The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Leave a Whisper on February 08, 2015, 07:13:59 AM
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I'm just genuinely curious. I'd so buy G4 if the girls had faces like the boys. Why the design change between the genders? Does anyone know? I'd love to have Lyra Heartstrings, Trixie Lulamoon, Princess Luna, Diamond Mint,Sunset Shimmer and quite a few others if they had more normal faces like the boys got.
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You know, big eyes = cute, eyes look bigger if the rest of the face is smaller.
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Small noses are generally considered cute and girly and feminine. Why they decided to make the gender difference so significant, that I don't know.
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Small noses are generally considered cute and girly and feminine. Why they decided to make the gender difference so significant, that I don't know.
Yeah, it's almost like they were going for a more ~*anime desu*~ look.
I personally like the girls faces better, the boys look super bulky and awkward to me. Their muzzles look like bricks xD But yeah, the huge difference is kind of weird, especially considering that the princesses are in between for some reason.
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Small noses are generally considered cute and girly and feminine. Why they decided to make the gender difference so significant, that I don't know.
Yeah, it's almost like they were going for a more ~*anime desu*~ look.
I personally like the girls faces better, the boys look super bulky and awkward to me. Their muzzles look like bricks xD But yeah, the huge difference is kind of weird, especially considering that the princesses are in between for some reason.
why? they don't even look like actual ponies. they look sorry, I know a lot of people like them but the girls look totally deformed
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The G4 toyline is a little backwards, I believe. Instead of having a show that is based on the toys, the toys were made to resemble the show. To my knowledge, this isn't par for the course for MLP.
"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" was pitched with the kind of stylization you're seeing here, but it didn't start there! The Generation 3.5 toy line featured ponies with similar faces, with their enormous eyes and little beak-like snouts positioned on large, round heads!
G4 ponies really made me think of mice at first, with those big ears, big eyes, and little snouts! They definitely bring a challenge to the concept of a pony, and the illustrator in me thinks that's all kinds of fun. :)
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I know I saw Faust's character redesigns (of female G1 characters) on deviantArt before she took them down while she was in talks with Hasbro for the show, so it seems to me that the female characters were designed first, and then the male character designs were created later. I assumed they were going off the fact that the G1 boys had different features than the G1 girls, and just made the differences more prominent. So I guess I would ask the reverse: why the boys aren't more like the girls.
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Small noses are generally considered cute and girly and feminine. Why they decided to make the gender difference so significant, that I don't know.
Yeah, it's almost like they were going for a more ~*anime desu*~ look.
I personally like the girls faces better, the boys look super bulky and awkward to me. Their muzzles look like bricks xD But yeah, the huge difference is kind of weird, especially considering that the princesses are in between for some reason.
why? they don't even look like actual ponies. they look sorry, I know a lot of people like them but the girls look totally deformed
Yeah, but the boy ponies look like they have boxes on their face, imo. While I love G4, the designs aren't as good or as pony-like as previous gens.
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Yeah, it's almost like they were going for a more ~*anime desu*~ look.
I personally like the girls faces better, the boys look super bulky and awkward to me. Their muzzles look like bricks xD But yeah, the huge difference is kind of weird, especially considering that the princesses are in between for some reason.
I think the preferred style has shifted a lot in the last couple of decades - compare animated Disney characters! They shift from having very realistic features to slowly getting larger eyes and softer faces and appearing more and more doll- and child-like, and anthropomorphised creatures are no different. I personally prefer the female designs over the males ones, the latter is too block-y :lol: If anything, I think maybe they look more like deer than horses but...eh, they're rainbow-coloured fantasy horses, I don't think they have to look like the real animal.
As for why the huge difference...well, "Boys must look like boys and girls must look like girls". It's amazing how obsessed people are with keeping children's things so clearly gendered.
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As mentioned, smaller noses are more feminine. Big ol' flat noses are masculine. There is an exaggeration to show the difference between the two, especially in the original concept pitches.
http://fyre-flye.deviantart.com/art/Cloudsdale-residents-260225001
This sort of stereotype has been around forever where men have been depicted with huge boxy noses, and women little petite noses...
why "bird nose"-- Hasbro needed to change it up after a long (but getting stale) G3 run. They needed a style that was very different and fresh... Faust had a great pitch, and that the design is based off of her sketches. *shrug*
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I posted this over on the MLPTP, but I'm going to post it here as well.
Realistically, men typically have more blunt facial features - the jawline, for example - than women. (Now, these ponies don't relate to realism at all, but that's beside the point.) Like (another member) stated, it's sexual dimorphism and I personally like the style. That isn't to say that there won't be ponies who break the mold, for lack of a better term. While I do have a few feminine male OCs, I prefer the guys to look like guys and vice-versa.
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Yes and I know that we had an easy way to tell between our guys and gals in G1 with the Draft-Feathering, but these aren't humans, these are animals, ponies, to be exact and ponies have cute muzzles. Not deformed bird beaks
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*shrugs* Horses also have actual joints and hooves and longer necks. Even G1 did not look exactly like a real horse or pony. MLP has always been a stylized version of a pony. Sometimes it is more stylized than others such as the current generation. G4 is also more anthropomorphised (sp?) than some other generations which means that we as humans make them look more like us than like real horses. In this case it translates to smaller muzzles that look more like human noses.
