G1 Media Retrospective: Rescue At Midnight Castle

[Taffeta]

Well, they started out as birds and butterflies so I'm going to guess that they don't have very high IQs.

I am sure that in bird and insect societies that comment would be taken as highly prejudicial

...Ok, being sensible now.

@Shatyr - that is a good point. Unless maybe the darkness entirely destroyed Scorpan's kingdom and Tirek kept him as a slave - or it was far away and used as some kind of ransom to keep Scorpan from misbehaving? Maybe Tirek knew that the Rainbow of Light was his nemesis and that he needed to destroy it before the ponies worked out how to use it (by summoning a human with opposable thumbs able to open the locket)? Ok, reaching a bit now, but...still?

But this is a castle with a random pile of hay for people to fall into conveniently. So anything is possible.

[Shatyr]

... Maybe Tirek knew that the Rainbow of Light was his nemesis and that he needed to destroy it before the ponies worked out how to use it (by summoning a human with opposable thumbs able to open the locket)? Ok, reaching a bit now, but...still?...

Maybe it was one of those self-defeating prophecies.

Tirek: "Tell me what I want to know, soothsayer, or a head will roll. Your caretaker's!"

Soothsayer (understandably peeved): "Your eternal night will only come about if you have four Little Ponies, turned into draft-dragons, to pull your Chariot of Midnight. Oh, and take Scorpan with you. And make sure there's a pile of hay on the roof."

Tirek: "A pile... of..."

Soothsayer: "DARE YOU QUESTION THE WISDOM OF ONE WHO CAN SEE THE FUTURE?! And don't let the door hit you on the way out."

[Bekuno]

Escape from Katrina post going up tomorrow, I was out all day today!

[Taffeta]

... Maybe Tirek knew that the Rainbow of Light was his nemesis and that he needed to destroy it before the ponies worked out how to use it (by summoning a human with opposable thumbs able to open the locket)? Ok, reaching a bit now, but...still?...

Maybe it was one of those self-defeating prophecies.

Tirek: "Tell me what I want to know, soothsayer, or a head will roll. Your caretaker's!"

Soothsayer (understandably peeved): "Your eternal night will only come about if you have four Little Ponies, turned into draft-dragons, to pull your Chariot of Midnight. Oh, and take Scorpan with you. And make sure there's a pile of hay on the roof."

Tirek: "A pile... of..."

Soothsayer: "DARE YOU QUESTION THE WISDOM OF ONE WHO CAN SEE THE FUTURE?! And don't let the door hit you on the way out."

[Ponyfan]

Well, they started out as birds and butterflies so I'm going to guess that they don't have very high IQs.

I am sure that in bird and insect societies that comment would be taken as highly prejudicial

 

I really like the idea that Tirek is using Scorpan's kingdom to make sure Scorpan is forced to follow his commands and be Tirek's personal slave.
 

I think this is also why Tirek allowed Spike to stay in Midnight Castle without transforming him using the Rainbow of Darkness. Knowing that Tirek can order Spike to be imprisoned or killed at any time is probably also a strong motivator to make sure Scorpan follows Tirek's orders.

I think Scorpan's kingdom is not in Ponyland/Dream Valley.  The ViewMaster reels based on Rescue at Midnight Castle suggest that Scorpan stayed in Dream Valley after Tirek was defeated and he regained his true form but since Scopran is never seen or mentioned again I don't think he stayed.

I wonder sometimes if Rescue at Midnight Castle was meant to be the only My Little Pony cartoon at the time it was being written/produced as there are several things in Escape from Catrina that don't seem to add up when you view it as the sequel to Rescue at Midnight Castle (more on those when we dicuss Catrina. )   

You would think at least Spike would visit Scopran since they seemed to know each other before Tirek took over Scorpan's kindgom (since Spike knew that Scorpan was acutally a human)


Ponyfan

[Lilja]

I'm pretty sure when they were writing this, they weren't planning on a sequel that would follow up on it. The story is very stand alone. If Hasbro hadn't made Megan into a doll the following year, I don't think we would have seen her again. However, they clearly did take this special into account when writing the movie and the TV series, since they reuse a lot of (non-pony) characters and plot points from it. Even the plot structure gets reused many times, the ponies being captured (or otherwise inconvenienced), them bringing Megan to help them and going to the Moochick for advice. Honestly it would probably have been better if they had started from a clean slate rather than keep rehashing this formula. It feels a bit lazy.

It also makes me wonder, how much sense would the movie have made to you if you hadn't watched this special beforehand?

