Things You Wish Hasbro Hadn't Done With FIM (TV Show or Toy Line)

[Al-1701]

To be honest Al, a lot of American cartoons have been following idiotic, low brow humor since Cartoon Network made it all the rage and even before then with Ren and Stimpy and Rocko's Modern Life on Nick. Even Disney has sullied its quality with CN style crap like Gravity Falls.

Hey.  Gravity Falls, Wander Over Yonder, and Phineas & Pherb were great cartoons.  Far better than the tween sitcoms polluting Disney Channel proper.

And it's not even the humor, it's the storytelling.  Meghan McCarthy has this really bad habit of marrying herself to this one idea and will execute that idea even to the detriment of the story.  She wanted the first Equestria Girls movie to be like the Wizard of Oz where Twilight met alternate versions of her friends even if that meant the movie would be an unbearable slog from when Twilight went through until she met Rarity.  She wanted Flutterbat, so they essentially ripped off Wallace and Grommet to it.  She wanted zombie ponies, and she would have her zombie ponies even if that meant Rainbow's lesson would come off as more selfish.  She's a brilliant writer, but this one flaw has deep sixed too many of her scripts and scripts of others during her time as story editor.

[Taffeta]

I only watched the first half of season one of FIM and a few odd eps since like the original story with Discord. I didn't get into it so I won't comment positively or negatively on the show, I am not in a position to and it's just not to my taste. I do like the EQG in spite of the fact the overall plot of every movie is the same thing with the same climax, largely because I like Sunset Shimmer and how she's developed, and she's probably the only thing tying me to any G4 animation.

I don't have a problem with G4 existing and I love seeing kids wearing G4 shirts or carrying around G4 toys or crowding around them in stores or at toy fairs. It makes me happy that kids now can share MLP.

It's stories like the one centaurette shared that basically epitomises what I dislike about G4. It has nothing at all to do with the show, which lots of people love even if I don't. It has nothing to do with the toys although repetitive mane 6 doesn't really do much for me and I am not a fan of the newest style of release. It has everything to do with the small but vocal group of idiots who make online stuff about G4 ugly. I have been a mod on a site where someone spammed it all over with explicit G4 pony images and I had to witness that because I had to remove them. It wasn't something you can unsee, and I really got angry that anyone could do that, as we had underage members on the site and they are basically just out there on the web in general.

I don't hate bronies, I hate what I call the psycho bronies who act in the obnoxious, entitled way. But I also know that isn't all G4 fans. It's the ones that throw their weight around, act like they are the only pony fans that matter, more than the kids, more than fans of other generations, more than fans of G4 who disagree with them. The ones who whine and complain they're being picked on or ostracised if they're not allowed to act like morons and the ones who send death threats to members who don't agree with them or write mindless abuse on people's yt videos or threads because they think it's funny. MLP has been permanently tarnished in the world's eye by those kinds of people, and I heartily wish that they had never decided to make MLP their latest 'fad'. Without those people, I think G4 and FIM would be a lot more awesome and much much much better integrated into the fandom as a whole. I think so many divisions have been created because of those people - and it has affected all of us in one way or another, whether we are FIM fans or not.

The other main thing I don't like about G4 is the terminology. Cutie mark. Brony. Pegasister. Everypony. All of those. I am actively offended by the use of any of those in regards to pre-G4 collecting or fandom (or in the case of cutie mark, pre-G3). And I especially hate hindight judgment of MLP - ie people looking back at G1, 2 3 as proto G4 instead of seeing them in their proper order - G1 came first and set the benchmark, G2 developed into a different direction, so did G3 and so now has G4. They are not all building blocks towards the "perfect" G4 generation. Firefly is not a proto-Dash, etc. Firefly and Dash are actually not that similar and I don't think any of the mane 6 are really like the G1 ponies they are linked with, but they are all themselves as ponies.

(Also G3 Rainbow Dash is totally different from G4 Rainbow Dash in personality, so not even sharing a name or colour scheme makes two ponies connected for me).

