What MLP G5 Ponies must not do

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

This is a fan drawing concept of what might a G5 pony could look like by NightOttsel and it made me go: "Umm, whoever will create G5 (because $$$ makes Hasbro ) will probably never allow this to happen:

The shrinking of the eyes...

One of the greatest things about G4 are the eyes. They're just so big, which gives a welcoming, open, and honest vibe. It's a way of seeing into the soul of the characters. I'm surprised not much people openly talk about it when they write reviews and analyses of the show. With large G4 eyes, you can pull off some great scenes as a lot of the memorable emotional scenes actually come from the eyes. And with the show primarily being focused on the characters, the whole big eye thing works to its favor.





You kinda destroy the character aspect by reducing the size of the eyes

*This is not a attack on the artist, he/she did a nice job of combining all 4 Generations (well, except for the eyes). I merely wanted to point out that G5 probably shouldn't drop the G4 eyes since it's a great visual way of appealing to the audience.

[RagnarWhat's older? Unicorns, or stars?]

I can't see Hasbro choosing to just throw away the anime/classic Disney echoes just like that.

What's wrong with Hasbro doing something for the money? They're doing G4 for the money. It's working out pretty well so far, yeah?

[HuffyTheMagicDragonboop]

A bit early to be talking about G5, isn't it?

Actually, one of the first things that turned me off from FiM was the giant round anime eyes and huge round heads that looked nothing like ponies. I've gotten used to them by now, of course, but I think the same range of expressions could be achieved with slightly smaller eyes, and I would still much prefer it if all the characters had slightly more horse-shaped heads, like Celestia and Luna and Zecora do. I just think they look better.

[Gruekinda magical]

I have a suspicion this might be the last 2d animated generation of poni. It just makes sense for a cartoon meant as an advertisement for a toy to be 3d. Hasbro is probably sick of hearing that the toys don't look like the show by this point. But G4 is probably here to stay for a long time.

[NoponyImportant"Now exactly what part of 'MWAHAHAHA!' did you not understand?"]

I've said it before, and I'll repeat myself here, I truly pity whomever ends up in charge of G5. If they match the quality of G4 it's "more of the same"(even if it really isn't) and if they fall even the tiniest bit short...

[numsOic]

What MLP G5 Ponies must not do

Be shitty

[Superstring]

Lauren Faust brought her own unique style to FiM. I think it would be interesting to imagine, in a What If way, if the next show also had a strong artist at the head. What would ponies look like with creators like...

Thurop Van Orman
Genndy Tartakovsky
John Kricfalusi
Michael Dante Dimartino and Bryan Konietzko
Mike and Matt Chapman
Pen Ward

Let's get even crazier and throw in...

Kenji Kamiyama
Hiroyuki Imaishi
Ume Aoki

Not saying any of them would work on ponies, but it's fun to imagine!

[AzranOh dear oh dear I NEED MORE DRINKING STRAWS]

Is G5 anywhere near? I kind of guessed that, given the sucess of G4, they would milk it as much as possible.

Were previous Generations terrible?

[Lazy]

Were previous Generations terrible?

3.5 was incredibly bad.
The rest are about as good as everything else when they came out, as in not good unless you like the quality of storytelling that G.I. Joe or He-Man bring to the table.

[Herr Generalfabulous]

G1 was legitimately good. Not to the standards of FiM, mind you, but still enough that it was enjoyable. G3 was...ehhhhhh pretty bad IMO. Definitely not up to the quality level of even G1, let alone G4.

G5? Honestly, I don't want to think about that yet. Live in the present and enjoy what we've got for now.

[AlliterativeAxolotlHonorary Cutie Mark Crusader]

G5 should not try too hard to appease the non-target-demographic fans. They had no idea that G4 would become such a hit and trying to evoke this success deliberately...

Same for G4, by the way. Never try to make the fans happy by fulfilling all of their wishes, or you get pandas doing kung-fu everywhere.

[dilettanteI have a goat for a face. Like, not that I have a goat's head for a face, or that my head is a goat's head. My face is an entire goat.]

