G5 Media News, movie is now out on Netflix!

[Delphian]

I just can't stop thinking about how bad Equestria must be to need an activist pony and then I just

Like it's just so funny to me. Like are ponies fracking now?

[SunPony]

I've been thinking back to this part Tailrust pointed out: "The introduction of new characters and a departure from designs featured in Friendship is Magic and Pony Life is intended to shift the brands focus to more modern themes like diversity and inclusion."

I wonder if we will see more variety in pony hair.  I've noticed that now you can buy pre-tightly-curled doll hair, and pre-braided microbraids, plus perfume puff hair is already in the realm of...reality.  And there are probably even more options that more doll-oriented folks know of.  I think it would be cool if ponies came with some of these different hair types!  Variety is the spice of life, after all!

I reckon someone will poo-poo my thought, but there is is 

[Shrojjy]

i think it would be lovely if they included textured hair in the toy line! i'm also hoping to see boy ponies that aren't blue/red and actually have hair, and interesting body shapes. it was a really big deal in 2014 when the pony with the wheelchair was featured in the show and rainbow roadtrip had a pony with a prosthetic, wonder if they will do something like that in the toys too.

i am probably getting ahead of myself, though. we'll get a dragon or something.

[Leave a Whisper]

i think it would be lovely if they included textured hair in the toy line! i'm also hoping to see boy ponies that aren't blue/red and actually have hair, and interesting body shapes. it was a really big deal in 2014 when the pony with the wheelchair was featured in the show and rainbow roadtrip had a pony with a prosthetic, wonder if they will do something like that in the toys too.

i am probably getting ahead of myself, though. we'll get a dragon or something.

Textured hair?

[Taffeta]

I just can't stop thinking about how bad Equestria must be to need an activist pony and then I just

Like it's just so funny to me. Like are ponies fracking now?

That made me laugh xD.

I would personally love to see them do more with the pony hair. Perfume Puffs have already demonstrated 'different' in the pony line, but there are a lot of options they could pursue. G4 seems to have stopped at "troll fur hair" and the usual type in various states of quality. But I'm thinking of whatever the swamp girl is from MH, with her really tight curls. That would be pretty awesome.

I have a strong feeling that Stardazzle of the DB set also has very tight curls, as do some of the petites. It's got precedent and if they can do it in the eighties/nineties, there's no excuse not to.

The question with braids would be, can they be taken out of the braid or is this a permanent style feature?

I have one pony from my childhood who still has a whole ton of tiny braids in her tail. I was intending on braiding all of it in tiny braids but got bored, so she only has part of it >< but I don't think it would be a bad thing for a pony to have braids instead of hair.

A few months ago I rooted a G1 bait with ribbon instead of actual hair because I didn't have any. I don't know if I would want G5 to do that in a toyline...but...they could also explore other materials than the ones we've discussed.

My big fear about 'diversity' and 'inclusion' is that it will end with well meant stereotypes that go very badly. I hope that's not the case, but I still feel that there's a risk if you actively choose to include 'groups' that you'll only represent one face of that community, rather than representing them as eclectic and diverse individuals beyond the stereotype. (Remembering how they handled Zecora, as one example, and maybe also Muffinpony, on a different one.

I feel like subtle diversity by variety in the toyline, as opposed to in your face diversity would be a lot more successful. :/

[Wardah]

The main thing I would like is for different body types. I want chunky ponies and lanky ponies and short ponies and tall ponies. I would rather my ponies to not look like they are just different colored clones.

[Bathtub]

I hope they have twinkle eyed ponies, and Ribbon the telepathic unicorn references. It says something about "previous iterations in cartoon and toys" (paraphrase). I LOVE that.  will that small twilight from my crazy dream from fifteen years ago be sold?

[Ponybookworm]

The main thing I would like is for different body types. I want chunky ponies and lanky ponies and short ponies and tall ponies. I would rather my ponies to not look like they are just different colored clones.

I'd support this

[Shrojjy]

Textured hair?

it’s a broad way to refer to all the different types of curly hair. not pony hair with sandpaper glued to it or something lol!

[SunPony]

The main thing I would like is for different body types. I want chunky ponies and lanky ponies and short ponies and tall ponies. I would rather my ponies to not look like they are just different colored clones.

Ah, I didn't really think of this before but I like it! 

