Limned in little · 2:26am Jul 2nd, 2020
I've been slowly rewatching all of Season 1, parts of it for the first time. I'm struck by how many supporting characters crop up in the first few episodes, and by how well-developed they already are.
Derpy's there in Episode 1, in the background at Twilight's housewarming party. But she's not cockeyed.
I'd seen "Applebuck Season" before but I never realized it was the first episode after the premier. And there's Big Mac (speaking more lines than he does in the next twenty episodes combined)! I like how they depicted his injury--with a big Ace bandage wrapped around his midsection. That's actually quite clever: it's a good sight gag, it moves the plot along visually, and it looks like the way a little kid will bandage up a stuffed animal who's been "hurt." That's sweet, and it helps very small children figure out on their own what's happening in the story.
(And I confess a small part of me saw that and went BOXER! THEY SAVED BOXER! HE DIDN'T DIE THEY RESCUED HIM AND GOT HIM TO A HOSPITAL AND NOW HE'LL BE ALL BETTER)
I'd never seen "Griffon the Brush-Off" before and now I understand the fandom's obsession with Gilda. She's a great bit of character design, both in the way she's drawn and the way she's animated. She looks like a griffon: powerful, fast, and regal. And the way she moves! Half slinky cat-moves, half strutting bird-moves. We'd expect this in a flagship Disney film with unlimited resources to command, but here the animators had to work with the limited time, budget and personnel of a weekly series. That meant they had to use what they had very deftly, and so they did
Gilda's always posturing, striking poses, flexing. It makes her look dominant yet a little insecure, which is further developed by her facial expressions and voice acting. She's obviously a character with more to her and I'm glad they brought her back so we could see why she was the way she was. Until they did, my headcanon used to be that it was all because of having to put up with nonstop nitpicking and nagging from her father, King Gama.
At first you think there are only three characters in "Look Before you Sleep." But look carefully: there's a fourth in almost every scene, an eloquent presence but entirely silent. It's the Library Tree, and this is the first episode to give us a good look inside it. People talk about a "design language" and here that's almost literally true: the tree's design gives it a voice and allows it to define itself and explain why it's there. Look at the way the interior of the tree is drawn--not just the gingerbread and furnishings but the way it seems to wrap itself around its inhabitants and arch itself over them. It's a warm, comforting presence, whose purpose in life is to shelter and protect both books and the ponies who love them.
The Library Tree was a character, and we loved it--and it died. That's why it was so shocking when that happened and why the fans mourned. So I guess, in addition to its other I-thought-this-was-a-kids-show moments, the show actually did depict a character's death on-screen, as many people (myself included) thought they'd never do.
And of course, Trixie. She doesn't seem as well-developed as the other background characters I've mentioned: more of a pantomime villain meant solely to illustrate a point. So it's interesting that she would become a bigger part of the story in later seasons. But while "Boast Busters" was a pretty stock premise, the show managed to make something interesting out of it, mainly by giving Trixie's dialog and expressions a tone of genuine psychological dysfunction.
But there was, after all, someone who could help her, understand her, get inside her head and guide her. It happened to be a barely-reformed egomaniac, but then I guess nice, normal characters wouldn't know how to deal with terminal Munchausen Syndrome.
And that's as far as I've gotten right now.
And me, I decided "Oh, this is where Boxer went after he died, this must be horse and pony heaven."
I'm not saying this is how Somewhere Only We Know happened... but I'm not not saying that.
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The one who looks after sick ponies all day is called Nurse Red Heart.
lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/r-dZgE0z8xnFGs35S0btGkpyeJLFqbGGdnLQtI_u62yGOFAhujLvIpW_MiIvJ66roNem9_IpNuuvQFnDuU1e7TDNyKTPJxjYddAmyB-x-fedhrdW9qvwdYw
...foxes?...
Yep, I think that a big part of G4's wild success was the "How the hell did they accomplish this with what they had to work with?" factor.
I'm surprised you've made it almost 10 years without actually watching all of S1.
This is honestly a huge reason I find it very hard to care about the show post-ascension. They replaced one of the best locations in the show with a soulless, gaudy monstrosity.
Eh? Applebuck Season isn’t episode 3. Ticket Master is.
The first season is really good, yeah. Unlike some shows that take a long while to really get going, MLP:FiM pretty much hits its stride at once.
Well, not all the time.
I'm not sure how you could have understood it without seeing that episode.
This likely ties into why some people are repelled by Pony Life. The slapdash backgrounds don't have that same feeling of character and care to them.
As noted, you skipped over "The Ticket Master," but it's always nice to see a rewatch in progress. (Or, in some cases, a first watch.) See here for the airing order if you're not sure.
Oh, it was? c.c We did?
I-I mean, yeah! We did! Hah, hash-tag-save-tree, amirite, fellow tree admirer... c.c;;
Glad you're enjoying it so. :)
And thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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The off-putting visual design is precisely why I'm not intentionally watching Pony Life or Steven Universe. I may end up watching an episode in passing with friends, but I'm not seeking them out.
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Boo, hiss, etc etc
First season will always be the best in my opinion.
Don't remind meeeee
When they got rid of Twilight's tree home I feel the show lost its grounding sense of humility. The message was no longer that great events can occur in humble places with humble people. It became about how great things happen in great places and with great/powerful people. It moved from a student living in a tree to a princess in a crystal castle.