Some Quick Thoughts on the Make Your Mark Special · 10:51pm May 26th, 2022
Short version: it was all right. Not great, not terrible. Just all right.
but we're not here just for the short version
Long version:
I won’t lie—I was a bit disappointed in the special. This is not, particularly, because of any wayward expectation of it. I avoided as many spoilers as I could this time around, went in completely blind, and was perfectly content to get something serviceable, without a worry for if the plot would turn out the way I thought it would.
That said, I still felt a bit disappointed at the end.
Let me at least talk about the things that I did like. The main draw for this special is that Zipp takes largely center stage. She notices before anypony else that there’s something weird going on with the magic, figures out that the crystals are acting up, and comes to the conclusion as to how to save the day: have everypony work together. Having her do more as well as taking on a more proactive, investigative role was a nice change of pace, and has further endeared her as my second-favorite G5 character (Sunny remains at the top, sorry Zipp fans).
Some of the jokes made me laugh, though they’re largely innocent puns or gags. I admit that I have developed a soft spot for that kind of innocuous brand of “funny,” so this is hardly an objective opinion.
In terms of setting up for the upcoming series, the special does present an interesting storytelling avenue. At the end, we get a quick glimpse and some lines from, according to the Netflix caption, a shadowy alicorn, who has a particular interest in the ponies recovering their magic, and seems intent on taking it back for herself (yes, she’s a female). I was not expecting a villain to appear in the special or the series in any capacity, so this is definitely something to look forward to.
But that’s about all the “good” things I can say the special did right. The rest of it… struggled, for lack of a better word.
Some people, after viewing it, might say that the special is just a shortened rehash of the movie. I don’t think so—this one feels a little more self-contained, especially since the setting that dominates the special is Maretime Bay. What I will grant is that the special doesn’t quite feel like it fulfills itself as a natural extension/continuation of the film. It’s stuck between trying to add some new stuff while staying close to the film and its content as much as it can without repeating the movie itself.
In part, I think that’s because the plot, which consists largely of the mystery around why magic is starting to act up again, seems uncertain as to how it needs to progress. It knows that it needs to develop, but in place of the steps needed to start developing towards the climax or conclusion, there are more anecdotal asides than actual core plot development. Normally I would not hold this against the story, since I myself do not mind that, but here it’s rather stiffly done.
My observation is that the story’s tension kept getting cut off when it should have been ramping up. This is probably most egregious with how Zipp puts off talking about what she’s seen, regarding the magic, and her worries about having to head back to Zephyr Heights. Little notes of humor also propped up and got in the way of the story, leading to a sense of awkward pacing and visible filler. That former point, about Zipp worrying about who she wants to be, feels like it was going to be the prime subplot of the special, and I certainly think it would have been an excellent avenue to explore; but, sadly, the special doesn’t delegate enough time to exploring her feelings until, really, the end of the special, and that subplot is wrapped up a bit too nicely, too.
That said, having her ask her mother to just call her Zipp, and Queen Haven agreeing, felt nice. I recall a while back (this is likely rumor at best) that Zipp was supposed to be non-binary, so having Queen Haven validate her identity was a nice touch. I just wish it had a bit more substance to it.
The voice cast does their best to emulate the movie voices, as well as working off their work from Tell Your Tale. Pipp, Zipp, and Sunny all sounded right to me, and I think Haven was also on the money. But Izzy and Hitch did sound distinctly different. I attribute this in part to the fact that I watched the movie again yesterday, coloring my audible perception. But since I’m not a voice actor and have no knowledge of its ins and outs, I’m hardly qualified to give a more substantial opinion.
I might say the same regarding the animation. It’s clearly lower in scope and scale from the movie—this was expected. Some parts looked on par with it, though, but some parts looked weirdly early-to-mid 2000s 3D animation level… like early Dreamworks or Pixar, I guess. It was strange, but not too terrible that I had to look away, but I can anticipate that some people will be up in arms about it. I’m just not one of them.
In the end, for a forty-four minute special, Make Your Mark manages to pass the bare minimum and is enjoyable at parts, but it does feel like it lands quite a distance away from the film. Someone else noted that it feels a bit like the EqG shorts, which were also passable but largely forgettable, and I cannot help but think that this special may turn out the same way. What it has going for it are hints at a larger story, but it in no way really presents that larger story—that, perhaps, is the job of the series.
We might consider this special a bit of a filler, then, which is unfortunate and disquieting, but it’s a decision that makes sense. If the series is going to also be 3D animated, that takes time, so having some kind of content in the meantime available (along with the movie and Tell Your Tale) makes sense for retaining some degree of audience.
My ultimate verdict: if you were a fan of the G5 movie, consider giving this one a watch. Again, it’s not great, but it’s also not terrible. It’s good for a quick afternoon watch and then you can go on your day.
It certainly hasn’t stopped me from entertaining writing future G5 fics, and it hasn’t necessarily dampened my enthusiasm for the new generation in the slightest. The recently released comics, previews of which I was fortunate to see, have piqued my interest, so it appears that G5 is still intent on exploring the connection between itself and the previous era.
I agree with all your points. This was a three-out-of-five affair. It's okay. But only okay.
I pretty much agree with you, here's a copy of my own blog on the matter:
So, it, uh, wasn’t that good. The pacing was far too rushed, as they crammed like a half dozen plotlines into 40 minues. Of these, the festival planning didn’t really matter, and slice of life like that could’ve just gone into the Tell Your Tale shorts instead. The dragon didn’t need to be there either, it just got shoehorned in out of nowhere as a needless disruption, likely solely for toy sales. Meanwhile, we just got magic back in the movie, so having the reverse as a main focus here seemed dumb to me. Also, the literal all-consuming voids in reality was a gigantic escalation that came out of nowhere and gave me tonal whiplash. The character writing was also kinda terrible. Hitch came across as too wacky to me when compared to his character from the movie, shirking his responsibilities constantly even when he’s needed. And Posey’s complete turnaround combined with the sudden revelation of ‘oh earth ponies have magic too now’ was super forced.
By far the most interesting conflict was Zipp needing to reconcile her personal desires with her royal duties, but that got resolved super quickly as a footnote. Haven barely objected to Zipp’s choice. This had so much potential, I would have just planted the narrative focus here. The other major bit of missed potential was the evil alicorn at the end. Even with only 30 seconds of screentime her motivations make no sense. If she wanted magic back, why wasn’t she helping the tribes get it back? That would’ve been a cool twist for the main film, actually. She could have come in as this messianic figure promising the return of magic and friendship, and then delivered, but then five minutes later reveal she wanted the magic back so she could steal it all and then does so.
Haven't watched it yet, but after seeing it, I'll be interested to learn how similar our opinions are. From everything released so far--because I tend to indulge in spoilers--this seems like what I'll think of it.
If this is the standard quality this generation has to offer, I pass.
I'm tired to give mediocre product a chance. Writers needs to step up their game and stop delivering copy and past stories with weak conflicts and repetetive morals.