You would think at least Spike would visit Scopran since they seemed to know each other before Tirek took over Scorpan's kindgom (since Spike knew that Scorpan was acutally a human)

I used to think this is well, but rewatching it now, I'm not so sure. Their relationship is really vague. It's not clear if Spike's "He's really a prince!" is meant as an explanation or an exclamation of surprise.

[Taffeta]

Let's not forget that somewhere in all of this we potentially have a Rainbow Pony episode that didn't happen...

Some of these things may have been explained there. Or maybe not...

[Lilja]

Ah, yeah. I do wonder about that. The animation featuring the rainbow ponies seems like promotional footage (very similar to the animation used in commercials for the toys), and there's no indication there was any story to it. However, the voiceover for that ad does say Firefly, Megan and the Moochick will be back for the next adventure (But Megan was the only one to return). So if that implies a different plan for the sequel... it's hard to say.

[Taffeta]

Maybe it was all very fluid. I sort of agree about the Rainbow Pony animation, but maybe they were still working out what angle to take next. Also, by introducing a very new cast in Catrina, there's already a lack of continuity. You sort of have to imagine a whole lot of time has elapsed between RaMC and Catrina because Megan apparently knows all these new ponies but never asks what happened to the ones she met before...

Mysterious that.

So yeah. I guess continuity wasn't huge on the agenda. I don't suppose it really was in any of the episodes, except movie/End of FV.

[Al-1701]

The problem was David DePattie.  He was the head of Marvel Studios at the time, and Rescue at Midnight Castle was something to do that did not involve Marvel Comics.  He hated Marvel Comics and the fact his animation company had their name slapped on it in place of his and were expected to adapt those comics to animation.  When they signed on with Hasbro, they also to adapt the G.I. Joe comic, but there were other Hasbro properties to work on as well once the ban of shows based on toys was lifted.

However, as they were preparing for the launch of the Transformers, there was a change at Marvel Studios.  The company was still losing money (why they had to sell to Cadence in the first place) and Cadence promoted Margret Loach to CEO of the Marvel Studio who reversed DePattie's policy towards linking Marvel Studios with Marvel Comics.  And, supposedly, DePattie was brought in to meet with the upper echelons of Sunbow (who wanted to force Marvel Studios to get their marching orders second hand through them), Hasbro, and Marvel Comics and he exploded insulting everyone in the room and storming out.  At that point, any plans he had for future My Little Pony projects died.  Loach would take up My Little Pony, but she had her own ideas.

Also, remember this was 1984.  Everything was about Transformers.  This was Hasbro's big new project and it would be entering the market with direct competition on both store shelves and airwaves from Tonka's Go-Bots.  They were going to be the priority.

So, everything conspired against the Rainbow Ponies.

[Lilja]

That's really interesting! I wonder how far they had gotten in production before the change in direction. There are these video covers which are in a style sort of in between Rescue at Midnight Castle and Escape from Catrina, and feature among other things a Danny-looking boy riding an adult winged Spike. (And Firefly, Megan and Moochick are all there!)

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These do imply there was some sort of story behind them. Possibly concept art for the special that would follow Rescue at Midnight Castle?

[Taffeta]

More interesting is that Flutterbye appears to be on both covers o.o.
Mind you, we have some weird covers here too. I've got a couple from Finland as well which are a bit non-specific. But we have some DVDs here with G2 art, so..?

[Ponyfan]

I never thought of Scorpan and Spike not knowing each other until they were both captives of Tirek but that could be possible. Spike told Ember that Scorpan was his friend so I’ve always assumed that they were captured together.

Medley is featured on the Rescue at Midnight Castle box art.

Ponyfan

[Lilja]

I never thought of Scorpan and Spike not knowing each other until they were both captives of Tirek but that could be possible. Spike told Ember that Scorpan was his friend so I’ve always assumed that they were captured together.

I think that deduction makes sense. Since why else does Spike stick around at Midnight Castle, and why does Tirek allow him there if not for the purpose of blackmailing Scorpan into following his commands. Then again, it's never stated, so there could be a completely different backstory. Maybe Spike just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

On the other hand, if he didn't know Scorpan before his transformation, it makes more sense that he would stay with the ponies in Dream Valley, rather than returning with the prince to his kingdom. Maybe Dream Valley was the area he lived in in the first place, even if he hadn't met the ponies before. (And how rude was Twilight to him, honestly, "Aren't you going to change back too?" Come on!  )

I think it was fine to leave it open-ended, but it's fun to speculate about.

[Al-1701]

I think she just assumed Spike had been altered by Tirac since literally everything else had been.