Hasbro’s Missed Opportunities

[bright rabbit 1]

On the topic of Fairy Tales a dark version of Red Riding Hood, the wolf tells Hood to eat food (basically her grandmother) and to remove her clothes and get into bed with him.

[StillandSilent]

As far as dark 80s/Early 90s cartoons, does anyone else remember an episode of Captain Planet where Linka's boyfriend/brother gets high, jumps through a window, accidentally slitting his wrists and dying?   I remember being very shocked as a child

[MintyMyndi]

As far as dark 80s/Early 90s cartoons, does anyone else remember an episode of Captain Planet where Linka's boyfriend/brother gets high, jumps through a window, accidentally slitting his wrists and dying?   I remember being very shocked as a child

I actually saw this episode mentioned on a list of disturbing cartoon episodes just today. I think it was her cousin...? His name was Boris. It's called "Mind Pollution," and I'm pretty sure he ODs on "bliss" (the fictional drug) after downing most of a bottle at once. I had minimal exposure to Captain Planet as a child (saw one or two episodes in school from the TV with a built-in VCR on wheels), so wasn't scarred for life by this.

I remember my first time watching Jem. My mom saw it was on Netflix and just threw it on since she watched it as a kid (but somehow missed the fact that there were dolls). I'm all like "Heehee! 80s toy-based cartoon with pretty, fluffy-haired rockstar girls!" And the first episode opens up with the girls getting out of the roadster with adoring fans chanting their names... then the narration comes in with something like "It all started with the unexpected death of my father." Instant whiplash. Jem felt significantly less talk-downy than most 80s cartoons I've sampled. There's the drug episode I think was mentioned earlier ("Alone Again?"), with some random kid at school preying on an orphaned girl's insecurities to get her hooked on these mystery hallucinogens, and the episode called something like "Out of the Past" which details the events leading to her father's death, her mother's death, and the depressing details surrounding them. It's one of my favorites; it's very emotional! Then the very next episode features a wacky time machine and ends with a silly dinosaur biting the bad guys. Nothing's perfect! That said, I really do want to rewatch the series since I've only watched it once.
(And I really want to get my hands on some of those dolls; my only Jem toy is Rama Llama! I found her at that mystical out-of-state flea market I'm constantly babbling about- for just one dollar. One. Dollar. Be jealous.) Or don't. You don't have to if you don't want to!

As for missed opportunities... The G3 Jewel Birthday Ponies are an odd set. Some of them are party-themed, which is fitting, and their symbols all have [birthstone]-colored gems in them, but... SO MANY are flower-themed, and the gem interacts awkwardly with some of the symbols; most gem ponies have a design built around the stone, but a lot of them just kinda have one shoved in there.

June Blossom stands out to me, probably since she's my birth month. She's got this butterfly with a giant head and no face when she's the one pony that a floral symbol would have made the most sense on due to her name. And then there's the issue of the alexandrite. Real alexandrites change color depending on the lighting, from an aqua-green to a purple or wine red, which would have made a gorgeous color scheme. I do like her color scheme, but she could've been so much prettier.

Imagine if the others were given this treatment! As-is, you could tell me that some or even all the designs were made for standard gem ponies and then rejected and repurposed based only on their gem color, and I'd believe you. I really wish these guys made a bit more sense, but most of them aren't bad designs at all; quite a few are really pretty! They just don't all scream "[insert month]" to me.

[Taffeta]

@MintyMyndi - you forgot about the trip to shangri-la and the yeti. That episode - and its awful animation - is so memorable Jem is also available on DVD but I think only in the US format (region 1). That's the version I have anyway...I have the versions from UK Gold etc when they aired before that but I don't think there is a European (in English) version yet. Jem is definitely not as patronising as some other kids cartoons though, and as brutal.

Although not so great on relationship morality, given the fact Rio is two-timing Jerrica with herself and then in one episode, with a third identity...and as for the chauvenism of Riot...

On that same note, mind you, there's also a pretty grim backstory for the Stingers with some connitations...and the final episode, a Father Should Be, is about BaNee finding her dad, a Vietnam vet. Not content with almost making that poor little girl blind in the early eps, or a runaway somewhere in the middle, the series ends with flashbacks of her parents in Vietnam...

[MintyMyndi]

Yeah, you're right! I just chose what was the most memorable to me. I do remember a part of the Shangri-La episode when either Roxy or Pizzazz (don't remember which) cuts her hand on a thorn and there's a drop of blood intentionally animated, which surprised me a bit to see! In my generation, parents would've probably thrown a fit! Can't have kids knowing blood exists... Y'know, kids who lose teeth and fall on the playground and bust their lips open who are not only well aware of it already, but probably have strong opinions on how it tastes.
(I was one of those kids who would suck on a busted lip just to taste my own blood. They weren't rare!)

Which makes me think of a moment from the MLP 'n' Friends episode "Woe is Me" when the nursery collapses with Woebegone inside, and the very first thing the ponies say when they see him is a comment doubting whether he's still alive (though it avoids the word "dead").
Then you've got Tales with the ghost story trying so hard to avoid the concept of death that it's painful. I'm pretty sure they wrote it first, then were asked to turn it down.
I don't think that there was a single mention of anything resembling death in G3, except for the word "tombs" in the song "Music Box Dancer" on "The Princess Promenade" CD, which was not written with ponies in mind and was covered in a way that the lyrics are very difficult to understand, which was likely intentional; the rest of the G3 songs on those CDs are sung so very clearly (with the exception of "Promenade Canon," which is hard to understand due to the verses being sung overtop of each other), and my brother told me that the lyrics were depressing. They probably were just like "Here's a pretty song! Ooooh, someone wrote words for it! ...Yeah, let's pretend that they're all cheerful and stuff. Kids won't care!"
(Kids DO care.)

Heck, there's another missed opportunity. Those G3 CDs were a bit shallow, but they were charming. They didn't include "Join the Promenade" on the CD, and as far as I know, they only made two CDs with high-quality, sound-effect-less versions of songs from the cartoon. How cool would it have been to get a CD for "The World's Biggest Tea Party?"

Speaking of which... They made a ninth pony in that style of costume, Twinkle Hope, for the Give Kids the World Village. Around 2017, they retired this version of her for a G4 version with Fluttershy's hairstyle. They never made this version into a toy! With the transition into the new art style and an even newer one on the horizon, I don't think they will.

And on the topic of charity ponies, there were a few ponies in FiM designed and voiced by Make-a-Wish kids. With those kids' (or their families', considering their age) permission, they could have made toys which included a donation to Make-a-Wish in their purchase! These ponies are popular characters which don't have official toys, and their popularity has spread awareness of this charity, so this could be a way to come full circle and give more kids such an opportunity!

As far as I know, G4 never got any charity ponies at all! I always love to see those guys; I always get the impression that they have such sweet personalities due to their origins; I end up liking them as characters without much info given on their personalities! Of course, I'd also like feeling that I'm contributing to a good cause. I wasn't collecting when Twinkle Hope, the last charity pony, was released, so I never got to experience that!

And I've written another novel. Hope I didn't bore you guys!