To be honest, my least favorite gen is G2 and it is the gen that looks most like real horses in my opinion.
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Well Whisper, that is your opinion. In my point of view calling their small muzzles "deformed bird beaks" might be exaggerating a bit. ;) The G4 muzzle design isn't actually that far from G2 design, although in G2 the boys and girls were all off the same mold.
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*shrugs* Horses also have actual joints and hooves and longer necks. Even G1 did not look exactly like a real horse or pony. MLP has always been a stylized version of a pony. Sometimes it is more stylized than others such as the current generation. G4 is also more anthropomorphised (sp?) than some other generations which means that we as humans make them look more like us than like real horses. In this case it translates to smaller muzzles that look more like human noses.
To be honest, my least favorite gen is G2 and it is the gen that looks most like real horses in my opinion.
Actually the dream beauties had more of a horsey look and you are correct that G1 is stylized. Personally I think G4 has more in common with G3.5 G2 and to a lesser extent Sweet Heart Sisters.
Post Merge: February 08, 2015, 12:19:54 PM
Well Whisper, that is your opinion. In my point of view calling their small muzzles "deformed bird beaks" might be exaggerating a bit. ;) The G4 muzzle design isn't actually that far from G2 design, although in G2 the boys and girls were all off the same mold.
*shrugs* They still have bird beaks. I'm glad the boys don't have them though. Makes 'em look a little more normal. like the animal that they are supposed to be.
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I know that Dream Beauties are officially part of the line, but I dont really consider them *real* mlp in the same way I don't consider lil' puppies and lil' kitties My Little Pony. Officially part of the line, but really it's own offshoot line. Like Equestria Girls.
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Sometimes stylizing things doesn't make sense to a lot of us... Just from reading up to this point got me thinking about something that is with the style of the ponies... They are really more closer to human faces so the animators can get more mouth expressions.. I had to look at one of my pop ponies and a deconstructed Design a Pony to really notice this fact and for it to explain why say Twilight can get an insanity grin on her face.
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I think as others have mentioned it all has to be put in perspective of it being a cartoon and a kids cartoon about talking multi coloured animals at that...reality I sense is not what its going for. :P Clear definition between male and female is important when it comes to making a mass market cartoon for such an age group. You want and need an ease of understanding. The simpler the better; as cartoons for 3 to 6 year olds dont want to have to explain themselves, they just want and need to be obvious. It is maybe a little too simple for us as adults of course but the easiest way to do that is to focus on physical stereotypes - in this case "men being bigger and more angular" and "women being smaller and curvier".
In addition the big eyes and small features are just a reflection of popular current styles. As others have mentioned you can see it in Disney's evolution most apparently - moving from small eyes and undefined features to overly large eyes and overly defined features. 50 years in the future no doubt things will look different because of what is popular and stylish and what is considered appealing then.
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Part of the reason for their little beaky mouths and the very different body types and faces on the males (you'll notice a lot of variety in them, both in the face and body) is that female characters have a lot of pressure (from a design perspective) to be 'cute' and that really restricts the differences you can do with them, if that's the only thing you're aiming for.
That's why it's so unusual to see comicbook and disney type girls with difference faces other than hairstyle and colouring. Rarely are there grecian noses, chubbier faces, square jaws, etc.
Makes for an easy and consistent toy mold tho'
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Basically common thing in animation (like look at a lot of Disney princesses or at least the more modern ones) is that female characters will look cute, so big eyes, little nose and often generally look really petite. And generally have to sometimes look pretty over distinctive design and character. Also I think they've sort of cashed in on the sort of anime inspired 'chibi' look as well as that's sort of slipped into a lot of toys as well in recent years. You'll find a lot about this stuff if you look it up.
And yeah when it comes to kids cartoons gender differences can be really played up, it's a common thing like if you need to show a character is a girl and they're not human expect things like adding big eyelashes, hair accessories etc so there's like the visual shorthand of 'yes this is a girl'
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Yeah, it's almost like they were going for a more ~*anime desu*~ look.
I can safely say they weren't.
In fact to me, they don't even look even vaguely anime like (I assume we are using the term "anime" the way we do here; to mean "a Japanese cartoon"?)
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oh well to each their own
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Hope I didn't come across as harsh.
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Yeah, it's almost like they were going for a more ~*anime desu*~ look.
I can safely say they weren't.
In fact to me, they don't even look even vaguely anime like (I assume we are using the term "anime" the way we do here; to mean "a Japanese cartoon"?)
I agree :)
Its refreshing to see someone else doesn't think so.
I think whispers response was in general she doesn't like the g4 girl look, and hasn't gotten an answer that changes her mind.
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I think they look cute... as long as it's not like some of the early art where the noses are actually pointy. That looks a bit odd.
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Yeah, it's almost like they were going for a more ~*anime desu*~ look.
I can safely say they weren't.
In fact to me, they don't even look even vaguely anime like (I assume we are using the term "anime" the way we do here; to mean "a Japanese cartoon"?)
I agree :)
Its refreshing to see someone else doesn't think so.
I think whispers response was in general she doesn't like the g4 girl look, and hasn't gotten an answer that changes her mind.
I'm definitely not seeing the anime look either.
I believe the other potential reasons that have been stated are good, so I have nothing to add. It's just that when someone blantantly dislikes something, it's hard to change their mind, even if your answer seems logical. *shrugs*