Not sure whether to do Filly Trixie (from the Nerdy Knitter pattern I bought) or to do a Moondancer off of the same standard pattern I used so many times before. (Yeah, I decided I want a Moondancer. I have off-white yarn, and purple of two shades, and picked up a skein of orange Vanna's Choice the last time I was at JoAnn's).
I think the episode she was in - "Amending Fences" - is my absolute favorite of Season 5. It's so sweet, it's a nice story, it calls back Season 1 (and what's more, the very first episode of Season 1). I've read some commentators suggest that it was the writers' thank-you to Lauren Faust, who rebooted the series and then left the show ("Creative differences," I think - with Hasbro). If so, that's a lovely thank-you for them to have done. There's just something that feels so *special* about the episode.
It also does, in its own way, hark back to the earlier incarnations of My Little Pony - the character names, but also the sheer sweetness and gentleness of the storyline.
* I liked this weekend's episode. I'm going to have to watch it again in the re-runs to catch all the nuance (which is why I like the show - the tiny little things there for you to notice). Rarity and Applejack are "called" to Manehattan (the map thing is back). They are to help Coco Pommel, who was seen last season (There were sort of "understudies," in a way, of several of the ponies, that reinforced the Mane Six's good characters. I think Coco was the most positive of these - she wasn't an antagonist like Lightning Dust was, she wasn't dishonest-turned-honest like Silver Shill....she was an underling of the antagonist in her episode, but she did what she could to undo the antagonist's harm).
Anyway, Coco is trying to revitalize a theater-in-the-park thing that had been part of the community she lived in in Manehattan, program that Charity Kindheart (got to love those Pony names!) had originated - Charity was a designer for "Bridleway" (Broadway) but she had a community spirit, and gave back to her community through these plays...but when Charity moved away (to be closer to her "grandfillies"), the theater program fell apart.
And once again, Ponies tackles a subject that adult viewers - or at least, this adult viewer - can totally relate to. The whole idea of volunteer work, and how someone who is very strong leadership in a volunteer effort, when they leave (or die, which is sadly what I've seen happen around here), the volunteer effort falls apart, because that strong and valued leader isn't there.
(You also see this sometimes in churches, when a well-loved minister leaves or retires - it's almost like some of the flock give up in the absence of their leader. What REALLY should happen is a new leader coming forward - in a volunteer effort - or the flock rallying and doing the best to support the new minister - in church - but human nature seems to be such that sometimes when a strong leader leaves, the "followers" do kind of give up).
Well, Coco really wants to bring the program back. But she's just one pony, and she also has her career she has to attend to (this is starting to sound very familiar to me).
So Rarity and Applejack offer to help. And they try to recruit volunteers to help. And NOPONY wants to help, delivering increasingly weak excuses. (Again, sounds VERY familiar to me). One Pony even talks about how "exhausting" his job is, and how "very busy" he is - and then he lies down in a raft/boat, pushes off from the shore, and floats downstream - the impression being that he's not that busy, after all. (And I've been there and seen that. One of my friends says, "If you want something done, ask a busy person" and sadly, that's often true).
So Applejack offers to clean up the park "All by herself" (shades of the Little Red Hen in this one). Rarity offers to help with the costumes. And we see Applejack working all by herself - making very little of a dent, exhausting herself, wrecking her hat in the process. (And I admit, it's hard for me not to feel angry at those stupid lazyponies who didn't help her. Projection.)
She doesn't get very far, and when the acting troupe shows up, at first they are unhappy. But they start trying to put the play on, and ponies gradually show up to see it.
One of the great tiny details: the actors have taped "Cutie marks" pertaining to the character they are playing over their existing cutie mark. I suppose somewhat like actors wearing make up or wigs on stage to change their appearance, or like part of the costume. But it's those little details, those things that flesh out the Equestrian world and culture, that make me love the show so much.
And the ponies realize at the end of the play that, why, if they each only did a little bit, they could have their plays in the park back, just like when Charity was here!
