That One Little Girl's 'Pony' Cartoon that's Slowly Devouring the Internet

[AvestheFox]

Its true... there's something called the 'Pony' craze that's slowly swallowing the internet whole.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic

Youtube it if you dare...

 But be warned, it can get addicting... like a drug... you may actually crap rainbows and love it! Some people are immune to it (and hate it)... but there are many who may not be so fortunate...

Why has this cartoon gained so much attention you may ask? Because it was created by Lauren Faust... who happens to be married to the same guy who did The Power Puff Girls. Her animation style on this cartoon is something to behold! Even if it is a flash-style cartoon. Its ultra cute... even to the point that there had been billions of image macros made of it in such a short amount of time. Its a huge meme.. its also one hell of a internet fad.

I've witnessed men of military status go completely batty over this cartoon. Not only that, but I've also seen some of the most sadistic /b/tards (the ones that you'd normally see raiding certain forums with horrible pictures of gore, porn and other atrocities) suddenly become the friendliest most innocent, caring people to grace the internets.

Hell, there's even an imageboard devoted to it!
Ponychan... its like 4chan's alternate (good) twin sister... literally!

I'm just surprised it hasn't crept up into these forums yet... its like a virus...

well shi-  ...I just let that virus loose in here, didn't I?... o_0

[Scribblesense]

After watching the first episode, I can honestly say I like the clippy-cloppy sound their hooves make when they walk. 
The foley department must have went through a lot of coconuts.

It's certainly beyond cute, and has a level of quality I did not know existed in little girl's cartoons. I thought it would be something like a direct-to-DVD Barbie movie, but instead of being driven purely by spectacle (as in, the only selling point is that it has Barbie in it) it feels as if they are really trying to set up characters with both strengths and flaws as well as some "interesting" pony-lore that they'll hopefully stick to. I'd definitely say it has the level of quality that other Hasbro toy line TV series have - GI Joe and Transformers, and if that continues they'll have a definite hit on their hands. It comes off as a bit more mature than the lucrative sugary cereal crowd (6-10 year olds) that I would expect them to be aiming their merchandise at, and appears to be for the preteen/tween market.

It's very interesting that Hasbro seems to have mined a formula out of their TV shows (GI Joe and Transformers) and are now applying it to My Little Pony as well - and it seems to be working, if older male viewers are as obsessed with this show as I am lead to believe. Whatever coven of warlocks Hasbro hired as their market research team must be making extra sacrifices to their dark gods in celebration of their continued success. Mattel could certainly learn a thing or two.

I also laughed out loud (or "LOL'd", if you will) that the apparent main character's name is Twilight Sparkle (voiced by the lovely and talented Tara Strong). She's an antisocial pony (I'm pretty close to loathing myself for using that word) who spends all her time reading. So when she turns down some other ponies (self-loathing achieved) who want to hang out because she needed to go to the library, it was more than appropriate that I thought to myself "Can't socialize, obsessed with crappy book series!"

Is that a coincidence? I don't think so.

I don't think I'll continue viewing this show (it just doesn't hold my interest) but if I you happen to know any preteen girls, I'd recommend this show to them if I were you.

[AvestheFox]

Its one thing to parody the Twilight series.. but its another thing when they parody Dr. Who!

Meet Dr. Hoof... no, that pic is not directly in the cartoon, but he does exists in the cartoon canon...

Proof?


eeyep, that's a direct screen grab from one of the episodes... He has just a few measly lines and only counts as an extra. But in the script he holds the title of Dr. Hooves...

Edit: fans and followers of this character often dub him 'My Little Time Lord'

Here's a massive version of that first image:
http://www.deviantart.com/download/200492680/doctor_whooves_final_by_inkwell_pony-d3bd954.png

Let the insanity begin! :O

[Relaxing Dragon]

Apparently the Twilight name is a bit of a coincidence, as it's based on the name of one of the older versions of the My Little Ponys, Twilight Twinkle. Still, it is a happy coincidence.

Anyway, I love this show (put it on my LoC list, no less). Excellent writing, great humor, and I really like that style of animation. I totally love the character of Fluttershy, and some of the music is really catchy (Winter Wrap-Up is constantly ringing around me head). I've watched all the episodes, and eagerly await new ones.

It manages to be one of those shows that's really appealing to everyone, whatever their age or gender. For an example of this, two good friends of mine are even bigger fans than me (they actually introduced me to this), and they're a current and retired marine respectively. They even draw fanart for the show. How's that for cross-demographics

[Scribblesense]

Well, it looks like both Craig and Lauren are fans of sneaking in little pop culture references into their shows - reminds me of all the HHGTTG references that were in Foster's. Well, there were like three total, but they were pretty awesome.

[Relaxing Dragon]

I think there was an episode where that pony did speak, and it was with an American accent. Still, nothing a little retcon in a future episode won't fix.