So yeah. I don't hate G4, I have no problems with the existence of the show or its huge following, but I basically don't like the entitled whiny psycho brony behaviour. And I also don't like people taking it as the perfect evolution of all previous generations. Especially when so many ideas in FIM are nods to older generations and ideas. I think that it's fine to like G4 better than the other generations,but not fine to assume all the older gen stuff is just preparation for G4 or to comment on older generations without properly getting to know about them first. Educated dislike is fine, ignorant hatred not so much. All generations are equal to one another, they all have their good and their bad things, and everyone is free to like what they want about each one. But the lack of respect that it sometimes involves bothers me. And I wish that people didn't look at MLP now as G4-going back rather than the generations in their proper sequence.

Unfortunately most of that is not Hasbro but fandom-based. :/ So there's not a lot of hope to see it change.

[Carrehz]

Damn Taffeta, you pretty much just summed up all the big problems I have with G4.

(Especially the "proto-G4" thing/shoehorning G4 in everywhere That just drives me crazy. Not everything has to be about FiM, y'know?)

[Leave a Whisper]

Truthfully, i started watching fim with my younger brother when he was young and he was obsessed. we both had ponies growing up and so it was a nice bonding point for the both of us. i liked watching each of the mane six come into themselves (rarity was a vain diva and my favorite, and i like how she's become much more compassionate, etc) and grow into their roles as the guardians of harmony or w/e, and while i liked that and i liked alicorn twilight, just like everyone else in this thread, i think it came way too soon. like, way way way too soon. as it's also been said in this thread, i think this should have been like, the final plot point or the end game. 'all our adventures and lessons led up to this!' kind of thing.

discord was an interesting villian but now just seems like an abusive jerk who hangs around meek fluttershy and causes her stress, lol. i'm not a fan of discord as a 'redeemed villian' and i truthfully don't have any sympathy for him and think they could have given fluttershy a much better 'companion'. or, better yet, leaving her be and have her come into herself as the ponyville matron of flora and fauna? idk, i don't think discord does anything for fluttershy as a character whatsoever.

however, the thing that perhaps irks me most is the bronies. there's nothing that put a worse taste in my mouth than helping my younger brother google [with safe search on] and print out cute pictures of pinkie pie and rarity, only to find hard-core pornography (of horses???) and have to quickly cover my sibling's eyes. not to mention most of them are horrifically elitist, as if they deserve a nobel prize for watching a children's show made for young girls, and then swiftly taking it away from them. i was furious with hasbro for catering to them, as if they were more important than the young children that the show was intended for, or even relevant at all lol?

i am an adult and of course i love chlidren's things, but watching grown men and women shove aside my younger brother for some pinkie pie merchandise at a con? seriously? get a grip. it's for kids. nobody is upset if you, an adult, enjoy it, but please remember who it's originally for and please remember to treat kids with kindness!

i really love baby flurryheart, and she was the reason i decided to start watching the show again, after passing on a lot of the previous seasons. i think she's adorable and it was an exciting twist to have her with these big wings (it reminds me of dumbo!) and born as an alicorn! i can't wait for them to delve into her storyline some more, but it seems like that's at the bottom of the priority list, what with all of the pointless (?) cutie mark crusaders, discord being an ass to fluttershy and then feeling semi-sorry about it and fluttershy forgiving him despite him having caused her genuine grief, and poorly-written thunderbolts episodes. oh well!

Somebody shoved your kid brother to get to a toy? Wtf is wrong with them?  Oh I would have had strong, nasty words for that kinda rudeness. There's no excuse for that crap.

right?? my dad and i had very.... strong words. it's really too bad; i'm obviously fine with adult collectors (what with being one and having met plenty of pleasant ones), but it is a show for kids... so like back off and let kids enjoy it in peace! apparently that's too tall of an order to fill for some collectors!

Apparently manners and being conscientious of others is too tall an orde for some people. 

[Mami Tomoe]

I doubt this show is even for kids anymore. They cater to bronies all the time. And I honestly think the show just keeps running as it is still profitable and the bronies rather not see their favorite show go.

Because nowdays when I watch an episode I usually get bored halfway through. It is not exciting anymore as it used to be. It's like they just try to come up with minor issues every episode to milk out the show.

And my goodness...Rainbow Dash is sooooo annoying. Same goes for Pinky Pie as I feel she doesn't really serve a purpose (never really had).

like alot of characters are getting annoying

Post Merge: September 08, 2017, 10:25:45 AM

FiM is also the only thing justifying Hasbro continued (even if no longer controlling) interest in Discovery Family.

