With Ponies!

June 29, 2011 11:19 AM

Serenity trailer... with ponies!

The Shining trailer... with ponies!
Batman Begins trailer... with ponies!
The Dark Knight trailer... with ponies!
No Country For Old Men trailer... with ponies!
The Matrix trailer... with ponies!
Inception trailer... with ponies!
Lord of the Rings trailer... with ponies!

posted by shiu mai baby (95 comments total)

There are no words.
posted by mrzarquon at 11:23 AM on June 29, 2011 [4 favorites]

I liked the part with the ponies.

Wait, no, I didn't. But things like this make me happy there's an internet.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:28 AM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Uhhh, Wrestling with ponies>
posted by furiousxgeorge at 11:29 AM on June 29, 2011

Jesus fuck. I was of course looking to see if they'd done a Human Centipede trailer. I didn't find that, but there's Inglourious Basterds, Hot Fuzz, V for Vendetta, 300, Scott Pilgrim, Reservoir Dogs, Terminator 2, and so many others I'd expect Human Centipede to show up within a week.

After that they ought to switch gears and go after Oscar-bait movies.
posted by furiousthought at 11:32 AM on June 29, 2011

The Pinkining is my favorite there. "Mental Breakdown" Pinkie was made for the role.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 11:33 AM on June 29, 2011

With ponies is about the only way any Firefly fans are ever going to see any further content.

Fox bastards.
posted by menschlich at 11:33 AM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

I think the Katy Perry parody should be eligible for some kind of a major award.
posted by Wolfdog at 11:33 AM on June 29, 2011 [7 favorites]

The My Little Pony fan culture makes me happier than you will ever know
posted by PinkMoose at 11:36 AM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Is anyone else reading "...with ponies." in GOB Bluth's voice?
posted by bondcliff at 11:41 AM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

NATHAN FILLION?

MORE LIKE NATHAN FILLY-ON AMIRITE
posted by NoraReed at 11:47 AM on June 29, 2011 [30 favorites]

"Well, what did you think? Did you like it?"

"... Neigh."
posted by boo_radley at 11:50 AM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Don't forget Sean Mare.
posted by Wolfdog at 11:50 AM on June 29, 2011

Alright, the SEKACPUC was good.
posted by boo_radley at 11:56 AM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

The creator of that had to watch a LOT of pony cartoons. I would have died for sure.
posted by orme at 12:06 PM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

"I think the Katy Perry parody should be eligible for some kind of a major award."

I don't want to live on this planet anymore
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor at 12:09 PM on June 29, 2011

This is undoubtedly the finest artistic achievement of the second decade of the twenty-first century.

Which involves ponies.
posted by steambadger at 12:09 PM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

It's the new 30-Second Bunnies Theatre Troupe!
posted by Specklet at 12:11 PM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

So, is "... with ponies" the new "... in bed?"

'cause I'm cool with that.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:13 PM on June 29, 2011

I just opened a fortune cookie. "To truly find yourself you should play hide and seek alone...with ponies."
posted by furiousxgeorge at 12:18 PM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

For those unaware, the show in the trailers is My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, which is kinda a big deal. Mega post I did a while back.
posted by The Devil Tesla at 12:33 PM on June 29, 2011 [5 favorites]

I am a leaf on the wind, watch me canter?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:36 PM on June 29, 2011

I am a leaf on the wind, watch me canter?

Dash is more an "Eat my Rainboom" kinda gal.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:38 PM on June 29, 2011

Holy shit, The Devil Tesla. I missed that post -- very, very well done.
posted by shiu mai baby at 12:42 PM on June 29, 2011

It's not just films. I enjoyed this one: Pony Craft 2
posted by YAMWAK at 12:59 PM on June 29, 2011

It's not just films. I enjoyed this one: Pony Craft 2

That's how it starts, apparently.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 1:04 PM on June 29, 2011

This is old hat in Poland.
posted by tommasz at 1:30 PM on June 29, 2011

Friendship is Witchcraft.

