G5 Media News, movie is now out on Netflix!

[tailrustedtealeaf]

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!

This is so interesting!! I won't add it to the wiki just yet but this ties in well with the information we have. Digital painting style would be so cool!

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?

Unfortunately I think it is not to be named.

[Taffeta]

I do wish the elements of harmony weren't going to be pulled back into this, if this information is accurate, but it does depend how it is handled.

Kirins could potentially be a landmine depending on how they do it, given that they're mythical beasts in China etc as well. The relations between China and Japan being what they are, I hope they tackle that sensitively.

The idea that the main cast be different species would feed into what a lot of people have been asking for I think...?

I guess we'll see if these things transpire. But if so, it would suggest that the toys would each have their own mould for the character, as some people were saying above.

[Shrojjy]

i just realized, sorry for my overuse of the word "major" but yes! if it's true, it actually has me kind of excited, at least as far as the media goes. the poster was very complementary of the movie.

and i also thought the same regarding kirins re: backfire potential. it's a little strange for all the other lands to be relatively neutral and then have one directly inspired by a real-world culture. we'll see how it goes, of course, it may not even be true.

[SunPony]

Huh, none of the main characters are

Spoiler

Earth ponies...

  Interesting...

Spoiler

it's a little strange for all the other lands to be relatively neutral and then have one directly inspired by a real-world culture.

  I'm assuming "western" means something like "ye olde wild west in the USA" - that's also a real-world culture!  Or if it just means to imply western civilization...ditto.

  And I do agree that there is the potential for cultural insensitivity issues there!  With either/both! 

Not sure if I needed to spoiler any of this?  But I did to be on the safe side. 

[Ragamuffin]

Spoiler

If this is to believed I'm excited for kirin but I hope all three of them have nice designs with Cutie Marks. The changelings, seaponies/hippogriffs, and kirin all had solid coloured manes and no Cutie Marks. Imagine going into the pony aisle to buy a pony and none of them are ponies and none of them have features that are expected in a My Little Pony brand toy... is a little bit of colour too much to ask?

I don't like the lack of earth ponies in this. Earth ponies have always been the least favourite species in the FiM fandom, and remember the leak that said they were going to get rid of Applejack because they didn't know what to do with her? In FiM they made unicorns so overpowered and gave earth ponies literally nothing to do. It's called My Little PONY and none of the characters are just going to be regular old ponies? Are ponies BORING? Are you going to call the series "My Little Unicorn" now? I grew up with G2s and G3s which were predominately earths, and I like the rarity of the unicorns and the pegasi. It made them really special and it was always exciting to see one. Plus I was a "Horse Girl" in general so maybe I'm more drawn to earth ponies for that reason. In G4 it was like earth ponies might as well not exist at all because unicorns were the superior species.

Unpopular opinion that I've stated before, but I've never liked bat ponies. Conceptually they're fine but bronies were SO in love with them, "too much"; I only associate bat ponies with the brony side of the fandom. I don't like how they chose the "brony species" over the actual thing the series is named for.
 

[Shrojjy]

oops! that's right! i guess i was thinking in terms of the M6.

Spoiler

i'm also a little disappointed by the lack of earth ponies, but not surprised at all. my guess is that they would be difficult to market next to the rest. one less opportunity for glittery/light up wings/horn.

also, someone else posted something in november saying more or less the same thing, with a couple inconsistencies

Spoiler

mostly surrounding alicorn leadership. said that there was a stigma against magic and the world was mostly governed by pegasi/earth ponies. still a conspiratorial government thing going. they also said all the separate lands were based off of real cultures, stating mardi gras/new orleans for pegasi and victorian era for bats. japan for kirins, still. sounds like that could be more interpretation than an inconsistency

[Taffeta]

To be honest they might have played it safer going for historical something for all of them, rather than modern culture. Mind you,

Spoiler

Victorian = blah, I don't know why shows keep fixing on it. There are so many more interesting things they could have done.

I automatically expect in a US TV show that the west = the US and that's fine. I don't see a problem with it, I mean, they're making it, and that should mean it's not culturally insensitive. I wouldn't read it as representing the WHOLE west since Western culture is diverse between countries, but it's probably not going to offend anyone if it doesn't represent every single cultural facet. I just wonder if Victorian is meant to be a nod to here, and if so, that will be annoying. Especially if there's a faux-English accent involved. Please no. ><

I suppose with the Kirin aspect, it depends on how they do it, but I am fairly sure that China considers the Qilin to be theirs first and foremost. The Japanese word comes from the Chinese one, after all. I would be more worried about stereotypes in this context that might be taken amiss as well. Aside the relationships in Asia being a bit of a minefield, Western ideas of Japanese culture are a bit...narrow. :/ But we'll see. I may be overthinking it.

And all of this may not be accurate, so.

I will say this. I really like the idea of the MC having a wing disability. Depending on how they handle it, having a disabled MC in a kid's show is a potentially powerful thing.

I am not sure why I am spoilering since the whole thread is really about spoilers, but just in case

[Ragamuffin]

I found the posts, one is from October last year and the other is from November. Mind you these are just rumours and not real leaks. While there's consistency in them, there's no real evidence like pictures or anything so there's no reason to take this as 100% true until Hasbro shows us something.

Spoiler

First post from October was an "unfinished screening" and was more or less what was mentioned earlier here. OP said it took place in futuristic Equestria. Danny DeVito supposedly has a role in this film, but that bit of info was already in the 2017 leaks. The segregation was a result of some species being jealous of the others' friendship and the alicorns had to break everyone up. Pegasus MC and unicorn friend go across Equestria to look for the Elements of Harmony.