I don't like Rainbow Dash's involvement because her presence forces the writing to be dumbed down.  Things are more blunt and black and white than episodes where she has little or no contribution to the plot.  You can even tell there is a more clever and nuanced story here, but it had to be boiled down to its most basic parts to suit Rainbow Dash.

Something I've noticed is episodes that seemed to have been developed backwards.  There is an idea for the climax, and then the episode is written around it, and it mus lead o the climax even if the developing the story would have been better without it.  Take "28 Pranks Later" where Rainbow Dash spiking the Filly Scout cookies would have led to be a better lesson about having empathy (something Rainbow Dash desperately needs to learn) if the CMC were the ones who got in trouble and Rainbow Dash would have to fess up when she realized her behavior was hurting others.  However, this started with zombie ponies, and they were going to have their zombie ponies come hell or high water.

cuz the zombie ponies were so pointless honestly

Post Merge: September 08, 2017, 10:29:15 AM

I can't remember if I've already posted in this thread or not, so please forgive me if I repeat myself.

1. The buffalo episode was sooo terrible, hooboy.

Like, imagine an episode with this set up:  a bunch of creatures stay in Fluttershy's house, even though she doesn't want them there.  She tries to get them to leave, but they won't . . . Oh wait, we don't have to imagine this episode because it happened, it was "It Ain't Easy Being Breezie."  And the moral wasn't "And then Fluttershy realized she was being SELFISH by not accepting permanent squatters, and that she just needed to SHARE more." 

*whispers*  Because that moral is dumb.

Then you consider the historical context and it gets worse.  Because none of the American Indians' problems--like, you know, having the actual buffalo herds they depended on slaughtered en masse by the US Army--stemmed from 'not sharing enough.'

2.  The existence of more than two alicorns.  I never liked the idea of alicorns to begin with, I thought it was an over-the-top, Mary-Sue-ish idea.  But FIM sold me on Celestia and Luna.  It was okay that they were over-the-top because they were supposed to be.  But then we get the alicorn of . . . Love.  And the alicorn of . . . Friendship.  For having, um, pretty average and unremarkable friendship skills, really.  :/ And then the alicorn of . . . Being Born An Alicorn.

Yeeeeah, sorry, I'm back to thinking alicorns are dumb and Mary-Sue-ish.  (I get it, The Toys Sell.  But I don't have to like them.)

3.  The yaks.  Wow, who is greenlighting these terrible episodes?

4.  Fluttershy's brother hitting on Rainbow Dash and her just silently enduring it instead of telling him that she is not interested.  Very out of character, and not funny to play it up as humorous on a show aimed at little girls.

I really feel like they included it because they were afraid of Fluttershy's brother being perceived as gay, which makes it even more annoying.  There is nothing wrong with being gay, but there is something wrong with being a creep.

like the buffilo episode should have just been about aj dealing with another company like a pear buissness and then learning that people like apples and pears and then they become friends

Post Merge: September 08, 2017, 10:31:03 AM

Didn't Discord almost send Tree Hugger in to oblivion after he reformed because Fluttershy invited her to the Gala and not him? , if Discord was fully reformed I don't think he'd do that to an innocent pony so easily.


Ponyfan

yeah

Post Merge: September 08, 2017, 10:35:56 AM

I think G1 started doing it with MLP Tales. But everyone was just a pony. I remember an episode with the Family ponies that took place in what was obviously meant to be Hawaii and they were represented as natives.
But they weren't another species, they weren't "primitive" and the message was about overcoming prejudice.

Something the first season of FiM did with all the ponies judging Zecora's appearance and customs and spreading rumors about her just because she was a zebra... then in the same season ponies take away land from other species. The pony race in G4 is kind of terrible and that's why they need a Princess of Friendship and a Princess of Love
like i hate how they make racily coded characters look primitive its like they try to make them look bad and in the mlp app they even messed up zecoras racial coding dream catchers are american not african

But seriously, that's what I would change about the show. That all people are just ponies and not other species. Or at least horse-like like the Saddle Arabians who are just Arabian horses and not camels with turbans or something dumb like that.