This isn't about you. This is about my GIANT HAT.
posted by emmtee at 1:46 PM on June 29, 2011

No one mare should have all that power.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 1:50 PM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

It's been said before, but it bears repeating: Nathan Fillion is a muppet anyway.
posted by humboldt32 at 1:55 PM on June 29, 2011

I demand we continue.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 2:13 PM on June 29, 2011

Alright, the SEKACPUC was good.

SEKACPUC was golden. But is it weird that the rest of the Shinning trailer was just as terrifying to me with ponies as without?
posted by The Bellman at 2:13 PM on June 29, 2011

The Bat family plays "which Pony are you?" 1 2 3.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 2:15 PM on June 29, 2011

You just broke my brain.
posted by Jacqueline at 2:23 PM on June 29, 2011

Watchponies is completely brilliant, fwiw.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 2:25 PM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Aren't rainbow ponies one of the signs of the apocalypse?
posted by londonmark at 2:31 PM on June 29, 2011

Aren't rainbow ponies one of the signs of the apocalypse?

Only when grown men watch and identify with them. But maybe that' just the sign of the Econopocalypse.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 2:35 PM on June 29, 2011

The best apocalypse ever, maybe.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:36 PM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

♪ At the apocalypse
I will sell them
All my apple-tastic treats... ♫
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 2:47 PM on June 29, 2011 [4 favorites]

F*cking Ponies!
posted by quin at 2:50 PM on June 29, 2011

...they drive me to drink!
posted by emmtee at 2:54 PM on June 29, 2011

The fact that so many of the same clips appear frequently throughout the entire collection really highlights how formulaic movie previews tend to be.
posted by ShutterBun at 3:00 PM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Man, Serenity was a terrible movie. I like to pretend I never saw it and that the last thing I ever saw of Firefly was "Objects in Space."

Ahhh, that's been a long time coming.
posted by nanojath at 3:12 PM on June 29, 2011

SERENITY NOW
posted by cmoj at 3:13 PM on June 29, 2011

All my apple-tastic treats... ♫

Yummy Yum!
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 3:20 PM on June 29, 2011

Grouchy MeTa is Grouchy.
posted by zarq at 3:38 PM on June 29, 2011

Horse pucky!

Why would anyone want to watch those monstrous rain-bah abnormalities when you could look at ponies!

lots and lots of ponies!
posted by BlueHorse at 4:50 PM on June 29, 2011

Is there something like youtube doubler which would actually sync them?
posted by a robot made out of meat at 5:47 PM on June 29, 2011

Oh yeah, just mute one. Duh.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 5:51 PM on June 29, 2011

Is this something I would need a pony to understand?

Because my daughter has one. I can go get it.
posted by SpacemanStix at 7:01 PM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Because my daughter has one. I can go get it.

Is it one of the McDonalds Fluttershys? Because we could work something out. She like Transformers?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:08 PM on June 29, 2011

If I finally cave in and start watching the damn ponies (I'm out of Netflix and my streaming list is a pile of meh to me right now), will people stop constantly posting links to ponies already?

Seriously, I was into MLP as a kid, but now that it's an adult fad/the new hipsters I'm feeling freaked out.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:39 PM on June 29, 2011

If I finally cave in and start watching the damn ponies (I'm out of Netflix and my streaming list is a pile of meh to me right now), will people stop constantly posting links to ponies already?

If you watch, you won't want us to stop.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:58 PM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wow, it's like everything about popular internet nerdom that I hate rolled into one.
posted by Apocryphon at 8:17 PM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

If you watch, you won't want us to stop

After the last thread, I watched. I watched the first episode, I watched a random episode, and I watched the "recommended for new viewers" episode. It's just not that good.

The animation and "look & feel" of the show is OK, but the same can be said of most Flash-based animation. Nice smooth curves, coloring, motion, and pretty curly lines everywhere. That was literally the only remarkable (i.e. worthy of remark) thing I found.

The storylines and voice acting were standard fare, as far as I was concerned. Maybe this is a "better-than-average cartoon for kids" but the over-the-top fandom wankery among adults remains nothing short of mind-boggling to me. I kept watching, waiting for some hint of "ooooh, now I see what they're talking about" or even maybe a moment of "well, I can see how that would appeal to so-and-so" but it never happened.

