What are your thoughts and concerns about G5?

I hope they pick a good cast of voice actors. From what little animation I've seen, it looks relatively nice, but a good voice can really help convey a character's thoughts and feelings.

7446113
Agreed; also, the context should a pretty interesting one, considering the synopsis.

My biggest concern is how it connects to G4. I really don't want them to negate the happy ending from G4 and pretend like nothing the characters did mattered.

7446123
If really bad. Let's just consider it an alternate universe.

7446105
A bit optimistic. It certainly won’t be the G4 we know and love, and I’m sure that’s not what they’re going for, but I feel it has some potential. It will be interesting to see how the world and characters are portrayed as the episodes come out so we can unfurl the mystery of why the magic in Equestria disappeared and how have the 3 tribes managed to get by.

Also, it’ll definitely be a wave of new fics when episodes begin coming out, though I think it will be a slow rise. I myself, know I will be writing at a least one story when we have enough information, just to see how writing into another generation is, and what it exactly entails for the future of the site and all us here for the love of cutesy cartoon ponies.

7446123
I think they will find ways here and there to sprinkle in some of that G4 flavor, but the execution is what I will be looking at closely. They really shouldn’t, because it G4 was built on a good foundation and G5 is an extension, be it different than how most of us may have anticipated.

But I get what you’re saying; only time will tell, friend.

7446113
True, I just hope they don’t flop it. Starlight was a good example, in my opinion, of using different voice actors cause it suited her character arc from when we first saw her to her being Headmare of the Friendship School. I doubt they would do something like that for a character right away until we get to know a bit, but they’ve done ok with FIM, so let’s all hope it carries into this installment.

7446105

For me, the biggest concerns are:

1. That the new pony design won't be as versatile as the old one, making it hard to sell ponies of different characters. Lauren's design was awesome in that regard - with a few tweaks, they were easily able to make a pony look gorgeous (Rarity), cute innocent (Fluttershy), or badass (Rainbow Dash). The G3 or G3.5 designs weren't as universal in that regard but rather stuck at 'children cute' mode (at least, judging by the few G3 episodes I watched). I hope they won't make the same mistake with G5.
2. That they will be messing up G4 Equestria's canon too much. I don't have a problem with the new premise per see, but I really hope that either it takes place in a distant future AND/OR, they'll give a good and believable explanation why things went south under Twilight's rule.
3. That with the whole activism thing, ponies will go WOKE - although, to be fair, the latest news alleviated that fear quite a bit.

With all that said, the premise looks interesting... I'm looking forward to it and with some hope .

7446113

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of old G4 cast would be re-hired to do G5. They are great VAs and Hasbro has a history of sticking with the same actresses for multiple series. They'll probably hire some new blood too, but I think we will hear quite a few familiar voices

7446123 Exactly this. If you have to negate the accomplishments of the previous series in order to create a conflict that provides the premise for the new series, then you've weakened the previous series and, by extension, devalued at least part of the investment its fans felt for it. Naturally, that tends to be something they respond poorly toward.

A couple of friends have made good points to me, that good times don't ever really last forever, and happiness doesn't need to last forever to be worth having. And after starting to watch G4 again, I'm honestly a little more optimistic. I've read plenty of fanfics with a similar premise, and enjoyed the heck out of them. So I think I'm gonna stay cautiously optimistic.

7446189

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of old G4 cast would be re-hired to do G5. They are great VAs and Hasbro has a history of sticking with the same actresses for multiple series.

While I definitely agree with you on the latter statement, I believe I read somewhere that Tara and Ashleigh at least would NOT be returning to do any VAs for Gen5.
As to the former statement, Tara herself point-blank said that Twilight would NOT be in the new series because, as much as Tara said voicing her was fun, she wanted to move on to doing other things post-FiM.
As to Ashleigh?
Well, SHE said that, as much as she loved voicing AJ and Rainbow, she was going to take a break to work on her music and her band.
Dunno about any of the others, but it seems to me that Tara and Ashleigh NOT returning would be a bit of a deal-breaker in some things.

7446105
Despite the claims that G5 will be a continuation of G4, I’ve started to think that that’s very unlikely due to the different character designs and animation style. My biggest concern is that they’ll create a bit of a mess trying to make it a continuation more than an all-out reboot as the visual styles seem to already imply.

