DHX hit with major data breach (beware of spoilers)

[Dragonflitter]

Separate spoilers for people who only want to be spoiled on some things, I guess.

G5 talk:

Spoiler

There's not much I can add to the discussion about the G5 leaked concept art that hasn't already been said. I agree with Zapper that it looks very complicated for a toy. On the other hand, it might not be too complicated for a CGI show. CGI characters can actually get pretty detailed without being a lot more difficult to animate than more simplified designs. That's one of the benefits of CGI, and why a lot of cartoons go that route. That being said, this cartoon isn't supposed to be released until 2020. I'm entirely sure we're going to see a lot of changes between now and then. (Possibly there might even be radical changes BECAUSE this information was leaked? DHX might want to go with some alternative ideas now that people know what is coming.)

S8/9 talk:

Spoiler

But man, why is there not more talk about the leaked episodes and information for S8 and 9!? The idea of a Friendship Academy is so cute! I mean, it's not the most original idea. I have seen it quite a few times after a series has evolved to a certain point, including in a lot of kids book series where the characters we love have "grow up" (i.e. accomplished all their goals originally introduced) and the writers need to figure out the next thing for them to do. Teaching the next gen just makes sense as a next step in the story.

But I still think it's a great idea! I really like that they took all the different intelligent species we've met from the previous seasons (yak, dragon, Changeling, gryphon, hippogriff/seapony) and enrolled one character from each culture into the new school. Judging by the intro, the school is made up mostly of regular young ponies, with these five characters being the cultural exchange kinda kids. I watched a handful of leaked episodes and I enjoyed them for the most part, especially the ones that focused on the new characters rather than more M6. My favorite was the ep where the CMC go to the land of the hippogriffs and have to help a boy who can't decide whether he wants to live above the sea, with the hippogriffs, or under the sea with the seaponies. It was a somewhat simplified but nice way of looking at the complicated concept of a kid being pulled between two parents' homes.

I'm going to enjoy meeting these new characters and I hope they devote some more episodes to getting into their backstories, and not just focusing on the M6 some more, like most of the leaked episodes I watched.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

S8/9 talk:

Spoiler

The idea of a Friendship Academy is so cute! .... ! I really like that they took all the different intelligent species we've met from the previous seasons (yak, dragon, Changeling, gryphon, hippogriff/seapony) and enrolled one character from each culture into the new school. Judging by the intro, the school is made up mostly of regular young ponies, with these five characters being the cultural exchange kinda kids.

Spoiler

So... like Monster High but with animals now!  OMG Hasbro, what-EVA...

[lonewolf]

Spoiler

I wonder if Starlight Glimmer will be the go-to thing that killed the show now. People didnt like her becoming the 7th member as is, S9 being the last certainly won't help

Starlight is a pink and purple unicorn with magic powers. She does well with kids. People need to understand that a couple of angry adults on the internet are not the main target audience, no matter how hard they try to be. Not even us who supported MLP since childhood are the main target.
I never heard a little kid say "well Starlight is just too powerful. And she is a communist!" Only people who analyze the show do that.

Glimmy (and her fans) get's a LOT of hate from those who don't want the show to deviate from Faust's vision even a hair (and can't accept the fact she is never going back to the show to "fix it"). To the point I hope she becomes an alicorn just so I can watch these fans  fly into a tizzy.

[Galactica]

So if DHX is sold- 

And the show is run by an entirely different company with different employees.... http://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/dhx-media-puts-itself-up-for-sale/

Would the new owners be in charge of determining what G5 looks like? Maybe the leaked images (assuming they are real) are irrelevant?

[Al-1701]

Well, I think this is pitch art.  What we actually see on screen will probably be very different.

[LadyMoondancer]

I imagine Hasbro would mainly be in charge of what the characters looked like?  They might hire someone else to design for them, but ultimately it's their brand so they have the final say, as far as I know.

[Al-1701]

I was thinking the animated form of them.  As you said, they're depending more and more external media for characterization.  They probably have general guidelines but want to see the styles potential bidders give them.

[Stormness_1]

You can get an idea of this when you look at "The Art Of" books for various animated movies. You'll notice a lot of characters looked vastly different in the early stages and the images vary in style and quality based on the artist.