The fact that there seems to be such a rift between those who "get it" and those who "don't" is nearly enough to convince me that the show has somehow managed to target a specific neuroreceptor that only 10% of the population carries.
posted by ShutterBun at 9:06 PM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

(most of these trailers were pretty well done, though)
posted by ShutterBun at 9:06 PM on June 29, 2011

I know they're only doing movie trailers and not theater, but "Equus...with ponies!" would amuse me greatly.

(Yes I am probably a bad person.)
posted by mstokes650 at 9:13 PM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's okay so far after episode 1. It's be fine to watch while babysitting, and is oddly reminiscent of Buffy and The Fifth Element in places, so now we know what the writer watches. And it's a little snarky and I enjoyed Twilight Sparkle making bitchfaces. But... still not getting the obsessive love from adults yet. I never did like how kids' television has to beat you over the head with morals even when I was a kid.

So far: 2 out of 5 ponies. I may post a liveblog post of what I thought during this thing if I get really bored.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:15 PM on June 29, 2011

Oh, also: Celestia is a real bitch for making TS go out and make a herd of friends and then only gives her two damn tickets for the gala, forcing TS to be a bitch and turn most of them down. What the hell, mentor?
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:23 PM on June 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Man. This feels weird. My sister and I had 76 My Little Ponies when we were growing up (we made armies with them). These ponies look all wrong.

(The animation, however, is about ten million times better than the first MLP movie, which we had on VHS.)
posted by ocherdraco at 9:29 PM on June 29, 2011

I watched the ponies, and it's become clear that you guys are on drugs.


I will be cross about the ponies until you share those drugs with me.
posted by louche mustachio at 1:04 AM on June 30, 2011

Serenity trailer... with ponies!

Them Reavers is gonna looooooove them ponies. JUST IMAGINE ... no, don't.
posted by Twang at 1:20 AM on June 30, 2011

There was a time when such infantile fare was the province of either ironic enjoyment or justified childhood nostalgia. But now we have grown men and women on the internets who don't have children enjoying a show that is clearly aimed at their hypothetical nonexistent offspring. What should have obviously remained a guilty pleasure reserved for discreet forum games of "I've never" is now out in the open, a dirty secret flaunting like big click-clopping hooves. Is this kneejerk reaction nothing but geek chauvinism and elitism on my part? A thousand times yes! But nevertheless, I must rage against this phenomenon, this endless piling on of image macros and pastel pony photos. While "serious" cartoons from the likes of Greg Weisman go sadly neglected!

Also, Joss Whedon? Get over it. Firefly is dead and it's not coming back. Cowboy Bebop fans aren't clamoring for a second series. Why should Browncoats continue to pine endlessly for this lost cause? Serenity wasn't even that great. I do give Whedon credit for having the temerity of killing off Wash. Best surprise of the film. Yet he still wasn't ready yet to depict a single Asian character, even in the background, even as a Reaver. Bold storytelling!

Sorry, this is MeFi, where we don't have flaming, but we do have overwrought soapbox speeches, so I wanted to join in on the ritual.
posted by Apocryphon at 1:21 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

If it's any consolation, I thought that the episode of Jem Greg Weisman wrote was truly, truly, truly outrageous.
posted by running order squabble fest at 1:46 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wow, it's like everything about popular internet nerdom that I hate rolled into one.

Best prepare for a future you aren't really equipped to deal with, then.
posted by emmtee at 2:36 AM on June 30, 2011

I mean really, what else would one do for Photo Finish but German Progressive House?

A mini-interview with the guy who does the background music on MLP.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 2:36 AM on June 30, 2011

You see 'but I tried it, and it isn't very good!' a lot in Pony threads, and that's fine on its own. Question of taste and all. It does tend to be attached to 'and therefore I can't comprehend why it has fans!', though. Which is like, duh. You're a functional human being, which I'm taking to imply you can wrap your head around the idea that other people like things you don't. That shouldn't be a challenging new notion, and I don't believe it is. Star Wars is definitely no more complex or mature or 'adult' than MLP, and it has a fanbase a TRILLION times the size of Pony. I think they're terrible movies, and - yes - simplistic and 'childish', I guess. Somehow I'm not driven into a mental blue-screen of total incomprehension that other people like them.