Post from November was an "updated draft" of the movie. Mentions the same 2Dish art style. The ponies don't live in Equestria but rather a different country, and in a fantasy urban setting. Says pegasus MC is part of a larger activist group that's lead by another pegasus, who has a bigger role later in the story. Other characters seem to be dubious about this other pegasus. No mention of alicorns anywhere and instead the country is governed by magic-fearing pegasi and earth ponies. Plot is about a government conspiracy or something and "unlocking your true potential". MC learns a lesson about "life is not all about people getting along". Movie is rated PG and has a run time of about two hours. OP said it doesn't pander to bronies and doesn't take a lot from FiM aside from a few references. Compared it to Adventure Time.

Inconsistencies: The setting of "Equestria" versus this new country. Granted "Equestria" isn't the name of the planet the ponies live on but is rather the country/kingdom the G4 characters live in. There are probably more pony societies on the planet we don't know about and this movie could show us. October post doesn't mention the tension between the nonmagical and the magical pony species, nor the governing pegasi and earth ponies. October post doesn't mention the conspiracy part of the plot, and the November post doesn't mention anything about alicorns. November post does not mention the Elements of Harmony either.
October post says locations are based on movie tropes/genres, and that pegasi get steampunk and bat ponies get horror. November post says locations are based on real-world cultures mixed with fantasy, and that pegasi get a Mardi Gras-inspired setting while bat ponies get a Victorian one.

People in the comments of both posts aren't a fan of the premise, and someone asked about why the Mane Cast are mostly non-pony species in the November post. They were wondering why they would make the cast like that, because ponies are the core focus of MLP (obviously) and would sell better than nonpony species-- that's why we got toys of Silverstream and Sandbar, but not the other characters. Their words, not mine (while I think it's partially true, I think it's mostly due to that Sandbar and Silverstream are easier to make due to pre-existing moulds). OP replied to the comment, dismissing it, saying that kirin are definitely ponies and that Hasbro is focusing more on digital entertainment rather than toys. I don't know if I would believe this guy when he says that. If he was just there for the movie and nothing else, what does he know about Hasbro's strategy for toys and merchandise?

And assuming both of these are true, how far along into production was the movie at this time last year? Both posts also mentioned that there were musical segments but no music in the versions they saw. Was it mostly finished, or were they just animatics and storyboards? What counts as "unfinished" and "updated"? Did OP of the October post leave some things out, or were those things added in in the updated version that the November OP watched? Or are these both bogus stories, one original and the other copying some of the info to look more credible?

Something else to mention, in the animatic/storyboard leak from last month, both of the characters seem to be earth ponies, not pegasi. Unless they just didn't draw their wings, there aren't any on either pony's back. That's also assuming this sequence would be in the final movie and wasn't scrapped...

[Dreamer]

I'm excited, I can't help to compare the "pony species associated with movie genres" thing with the "troll species associated with music genres" they did with Trolls 2... it's not something bad, tho! I'd like more of the same base concept as long as it's well handled 

[Shrojjy]

i just figured either someone was trying to irritate some bronies and got very lucky with a couple details, or they’re telling the truth. my guess is that the november post is pot-stirring regardless.

[Zapper]

Oof, if the spoilers are legit I can say we are in for FiM 2.0
At least it sounds like it'll look good.

it's a little strange for all the other lands to be relatively neutral and then have one directly inspired by a real-world culture.

"Western" is a culture, too Nothing neutral about Americana.

Spoiler

I gotta say I see no correlation between Changelings and Cyberpunk. SciFi horror maybe.

[Ragamuffin]

i just figured either someone was trying to irritate some bronies and got very lucky with a couple details, or they’re telling the truth. my guess is that the november post is pot-stirring regardless.

The hacker known as [REDACTED] would never lie to me

[Zapper]

Sorry, I should have read the entire thread before posting.

This is true, Tales did try to tackle lessons with environmentalism,  judging others prematurely and typical social lessons about gossip, secrets and getting along.

And in fairness, the 80s and 90s were rife with PSAs, and cartoons tackling the issues of the day.

Captain Planet tackled environmental issues, AIDs, drugs and bigotry
The banned (but brilliantly handled) Gargoyles gun episode
JatH tackled drugs, dyslexia, and dysfunctional families
COPs
Fat Albert
Dot and the Kangaroo tackled fire and selling wild animals

Granted, they didn't always do them well. Still, its nothing new for Hasbro, I just wish they didn't suck at it.

I think what's obvious here is that these shows had people in them who did the evil deeds. Except for Tales and well, Tales was My Little Anthropony and that's exactly what I had hoped G5 would get away from. FiM had some really misinformed stories about invasive species and taking away land from natives. If that's supposed to be in the past of G5, canonically speaking, then they'd need really clever writers to get around that stuff. Especially if they are trying to convey these messages and not use them as a metaphor for sharing and caring, something that FiM actually tried to do with these eps.

Back to jokes, how funny would it be if some of these things would just not appear in G5 because "that was long ago and the natives and fruit bats are extinct now" - problem solved Or maybe the buffalo are now all running casinos

[Shrojjy]

"Western" is a culture, too Nothing neutral about Americana.

haha yes i posted above, i forgot about that one altogether. for shame, since i’m from texas!

The hacker known as [REDACTED] would never lie to me

LOL never. everyone knows anonymous boards full of dudes with hair-trigger tempers are actually the most reliable source of information.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

One of the most exciting things from the rumored posts is that the animation would emulate 2D. Someone said it looks like Lmalou's painting style. That would be so cool!