Has anyone seen the art book for the latest MLP movie?! This is quite true - it shows the transitions from original animated ponies to the movie animations, and it also shows the original concepts for the new characters, and some of them were waaayyy off of what they ended up being. If it can happen within one generation of MLP, it can certainly happen when transferring to a new generation. They can do whatever they like, change concepts as much as they like because it's a clean slate. No-one is supposed to see it, so it doesn't actually matter if a concept pony started out as a pink pegasus and ended up a blue unicorn. No one is ever going to know to be upset about it, so they can change it as much as they like!

[Jocelyn]

I wonder of the fact that we have all seen this concept art (if it is that) has doomed it to not being used.

[Zapper]

I wonder of the fact that we have all seen this concept art (if it is that) has doomed it to not being used.

If it's real concept art, they have many more. So not using one single idea won't doom anything.

I personally think it's curious the leakers/hackers only released one single character art. Could they only obtain one? Did they sneak in fanart or is this merely a pic the people at DHX used to illustrate a general direction the designs could go? (Similar to how the Equestria Girls were partially inspired by cosplay).

If the art really is fanart they used I feel a little bad for the original artist. Imagine waking up one day and suddenly so many people in your fandom talk about your fanart and how it will ruin MLP
Btw I like that idea of making their hoof lines look similar to their cutiemarks. It's subtle and cool. The designs are very busy, kinda 'powered up' but there are many nice elements in them that could make for a slick character look - if tweaked and streamlined a bit more. Like Rarity having a gem design at the base of her horn is very cute and reminds me of Last Unicorn.

[Leave a Whisper]

I wonder of the fact that we have all seen this concept art (if it is that) has doomed it to not being used.

If it's real concept art, they have many more. So not using one single idea won't doom anything.

I personally think it's curious the leakers/hackers only released one single character art. Could they only obtain one? Did they sneak in fanart or is this merely a pic the people at DHX used to illustrate a general direction the designs could go? (Similar to how the Equestria Girls were partially inspired by cosplay).

If the art really is fanart they used I feel a little bad for the original artist. Imagine waking up one day and suddenly so many people in your fandom talk about your fanart and how it will ruin MLP
Btw I like that idea of making their hoof lines look similar to their cutiemarks. It's subtle and cool. The designs are very busy, kinda 'powered up' but there are many nice elements in them that could make for a slick character look - if tweaked and streamlined a bit more. Like Rarity having a gem design at the base of her horn is very cute and reminds me of Last Unicorn.

The rabid bronies do that anyway.

[Pinkie21]

Spoiler

I saw some of the leaked season 8 episodes, and I’m officially ready for FiM to go away.  There are WAAAAAAY too many different species in this thing now.  I can’t wait til this thing is cancelled..

[Leave a Whisper]

Spoiler

I saw some of the leaked season 8 episodes, and I’m officially ready for FiM to go away.  There are WAAAAAAY too many different species in this thing now.  I can’t wait til this thing is cancelled..

How do you figure that? It has roughly the same amount of species G1 has.

[Taffeta]

Spoiler

I saw some of the leaked season 8 episodes, and I’m officially ready for FiM to go away.  There are WAAAAAAY too many different species in this thing now.  I can’t wait til this thing is cancelled..

How do you figure that? It has roughly the same amount of species G1 has.

Maybe the rationale is that G1 didn't try to force all those species into one continuous cartoon series? A lot of the species in G1 were never in the animation, or only peripherally compared to the main three (earth, peg, unicorn).

Not that I have seen much or any FIM since season 1, and I'm not interested in the ep leaks at all, but that would be my best guess.

I would be amused now if there was a g5 release in 2020 and it was entirely different from anything yet seen and all of this is designed to take people off guard and fool them.

[lonewolf]

Spoiler

I saw some of the leaked season 8 episodes, and I’m officially ready for FiM to go away.  There are WAAAAAAY too many different species in this thing now.  I can’t wait til this thing is cancelled..

How do you figure that? It has roughly the same amount of species G1 has.

Well let's see:
Alicorn
Unicorn
Earth pony
Pegasus
Changeling
Bat pony
Dragon
Hippogriff
Yak
Seapony
Minotaur
Mule
Centaur
Sea serpent
Dog
Buffalo

If you count the movie and comics
Cat
Bird

Eh. Maybe.