I'm suspicious of the thought process that gives us 'I get why adults like Star Wars and Up, even if I don't, but I cannot for the life of me imagine why they like My Little Pony. If you have that thought process, you should be too. Because what is literally the only substantive difference between these pieces of child-aimed entertainment? One is overtly feminine.

And 'you're watching a show for YOUR HYPOTHETICAL CHILDREN!' peeps, I would love to see you in all the Pixar, Transformers, Star Wars, Adventure Time etc threads, saying the same thing. Because otherwise it looks a lot like that's not actually your problem with this, you know?
posted by emmtee at 5:17 AM on June 30, 2011 [7 favorites]

Get over it. Firefly is dead and it's not coming back.

Everybody knows that. Well, everybody in touch with reality, at least. Sadly, as HNBF showed, there are plenty of Firefly fans out of touch with reality. *sigh*

Cowboy Bebop fans aren't clamoring for a second series.

Uh... do you know anything about Cowboy Bebop? That show was a complete story. I suppose they could make another parallel timeline movie or something, but it's obviously not the same situation at all.

No one mare should have all that power.

Holy crap. Meme-mashup!
posted by kmz at 6:20 AM on June 30, 2011

I get that there are a lot of people out there who don't like MLP, and that's fine. Since I can't really comment on that from personal experience, I'd like to talk a bit about why (some) men like the show.

I think that the main reason is much the same as the reason why women like it: it's very benign, often very funny and combines likeable character-based comedy with some fantastical elements. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that what was putting male viewers off stuff directed at girls in the past wasn't always the femaleness - MLP suggests that if you produce something really fun for girls, boys and men will completely ignore or even celebrate the girly-ness.

As well as that, though, I think that MLP offers something that a lot of shows for boys don't. The traditional story for boys is the story of the lone hero who saves the world. A lot of the time he has side-kicks or assistants, but he usually has to go on alone to face the bad guy. Avatar: The Last Airbender was actually pretty revolutionary in having two main male characters who were interdependent.

But in the real world, almost nobody is in that position. What MLP provides is a model of adulthood in which people are often very skilled, but in which they are complementary parts of a harmonious society. Yes, Twilight has enormous potential for magic and sort-of fulfils the "lone saviour" role in the first two episodes, but that drops out of sight fairly rapidly. And, yes, technically Equestria is a monarchy - although Celestia seems more like a semi-divine ideal mother whose rule is at least partly dependent on her ability to make the sun rise. But, in its fundamental sense that you can tell stories about a world where several people are equally important (despite being skilled and powerful) and where compassion and kindness win out (as long as they come with sufficient style, humour and energy), perhaps MLP is giving a lot of its male fans an alternative narrative that they really wanted all along.
posted by lucien_reeve at 6:33 AM on June 30, 2011 [5 favorites]

Eh, I can get liking it in general because it seems entertaining for what it is. I just sort of wonder why you are that fascinated with a show that seems to be written for ages 6-8, having to do The Moral Of The Story in every episode. It's almost like seeing a bunch of adults swoon over Teletubbies: yes, there's some things to like and it's cute, but isn't your brain a little more sophisticated than that by now? Why the SUPER FASCINATION beyond people making those pony movie videos ('cause those are funny)?

Though I will say while watching it last night, I did find it entertaining to throw "adult" themes into my brain, like going, "Hey, I remember that scene when it was in The Fifth Element" and "Hey, did Twilight Sparkle just spike the punch?!" and "No, seriously, WHAT DRUGS IS PINKIE PIE ON? Does she do poppers or what?"

But then again, I was blackhearted and cynical even as a 6-year-old and wasn't swooning over Mr. Rogers changing his shoes and jacket every day the way I was supposed to be either. Maybe I just don't get the children's television love thing?
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:28 AM on June 30, 2011

I like it because it makes me laugh.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:33 AM on June 30, 2011

I just sort of wonder why you are that fascinated with a show that seems to be written for ages 6-8

I just sort of wonder why you are that fascinated with a show

I just sort of wonder why you are that fascinated

You're basically just wondering why other people have different tastes than you do. Some people find it baffling that anyone would get "that fascinated" with any show, and for that matter, any fictional story at all.

