I'm trying to list all the violent and/or scary episodes. Double check me! · 4:01pm Oct 28th, 2014
So, last week I gave my 4-year-old niece a MLP DVD for her fourth birthday. She and her twin brother love it, according to their mom. (He's very into superheroes, and the DVD has Wonderbolts Academy on it, so now they ask to watch "superhero ponies.")
However, their mom is very careful about what they watch, for good reason; the girl gets scared of Disney-level monsters and intense scenes, and the boy tends to hit his sister after he watches fight scenes (why yes, this does cause a bit of a problem with his superhero obsession.) I made sure the DVD I got her had slice of life episodes (Wonderbolts Academy, Winter Wrap-Up, Too Many Pinkie Pies, Apple Family Reunion, Keep Calm and Flutter On, and Look Before You Sleep,) but since the kids liked it I thought I'd give my sister-in-law a heads up on which episodes she might want to check out beforehand or avoid.
So, I put together this list, and I wanted to toss it out to you guys to see if you could think of anything I forgot, or anything I included that you don't think should be on here. Remember, I'm looking for:
1) Scenes that are intense/scary like the climatic scenes in Disney movies tend to be, with characters running from or fighting monsters.
2) Scenes with actual combat (punching, kicking, weapons, and I'm including offensive magic because I don't know how she feels about that.)
Here's what I have so far:
The Elements of Harmony -- a kind of scary bad guy, scenes in a creepy forest, a fight with a monster, and an intense final battle (with no physical fighting in it.) However, the fight with the monster ends with the revelation that the monster had a thorn in its paw and needed kindness to be good, and the scary part ends with the song “Giggle at the Ghosties” about making things less scary by laughing at them.
Feeling Pinkie Keen -- A monster they have to run away from.
Luna Eclipsed -- A fake, but intense (for a few minutes at least) return of the villian from Elements of Harmony. Part of the message of the episode is that it can be fun to be scared if you know it’s fake.
Read it and Weep -- A take-off of Indiana Jones, with a fight scene in it.
A Canterlot Wedding -- this might be one you want to avoid, it has a kind of scary bad guy (Chrysalis,) some tense scenes, and a big fight scene between the main six ponies and bad guys who can shapeshift to look like them. (I can just see Louie telling you it’s okay to hit his sister because she’s a changeling.)
The Crystal Empire -- a few tense action scenes.
Sleepless in Ponyville -- Some scary or creepy “ghost story” type scenes. The message of the episode is that it’s okay to be scared and talking to other people can make it less scary.
Spike at your Service -- a monster the characters run from/fight.
Princess Twilight Sparkle -- two fights against monsters (a crocodile type thing and a vine that’s attacking them) and a flashback to a kind of intense fight between Princess Celestia and the villain from the Elements of Harmony.
Castle-Maneia --a haunted house-style story at an old castle with some creepy scenes of the ponies being scared of things. The lesson of the episode is not to let your imagination get the better of you.
Daring Don’t -- Another Indiana Jones thing, with a few more fight scenes.
Power Ponies -- a superhero themed episode that does have some fight scenes against bad guys (not much physical violence, but there may be some.)
Bats! -- a scene of the characters being chased by a vampire pony.
Somepony to Watch Over Me -- a creepy/tense scene in a swamp and a fight with a monster.
Twilight’s Kingdom -- a kind of scary bad guy, and a big magic fight (shooting magical beams at each other that do seem to do damage to the surrounding area, at least.)
Is anything on there unfairly, or missing?
What about For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils? It's got the scene with the Rarity cloud in Sweetie's nightmare and has Luna's look into the future montage which could count as scary depending on how she is.
I have no words
Secret of My Excess. Spike turns into a large dragon. Might be scarey.
Over A Barrel - Maybe, if you count pie throwing as a fight.
Bridle Gossip - Zecora is as a scary figure initially.
Dragonshy - the dragon is big and scary, Dash kicks the dragon in the face
Fall Weather Friends - AJ and Dash wind up fighting
The Staremaster - scary forest, scary monster
A Dog and Pony Show - A couple of fights with Diamond Dogs
Over A Barrel - fight between the buffalo and the settlers
Return of Harmony, part 2 - Twilight's attempt to retrieve the book results in a big ole ball of violence.
Hearth's Warming Eve- Windegos are kind of scary
Putting Your Hoof Down - Fluttershy actually beats up a couple of ponies.
I'd suggest that Secret of My Excess doesn't really belong - since the audience knows the "monster" is Spike - but you know your niece and I don't.
2560575
I think I'll rewatch that one when Trixie wakes up... I know that one lasts for a few seconds, so I'll see how bad it looks.
2560579
I have a few: four-year-old boys. Any excuse to hit people is a good one!
2560596
Good point on Over a Barrel. I'm not sure about Secret of My Excess, I feel like Spike is played more for laughs there and it never really gets too intense. Dragon Quest, on the other hand, might be one to think about.
