Origin of Cutie Mark Concept?

[gabumon]

does anyone else want to vote on this? I am preparing a presentation for a pony meetup this weekend.

[rosierjay]

Honestly, I think they semi-stole the idea from Care Bears. Care Bears came out in 1981 and their tummy symbols are not dissimilar to a My Little Pony's symbol.

Originally, all first six ponies were going to all have appaloosa spots like Cotton Candy. I think Hasbro changed the idea so that they would be more interesting and to be more of a rival to Care Bears, which MLP was in the 80's.

this is what i was thinking.
though the toys didn't come out till 83.

0.0! the wikipedia for mlp is actually pretty interesting.

[LadyMoondancer]

Oh, here's something interesting!  The backcard for the Year 1 collector ponies DOES show them all with appaloosa spots on the front of the card!

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(I realize that's an Italian pony, but I have a US backcard with the same thing on it.)

[lunar_scythe]

yep, the US card shows them with just spots.

I'm pretty sure the markings came from something Bonnie said or designed sarcastically, but it stuck and became a major design element.

[brittney_rochelle]

If anyone wants to see the original black and brown ponies, they're at 2:11 in this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Wd0caSZiE

Here you are! Low quality is low.
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