The Cutie Mark Crusaders - Your Opinion?

[Mr. BigGood boy, Perry!]

With the CMCs getting favorable reviews lately, I thought I'd ask. What's your opinion on the three?

I think they're improving as characters. Most of the season 2 episodes featuring them are pretty good, with some of the really memorable moments in the show involving them. It helps that, as of late, episodes about them involve something other than trying to get cutie marks.

If they were to get their own spinoff, would you be OK with it?

[numsOic]

Yes.

[BHHammyTOY SPECIAL 3AVAILABLE AT ALL WALBOGS]

Spinoff? Maybe. It'd REALLY depend on how they set it up.

Honestly, I'd started liking them ever since Cutie Mark chronicles, myself. At first, I'd thought they were completely unnecessary, but as long as the writers do a good job of actually keeping their personalities distinct (and not falling into the "interchangeability" trap) they actually play off of one another REALLY well.

Heck, it's part of the reason why I'm really excited about that CMC Point-and-Click Adventure game that'll be coming out eventually.

[RagnarWhat's older? Unicorns, or stars? Incidentally, you should click on Ragnar's sig. Definitely a good idea.]

I like the CMC and I'd definitely watch a spinoff if it were as good as FiM.

My only complaint is that the CMC act more like one character than three. Can someone describe for me the difference between AB and SB's personalities? That's a request, not a challenge; I'm sure there are some.

[numsOic]

Apple Bloom has an outrageous Southern accent. Sweetie Belle, on the other hand, has a very light gray coat and is sisters with Rarity.

[Lazy]

It really just depends on execution.
I'd be dubious, but if it was done either

A) Really well, or

B) exactly how I'd want it to be(which it wouldn't), I'd watch it.

How I'd want it to go is as follows: it takes place after the main show, and after they had gotten their cutie marks(they'd each left to follow their individual dreams, only to be brought together again in the first episode or two by some adventure much like the mane 6 were with NMM) and grown up to be the same age as the current mane 6.The mane 6 are now older and function in mentor roles, like more specialized princess Celestia's-each of them helping/giving advice as she does, but only in situations that they specifically know about or mirror what they themselves went through. Maybe they could send letters to them as well.
At this point, the older mane 6 no longer bear the elements of harmony whenever a adventure-ep causing problem rolls around. Instead, the CMC(not called that anymore, of course) use them. Sweetie Belle is magic and generosity, Scootaloo is honesty and loyalty, and Applebloom is kindness and laughter.
Makes sense in my head, anyways.

(oh god I basically just typed out a fanfic synopsis)

vvv Also what HH said. Don't really see why there would need to be a spin-off.

[Headless Horse]

Why a spinoff? That's what I've always wondered about that concept when it's come up.

By this point I think of the CMCs as as much an integral part of FiM as the Mane 6 are. Not really in terms of their characters (we've seen that they can carry an episode without any of the Mane 6 around, and of course vice versa), but in terms of the style of the show and how they fit into it. What purpose would a spinoff serve? To split the audience? To move the two shows in different directions stylistically and in terms of what kind of stories they tell? I don't see that even being desirable, let alone necessary. And if that's why they did it, I'd imagine it would be to shift the CMC show down a grade toward a yet younger audience, and I doubt it could hold the charm or appeal it has now.

Also, Apple Bloom is obsessed with social stature and personal achievement and cutie marks and family love and proving herself and cutie marks and perpetually sees her little world crashing down around her. Sweetie Belle takes what comes, finding joy in even the simplest things; she tries new ventures and schemes out of simple-minded eagerness to explore the world, and even when she fails at everything she tries, her attitude keeps her buoyant. Apple Bloom is a neurotic little hellion, but Sweetie Belle is a kid.

[Super Karoru]

Also, Apple Bloom is obsessed with social stature and personal achievement and cutie marks and family love and proving herself and cutie marks and perpetually sees her little world crashing down around her. Sweetie Belle takes what comes, finding joy in even the simplest things; she tries new ventures and schemes out of simple-minded eagerness to explore the world, and even when she fails at everything she tries, her attitude keeps her buoyant. Apple Bloom is a neurotic little hellion, but Sweetie Belle is a kid.