Mare-Do-Well? Not violent exactly, but many dangerous situations and ponies doing foolish things.
2560606 Yeah, it isn't the worst one, but I thought I'd mention it anyway just in case.
2560603
Some of those are good points, thanks. I'm not that worried about Bridle Gossip or Dragonshy, though, they do fine with Discord in Keep Calm and Flutter On, so just a monster/scary pony being there isn't really bad. And since Dash only kicks the dragon once (and it doesn't work), that doesn't really have the intensity of a fight scene.
She's thankfully not double-safety-helmet bad, yet.
Hmn, twins? Are you sure one of them isn't a changeling?
Now that I think about, that could be an interesting story premise. Changeling added to a family at birth as a fake twin, kid grows up thinking he or she is a pony, then finds out years on, etc.
MLP:FIM...now with 20% less coolness and potential children problem.
Now, serious, imho, i´m not trying to say what you have to do, but, in this case, would be better to watch with the kids and explain the concepts. If the kid has a thing to hit, i´m sure you (or is it your sister ?) can use some episode to show that this is not a good behaviour. If the little girl is scared, go and show her it´s ok to be scared, ´cause you´ll be there to help make the monster go away.
Sure, this is coming from a father that made his 6 year son watch the first two "Alien" movies in order to make him like scary movies as soon as possible. Just one whole week of peeing in the bed at night, almost no trauma. So, maybe, i´m not the best to parenting. But the little guy hold pretty good and, now, he just love zumbie-themed cartoons. He loved the new Phineas and Pherb zombie-themed episode. And no peeing in the bed this time !
2560620
You don't have to tell me, I watch all of these episodes with my three month old (though to be fair, she doesn't know much other than "colors move on the screen and sometimes songs start!") But there was a kind of creepy animatronic witch at a Halloween thing we went to the other day, and she thought it was hilarious.
That being said, these are my husband's sister's kids, so I don't have much room to stick my nose in. I'm just trying to make sure nothing happens that gets the ponies taken away from the kids. (And there's a good chance that most of this would be fine, the kids do watch stuff like Toy Story, so they can handle some cartoon violence/intense scenes, just not stuff like the snow monster in Frozen, or fight scenes in superhero cartoons.) I just figured I'm kind of an expert and I could help her make decisions where she needs to.
ETA: That's also why I mention on the list when the episode uses scary situations or fights to teach lessons about those things that the kids obviously need to learn one day.
I find the idea of MLP being too scary/violent for kids deliciously ironic.
2560620
You are my hero. How'd he react during them?
Did his mother look at you and say: "That's karma"? :-P
2560725 Actually he loved the movie, but went in a non-stop questions onslaught on me during th movie. He did not understand everything, specially since the movie had no dubs (i´m from Brasil) and i had to read the subtitles most of the time. As for my wife...well, she just stinky-eyed me and said: if he does not sleep at night YOU´LL handle him !
I did. Made he sleep with us in our bed. She never forgave me.
Yes, it was in our bed he peed.
I have no regrets !!!!
He is almost 8 now...when he turns to 10 my Evil Dead disc is redy for him. The original Evil Dead 2, not that crap remake, please !
2560734
I'd kill my husband.
Yeah, neither would he. Until I killed him.
2560776 On the one hand I totally see your point.
On the other hand, this is the age where kids are incapable of telling fiction from reality. (Remember, they just turned 4.) More than a few kids at this age seriously hurt themselves trying to fly, for example, and while it's possible to watch a kid well enough to stop them from climbing on something high, it's not really possible to keep them from drawling back their fist.
Luckily, this is a normal developmental stage that kids do grow out of. But while they're in it, explaining things doesn't really work (the same way you can't explain to an infant that you don't go away when you hide your face, or explain to a 7-year-old boy that he will like kissing girls someday.) So if your kid keeps trying to fly because she's being a superhero, you don't let her watch shows with flying characters. If your kid keeps hitting things because he's being a superhero...
It's not like they never see violence, their parents just try to limit it for now, until he can tell the difference.
Whoa whoa what's this I hear about children watching My Little Pony?
Good points on the episodes listed, and those in the comments. One that I haven't seen mentioned yet is (maybe) "Magical Mystery Cure." The vast majority of the episode was find, but when the rest of the Mane Six open their eyes to look at Twilight, only to find a smoldering pile of ash?
I'm not sure how well that reaction would go for the five seconds that's shown.
I absolutely can't believe the son will beat his sister after watching a fight scene in a children's show/movie. AT FOUR YEARS OLD. That's some psych shit that REALLY needs to get checked out asap.
I saw your response to an earlier comment saying that at this age they can't tell fiction from reality, but I watched stuff like Hunchback of Notre Dame (arguably the darkest Disney film) in Kindergarten and I had neither sort of reaction that these children had.
As for your actual inquiry, your list seems to check out but I'm too lazy to start sifting through the episodes to help out your sister (in-law?).
2560955
They're still two years too young for kindergarten.