[Esbayne]

YES to all the ideas on hair & body types! That would be so awesome. And MORE. BOY. PONIES!

But. It's Hasbro. I won't hold my breath.

I can't see myself being into the show, as I wasn't even a fan of FiM, and it does sounds very preachy already. But I am really looking forward to seeing what the toys will look like, trying to keep an open mind.

(I hope they're cool. )

[Ragamuffin]

On body types... it got a bit long... TL;DR I would like to see a variety in body types, but I think it would be lacking at best or nonexistent at worst.

Spoiler

Body types would be great but I'm not sure if we would actually get any of that in the toys. It took them years to give us boy ponies due to the ridiculous sexual dimorphism between G4 stallions and mares. All, or at least most, of the mares in FiM look exactly the same, while the stallions seem to have varied faces and body types, some even have feathers while others don't! So when it comes down to toys, it's easier to make mare after mare. We only got Shining Armor because he's supposed to be married to the marketable pink princess. We only got him in the 2017 reboot because he could be sold in "family sets" with Cadence and the BABY pink princess. What reason did they have to make Big Mac, Soarin, Cheese Sandwich, Zephyr Breeze, or Sunburst?

Even when we got Big Mac and Soarin (after 6-7 years of waiting!), they still used Shining Armor's body. Big Mac should be bulkier, and Soarin doesn't have feathers on his hooves. Come to think of it, Sandbar is a bit of a miracle. A totally unique body type, fairly accurate to the character, and hair to match that isn't troll hair or a mohawk... Heck, maybe that's why we would never see a Zephyr toy-- for one, he has a lanky body, and two, his long hair is sort of a defining feature. But boys aren't SUPPOSED to have long hair!

If Hasbro gave the Mane Cast varying body types... what's going to happen if one of the Mane characters are fat, and Hasbro gets too lazy and puts her on a thin, generic mare's body? It's subtle, but isn't Mrs. Cake from FiM a bit chubby? Or at least, she doesn't have a typical mare body. Yet for her brushable release, she looks just like everyone else. I know in the leaked art they gave Pinkie and Rainbow Dash different wing shapes. If those turned out to be final designs and toys were to be made of them, would they actually acknowledge their differences, or make them identical?

Not to go on a tangent about pony body types but... When I was making my G5 predictions I had to look at G4 to make more realistic ones... I keep thinking "oh a feature like coloured in hooves would be cool!", but would Hasbro really do coloured hooves? I think not. This is the company that made Twilight Sparkle magenta with purple hair instead of a thistle-y/lavender colour with blue hair, and gave Applejack eyebrows instead of freckles. Applejack STILL doesn't have freckles most of the time. Celestia was pink instead of white.

Of course, we would hope that Hasbro puts actual effort into G5. I'm not saying body types shouldn't be a thing at all, but if they're going to do it, they have to do it right. Basically, is the call for diversity genuine, or performative? If Hasbro makes a fat pony, they would actually HAVE to deliver on a mould that matches that pony's body type, if they didn't, it would be a terrible look for them. But if they don't make a fat character in the first place, they don't have to put in any effort, and they can save money by making everyone look the same. I'd hate to be cynical about something like this but G4 was so incredibly lazy, all about the dumbest of things. If Hasbro can't put six dots under a pony's eyes during a gen's decade-long run, why would they put effort into making different body types?

If Hasbro wants to G5 to be more diverse, I wonder if we would actually get a boy pony in the Mane cast, and not just Spike. And hair types would be soooooo good! The G3.5 Pinkie Pie with the curls is so so so cute and I would love it if they did anything similar. They should have done that same hair style for the "Magic Of Everypony" set with the "show-accurate" manes. They just gave Pinkie ringlets for that, just like Rarity. Better than nothing I guess? For molded hair I want them to put actual detail into curls, too. Pinkie used to have curls but now her hair just kind of looks like... a cartoon brain...? It's just a bunch of shapeless lumps...

Back on topic of the G5 movie and the info in the article, I was talking to Tealeaf about it on Discord. The Mane 6 unified the creatures of Equestria, with more species living together in harmony than ever before, with the yaks, kirin, changelings, dragons, griffins, and hippogriffs, etc. So now, all of a sudden, even the MAIN THREE pony species are split apart again? How far ahead in the future does this take place?!?! What kind of princess was Twilight to have let this happen?!?