And if the pony world is better than the human world, they will - in the human world, there are a lot of people who talk big like that, and then never, ever follow through, and it's the Applejacks of the world that are left trying to pull all the dandelions alone...
A couple other little things:
* The "Mad Men" styled background ponies were in this one again. I love that kind of little detail; to me it says the animators/storyboarders are having fun with this and I like to see people having fun with their work in that way.
* Nice little "Peanuts" shoutout with Rarity having an "advice booth" like Lucy's psychiatry booth.
* Possible "Frogger" reference - the birds'-eye view of the Ponies trying to cross a busy street?
* Applejack doing a Spock eyebrow.
* Literal-minded Coco Pommel:
"Applejack: You bet your boots we will!
Coco Pommel: Oh, I don't wear boots. I find they chafe my calves when I walk.
Applejack: It's just an expression."
Of course, it's possible no one in Manehattan has heard a "countryism" before, but I prefer to think of it as Coco being kind of literal-minded like I am.
* Two things that I thought might be Chekov's Guns that didn't go off in this episode: the comment about "missing the Sisterhooves Social" (though a future episode is called Brotherhooves Social, so maybe it's a delayed-action Chekov's Gun) and the construction-pony who showed up in the audience (I thought he'd go, "Whoa, I can rebuild that stage, let me do it!")
***
I also watch the new Equestria Girls movie. (This is the one with human-world versions of the ponies - teen girls with the voices and mannerisms of the Mane Six).
Eh, meh. I'm not a big fan of these, I prefer my Ponies as ponies. And I think this one was kind of a big mess - though I think I read it was shortened slightly from the dvd release for broadcast, so maybe that's it.
But a couple of thoughts:
* The idea of the evil (or really, just very competitive and heartless and unfriendly) prep school made me twitch as I went to prep school and actually found it much friendlier and less-excluding than the public junior high I attended. So I admit I was already slightly prejudiced against the whole idea.
* And yeah, I get that it was an alternative-universe thing, where "what would happen to Twilight if she hadn't made friends" but having it wind up with human-Twilight becoming a monster (because her desire to acquire knowledge outstripped her sense of humanity and compassion) was also kind of uncomfortable, it could be overinterpreted into a "See, kids, this is what happens to you if you are an egghead, so don't try too hard in school!"
* Really don't like the phrase "Pony Up" for the apparent emergence of friendship-magic because when I talk about "ponying up" I mean "paying money for something I have to pay money for, but would rather not"
* Not enough time devoted to the actual competition, too much time to lead-up and exposition. And yet, oddly very little detail of the prep school kids, I could hardly even relate names to characters outside of Shadethrower (er, Sugarcoat). Lemon Zap or Lemon Twist or whatever her name was probably had the coolest character design (in my opinion) but again, not enough development there.
* "Principal Cinch" which made me wonder if there was another five-letter word, beginning with a B and not a C, that they would have LIKED to have used but which would never had made it past the censors. (The typical big-baddie-schoolmarm character without a single likable characteristic. In reality, those strict schoolmarms MOST OF THE TIME actually have the kids' best interests at heart, but the kids can't see that....not here). And there's "Dean Cadence" which had me going "Dean....and 'Principal'.....not how a prep school works." (it's Headmaster, not Principal....at least at every prep school I've known)
* In the end, Human Twilight moved over to Canterlot High so she could learn about friendship. And I confess, my reaction was, "Okay. So there's no need for Pony Twilight to come back to the human world. So can we be done with these now?" I don't know if there's another EG movie planned, I suppose if the dolls from this one sell, there will be, but, meh....I think the first EG movie was the best, the second one was OK, I really didn't like this one
*Also, when human-Twilight
I dunno. I just don't like the idea of the two worlds being that closely connected and I REALLY hope Hasbro doesn't eventually decide it's a good idea to link them up and put humans in Equestria and vice versa.
1 comment:
Speaking of Peanuts shoutouts, did you see the Charlie Brown pony?
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