Special Re-Review: Equestria Girls: Dance Magic (Magical Movie Night, Part 1) · 5:50pm March 2nd
I'm going by release date for the specials I didn't cover during my initial re-reviews back in 2021, even though we now know when some of the specials are actually supposed to take place. In any case, this special is one of three that, when combined together, equals the total run time of a full length Equestria Girls movie. From here on out, Hasbro would not greenlight another movie, but after these specials it would greenlight a "spin-off" series in the form of five minute YouTube shorts, a very half hearted gesture that failed to gain any traction. As for this special, we now know it was meant to take place before "Legend of Everfree" but was held back for reasons unknown. It's written by G. M. Berrow, the same Berrow who was in charge of G5 until her recent departure from Hasbro following the abruption cancellation of "Make Your Mark". But at the time of this special, she had only written two episodes for FiM, and while I'm sure she'd written some chapter books for Equestria Girls this was still uncharted territory for her. With all that we now know, has this special gotten better, worse, or stayed the same? Well, let's find out.
Well, as it turns out, the only thing that changed between when this special was originally planned and when it actually released is the reason why the Rainbooms are raising money. Originally, they were gonna be raising money to go to Camp Evefree, whereas now they're raising money in order to save it. Otherwise, everything stays the same as it was from when this special was originally planned to take place, opening up with the Rainbooms washing cars. Human Rarity suggests they take a break because of the "humidity", but we see them fully clothed so this doesn't really add up. Given that the Rainbooms changed their clothes for Camp Everfree in the form of pajamas, why couldn't they have animated the Rainbooms wearing t-shirts and shorts? Well, in any case, they take a break and find they're still short on the cash they need. And there are no more cars left to wash. Fortunately, Rarity says it's her turn to come up with an idea, yet after the other Rainbooms leave, Spike presses her and she confesses that she doesn't have a plan yet.
Fortunately, Rarity gets inspired when she's walking through the Canterlot mall and overhears an advertisement for the "Chance to Prance" competition, in which you have to film a music video and send it in in order for the chance to win an undisclosed "cash prize".
At around the same time, Rarity bumps into the Shadowbolts, sans Indigo Zapp for undisclosed reasons. Even knowing now that in the third act of this "movie" Starlight Glimmer was going to appear, why couldn't they use Indigio Zapp here? Is it tied back to the apparent stipulations Kelly Sheridan had for voicing Starlight? Nothing much really changed when they held this special back a year, did they not get around to voice casting before then? At the very least, couldn't they have worked in an explanation about Zapp's absence, like she was sick or something?
Anyway, Rarity discloses to the Shadowbolts not only that she'll be entering the contest but what she plans to do for her music video. And she does this even after the Shadowbolts tell her they'll be competing too. We also learn from the Shadowbolts that Dean Cadence was promoted to principal of Crystal Prep, which can only mean Abacus Cinch was fired or otherwise made to step down. Nice to see that for once, someone endangering others is held responsible for their actions. Funny how that won't be the case about a season or so later when pony Rainbow Dash and Applejack endanger students for the sake of a contest.
Well, Rarity returns to the Rainbooms soon afterward and tells them of her plan. They all agree, though Rarity tells them the catch: She'll need to borrow the money they've raised to get everything set up for the music video, including the sets and costumes, meaning that if she fails they'll have used up the cash for nothing. But since the other Rainbooms can't think of anything better (they mention things they've already done to raise money like bake sales), they agree to let Rarity use the money and enter them into the contest for what's essentially double or nothing: Either they win and get the money they need, or they lose and are back to square one.
Naturally, things quickly go wrong during filming of the music video, which apparently requires professional cameras even though we live in an age where people can film high quality video on their cell phones and upload the footage no problem. And we've already established that cell phones exist in Equestria Girls, we even saw them be used for filming back in "Helping Twilight Win the Crown". Regardless, Rarity sees fit to more or less micromanage everything, trying to get the video just right. But during filming, one of the costumes gets ripped, necessitating Rarity to go and get it fixed. When she does so, she happens to oversee the Shadowbolts doing the very same video idea she was going to do. But the Shadowbolts point out that she not only gave them the idea, but that since she hasn't filmed or uploaded her video yet, she can't say it was her idea. If only real life copyright laws were that simple (thanks, Disney).
So, yeah, this special's story is more or less a retreading of the same plot from "Rarity Takes Manehattan". It makes sense considering how popular that episode was (though that was at least in part due to Coco Pommel and it being pony Rarity's first focus episode in over a year), but even so a rehash is still a rehash. So human Rarity gathers her friends at what I assume is Carousel Boutique in the human world and confesses that her music video idea is ruined thanks to the Shadowbolts. Fortunately, the Rainbooms tell her not to give up, and suggest they try a different music video idea instead. Rarity agrees, but the Rainbooms subsequently spend their time spitballing ideas that won't work, openly admitting to getting distracted. That causes Rarity to snap and scold them for not taking things seriously, and she goes off alone to sulk, even eating ice cream in some kind of parlor.