This pretty much sums up the difference between the two. AB is more of a drama queen prone to panicky outbursts and is more impatient than her two comrades. SB is always the one with the crazy schemes recently and is more geniunely "kid-like" than the other two. As for Scoots, she really needs her breakout ep soon (which was confirmed to happen eventually by her VA).

[Marcturus]

Yeah, I don't really see why we would need a spinoff. On the other hand, a CMC movie needs to happen

[Headless Horse]

Addendum because

I also think Sweetie Belle is ultimately a lot more self-confident than Apple Bloom, oddly. Look how she makes the decision to disown Rarity in Sisterhooves. She takes the situation in hand and makes a potentially life-changing decision right there on the spot. And even later, when Rarity confronts her at the campfire, she stands her ground. Can you see Apple Bloom doing that? I think AB would have broken down in self-doubting panic long before she'd even gotten the chance to strike out on her own. (And tellingly, in that same scene, AB worriedly asks AJ "We're still sisters, right?" Like she's tacitly admitting that she'd never have the stones to do what she's just seen SB do.)

SB is comfortable in her own skin, possibly because she has such a vivid role model in Rarity. But AB is torn between loving her sister and being embarrassed by her family's hick ways, and no matter how good she is at things she always thinks she's one slip-up away from ruin.

AB actually reminds me of a little Rainbow Dash in some ways.

[Pocketis she just gonna go booty booty]

It's too late for a spinoff now, but in hindsight, it probably would have worked. Maybe as a 13-episode-per-season thing so as not to wear it out too fast.

[Herr GeneralThese chips are more interesting than your posts.]

I used to hate the CMC, but now...they're just so cute and entertaining and mischievous!

But where's my Scootaloo episode? Seriously!

[londonarbuckleSee me walking around, I'm the mare about town that you heard of]

I personally don't mind the episodes where the CMC's are focused on earning their cutie marks. I actually like Show Stoppers; it's not one of my favorites or anything but I like it more than most people seem to. Don't get me wrong, I love that they have them doing other things, but I completely wouldn't mind seeing more Cutie Mark Crusading in the future. I find it oddly touching. Maybe it's because I still have no idea what the fuck to do with my life. I can kind of relate.

Also I love all three of the CMCs to absolute BITS, but I don't like the sound of a spin-off. I think today's episode proved they do just fine carrying an episode in the current show.

[Chaos Sonic]

Hmm, my opinion of the CMC? Pretty well sums it up. I was unsure of them at the beginning, thought they'd just be the annoying little kid troupe trope, but they've really come into their own as characters. Especially Sweetie Belle. She's definitely my favorite of the three. She's just so adorable.

[WeeksI feel overcome with the need to get funky!]

They are the most huggable little critters I've seen. I loved them since the beginning.

[kidcoelacanthalicorn twilight is fucking garbage]

I've said it a ton lately but the CMC have always been one of my favorite parts of the show and their episodes are the ones I watch the most. Sweetie is my favorite character in the entire show. I would love to see more focus on them, not even necessarily in the way of getting their own episodes but more screentime within other episodes, interacting with the main 6 more. I find them genuinely adorable and fun to watch, because they're just stupid kids acting like stupid kids and getting up to silly shenanigans. Plus they're really fuckin cute and who doesnt want that!! CMC own.

[jerrylee]

Add me to the ranks of those who initially facepalmed at the thought of cute kid characters becoming a major recurring presence, but who've become sold on them--moreso by their strategic use in S2 episodes, though the seeds were sown as early as Show Stoppers. At this point I never have anything bad to say about their appearances*, though I think that one or two full-on dedicated CMC episodes per season is probably plenty.

*In retrospect this sounds like damning by faint praise, so let me be clear: my favorite episode this season, Sisterhooves Social, is that way because of the presence of two of the fillies. They're great.

My biggest reaction to a spinoff, though, would be "why?" They can already put them into episodes whenever they want. I don't see any upside to forcing the (a) show to be about the CMC. Older CMC spinoff after FiM has run its course is an idea, but from my point of view there's one problem: all the fanart that shows members of the Mane 6 at the end of their lives sends me to just this side of bawling like a baby and I don't know if I'm ready for even a small step in that direction.

