So what's with the my little pony?

[brionl]

Irony-the original My Little Pony Toy line was supposed to be a gender neutral toyline.

Officially, gen 4(FiM) is marketed towards families who have little girls. Amongst other things, this means that the show is being written as to be enjoyable by the parents and siblings of the children in the primary demographic.

That includes say, fathers or brothers.

So it's not surprising that people outside of the "five year old girls"demographic would find things they like.

There's also been a few statements that the writers are making a show that they'd watch with their children.

There are so many shows that are "Oh God, what where they thinking?" For instance, I watched an entire episode of the new Pig, Goat, Banana, Cricket because I was sure it couldn't be as bad as the commercials are making out. But nope, totally execrable. Then I was watching another show and they had an extended preview of Pickle & Peanut during a commercial break, and I wanted to gouge my brain out with a spoon after only watching 30 seconds of the show. It seemed like hours but was probably only one or two minutes.

I try to watch at least one episode of every cartoon, some I like, some I can stand but don't much care for, and some are so horrible I can't even watch five minutes.

For example, Penn Zero Part Time Hero is actually pretty funny and interesting. Star vs the Forces of Evil is tolerable, and Randy Cunningham: Ninth Grade Ninja is totally bruce.
Star Wars: Droid Tales would be better if they showed more than one episode per month. They must have shown episode 1 fifty times in the last month.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Irony-the original My Little Pony Toy line was supposed to be a gender neutral toyline.

When the originally toy line came out, toys weren't gendered the way they are now. Gender neutral toys basically don't exist in the mainstream market today. That the product wasn't aimed exclusively at girls is probably more down to differences in how marketing strategy has evolved than any actual original intention for the product to appeal to boys as well.

[DigoDragon]

I'm remembering the old "Polly Pocket" and "Mighty Max" toys. Essentially the same thing, but marketed to different genders.

[ryuplaneswalker]

To the op one of the big reasons Frienship is Magic is popular is because it doesn't treat it's audience like complete pants on head morons.

[Ravian]

Wanted to add my two cents on why pony cross-over fan art seems to be so prolific.

I'd say it's a couple reasons.

One: It's very distinct. One can make crossover art of anything, but for many that tends to just be as simple as drawing two characters from different shows in the same scene interacting. Sure you can get a little more creative by say drawing a character in an outfit distinctly from another series. (Say for instance, the Doctor in a Star Trek uniform), but pony crossovers are particularly noticeable, since they typically involve a character changing species entirely. Even without knowledge of what show it's referencing you can immediately recognize (that's a character from a show I know as a cartoon horse.)

Two: There's a lot of room for creativity that still exists within boundaries. Ponies in the show are divided into three distinct sub-species of Earth Pony (tend to be strong and down to earth, the badass normals of the show) Pegasus (tend to be fast, often aggressive, and have a lot to do with the weather) and Unicorns (tend to be intellectuals and magic users, often aristocratic in attitude) Right there you have an important question when deciding how to draw a character as a pony. Let's give an example, and say you want to draw batman as a pony. One of the big things here is that his pony type is very open for interpretation. On one hand, Batman's has a rich socialite background and is a genius, so Unicorn is a good consideration. On the other hand he's also basically a ninja, an amazing fighter and there's something appealing about a batman with actual batwings (some Pegasi have them in the show) so Pegasus is also a consideration. On the third hand one of Batman's biggest defining traits in the DC universe is that he has no powers or weird abilities, he's the titular badass normal, so Earth Pony is also a great consideration.

Pony type gives you a lot of thinking space when considering how a character would be if represented in the show's world.

Then of course there's the cutie mark, an image on their flanks that represents their special talent, essentially a place where the character is represented in one image. That is an exercise in itself as well. Some are fairly obvious. (Batman would probably have a bat for his cutie mark) but trying to think up a cutie mark for say Light Yagami from Death note is a nice creative excercise.

(I drew that a while back and eventually settled with a pen over an Apple, since the actual note would be a little too on the nose for a guy trying to keep that big a secret. (He's a unicorn by the way, L's an Earth Pony with an L for a cutie mark))


TLDR: Ponifications are just too fun to think about to not draw. For a couple years in my drama department I thought of pony versions of several musicals. (Sweeney Todd makes for a particularly vicious Unicorn. "At last! My horn is complete again!")

[MLai]

I see plenty of people with pony avatars and games set in various pony universes. I guess I'm just clueless here, what is it about this show that's drawn so much attention and why has it translated into rpgs to such an extent? Curious minds want to know (and I'm told there may be sugar cube prizes for answers).

I'll try to cover some overlooked things from a fresh angle:

(1) Anthropomorphic animals fiction: This is an overlooked genre which many consider as fringe, but has a bigger hidden fanbase than anyone suspects. Remember that most Westerners grow up consuming this genre. In truth, it is a HUGE and HUNGRY niche market that isn't satisfied by one Disney movie per decade. Look at the mania started just by Avatar (movie), which was a flash in the pan only because a franchise didn't exist to keep the flame. Nobody really caters to this market, but when someone does and does it well, she makes mint. I have a friend who recently hit on this goldmine as a starting-out professional.

(2) Open-ended fantasy world: Someone on this forum had once put it very well... the reason MLP has a setting fanbase while Avatar TLA/LOK has none is because the former is open while the latter is closed, despite both being quality animation with quality characterization. There is much more freedom and potential in MLP as a fantasy world setting. It is also a setting which is much deeper (or can be much deeper) than realized at first glance. IMO the Greco-Roman motifs aren't just superficial; Equestria really is based on Plato's The Republic. It isn't just a sugary fairyland setting; rather it is a consistent Noblebright world but with areas of darkness and adventure.

On the fantasy side, magic is revealed just enough for us to glimpse a wide array of disciplines, without ever tying them down with actual nerd charts. Even though the studio is writing mainly for little girls, they mostly keep magic consistent enough as a tool that we can draw some broad lines, and deus ex machina magic is kept strictly to the universal force/artifact referred to in the title.

(3) Good characters, good humor, etc bla bla bla: The rest you know. It really is better than a lot of cartoons and anime out there. Can anime be good? Of course. But do you get tired of Japanese sentiments and storytelling techniques after a while even if they're good? Yeah. Variety is spice.

[Lord Shardok]

Aside from seeing a friends 5 year old watching the show I've had no exposure to the My Little Pony, and yet I see plenty of people with pony avatars and games set in various pony universes. I guess I'm just clueless here, what is it about this show that's drawn so much attention and why has it translated into rpgs to such an extent? Curious minds want to know (and I'm told there may be sugar cube prizes for answers).

It's just really well written and pretty fun. It stands out because most cartoons nowadays tend to be fairly hastily written and crapped out for kids that watch it because there's nothing better to do. The people who make MLP:FiM actually take pride in their work and make a great show for old and young alike to enjoy.