The eyes are actually what I found really endearing about the show. Adjustment of pupil and iris size can really show a ton of emotion. I think the general thread of animation these days has adopted the super deformed style, which can be really appealing for people. This is definitely something I think would be cut out if there ever was a 3D version of the show. making such facial expressions are a pain to do in 3D software.

John Kricfalusi
Mike and Matt Chapman
Pen Ward

I'm currently imagining ponies animated by each of these, and I don't know which I like the most/which ones would be brain breaking. Kricfalusi would definitely be the latter, while the Brothers Chaps just has me giggling stupidly.

: Hey Stwong Dash, guess how many glasses of Ciderade I drank today?
: Oh would you please enlighten me Twistar...
: A hundwed an twenty seven glasses! That's how many! Wanna know what my recowd is? I betcha can't guess!
: Great, hey, I heard that...uh...some childrens need saving by an armless idiot savant in that bottomless pit over there.
: Oh, this is my big chance! Twistaw awaaaaaaay
: Crapfully crap crap crap...
: I'm Marshie!

[Toboe LoneWolfHowling]

Well, the G4 FiM show was created to sell toys, not toys created to promote a show.

This is a slight problem, because while large eyes are an asset in animation -- easier to show emotion, greater scale of expression, etc -- ginormous eyes look really weird in real life (although some cultures do value large eyes, there's a difference between "bigger" and "HUGE"). Previous generation of ponies had slightly more realistic proportions; G4 threw those all out the window because G4 was created with animation usability in mind first, toys based off of G4 characters later.

(Then we get toys for G4 that haven't been in the show yet... )

So it depends. Does Hasbro want to create more realistic-pony-like toys, and thus force whatever G5 show to accommodate for that? Or will the G5 continue to first be done with ease-of-animation in mind, then toys created based on the show?

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

So it depends. Does Hasbro want to create more realistic-pony-like toys, and thus force whatever G5 show to accommodate for that? Or will the G5 continue to first be done with ease-of-animation in mind, then toys created based on the show?

I think it heavily depends on the creator of G5. From the animation style to how strong willed the creator is. If the creator is kind of a 'yes-man' to Hasbro, then I think we might end up with the G5 cartoon ponies having to look like the actual toys.

I believe Lauren Faust tried doing that in Season 01, standing up to Hasbro to keep the external influence out, having to make compromises with Hasbro or dropping her original ideas to the point she had enough and decided to leave after Season 01. At least she left behind a well-abled team and artistic style.

I would hate to see G5 being heavily influenced by Hasbro. It's funny that when Lauren was producing G4, Hasbro initially didn't really care about the show, they just wanted a show to popularize their toys. And then the unexpected surge in views happened, boosting TV ratings to the point MLP FiM is now their flagship cartoon. And now, they seem really supportive of the show to the point they're now able to 'supposedly' tell the writers, "we want Season 3 to be about: ___ for our toys". Hell, they changed Cadence to a Alicorn instead of just a unicorn like Lauren Faust originally planned.

But as 'It's About Time' taught us: Don't worry about the future, enjoy the present.

[RobotzorCorndog! Corndog! Corndog!]

Well, the G4 FiM show was created to sell toys, not toys created to promote a show.

This is a slight problem, because while large eyes are an asset in animation -- easier to show emotion, greater scale of expression, etc -- ginormous eyes look really weird in real life (although some cultures do value large eyes, there's a difference between "bigger" and "HUGE"). Previous generation of ponies had slightly more realistic proportions; G4 threw those all out the window because G4 was created with animation usability in mind first, toys based off of G4 characters later.

When the show hits Japanese airwaves and a toy rollout gets going there, big eyes aren't going away. The profits will probably float Hasbro for the rest of their lifetime

[Toboe LoneWolfHowling]

I think it heavily depends on the creator of G5. From the animation style to how strong willed the creator is. If the creator is kind of a 'yes-man' to Hasbro, then I think we might end up with the G5 cartoon ponies having to look like the actual toys.