But then, I wonder, it's a "future" version of G4 Equestria, but is it the same exact universe as FiM, or is it a different one? G4 has different canons, does it not? Such as the comics? And different universes definitely exist already, as seen in that season finale where they redeem Starlight Glimmer. I don't play the Gameloft game much but I know they always like to bring in "alternate" or whatever versions of the Mane 6, such as vampires/bat ponies like "Appledrac".

[Lilja]

The main thing I would like is for different body types. I want chunky ponies and lanky ponies and short ponies and tall ponies. I would rather my ponies to not look like they are just different colored clones.

100% agree! I'd love to see this! Would be amazing if every character had a unique mold that was never reused for other characters. That's probably a bit too much to hope for, but maybe they could reuse each mold only once. G3.5 basically had unique molds for each character, but the faces were still very same-y (except for Sweetie Belle). A good point with G4 was that there were so many different eye styles that really set the characters apart, so I hope that gets carried over.

I'm all for a show that aims to promote positive, progressive values. There are great ways to do to this in fantasy environments, as seen in Steven Universe and the She-Ra reboot. I'd never argue against it on the assumption they'll handle it badly or that if they can't cover "all the issues" they shouldn't try to cover any at all. I'll wait until G5 is released to judge it. Possibly it'll just be mostly light fluff with some funny and heartfelt moments, the way it was with FiM. But that's fine too, I don't really expect much more from an MLP cartoon.

Back on topic of the G5 movie and the info in the article, I was talking to Tealeaf about it on Discord. The Mane 6 unified the creatures of Equestria, with more species living together in harmony than ever before, with the yaks, kirin, changelings, dragons, griffins, and hippogriffs, etc. So now, all of a sudden, even the MAIN THREE pony species are split apart again? How far ahead in the future does this take place?!?! What kind of princess was Twilight to have let this happen?!?

That's kind of the thing though. We tend to assume the society we currently live in is the most tolerant and that things will only keep improving into the future. But as history shows us, old bigotry can reemerge if we're not diligent. I think it could make for a good storyline.

But then, I wonder, it's a "future" version of G4 Equestria, but is it the same exact universe as FiM, or is it a different one? G4 has different canons, does it not? Such as the comics? And different universes definitely exist already, as seen in that season finale where they redeem Starlight Glimmer. I don't play the Gameloft game much but I know they always like to bring in "alternate" or whatever versions of the Mane 6, such as vampires/bat ponies like "Appledrac".

This is a good point too! There are lots of ways they could go about this "it's still Equestria, but in the far-off future" thing. I'm really interested in seeing how they'll handle it!

[Shrojjy]

so... i saw this morning that a poster on a rather infamous brony board (y'all know the one) claimed to have gone to an early screening/script-reading of the movie and gave a bit of a plot summary. this was in october and they got majorly poo-pooed at the time, but the information is in-line with this article and the leaked animatic. quick run-down below, potentially major spoilers but remember to take this with a huge grain of salt.

Spoiler

1. It is very far in the future. None of the FIM characters are actually around anymore, except to represent "better times."
2. Ponies fought and different types now all live in separate, themed lands (you might recall that this was a major theme in the leaks from a couple years ago).
3. The land is ruled by a council of alicorns, who dictate what ponies can do based off of their race and cutie mark. There is an underdog alicorn who speaks out and this one is an idol for the MC.
4. MC is a pegasus with a partially functioning wing and is in a pacifist group, along with her Twilight-esque unicorn coworker.
5. The above 2 go on a journey to find the elements of harmony and find the other 4 on the way.
6. Other 4 are a hippogriff/seapony, kirin, bat pony, and a changeling boy.

Additionally:
1. Movie is digital painting style, similarly to Into the Spiderverse. Imalou seems to be a major influence.
2. Some themes of the separate lands: Earth = western, Pegasus = steampunk, Unicorn = supernatural, Bat = goth, Kirin = Japanese folklore (includes dragons), Changeling = cyberpunk.
3. The poster claimed the race/diversity themes were done well and not hamfisted, and if someone posting on this particular board is claiming that, I'm inclined to believe them.

sorry if i'm late to the game on this one, by the way!

[littletulula]

so... i saw this morning that a poster on a rather infamous brony board (y'all know the one)

I don't know what board you're talking about 😳 care to share?