To you, MLP:FiM doesn't look deep. And it isn't, in the dimension that you look for depth in. The plotting is straightforward and the character motivations are static. These are design features. The show is basically a fantastic sitcom. The plot and character have to be there, and are even allowed to become important on occasion, but mainly serve as a framework for whatever strange situation the writers want to serve up this episode.

This show is rather good at presenting strange situations.
posted by LogicalDash at 7:41 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]

"No, seriously, WHAT DRUGS IS PINKIE PIE ON? Does she do poppers or what?"

she's high on RAINBOWS
posted by LogicalDash at 7:44 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

"No, seriously, WHAT DRUGS IS PINKIE PIE ON? Does she do poppers or what?"

Oh dear. You imply that people who like the show don't have "sophisticated" enough brains, then drop something as bland, banal and trivial as the old "OMG its LIKE DRUGS" comment into the conversation.

That's not a more adult or dark or cynical comment. It's the sort of thing giggled out by D-list celebrities on talking heads retrospectives. It takes a low-grade taboo activity (taking drugs! wow! how edgy!) and makes it into a symbol of adulthood. Except that the only people who think about adulthood in those two dimensional terms are are adolescents.

Some people are creative and joyful and imaginative. Other people like to consume creative and joyful and imaginative things. In this case, a show about sparkly ponies. We've had too much rubbish, turgid, lumpen fantasy recently, revolving around overcompensating attempts at "reality" and "darkness" and "adult" things. I'll take the good natured zany ponies, thank you, and I don't think it says anything about the maturity or sophistication of my tastes.
posted by lucien_reeve at 8:16 AM on June 30, 2011 [4 favorites]

Oh and Billl Clinton takes a quiz about MLP here.

Unsurprisingly, he gets all the answers right. Not that they are very hard to guess - but the idea that he is a brony is oddly entertaining.
posted by lucien_reeve at 8:35 AM on June 30, 2011

Best prepare for a future you aren't really equipped to deal with, then.

Not really. Joss Whedon eats himself, like the Ouroboros- or rather, FOX eats his shows. And like any fancy autnerd (Kevin Smith and Tarantino come to mind), there will be a backlash eventually to his unique creative style. In fact, there already is. Whedon on his way out, to be replaced by the likes of J.J. Abrams and such. Is this a false dichotomy? Yes it is, deal with it.

I will have to deal with the ponies thing, but I know that, too, shall pass. It shall hit critical memetic threshold and we shall have Peak Pony, wherein our remaining little pony reserves shall be quickly converted into glue, and the macro wizards of /b/ and Reddit and so on will latch on to some other fad, probably derived from some anime.

Doesn't mean I can't baselessly whine about either of them, though.
posted by Apocryphon at 9:06 AM on June 30, 2011

And 'you're watching a show for YOUR HYPOTHETICAL CHILDREN!' peeps, I would love to see you in all the Pixar, Transformers, Star Wars, Adventure Time etc threads, saying the same thing. Because otherwise it looks a lot like that's not actually your problem with this, you know?

Um, Pixar's films are about important things like environmentalism and Objectivism. And they've jumped the shark with their latest film anyways. Transformers and Star Wars are covered under the childhood nostalgia escape clause. Adventure Time was good when it was still a struggling YouTube video, and now it's just sold out.

MLP isn't overtly feminine, it's overtly infantile. Okay, maybe both. Maybe that's a critique with the state of culture aimed at little girls in America. Maybe the issue is both the feminization of men and the infantilization of women.

Uh... do you know anything about Cowboy Bebop? That show was a complete story. I suppose they could make another parallel timeline movie or something, but it's obviously not the same situation at all.

I believe I was thinking of Black Lagoon at the time. Mea culpa.
posted by Apocryphon at 9:12 AM on June 30, 2011

Maybe the issue is both the feminization of men

How dreadful!

I'll just leave this here.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:17 AM on June 30, 2011 [2 favorites]

I was tossing out that phrase in the spirit of satirizing nonsensical demagoguery. "Feminization of men" is a very talk radio term.