Post Merge: September 08, 2017, 10:38:08 AM

Then again, I actually met some people who actually believed horses had humanoid mammary glands instead of teats like other four legged mammals. 

I wouldn't be all surprised if it wasn't because of a certain brony fan character with such anatomy.

yeah like there wayy different then human mamery glands

Post Merge: September 08, 2017, 10:39:20 AM

The Brony callouts and references are skin-crawling for me, especially with backgrounders or memes appearing as jokes. Who thought Big Lebowski was a good reference to include?!

To be fair, I don't think that was a brony reference - I think that it was more likely included by someone who was a fan of the movie.

No no, I meant as a general reference rather than a Brony specific one for something like Big Lebowski (poor grammer on my part!)

To be fair, tons of cartoons constantly reference popular movies. The Godfather, The Matrix, Jurassic Park,  JAWS, Star Wars.

FiM isn't the first or last to do so.

Looney Tunes, Zootopia, Animaniacs, SpongeBob, Mega Man, Gumball have just to name a few.

i wouldnt mind them if they stayed in the background and not referenced characters that were preditors

[Leave a Whisper]

I agree, the Changelings becoming colorful bugdeer really felt like the weakest writing of that season. Chrys had to be written like that so them turning on her would be more plausible and it was silly even for a show in which friendship cures everything.

Splitting them into two different hives sounds like a good idea that would have worked perfectly well.
I guess it didn't sit well with some viewers that a species was created that HAD to use others to eat. The ponies are vegetarians and I think so is Spike? Even though he really should cook Angel Bunny, but I digress.

The Changelings have technically been on a quest for survival and Chrys was acting like a good ruler, finding a perfect food source for them in the adored royals and their people. So in order to actually make her evil they had to give Changelings more options to feed and then have Chrysalis be a butt about it and not wanting to go the peaceful path because... this is FiM and we need to have an antagonist left for the next two-parter.

So now I just hope they will give her a few loyal subjects so she can stay the Alien Queen pony instead of Thorax's eventual bugdeer wife 

Spike eats grass fine but seems to prefer gemstones. Off the top of my head I don't think he eats any meat and seems to be fine on a vegetarian diet, but then again, he might be eating something else when we're not looking. Fluttershy has been shown feeding animals appropriate foods (fish, worms) at times, gems are possibly his 'best' food.

It's almost like the screams vs. laughter from Monsters Inc.; there's no real reason not to use the better food source, apart from being a butt/not willing to change/some unknown reason we're not allowed to know. I honestly was waiting for Chrysalis to explain why she goes with one source over another; she seems like the kind of Queen that would go with the highest output for her trouble. If she simply didn't know this is part of their lifecycle ... Fear? Actually, it would be neat if the metamorphosis happens but suddenly their life is shortened or something. I know in the comics she is depicted as an abusive leader most of the time, which again I wasn't a fan of. I like the idea of a rular doing all they can to help their subjects ... and is still 'wrong' and 'evil' because of the way they do it or simply how that takes its toll on anyone who isn't her subject.

I don't know, I don't understand why they just have to keep 'removing' threats. Nothing is allowed to be a recurring danger; not a monster, not a villain, not even a place like Everfree. A villain who can shapeshift, steals your love, has a very large loyal army, and is doing so for a very good reason from her perspective? Perfect recurring danger fodder! If they had to do the metamorphosis thing, split the hive between those that simply can't feed traditionally (maybe bad at shapeshifting or something), and Chrysalis has to accept she can't help all of her people. She doesn't seem like the kind to tolerate frustration, that would be a neat idea. She wouldn't be HAPPY, but she'd accept that sometimes even her best efforts fail. The 'changed' Changlings might have to suffer not living in their hive with Chrysalis anymore, but at least they have each other, and some pony friends. Nothing would say they HAVE to rat out Chrysalis to the ponys when she gets up to something, nor that Chrysalis would have to talk to them about food (i.e. talking to you would tip you off, I'm not going to do that). I didn't like the fact she didn't see through her own Changling's disguises ... I'd make sure that, as Queen, no Changling could disguise themselves from her and no Changling would ever lose track of their Queen, even when perfectly disguised.