And kids develop at different ages, and everything affects kids differently. His sister has no problem not hitting. He has no problem with scary things. None of this is unusual.
Well, won't you feel silly once you realize she's been replaced by a bug!
I got nothing; I think other people have covered which episodes might be problematic quite well.
2560784
I'm not really sure how true this is, to be honest. The studies I've read suggest that kids are very much capable of doing so, they're just more gullible in many respects than adults are because they lack experience and thus are more likely to believe you when you tell them that there is a man who they never see who is always watching them and judging their actions, and will punish or reward them based on their actions.
Of course, most adults will laugh at you if you tell them that Santa Claus is real, because they know better than to believe in such things because of past experience. But if you tell them that the NSA is doing the same thing through their computers, they're more likely to believe that, too, even if monitoring every single American (let alone every single person on the planet) is obviously impossible due to time constraints, because they don't realize that.
AFAIK I never had any trouble distinguishing reality from fiction (or at least, my mom doesn't have any funny stories about it, though, frankly, given what kind of
hatchlingkid I was, that doesn't especially surprise me) and the worst that my brother ever did was "they'll get an extra life" on the goldfish that ended up accidentally getting frozen during a trip when we left them in the car overnight in Flagstaff, Arizona (whoops).Of course, my brother and I did get in fights... but they never had anything to do with TV shows or movies, they were because we were scrappy little things. We literally fought tooth and nail; I'm surprised neither of us have any scars.
2560969 I don't see violent tendencies at such a young age as normal. Maybe a playful bout or individual hit gone poorly and misinterpreted. Unless I have misread what you have said about this boy. However it's hard to mistake this...:
...As not concerning.
2561406
Guess you never spent much time around little kids. Siblings hit each other.
I would put Return of Harmony on there. I know you said the kids were fine with Discord in Keep Calm and Flutter on but he's mostly silly in that episode. In Return of Harmony there are a few scenes where Discord is actually intimidating.
2561406 Someone's an only chiiiiild.
2561910
I seriously think you're forming an incorrect picture of just how young a kid who turned four last week really is.
This kid just turned four. My youngest brother had just started talking at that age (he's now in college, so he did figure it out.)
Here, they're in this age range (I suspect the second kid is a little older, actually. She looks closer to five):
So, no, there is no problem with a kid who was three years old at the beginning of this month having trouble realizing why the bad guys are getting punched. They're getting punched because they're the bad guys. He'll pretend his sister is the bad guys and... wait, why is mom mad?
Of course he gets punished for it when it happens, so eventually he'll learn, but for now his mom would rather keep it from happening to begin with.
2560620
My dad let me watch the movie Child's Play 2 when I was only 3 or 4. I slept with the light on for weeks and I was afraid to go down the stairs because Chucky could be hiding underneath it :p
2561406
Um...my brothers, cousins and I would watch the Power Rangers movie (the one with the Ooze guy and that evil lady, I totally need to have a nostalgia day and rewatch that thing...) and one of the moves the power rangers used was to smack two bad guys together so they fell over. We used to reenact fight scenes all the time...I have twin brothers...it was fate.
I don't think I'm psychotic, although my brothers and I still playfight at ages 22 and 20, so maybe we are. I think a lot of kids hit people/do stupid things sometimes to emulate characters on tv. I had been told that movies were all fake, so somehow in my kid mind that translated to "hey, this won't hurt my bros, cuz I'm just doing what they did, and that's fake." They were fine, by the way.
Also, sidebar, my dad used to tape pretty well any animated movie that came on tv, (VCR FTW!) considering it fit for kids because, you know, animated. I think I was about six when I sat down to watch Princess Mononoke. All aboard the trauma train, choo choo! Except, I actually really liked it, despite having to close my eyes a few times, so it all worked out. But still. That gross cursey crap all over the boar's face...blegh, just, blegh.
2561964
Omg. the stairs thing! I accidentally walked in on my grandmother watching one of the Freddy movies (she loved her horror. That, and game shows. I have a feeling she would have really liked the Hunger Games...) and I think I still have a complex about going up or down stairs with gaps in them that could be hiding freaky taloned hands. Oh sure, I tell people I always go up/down stairs really quick just to get them over with, but they won't be laughing when something reaches out and grabs their ankle, and I'm safe and sound on the landing, let me tell you.
As to the original intent of this thread (because relevance) I think everyone's got a pretty comprehensive list going on. Has Pinkie Apple Pie been mentioned? I don't think it's actually violent, but there is a scary cave. That we never see. No, I guess that one would be fine. *shrug*
Good job finding more members for the pony craze. Recruit 'em while they're young
2561840 No, I have an older sister.
2561432 Also incorrect, I have watched nine of my cousins' children grow up. Most of them are around the ages of 2-6.
2562226 There is a difference between a bit of playfighting over the years and consistently hitting your siblings because of influence from a TV show or movie and apparently not being told "no, that's wrong" from your parents so you stop. One's having fun that can go wrong if left unchecked, and the other is not being properly taught lessons in your early childhood.