[DiscordWhat have I done? Sweet Chaos, what have I done? Become a beast in the night, Become a God on the run, And have I fallen so far, And is the hour so late, That nothing remains but the cry of my hate, The cries in the dark that nobody hears, Here where I stand at the turning of years]

Call of the Cutie Mark and the Show Stoppers were among my least favorite in season 1, and the Cutie Pox in season 2. However, I think the CMC have dramatically approved with their performances in Sisterhooves Social, Family Appreciation Day, and the latest episode (as well as with The Stare Master in season 1). I like them a lot better when they aren't crusading for their cutie marks mostly (ironic), and when their schemes revolve around mistakes that are more understandable (and I think the writers have realised that their failure to realise their talents in season 1 was on the grating side).

So, after this latest episode, I give them two hooves up.

[VaultAggie"Shawty, you the best"]

When the CMC's are trying to do something besides finding their Cutie Mark, they're a ton of fun. When they're actively crusading though, we get episodes like Cutie Pox.

[Killing Vector]

I would love to see more focus on them, not even necessarily in the way of getting their own episodes but more screentime within other episodes, interacting with the main 6 more.

This season has had a lot of progress in that direction, which I really like. Back in season 1, outside of the four CMC episodes (five if you count Bridal Gossip) they only appeared in the beginning of Owl's Well and that reaction shot in ep 1. So far in season 2 there's also been four CMC episodes (although Scoots didn't appear in Sisterhooves), but there's also a half-dozen or so other episodes where one or more of the fillies have shown up, whether it's for a role in the plot like in Lesson Zero or just as backgrounders like in Luna Eclipsed.

[Daionus The 23rd:3]

I like the CMC's, but they don't need a spinoff.

[Headless Horse]

If the spinoff were "let the CMCs grow up and take the place of the Mane 6", wouldn't it basically just be FiM:TNG?

i.e. There's no reason to do that unless they think there's more story potential with a fresh slate of characters and maybe a new premise (i.e. not Friendship). But unless they planned to rework the whole style of the show (or send them all to some new exotic locale or become a superhero team fighting crime or something), I don't see how it would be fundamentally any different from the show we have now. And of course if they did change it that drastically, it would take an awful lot of getting used to—I couldn't say sight unseen whether I'd like it or not, but there's something very "perfect storm" about the gestalt of FiM as it is that makes me love it so much, and I don't know how successfully they could capture my heart by changing any of the ingredients.

(Also, I have a reflexive reaction to seeing spinoffs of that type as being the result of some falling-out with the star actors from the original series, so they whip up a new concept around the cheaper secondary characters. Unless we're talking about a Seth McFarlane style spinoff where you use the exact same art style and just swap in a new cast using the same talent and proceed according to the same formula as ever, in which case what's the point other than it worked for Seth?)

But jerrylee, you're absolutely right—I don't want them to even hint at the Mane 6 getting older, because I have been absolutely destroyed by a number of fanfics that explore that concept and I need the show to have them always young and immortal in their own way.

[PhoolCatKeep on Trottin']

Can someone describe for me the difference between AB and SB's personalities? That's a request, not a challenge; I'm sure there are some.

Apple Bloom is the HEART of the group, whereas Sweetie Belle is the SOUL



…and Scootaloo is the Drummer.

[Highbrow DashAJ, Rarity! What's happening?]

The CMC get their cutie marks in the movie.

[JupiterDermatologists Hate Her!Local Apple discovers weird old trick]

Actually, it would be awesome if the universe just gives up and the CMC actually all get the same cutie marks for "trying new things" (suck it adults, they were right all along), which leads them to be travelling adventurers, roaming around Equestria and beyond, seeking out new life and new civilizations, boldly going etc etc etc.
Though hopefully they'd treat the people they find better than the real Crusaders.

[Headless Horse]

They all get the same mark:

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

I love the CMC and would probably enjoy a spinoff. They're just so cute.

