most of the entries were either very vague or contained a low-stakes micro-adventure. While this can seem like short-changing girls, it also offered a great deal of freedom, which we witness with Sunny and the others. With each entry, Sunny begins speculating on the world they lived in. Were they hunter-gatherers or agricultural? These little pieces helped give a few bricks for the foundation of a story. Thus, the target audience could have the ponies interact in a more personally-fashioned way. I also appreciate that Sunny mentions an archetypal Trickster with Cotton Candy. See what I mean about the secret language within a fandom? Sometimes the best way to convey an idea is to use the creative tools at hand.
Theres not too much to say here. It's a short adventure with fantastic artwork, some nice humor moments, and an indirect hint of how girls in 80's approached their own style of play. I don't know if there will be followup, as it's hinted the trio will conduct further research in pegasi and unicorn libraries. I wouldn't mind a quest to find Seaponies, hippogriff or otherwise!
Bonnie
Our last story sees a return to the human world as an aunt, Viki, matches her interest in ponies with Bonnie, a social media aficionado. Writing this encounter is Tony Fleecs, now a writer for both MLP comics and episodes!
Brianna Garcia goes for a very different approach with the art compared to the first story. Her characters are more solid, consistent, and clearly designed to have popped right out of a cartoon show. While I appreciate innovation, there is also some security with what works well before and this art is very welcome. I especially appreciate Heather Breckel's use of blues in the environments to denote a power outage and the abandonment of the
Right away, we learn that the conflict here isn't that the power is out. It's that Bonnie has a social problem of which she doesn't want to speak. So her Aunt Viki realizes a little parallel play might bridge the gap and pulls out a box of her old pony toys. This includes a comparison of Applejack designs across the ages and a mention of Twilight. Which gives Viki and opening to talk about her problems in the past when she thought some faces were trying to steal away her best friend. The Twilight toy was a peace offering after Viki realized her mistake.
Hearing this enables Bonnie to open more about her own problems. This is the kind of strength I think the first story was trying to utilize, but I think this story accomplished it better. It's the spirit of the interaction, not the specific toys on hand, that win people over. If Bonnie had been a Transformers or Strawberry Shortcake fan or some other property, I'm sure her Aunt could have found a way to use that as a means of interaction.
We're very lucky to have a generational franchise that has attracted an array of enthusiasts. I recall that the early days of G4 featured tension with long-time fans of G1, and I expect future generations will fall under scrutiny and be compared to G4's standards. Thus the product we all cite can be used for division or celebration, depending on where our priorities lie. Personally, I'd rather celebrate that a setting of magical, colorful horses can spark such creativity in children and adults across multiple decades. And I think this story helps demonstrate that.
And it's with that spirit that I congratulate My Little Pony in its 40-year run. There have been ups and downs and there will likely be many more to come. I think what's important is to greet each new entry as an opportunity for creativity, not a potential betrayal of what's come before. Time will tell where this and many other franchieses lead.
I'm Silver Quill. Thanks for reading!
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