However, it looks like karma is coming for the Shadowbolts, because copyright infringement is still a thing in the Equestria Girls universe. They're not getting busted for stealing Rarity's idea, though, they're just in trouble because they're using a Sapphire Shores song, and naturally they can't actually use it regardles of where they got it from.
Fortunately, Rarity has an idea that'll let everyone get what they want. She proposes a truce between the Rainbooms and the Shadowbolts so that they can team up to make one music video together, and if they win they'll split the prize winnings. The Shadowbolts have already said they want to hold a spring break party on board a yacht, and it doesn't take much for the Rainbooms to agree to work with them, which makes the Shadowbolts' billing as rivals to the Rainbooms back in "Friendship Games" all the more artificial. They can't even be said to be friendly rivals to the Rainbooms, they're just a bunch of students from a rival school who just happen to have some similarities to the Rainbooms. You could argue that they're a lot nicer now because Cinch isn't around, but even so they were willing to steal an idea from someone else.
So the two groups team up and shoot the music video which is entitled "Dance Magic".
Weirdly, during the music video the Rainbooms "pony up". But the Shadowbolts don't comment on this, and it honestly just feels tacked on since it has no bearing on the plot. Regardless, the combined music video is a success, and both groups get what they want as a result.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the special? Quite honestly, I'm not seeing why they bothered to hold it back a whole year if they weren't going to make any changes to it outside of one little thing. This special really does feel like the poor man's "Rarity Takes Manehattan", but lacks any of the things that made that episode so enjoyable: There's no Coco Pommel to show how Rarity's generosity has inspired someone else, there's no villain like Suri Polomare to show how generosity can be a bad thing or be exploited, there's no "do or die" esque moment for human Rarity outside of having to risk all the money raised for a very big gamble, and there's no apology from human Rarity for going too far, though really you end up sympathizing with her when her friends don't take the need to come up with a new music video idea seriously. The Shadowbolts don't really look like redeemed antagonists even though the special probably wants you to believe that they were the way they were because of Cinch. We see that even without Cinch's influence, they can be petty and cruel just because they want to win a contest. It's not nearly as bad as Diamond Tiara being willing to mock Scootaloo's disability in "Flight to the Finish", delighting in doing so, and never facing consequences for it, but it still doesn't paint the Shadowbolts in a positive light. It really feels like everything was just building up to the music video, and the song itself is just there. It's bland and forgettable. If they were going to hold back this special for an entire year, they should've used that time to have it undergo revisions. Even knowing it's the first act of something greater doesn't really do much to redeem it. It gets a flat C. It's just there. It really feels like after "Legend of Everfree" that Hasbro didn't know what to do with Equestria Girls now that it was so popular, and just kept unloading it onto whatever writers happened to be free at the moment. In a way, Hasbro's treatment of the franchise foretold what was in store for G5, they weren't willing to commit the resources to give Equestria Girls the love it deserved and desperately needed in order to be a good spin-off.
Well, things should hopefully improve for the second of the three specials: "Movie Magic". After all, it has a Scooby-Doo plot, and you really can't go wrong with that.
According to a Twitter post by G.M. Berrow herself, Indigo Zapp was taking a vacation with her family on some cruise during the events of this special.
Much like Fluttershy's rant in Fame and Misfortune, I'm sure some people point to Sci-Twi's line of "It's gonna take more than one Friendship Games for those Crystal Prep girls to learn that winning isn't everything" as a justification for the Shadowbolts backpedaling from the lesson they learned in their first appearance.
Damn, shame Dance Magic didn't fare well in giving focus for someone other than Sunset and Sci-Twi, as well as bringing back the Shadowbolts. And it's not gonna get better for Rollercoaster of Friendship and Spring Breakdown when those two try to give the other five Rainbooms spotlight.
To be fair, the Shadowbolts do make more of an effort to try and be civil to Rarity and the rest of the Rainbooms compared to Friendship Games where they outright acted cold and aloof to them at the start. Sure they stole Rarity's idea, but flaws aren't gonna magically disappear so fast.
So, is there any ideas you have on fixing Dance Magic and how it could have done better at bringing back the Shadowbolts and giving human Rarity some focus? Like, the concept itself wasn't a terrible idea and had potential.
Yeah, this special is just kinda okay overall, but the "Dance Magic" song sequence actually does help elevate it just a bit.