MLP n Friends didn't have recurring threats either. Aside from the witches and they never showed up after End of Flutter Valley. So its not a new thing.

[Pinkie21]

-I wish Hasbro made My Little Ponies a little bigger.  I thought the size of G3 ponies was the smallest that would still look good and be fun to play with.  G4 ponies are too small.

-I wish those mini-figures weren't a thing.  Well, I guess I should specify the blind bags.  We get so many new blind bag character, which leads me to my next wish...

-I wish we had new brushable characters.  And, more importantly, brushable that don't come in $60 sets.  I just want a nice, single Pepperdance.  Is that so much to ask?

-Show-wise, I wish there weren't so many "natural-colored" male ponies.  I've counted at least 3 brown ones.  Why don't the boy ponies get the colorful coats and names like the girls?  I'm itching for a stallion with G1 Barnacle's colors... 

[invaderhorizongreen]

I would love to have ideas like gen one did, glow in the dark ponies? Bring them on I would love that, flocked ones, I miss it, mail orders I would love to have that as well.

[Leave a Whisper]

-I wish Hasbro made My Little Ponies a little bigger.  I thought the size of G3 ponies was the smallest that would still look good and be fun to play with.  G4 ponies are too small.

-I wish those mini-figures weren't a thing.  Well, I guess I should specify the blind bags.  We get so many new blind bag character, which leads me to my next wish...

-I wish we had new brushable characters.  And, more importantly, brushable that don't come in $60 sets.  I just want a nice, single Pepperdance.  Is that so much to ask?

-Show-wise, I wish there weren't so many "natural-colored" male ponies.  I've counted at least 3 brown ones.  Why don't the boy ponies get the colorful coats and names like the girls?  I'm itching for a stallion with G1 Barnacle's colors...

Yes!

Post Merge: September 23, 2017, 11:01:35 AM

I would love to have ideas like gen one did, glow in the dark ponies? Bring them on I would love that, flocked ones, I miss it, mail orders I would love to have that as well.

Double yes!

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

I want more brushables! Give me all the brushables, Hasbro! Take a bunch of blindbag ponies and make them brushables!

I would love to have ideas like gen one did, glow in the dark ponies? Bring them on I would love that, flocked ones, I miss it, mail orders I would love to have that as well.

Yes! More exciting gimmicks would be wonderful!

[Zapper]

Yes the boring stallions are a problem for me.

I'm not one to scream for male pony brushables because they don't even give them a soft mane. They are stuck with a punk look or troll hair so you can't even style them. It's like they are trying to make them unattractive to kids.

[Carrehz]

Oh god, the boy ponies' hair. I got Big McIntosh today and I mean.. I'm glad he doesn't have troll hair like Shining Armour did, but I'm not sure that it's really much of an upgrade, he still has a mohawk..

I don't get why they won't just give them proper hair! No one had a problem with it when they gave the Big Brothers/Mountain Boys proper long, brushable hair in the 80s, what's Hasbro's hang-up with it now? :/

[Al-1701]

I wish the male ponies could be more vibrant in coloration too.  G1 had colorful male ponies (especially the Mountain Boys).  Why can't G4?

Something show related is the Crystal Empire.  How can you make a long lost civilization so boring?  The crystal pony design is cool (I especially love fan art of the G1 Twinkle Eyes as crystal ponies).  However, it has failed to make a good impression.  It's citizens are somehow dumber than the general population of Equestria.  The episodes based in it as some of the most banal of the series.  The culture is scant.

Really, I think the show should stay away from lore period.  As the mane episode shows, no foresight goes into this show.  The rules are whatever the episode needs, so them explaining it comes off as stupid as you know they'll contradict it as soon as they feel like it.

[Leave a Whisper]

The boy hair is horrible!

[LadyMoondancer]

To be honest Al, a lot of American cartoons have been following idiotic, low brow humor since Cartoon Network made it all the rage and even before then with Ren and Stimpy and Rocko's Modern Life on Nick. Even Disney has sullied its quality with CN style crap like Gravity Falls.

Hey.  Gravity Falls, Wander Over Yonder, and Phineas & Pherb were great cartoons.  Far better than the tween sitcoms polluting Disney Channel proper.

I agree, I love all those shows.