[The great MPinke Torte das Pony.---]

They're okay when they supplement the main plot, like in Lesson Zero. But the CMC centric episodes are always among my least favourite.
I'd probably not watch a spinoff, unless they change the usual CMC episode formula somewhat.

[Wayoshi]

Now that it's past 3a...

I do think they are improving more and more as the show tries new directions this season. Letter format? Screw it. Cutie mark obsession? Put it on the back burner...

[DarkMatter]

The Cutie Mark Crusaders basically have two modes:
A) CUTIE MARK ACQUISITION MODE
B) Kids being kids

I love them when they're the latter. But when they're in the former I tend to not watch those episodes too much because, really, it gets kind of old. But the episodes where they're just kids being kids (Sisterhooves Social, Family Appreciation Day, Hearts and Hooves Day, etc.) are among some of my favorites in the series.

As far as a spinoff goes, as long as it were adventures like in the aforementioned episodes and not them trying/failing to get their cutie marks I'd probably watch it.

[Bag of Magic Food]

Huh, I'm surprised that the "attempting to acquire cutie marks" part makes such a big difference to so many. I think that having a life goal to discover their life goals is a big part of their charm, and although we know they won't succeed, I feel it can lead to more unique adventures than the "pulling a fast one on the teacher" schemes of their last few episodes.

[BattyBovine♪ i got a new way to walk ♪♪ walk walk ♪♪ i got a new way to walk ♪♪ walk walk ♪♪ i got a new way to walk ♪♪ and it shows how good i feel ♪]

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have said -- and I agree -- that the best episodes of South Park are the ones with the kids just being kids. As interesting as the crusading and adventuring stories may be at times, they're not nearly as relatable as a story about children having fun.

I feel the same way here. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are much better when they're not solely crusading for cutie marks. I don't hate any of the crusading episodes at all, but episodes like Hearts and Hooves Day are much better, and have a much higher chance of me re-watching them sooner.

As for whether they need a spin-off, I'd say no. I'd be okay with a spin-off if they though it could work somehow, but they definitely don't need one. The regular episodes focusing on the CMC serve the same purpose just fine.

[Pink Himalayan Saltsee this watch? i got it by Crying. my car? crying. my beautiful wife? Crying. My perfect teeth? Crying. now get the fuck out of my office]

I like them, they're pretty great characters. I do agree with the consensus that episodes where they're just being kids are better then the ones where they're trying to get Cutie Marks, but those episodes are still enjoyable.

[londonarbuckleSee me walking around, I'm the mare about town that you heard of]

The CMC get their cutie marks in the movie.

I want this to happen.

[Kanthulhu~~Books!~~]

I would watch a CMC spinoff because this would mean more ponies. More ponies is always good.

[Colton, M.D.You'll read everything I post,In this man's voice.]

I like Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, but I don't really have an opinion on Scootaloo since she doesn't get much screentime or development compared to her friends. I'd be surprised to see a spin-off, but I would give it the 3-4 episode test run.

[DiscordWhat have I done? Sweet Chaos, what have I done? Become a beast in the night, Become a God on the run, And have I fallen so far, And is the hour so late, That nothing remains but the cry of my hate, The cries in the dark that nobody hears, Here where I stand at the turning of years]

...Why all this talk of a spinoff? I heard a while ago that there was some kind of thought of spinning them off for a REAL little kids show, but it didn't/doesn't really seem like that serious as a possible production

[Gruekinda magical]

I think there should be less episodes focused on them. They are ok, but not as good as the main cast. This season hasn't changed my opinion much.

[Poor Yorick]

I like the CMCs when they are not 'sperging about cutie marks.

[Ashenai You're dorkin' up the skies, Twilight Sparkle.]

I never actually minded the CMC. Even in The Show Stoppers and Call of the Cutie, I thought they were remarkably well-done, and didn't ping my "annoying cartoon kid" sense. I also don't mind them looking for their cutie marks, since it tends to lead to tree sap some pretty funny moments.

That said, I do think that while they were fine in S1, they've improved further in S2. I still don't like them quite as much as the main 6, but I definitely don't mind episodes revolving around them.