So it was covered in a very popular article we published a few months ago that grown men have taken a liking to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. These adult fans of the show often refer to themselves as “bronies”, a portmanteau of “bro” and “ponies”. But there’s one question that, when they first take a liking to the show, nearly every brony asks themselves:
“Why is this so good?”
Without missing a beat, many would answer “Lauren Faust, of course”. And to an extent, it’s true; her accolades in the cartoon industry are numerous, and her popularity seems only to be rivaled by that of her husband, Craig McCracken. But to anyone who watches My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, it will become swiftly obvious that the show has something special about it, some charm which no other Lauren Faust series has yet demonstrated.
My explanation is that My Little Pony has actually always been rather awesome.
Now you’re probably thinking “David, what are you saying? How could giggling and tea parties ever be awesome?” Well, this is the part where I take you back through the years and show you where your inaccurate mental image of My Little Pony probably came from.
The first of the three stops on our trip is none other than the 1984 pilot episode, Rescue at Midnight Castle.
MY LITTLE PONY: RESCUE AT MIDNIGHT CASTLE
This was the original pilot episode of My Little Pony that debuted in 1984. It was only 20 minutes, but it was the most brutal 20 minutes of pony you’ve ever seen. It’s violent, for one thing; between Scorpan getting bitch slapped by Tirek, and the four ponies getting painfully transformed into demonic slaves, this special is almost NSFW. Several elements of it would make modern sensors squirm. For example, the following still shot from the episode:
""If by midnight I do not have a fourth pony, a head will roll. HIS!"
The “head that will roll” is in fact Spike’s. Yes, you heard me—our villain threatens to behead our favorite orphaned purple dragon. That right there tells you everything you need to know about Tirek—he’s one bad dude.
Scorpan, on the other hand, is possibly the greatest anti-hero the My Little Pony franchise has ever known. Tirek is forcing him to capture ponies, but Scorpan’s hidden agenda isn’t nearly so sinister. The following still shot says it all:
"Run, ponies!"
In the midst of conflict, Scorpan busts into Tirek’s throne room to help the unfortunate ponies (and their human companion, Megan) escape to the roof of the castle, where the final showdown between Tirek and the citizens of Dream Valley takes place.
In short, Rescue at Midnight Castle is a must-watch for every brony. It’s 20 minutes of awesome that you just don’t want to miss.
MY LITTLE PONY TALES
The beloved but ill-fated second incarnation of the series, My Little Pony Tales. Running for 26 episodes of 10 minutes in 1992, the series was cancelled on account of being too awesome (no seriously, it’s listed on TV Tropes as “Too Good To Last” for a reason). In truth, the series was cancelled because the slice-of-life genre was not yet popularized in the western animation scene. The anthropomorphic movements of the ponies in this series also puts some people off (this was, after all, the series that coined the term “magnet hooves”—where a pony will pick up something using the flat side of their hoof, and it will stick to their hoof as though they are holding onto it).
Most of the appeal of this show is the heartbreak of getting to the final episode and realizing that they had so many plans for the series that they never got a chance to fulfill; the series was an idea cut short, a concept shot down in its prime. And so it’s quite fun, but also a bit sad, to ponder what the writers might have done had they been given an extra season. For example, Patch (the tomboyish one among them) has hallucinations regularly—but in each episode the writers give you reason to believe they might have been real, and that Patch isn’t actually mentally unstable.
And in terms of stories, My Little Pony Tales could be considered the Arthur of its time. Yep, I said it—our favorite aardvark/bunny duo had a predecessor. Tales and Arthur shared many, many parallels, and even used some of the same jokes from time to time. I would even go so far to say that Arthur was Marc Brown’s response to My Little Pony Tales.
All in all, Tales is well worth watching all the way through. With 26 episodes at 10 minutes each, it’s only 4 hours and 20 minutes out of your life. What could it hurt?
MY LITTLE PONY: A VERY MINTY CHRISTMAS
Yes, I’m bringing G3 into this. If there’s one G3 special that’s NOT awful, it’s A Very Minty Christmas. I don’t have much to say about it, except that the comedy is sincerely funny for all the right reasons, and that Minty is the second-greatest character in G3 (right behind Sunny Daze, who is just plain awesome—perhaps too awesome to even be a G3 character). Ultimately, if you don’t find yourself smiling more than once at this Christmas special’s humor, then I give up. Minty’s OCD is bound to make you smile at times, and Pinkie Pie has some great moments too.
Just watch it. You’re going to have to take a leap of faith on this one.
All in all, there are many amazing things in the older generations of My Little Pony. Other MLP stories I recommend checking out are The Return of Tambelon, Crunch the Rockdog, and Dancing in the Clouds/Friends are Never Far Away.
Thank you for reading this, and I hope you take my advice. You won’t regret it.
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