But again, this is an interesting discussion: why is it that what is meant for little girls in this country is colored by infantilism? Why is what is meant for little boys colored by meat-headed violence? The solution must be to create entertainment that is neutral, that avoids falling into the trap of traditional gender structures. That avoids both boyish machismo and sparkling little princess magic.

Maybe Joss Whedon can make it.
posted by Apocryphon at 9:31 AM on June 30, 2011

Apocryphon: "Um, Pixar's films are about important things like environmentalism and Objectivism."

Pony has had episodes covering racism, anti-intellectualism, the nature of competition on an uneven playing field, the scientific method, and the dispute between settlers and native Americans. All lessons I'm happy for kids to learn, just as I'm happy for them to learn about environmentalism, objectivism (lol), and the nature of sausage fests from Pixar films.

I'm not sure what's infantile about Pony as compared to, say, Toy Story. Enlighten us?
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 9:33 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]

They sparkle. It's like Twilight.
posted by Apocryphon at 9:34 AM on June 30, 2011

I liked the Sondheim tribute, personally.
posted by running order squabble fest at 9:40 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

I don't think MLP is particularly infantile. It's made for children and it therefore consciously avoids certain topics - sex and the real-world consequences of violence are obviously out. But other than that, it doesn't really talk down to children. The messages it sends are fairly well thought out. The characters have to grapple with problems that come up in real life (albeit in a slightly less colorful form).

But more than that, MLP is, for many people, genuinely funny. It has a lot of witty references that adults can enjoy, but unlike some areas of nerd humour, the references are reworked and made new. So, for example, Rarity sings a song about making dresses for her friends that is clearly based on Sondheim's "Putting it together" - but it has been rewritten to be about working for a client rather than making high art.

MLP wears its wit - and its learning - lightly. This is what one should do when writing for children.

Now, contrast this with a lot of material written for - for want of a better word - nerds.

A lot of this material is genuinely infantile. That is, it simply isn't up to the job of engaging with adult material, but it attempts to anyway and makes a horrible mess of it. The Dark Knight is a good example. This movie attempts to make a slender idea bear a weight of theme and meaning that it cannot support. Similarly, Ratatouille, which remains, in my opinion, Pixar's worst movie by far (although I haven't seen Cars 2 yet). Here, the heavy-handed message about some people being better than others is shoehorned into a story that is never adequately developed as a story - with the result that you have a film that lurches all over the place and frequently feels like several key scenes have been cut out altogether.

Fundamentally, MLP seems to me much more sensible and emotionally intelligent in its view of life - healthier, if you will - than either of those two films. But more importantly, it is a slender work that knows it is a slender work and rejoices in that, rather than a slender work all puffed up and trying to pass itself off as something profound. The former achieves real adulthood with grace, by being ageless; the latter looks genuinely childish, because few things really are more childish than clumsily attempting to show how grown up you are.
posted by lucien_reeve at 9:48 AM on June 30, 2011 [7 favorites]

MLP isn't overtly feminine, it's overtly infantile.

There's one episode about dealing with (and being) clients from hell. There's a whole subplot about a puberty analog. I can see if it's not your bag, but to dismiss it as infantile is insulting.

They sparkle. It's like Twilight.

I don't think you're watching the right show.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:49 AM on June 30, 2011 [2 favorites]

Also, I think it is perfectly possible to like both Toy Story and MLP for much the same reasons: they are both clever, sweet and inventive.
posted by lucien_reeve at 9:50 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's probably not so much the writing (which it is beloved for on the internet) being infantile than it is about the aesthetics being infantile. Perhaps it is because everyone beyond its intended audience coming from an age where colorful anthropomorphic talking cartoon ponies seem reflexively childish and silly and worthy of backlash. "HOW CAN PEOPLE LIKE THIS IT MAKES NO SENSE"

That and I suppose it is the internet equivalent of going against the schoolyard grain. "I don't get why you guys all like Power Rangers, Power Rangers sucks you guys suck for like it." For an outsider, it is both weird to see people enjoying it, and former detractors or people who didn't like it watch it and suddenly fall in love with it. Of course people who do enjoy it, it is a natural consequence. For people looking in on the outside, it looks curiously like religious conversion, or inhaling once and becoming hooked to a substance.