From what I understand, FiM started with Hasbro giving Lauren and Jayson a lot of free rein to do whatever; all Hasbro cared about was "make you you include X background and Y balloon since we're going to be selling those toys." And once the FiM ball started rolling, a lot of fans were disappointed that the FiM toys at the time were not very similar to the show at all. (Pink Celestia, anyone?) [s]IIRC, they were pretty much G3.5 molds.[s] (Started looking at toys, probably started off with G4) Then Hasbro wised up, saw the fanbase wanted something a bit more similar to the show than just the name and more-or-less same color, and began making closer G4 toys. And fandom-shout-outs, like Princess Luna, Vinyl Scratch, and Derpy.

G5 could turn out the same way: Hasbro bringing some person on to create a show with free rein to choose the style. Or Hasbro, in interests of more closely tying show and toy line together, may have a deeper interest in saying how things get drawn. This will likely mean an increase in production costs (since cartoon-Flash animation is easier overall than realistic cell-drawn 2D art, and probably still cheaper than 3D CGI like Strawberry Shortcake), so it depends on just how closely tied the show and the toy line will be in the future.

When the show hits Japanese airwaves and a toy rollout gets going there, big eyes aren't going away. The profits will probably float Hasbro for the rest of their lifetime

Oh man. With so many figurine collectors over there? Profits off the roof and many, many, many knockoffs for us

[Scuderia FerrarityThe Corndogs Of Today are the Tacos of Tomorrow]

G4 should be Cheers to G5's Frasier, but with


Also a different intro each season

Click here to view video.

[Lazy]

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=744&p=97975#p97975

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

http://mlponies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=744&p=97975#p97975

O-Old p-p-ponies?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHh2_iGactw

[WildfireYa ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ya ta ta ta ta ta ta ta do doh duh va zha da ya dya da KABOOM. KABOOM.]

That actually looks pretty good. It's definitely better than G2 (which it kind of looks like).

What would ponies look like with creators like...

John Kricfalusi

We already have our answer for that one

[MasterOfKnees]

That's a horse, not a pony. Look at my avatar for the important of eyes. Also:

[Bag of Magic Food]

One of the greatest things about G4 are the eyes. They're just so big, which gives a welcoming, open, and honest vibe.

I also love the big ears. They're of a shape that clues you in on "pony" right away, as opposed to the stupid little triangle ears some other My Little Pony generations had that I hate. And I like giant wings too! Maybe it looks silly for the toy pegasi to have their wings sticking straight up all the time, but I think the toys should be showing off like that, and it makes it slightly more believable for me as it must take some huge wings to lift a pony into the air. I hate the G1 wings because they're all like these paper fans pressed onto the ponies' sides, like they were looking for the cheapest way to work wings into the mold, and that way was to just add some ridges on. Now if only G4 could fix the horn size on its unicorns... But they can't, because some kid would poke his eye out.

G5 should not try too hard to appease the non-target-demographic fans. They had no idea that G4 would become such a hit and trying to evoke this success deliberately...

That's why I keep thinking they should sidestep a lot of the successful traits of Friendship Is Magic and do an "eighties nostalgia" show: Set before a real pony civilization was established, but it's still a silly adventure series in a surreal world, where the only buildings are the few playsets you can buy, and new pony characters always appear in themed groups of six. Use a mold that somewhat resembles G1, and the vintage toy collectors will eat it right up!

[stonecutterOne-trick Pony]

Whenever Hasbro decides it’s finally time to retool MLP again maybe Brianne Drouhard (potatofarmgirl on deviantArt) could be a good choice to work on it. She even posted some sketches for her idea for a MLP reboot a year before FiM aired.
http://potatofarmgirl.blogspot.com/2009/07/ponehs.html
That clown make-up look for Spike should be reconsidered, though. At least he has wings!

Various stuff she’s worked on:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2159880/

[Whitenoise PosterI am going to eat this entire oak tree because I am a powerful wizard!]

G5 should do it's best to recreate newborn cuties. No, they need to get what ever people in charge of making legit small children shows that no adults watch like barny or dora to write it and who every makes Johnny Test to animate it.

"Never Again" should be on a memorial plaque on the walls on the Hasbro offices.

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

Whenever Hasbro decides it’s finally time to retool MLP again maybe Brianne Drouhard (potatofarmgirl on deviantArt) could be a good choice to work on it. She even posted some sketches for her idea for a MLP reboot a year before FiM aired.
http://potatofarmgirl.blogspot.com/2009/07/ponehs.html
That clown make-up look for Spike should be reconsidered, though. At least he has wings!

