When Michael Bay's Transformers film came out in 2007, I was one of the only people I knew at the time who had no interest in seeing it. This was before the franchise and Megan Fox developed their toxic reputations, but I'd heard negative things about the portrayal of Jazz (the "black" Transformer), and that a female Transformer had been cut out of the film, so I stayed away. When my younger brother called me pigheaded for this, I said something along the lines of, "Well, they would never give a girl's show from the 1980s a remake treatment! When are we going to get a 'My Little Pony' movie?"
Even at the time I knew my argument was a little silly. I didn't actually want a live action film of multicolored ponies and, to be honest, never really watched the '80s show as a kid. I liked the toys, and to a certain extent I liked the fandom that had sprung up around it when the "generation three" ponies came out, especially the part of fandom that liked to repaint the toys and make them look like Batman or whatever. Still the direct-to-DVD animations for that were dreadful and I can't imagine anyone who wasn't a child liked them in a non-ironic way.
So it was strange when people began talking about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, especially before I figured out they weren't talking about those aforementioned direct-to-DVD things. Learning that the first episode was a dramatic fantasy battle and the rest of the series was about the ponies having slumber parties and relay races, much like the 80s show that had unimpressed me, left me skeptical. Seeing the new show was different and the animation style had drastically changed didn't rid me of my skepticism. Also, while I'm getting more used to it, I don't like the remade opening theme song. I worked in a children's clothing store between 2009 and 2010 and the aggressive-yet-muzzled guitar work reminded me of a lot of the tunes I had to suffer through on the job.
Still, when I heard Lauren Faust, wife of Craig McCracken, was the creator of this show, I decided to lighten up. And I'm glad I did. I might have not really meant my wish for a remade, better My Little Pony, but I got it, and I couldn't be happier. I've loved watching every episode. I've loved recommending it to my friends. And I've really, really loved recommending it to my younger girl cousins. Especially that moment when they watched the opening song on their iPod and said things like, "We can't wait to get home and watch this!" and "Rainbow Dash is a BEAST!"
What drew me so hard to this show where its predecessors failed is that this show is clever, much in the same vein of McCracken's Powerpuff Girls or Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. There's a lot of Buttercup in Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie is a little bit like Cheese. Also, like both of those shows, you can learn a lot about the characters' personalities from their character designs and their gestures. In former MLPs, the ponies all blended together. Not so much with this one, where changing the color scheme can't erase who they essentially are. Since female characters are often painted with the same brush, this is a cool thing.:
Hyperactive Pinkie Pie and tomboyish Rainbow Dash I fell for at first, but I eventually grew to love almost everybody, even bookish Twilight Sparkle and her dragon Spike, who, by taking a cocky but sweet little brother route, seems to be the best version of this character, which has appeared in all the MLP shows. As you can guess, the show puts the characters into general "types" but mostly ignores negative stereotypes. Apple Jack is a farm pony but that doesn't make her stupid. And while I do think the writers slipped with her a few times, Rarity's love of glamor and fashion doesn't exclude her from having a generous heart. Along the same lines, the writing is very good. It's smart and funny, and while it's not afraid to poke fun at itself, it also doesn't turn into something cynical like the Shrek movies.
Also, this may seem sentimental, but there's one moment in particular that makes me love the show. I grew up a very shy kid with low self-esteem. And when you grow up that way, you tend to get a lot of messages that the responsibility is on you to be different. There's one episode where Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash decide to play pranks on all the ponies. Rainbow Dash sets up a prank to play on Fluttershy, but Pinkie Pie stops her, saying Fluttershy is too sensitive to handle even the mildest prank. What surprised me so much about this is the show 1.) gave what could have a very ditzy character who could potentially run over anyone else the intelligence to recognize another character's boundaries 2.) had a character that could have been a bully step back and say "Hey, you're right." It's a wonderful bit, and something that would have made me feel a lot better as a kid, and I hope it works on the kids out there now.
The show hasn't always been perfect. I'm not sure if Zecora the African Zebra and the Native American buffalo make sense, especially since their episodes deal with racism/colonialism on a metaphorical level and it would be offensive to have racism/colonialism themes centered around a bunch of fantasy characters who nobody has prejudices toward (i.e. James Cameron's Avatar), or are stereotypes that have the unfortunate implication of implying all the regular ponies are coded "white." (Although the fanart of the main character ponies as humans that makes some of them into people of color helps a little bit, I suppose. On a similar note, I have no urge to get into the subject of that gray pony with the silly eyes right now.) And I'm never quite sure if I find the Cutie Mark Crusaders, baby ponies on a quest to get the pictures on their butt which imply they have found their purpose, annoying or endearing. Still, the pleasures of the show are great and often outweigh the occasional discomfort.
Faust has left the show, which leaves me wondering if the second season will be as good as the first. I have high hopes, yet even if it doesn't, the first season has been a wonderful gift on its own. I may not have meant it when I asked for it, but I'm glad I got it anyway.