Perhaps I would enjoy it more if it was done in live-action. My aesthetics would not be offended by perceived infantilism. Someone sell this idea to the suits as a Mr. Ed remake and make it happen!
posted by Apocryphon at 9:56 AM on June 30, 2011

One very clever thing about the show is that it sort of embraces its own backlash: it says "yes, we are saccharine and cute and silly - but to hell with it, if that's our mission, we're going to go ALL OUT AND BE AS CUTE AND SILLY AS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!"

There's a chutzpah to that approach that's hard not to admire.
posted by lucien_reeve at 10:02 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

Well, I've been watching cartoons since I was a kid. My favorites have shifted from Scooby-Doo, The Real Ghostbusters, and Ninja Turtles to South Park, Family Guy, and Futurama. Along the way I've enjoyed stuff like Spongebob and Avatar: TLA and some anime. Aesthetically, I find MLP very pleasing. Half the humor seems to be visual and the ponies have very expressive faces.

I guess never "growing out" of cartoons has made this less jarring for me.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 10:07 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

The solution must be to create entertainment that is neutral, that avoids falling into the trap of traditional gender structures. That avoids both boyish machismo and sparkling little princess magic.

Funny that you say that, because I think MLP is more or less exactly that show. It only looks ultra-feminine to people whose idea of neutral has been skewed by decades of boy-oriented kids' entertainment. Hopefully its crossover popularity will move that line back some distance.

Have you watched much of it? I mean, it's got an incredibly cutesy art style, sure, and a mostly female cast, and I'm not saying you'll automatically love the gentle humour or anything. But the sort of sparkly princessiness the old My Little Pony (and Rainbow Brite etc) had is remarkably absent. It's mostly sending a work-together, solve problems for yourself but know when to ask for your friends' help, kind of collective independence sort of message. The writers have obviously taken great pains to make sure there's nothing like these negative, gendered lessons - passivity, success in life through normative beauty/finding a man, baking/cleaning/dressing up being a woman's place - you get in a lot of other entertainment aimed at female kids.

Perhaps I would enjoy it more if it was done in live-action.

Seriously, be careful what you ask for. Brrrrrr.
posted by emmtee at 10:08 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]

Well, that's what I'm trying to respond to, by setting up an intelligent opposition that is self-aware of the inherent irrationality of the anti-pony position. Because once it comes down to it the backlash is either "I don't get why grown men watch a show for little girls (this conflicts with the cultural norms I am used to)" or "I don't get why this stuff is so popular why do people love it so much (popular things that I'm not into suck)." And the while try to extract some sort of discourse about it. This is the postmodern state of the internet: a battle over who can be the most self-aware, over a show for little girls.
posted by Apocryphon at 10:08 AM on June 30, 2011

lucien_reeve: "There's a chutzpah to that approach that's hard not to admire."

I love the Bridesmaids spoof billboards.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 10:11 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]

Funnily enough, despite loving the show, I try to stay away from fan material. I'm glad that people enjoy it and the creativity is inspiring, but I think the jokes stay fresher when they aren't "memed to death" a la Monty Python (may he rest in peace).
posted by lucien_reeve at 10:25 AM on June 30, 2011

Well, that's what I'm trying to respond to, by setting up an intelligent opposition that is self-aware of the inherent irrationality of the anti-pony position.

This seems like a singularly unprofitable pursuit, if you don't mind me saying so. I think you were doing better with the Greg Weisman stuff. Although I'd strongly question the proposition that Young Justice is artistically better, or indeed aesthetically more mature, than My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
posted by running order squabble fest at 10:25 AM on June 30, 2011

For people looking in on the outside, it looks curiously like religious conversion...

Heh. It sort of looks that way on the inside, too. The knee-jerk backlash from people seems to fan the enthusiasm the fans. I touched on that in this piece about bronies.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:28 AM on June 30, 2011

I can always dig a new pony trailer.
posted by Threesix at 1:17 PM on July 3, 2011

Equestria Daily has an associated YouTube channel that maintains several pony playlists, sorted by type (all the vids have been featured or mentioned on EqD.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 2:09 PM on July 3, 2011 [1 favorite]