Also, the best reference in Foster's Home was clearly this:

[CJones]

I think there was an episode where that pony did speak, and it was with an American accent. Still, nothing a little retcon in a future episode won't fix.

Also, the best reference in Foster's Home was clearly this:

If this is a HHGttG reference, I don't get it. (And if it's not I still don't get it)

And yeah, I watched the pilot for Friendship is Magic, thanks to you AvestheFox. Really brings back memories of playing My Little Pony and Transformers with my little sister (yes we actually did that). I remember the old MLP cartoon from the 80's. While usually I would say that 80's cartoons are the best (excepting some Loony Tunes and Disney), in this case, the modern version is definitely the better of the two. 

[Scribblesense]

I think there was an episode where that pony did speak, and it was with an American accent. Still, nothing a little retcon in a future episode won't fix.

Also, the best reference in Foster's Home was clearly this:

If this is a HHGttG reference, I don't get it. (And if it's not I still don't get it)

It's a reference to The Big Lebowski. I've never seen it (shame on me!), but the three guys in front of the counter are supposed to be Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi (his likeness is creepily spot on), and John Goodman.

This reference is still infinitely better:

[CrowTeeRobot]

What makes it even better is the grab that that episode is from is called "The Big Lablooski"

[Rainbow Dash]

Well, it looks like both Craig and Lauren are fans of sneaking in little pop culture references into their shows - reminds me of all the HHGTTG references that were in Foster's. Well, there were like three total, but they were pretty awesome.

Well they did base of the MLP episodes on "The Trouble With Tribbles" Star Trek episode.

And the Doctor Who jokes have been gold.

[Fluttershy]

Uh, um it's really quit good. Everypony enjoys it once they're given the chance to watch it.
You should too, that is,uh, if you don't have anything else to do.

[Johnny Unusual]

I had not heard of this thing until a couple of months ago, where a friend showed it to me after hearing that it had a HUGE cult following.  And frankly, I just don't get it.  It's not bad or anything, but aside from being better than most cartoons aimed at girls, it did nothing for me.  If I was 10, I think I would enjoy it, but would keep my enjoyment of it secret.  But I'm not sure why it's so popular amongst adults.  If I had a kid over who was watching it, I could tolerate it without difficulty, I suppose, which is more than I can say for a lot of children's cartoons.

Strangely, I do have a recollection of enjoying the 80's Ponies cartoon.  If I remember correctly, it had a serial element to it and it shared timeslots with glowworms and Mr. Potato Head Kids cartoons.  Also, I think there was fencing bees.  Am I the only one who remembers that?

[Rainbow Dash]

I had not heard of this thing until a couple of months ago, where a friend showed it to me after hearing that it had a HUGE cult following.  And frankly, I just don't get it.  It's not bad or anything, but aside from being better than most cartoons aimed at girls, it did nothing for me.  If I was 10, I think I would enjoy it, but would keep my enjoyment of it secret.  But I'm not sure why it's so popular amongst adults.  If I had a kid over who was watching it, I could tolerate it without difficulty, I suppose, which is more than I can say for a lot of children's cartoons.]

Think part of it comes form the people involved.  Kind of like how people get giddy over everything with the name Pixar on it.  Things like Dexter's Laboratory and Powerpuff girls were great.  I think it's because it's a bit more simple, it's not throwing pop culture references in your face every few seconds, and the ones it does throw out are very subtle, and done in a way where if you get it, great and if you don't, you're unaware you missed something.

[TTYT]

Finally got around to watching the first episode (after the urgings of many of my meme-loving friends...)

And I quite enjoyed it, to my surprise. Think that partially has to come from the pedigrees of the creators (I also quite liked The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends - but it's also well-written and well-acted, if utterly cheesy in concept. And as an animation fan, I must say it's some great animation, too - Flash has certainly come a long way...

Sure, it's just a toy-selling tie-in. But so was Gi Joe and Transformers, and look at the reverence those shows have amongst some of us who watched them as a kid.

And honestly, considering the crap that's most TV shows nowadays, I'm not surprised this has gotten so popular amongst adults.

[Relaxing Dragon]

Glad to have another convert

Some of the other members of the MLPM and I had a marathon on Saturday of all the episodes in a row. Was good fun, since I hadn't seen some of the episodes in quite a while. Was also fascinating to watch some aspects of the show evolve over time, especially the animation (I thought it was pretty slick to begin with, but they really go a long way throughout the course of the series, especially with the expressions). I really do love this show, it's become one of those cartoons that I completely latch onto (I get one of these every few years, always nice). I even did something I've never done for any other fandom, and started looking into the shipping fics (OK, I've only read one, but it was a pretty damn good read, if I do say so myself). Uncharted waters for me, but that's the general case of Ponies for most folks, whatever it is they see in it