Various stuff she’s worked on:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2159880/

Okay, other than Clown-Spike, it's not actually that bad. It looks quite good. In fact, based on the animation style, it looks like a show that could've existed between 2004-2009 on a channel like CartoonNetwork along with Kids Next Door, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, and etc.

But today, I dont think the animation style would really work well, espeicially since G4 has set the bars pretty high. I'd say, continue with flash

[AzranOh dear oh dear I NEED MORE DRINKING STRAWS]

I agree; they should keep the Flash-based animation. I know of a lot of people who like the show because of how different it is to other kinds of animation they are used to.

[Headless Horse]

If they reboot MLP again, they won't be trying to court an adult audience, any more than they did this time. We're still a sideshow for Hasbro, and as much as they love us, we're not in their wheelhouse and they know it.

My honest prediction would be that "G5" would even more firmly be a toyline first and a piece of visual entertainment second, and I doubt it would be a serial TV show again anyway. Maybe hour-long movies like G3. Those are ideally geared for merchandising. And as for being helmed by an animation superstar with cross-audience appeal... I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Not trying to be a downer or anything, just trying to think like a Hasbro exec. If they want to keep the FiM train going, they'll just make more FiM. But when they eventually pull the plug on it and redesign everything, it'll be because kids are sick of it and they need to appeal to literally another generation of them. Holding on to a Buffy-type fandom that they never asked for to begin with just isn't a priority for them.

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

...

Regardless about that bleak outlook, I also think G5 might not even be a TV series. Maybe they'll go like Star Trek. Instead of having a new reboot tv series, they're focus on making bigger budgeted films to draw more profits OR like what Headless Horse said, have them focused on toy lines.

Hasbro oughta be prepared for the brony bashing if they do that tho. Not that I would sign a petition or write a huge ass essay on Hasbro's new take on the franchise but I will definitely be upset when i hear about it (IF IT HAPPENS)

[TailspinQueen of the skies]

Hasbro oughta be prepared for the brony bashing if they do that tho.

I don't think they'll be too bothered about that. First and foremost they care about their target demographic and selling toys, a bunch of bronies getting angry over a G4 cartoon ending isn't really going turn any heads in Hasbro.

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

I don't think they'll be too bothered about that. First and foremost they care about their target demographic and selling toys, a bunch of bronies getting angry over a G4 cartoon ending isn't really going turn any heads in Hasbro.

Sure it won't make Hasbro change anything to their toys or G5 and there won't be any official apology by Hasbro (but then again, why should they?), but seeing how vocal/aggressive some of the bronies can be or think they have a sense of self-entitlement (i.e. petition for Derpy and hate mail towards Tabitha St. Germaine, from what i heard of), I'm sure it will be rather bothersome to them initially. And unfortunately, the team behind it, including the writers and VA's from G5 may be attacked


Regarding G4, I thought most of the money is coming from the MLP show and not the toys. Then again, I may have heard wrong, maybe it was both the show and toy lines combined that received the most profit amongst the other franchises.

[TailspinQueen of the skies]

Unfortunatly, you're right. I forgot about those people. It's gonna be one hell of mess and I dread it.

Anyway, from what I've heard it's the toys that are really making a lot of money. I think profit from the show itself might come from DVDs, but I don't think it's that big. Could be wrong thought, I don't follow it.

[Ransom]

I don't mind the big eyes or design in general, but I honestly do prefer or 'horse like' designs. It's also the one thing I see several people I've shown the show to have an initial gut reaction against. I think a lot of us have been more conditioned by anime to accept the design choice.

But...yeah, I think they're best running G4 for several seasons, then just going to reruns once they have a Happy Days level of shows to run in syndication. Wait till this generation of little girls are all heading for college

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

Well, we have Tara Strong and many others from G4 who'll probably tweet/ask their fans (possibly in their character's voice) to stop the hate. The drama will be unprecedented in TV media

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

I don't mind the big eyes or design in general, but I honestly do prefer or 'horse like' designs. It's also the one thing I see several people I've shown the show to have an initial gut reaction against. I think a lot of us have been more conditioned by anime to accept the design choice.

