A Hearth's Warming Tale Review · 5:11pm May 14th, 2016
A Christmas themed episode, in May? I've heard of Christmas in July, but never in May. It's not even fitting for a "Nightmare Before Christmas" kind of joke. Oh well.
Our writer for this episode is Mike Vogel, who used to be Hasbro's VP, but his only past writing experience was the book Goodnight Baby Flurry Heart. So, with a traditional "A Christmas Carol" themed Christmas episode, did Mike Vogel's first time writing on the show turn out good, or did it flop? Well, let's find out.
We begin with our first of many songs in this musical episode, "Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again", which involves the whole town singing and celebrating the holiday. All except for Starlight Glimmer, who's got a case of the holiday blues. I suppose I should address the only major problem with this episode up front, they never explain why Starlight is so depressed during the holiday. This is something that probably could've been explained if they'd made trimmed either the opening or closing song just a bit. In any case, Twilight decides to cheer up Starlight by reading her a story that is esentially "A Christmas Carol" mixed with some of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas". The story? "A Hearth's Warming Tale".
The story centers around our Scrooge counterpart named Snowfall Frost, a powerful unicorn who's a workaholic and views Hearth's Warming as a waste of time.
Rainbow Dash is the Bob Cratchet/Cousin Fred counterpart who is much more open about telling her boss that she's got the holiday all wrong. Of course, Snowfall Frost doesn't listen, and comes up with a wonderful awful idea to skip over Hearth's Warming with a spell in the song "Happy Hearth's Warming".
Starlight Glimmer questions the behavior of Snowfall Frost, and Spike snarks about how Starlight wasn't much better when she was evil. The story resumes, with Snowfall ready to cast the spell, seemingly unaware she'll be unleashing the Windigos. Then, the ghost of Hearth's Warming Past (played by Applejack) shows up, and in the songs "Seeds of The Past" we learn that Snowfall used to be a cheerful little filly, until her teacher (who looks a lot like Professor Snape) told her that she couldn't become a powerful unicorn if she wasted her time on a holiday. Without even knowing it, the young Snowfall made the decision to shut out the holiday, leading her down the path she's now on.
The next ghost to visit Snowfall is the ghost of Hearth's Warming Present (played by Pinkie Pie of course), and she reveals that although the presents are important on Hearth's Warming, it's the thought process behind them that counts, as we get the song "The Magic is to Believe in You".
We get a bit of meta humor when Spike jokes about Twilight using her Pinkie Pie voice (Tara Strong originally auditioned for the role of Pinkie Pie, planning to voice her in a light similar to Bubbles), and then he asks for an intermission to refill his coco cup (leaning on the fourth wall for an upcoming commerical break). Then we return to see Snowfall Frost's partner's party, with Rarity and Fluttershy probably just occupying the role of good friends (though I'm sure some shippers will see otherwise). Then the spirit of Hearth's Warming Present fades away, and the spirit of Hearth's Warming Yet to Come arrives (played by Luna). She reveals to Snowfall Frost that her actions bring back the Windigos and trap Equestria in an eternal winter in the song "Snowfall's Future". Snowfall begs for a second chance, claiming she hasn't cast the spell yet, and awakens to find that she indeed hasn't. She goes to join in on the fun, admitting that she was wrong, and brings gifts.
Obvious ending is obvious, Starlight is cured of her holiday blues and joins in on a reprise of "Hearth's Warming Eve" is here once again, with everyone joining in to sing along.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, it's pretty good and has a nice little moral to it. This is a refreshing take on the traditional "Christmas Carol" type of episode by throwing in a bit of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", and the character casting is spot on with some excellent humor. As I said above, the only major problem is that they don't really delve into why Starlight was so down on Hearth's Warming (and I suspect this is before "The Crystalling", meaning she has yet to reunite with Sunburst, because otherwise I suspect she would've seen if he was available for the holiday), but other than that there's nothing wrong with this musical episode. I give an A+, putting it above "The Crystalling" for a better showcase of Twilight and Starlight's Teacher/Student relationship, but below "Gauntlet of Fire" which still remains an amazing Spike episode that will be hard to top.
Next week, we have "Saddle Row, and Rec", in which Rarity gets to finally open her flagship shop in Manehattan only for a tell all article to threaten to expose how her friends almost ruined the grand opening. I hope this apparent mix of "Canterlot Boutiqe" and "Ponyville Confidential" turns out well.
I think the implication is that she felt similar to how Snowfall felt, just not to the same degree.
As for its place in the timeline, I've given up trying to figure out a concrete timeline for the show.
So far it's definitely one of the best of the season, and I personally think it's better than Gauntlet of Fire.
Odd choice, for a Christmas kind of episode to air month wise. But who are we to question the whims of the show staff. (Shrugs) Here, to get you in the sprit of the season have this...
Pretty much took the words out of my mouth, I found it enjoyable too and it was a million times better than last week's train wreck. The next one looks promising and since it's in Manehatten, I hope we get to see Coco Pommel again.
Does there really need to be a reason behind Starlight's depression during the holidays? Lots of people are down in the dumps during the winter season. (Must be due to a lack of sun.) I liked that Snowfall was dressed like Edgeworth from the Ace Attorney games and the appearance of Professor Snape (I like to think that this is the writers/animators paying homage to Alan Rickman in light of his untimely death). I was disappointed that Cookie Crumbles and Hondo Flanks were barely seen. (Writers, could we please get an episode with Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and them?!) While I am looking forward to next week's episode (Rarity episodes are always the best), am I the only one getting flashbacks of the ending to "Sweet and Elite" based on the synopsis? I'm curious as to how the others almost ruin the opening. Seems odd to have them in this predicament. Wouldn't it be more fitting for the CMC to be in this role? Could make for a great sisterly moment between Rarity and Sweetie Belle.
3946631 You know, you're right. Rarity's friends aren't as accident prone as Sweetie Belle and her friends.
3946885 They mean well, though. Their hearts are always in the right place.
3948113 True, I just hope that this episode doesn't decide to exclude Starlight Glimmer from the list of "Friends" just because the episode doesn't focus on her. If they went through all the trouble of making her the seventh ranger, the least they can do is include her in episodes with the rest of the mane six, she doesn't necessarily need to speak but just having her be there is enough. They can't even argue that they're doing it because of the backlash against her character, since they started on Season 6 before the Season 5 finale aired. The episodes are written and animated months before they air, so the Snape like pony was likely not intended to be anything other than a reference, it's only by pure coincidence that it feels like a tribute to his actor.
It was an interesting episode with awesome moments.
And maybe one or two meh moments.
My favorite part has to be Luna's song.
3948121 My problem stems from the characters in the episodes. For example, "No Second Prances" could have very easily been a Diamond Tiara episode. Given their past, have her and Apple Bloom become really good friends, putting a strain on the latter's friendships with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Same thing with next week's episode. They could very easily tell this story with the CMC. I especially like this idea because it could be another really heartwarming moment between Rarity and Sweetie Belle. (Seriously, those two and Scootaloo need more episodes!) I do agree that it would be nice to see more of Starlight Glimmer since I really like her. During the opening to "Gauntlet of Fire" I kept wondering, "Where's Starlight?"