7446323
You did see the figures on the top right shelf, right?

--Sweetie Belle

7446329
Yes. But, those don’t count. They’re just Easter eggs that don’t have a significant purpose in establishing the show as a sequel spin-off. If anything, they could mean something else entirely.

7446105
That it'll be good for one.

Also, while I think that the fact that somepony is still fighting for friendship shows that Twilight and her friends' efforts were not ultimately in vain even if Equestria as a country's gone down the tubes, it would be nice for the show to say something along those lines just to make it clear.

7446331
It's a bit early to say that for certain, isn't it?

7446278

I heard Tara saying some time ago she won't be back, but that's the first time I hear about Ashleigh...

Well, if that's what they both choose, it's sad news, but that still leaves us with Tabitha, Andrea, Cathy, Kelly, and multiple other actors and actresses that were part of FiM in one way or the other. That's really a lot of talents to choose from .

I know many of us would want the entire old cast to return, but I'll be happy even if only some of them do. In any case, I don't think there is anything to worry about in that regard

7446356 I think we all heard the thing with Tata, but I'm sure not many have heard the bit about Ashleigh (gonna miss my fave pony VA actor, I'll be honest there).
Either way, I wish them both well in their future endeavors.

This is true, and I guess we'll see if any of them join on with the new series, or not.
That's very true, and whatever any of them decide, as with Tara and Ashleigh, I wish them well.

Again, this is true, and so would I.
Nor do I.

7446356
Well... Cathy didn't come back as Spike in Pony Life, either. Tabitha voiced Spike there...

--Sweetie Belle

7446388

I know the same for Discord - John de Lancie wasn't playing him. But something tells me this was due to Spike and Discord having very few lines and thus limited budget... Unless they had more lines in later episodes? I watched only the first six or seven...

I guess we'll have to wait and see, but there were many talented people to chose from in FiM alone. Not to mention that there are multiple great VA outside MLP.

Given all that, the quality of the voice acting for G5 is one aspect I don't worry about in the slightest

7446425
It was specifically her choice. Here's what she said about it:
https://twitter.com/CathyWeseluck/status/1278028998291755010

--Sweetie Belle

7446434

Ha, I didn't know that! Thanks for the info

7446105
Thoughts

1. Designs look OK, though I would like some shots in the movie to spotlight that they have coats.
2. Concept is interesting... but I'd rather see it explored in it's own world than tacked onto Equestria.
3. Sunny and Izzy seem fun... I hope that holds up.
4. As for the pegasus and the guy, we don't have as much to go off... but accessories suggest they might be a princess and a cop respectively. Both potentially fun... but I do have to wonder at what point they came up with the latter idea.

As for concerns... well, mostly this.
7446123

My biggest concern is how it connects to G4. I really don't want them to negate the happy ending from G4 and pretend like nothing the characters did mattered.

7446331
On their own, maybe. But the staff have spoken.

7446356
At the very least, we should hope they return if any of their chracters do.

7446189

That they will be messing up G4 Equestria's canon too much. I don't have a problem with the new premise per see, but I really hope that either it takes place in a distant future AND/OR, they'll give a good and believable explanation why things went south under Twilight's rule.

I consider G5 as the same universe in a different timeline that branched off long, LONG before the Mane 6's existence, back when the three tribes were still fighting. They somehow managed to survive and advance, but the prejudice still exists.

7447079

7446329

7447086
I think it might just be an easter egg, but let us overanalyze anyway!
So my theory just shattered to pieces. What's more likely then?

7447091
That the peace and unity Twilight and her friends made didn't last - though when and how things fell apart remains unclear.

7446189

Regarding things going south under Twilight's rule. Here is the thing, WAY TOO LITTLE LIFE EXPERIENCE. She was what, 30 at the time of taking over the country? With Celestia, Equestria was stable. We saw in "The Last Problem" that Twilight changed things A LOT. For all we know the changes Twilight made may have caused her to be assassinated, caused a civil war to erupt and she was exiled or perhaps she pissed off Discord and he threw her into another dimension.

I do hope we get a good explanation as to why G5 Equestria is so different from G4....perhaps an episode pertaining to the history of Equestria, including what led to Twilight's downfall.

7446105

I have no concerns