But...yeah, I think they're best running G4 for several seasons, then just going to reruns once they have a Happy Days level of shows to run in syndication. Wait till this generation of little girls are all heading for college

Well, I think Disney were the first to introduce 'big' (well for that time) eyes to the world in cartoon form. In an interview with Lauren, she said that the eyes weren't inspired by Anime, similar to Powerpuff Girls, neither her or Craig McCracken based the eyes from anime.

[Ransom]

Well yeah, though I recall some people hating the powderpuff girl design too. Though really, those are mostly older people. So perhaps it's not that big a deal.

Actually, I think the eyes are less something is comment on personally than the snout. They're very cute but sometimes they don't look like ponies.

Blah, I'm overthinking this.

[Headless Horse]

The show isn't a profit center, it's a marketing expense.

The extent to which they can subsidize the airtime via advertising and push more toy sales via "FREE DVD INSIDE!!!" is the extent to which FiM the show "makes money", as I understand it.

[RobotzorCorndog! Corndog! Corndog!]

The show isn't a profit center, it's a marketing expense.

The extent to which they can subsidize the airtime via advertising and push more toy sales via "FREE DVD INSIDE!!!" is the extent to which FiM the show "makes money", as I understand it.

That can spill over too which it looks like it might. The higher the viewership, the more you can charge for those advertising slots and still sell them all to the highest bidder. Sure the production costs a ton, but if IF the viewership hits critical mass, real world profit can be made on the show alone.

The toys do remain where the profit comes from now though.

[dilettanteI have a goat for a face. Like, not that I have a goat's head for a face, or that my head is a goat's head. My face is an entire goat.]

I wouldn't think there'd be that much backlash if the show ended on a satisfying note. As crazy as parts of the fanbase can be, they know the show can't last forever, and all they'd want is closure. How that closure happens is of course up to the creators, but if the ending isn't good, well, there'd be hate mail. And I'm sure it wouldn't just be from the crazies. FiM will work itself out though. I think Hasbro execs are smart enough to not pull the plug on their most popular show too abruptly, unless it inexplicably gets run into the ground or something. Then pulling the plug would be fine.

[Mr. BigBrush is mightier than pen.]

You know what would be hilarious? They'll introduce a new generation of toys, but keep FIM going (with no change in setting and animation style) for few more years. Is that plausible?

I prefer the cartoonier design, honestly. Never been big on cartoons with "realistic" designs.

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

I wouldn't think there'd be that much backlash if the show ended on a satisfying note. As crazy as parts of the fanbase can be, they know the show can't last forever, and all they'd want is closure. How that closure happens is of course up to the creators, but if the ending isn't good, well, there'd be hate mail. And I'm sure it wouldn't just be from the crazies. FiM will work itself out though. I think Hasbro execs are smart enough to not pull the plug on their most popular show too abruptly, unless it inexplicably gets run into the ground or something. Then pulling the plug would be fine.

I think the final episode is going to be the hardest part. How do you try pleasing MOST (since it's impossible to please everyone)? How do you give each six main characters enough individual screen times. If some pony gets less screen time, then Rarity fans will complain and moan, for example. Maybe some fans will complain that Twilight is the be-all-end-all character since she gots the MAGICKS, making the remaining five less important. And the list goes on.

One of the worst complete ending to a series was Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Like Mass Effect 3, the story was really great until the last five minutes. It's like, there's all this buildup that's sad and all but then BAM, turns out it's all a misunderstanding, "sorry for pulling on your emotional heart strings. Oh and by the way, the last character you'll see is Cheese"


Tho, seeing how the fandom will probably react, I assume the writers will focus on the idea/moral of learning to let go of something they love. Despite being a rip off, I think an ending like Foster's ending (minus the cheap last five minutes) would work best for MLP. Maybe like Twilight has to leave Ponyville and her friends. They all try to make the send off party perfect for Twilight, but unintentionally ruin it since they try too hard to make it perfect. Twilight says she appreciates their friendship the most, better than any send off party can ever offer and [insert generic sad speech]. And so her friends send her off, coping with Twilight leaving them... The End