Episode Re-Review: Friendship is Magic Parts 1 and 2 · 3:50am Jan 22nd, 2021
Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty late to this party considering so many others started doing it in 2020. But with all that was going in the world and in my personal life I just wanted to wait until things somewhat settled down a little before jumping on this bandwagon. For at least the foreseeable future I'm going to doing these re-reviews once a day, probably at least through Season 4 and maybe into Seasons 5 and 6 (I think most of my reviews from Seasons 7-9 are pretty spot on about what I like and dislike). Of course there's no guarantee.
Anyway, it's really strange to look back on the beginnings of the show now after all these years. So many details have come to light about how it was created and what it was initially planned to be. Lauren Faust originally favored something akin to G1, which she had grown up watching. She wanted more adventure driven stories and a lot of other things that were shown in the rejected pitch bible. More recently, it's come to light that the show was originally going to consist of two eleven minute episodes and was going to be called "Tales of Friendship". But I'm glad they stuck to the twenty two minute format considering most Western animated products at the time didn't. This two parter pilot was penned by Lauren Faust herself. Looking back on it now, is it still a decent jumping on point for new fans and is it truly worthy of the attention and praise it got back in late 2010 when it debuted? Well, let's find out.
The first episode, the season and the show begin with the opening of what appears to be a story book, and I'm pretty sure it's the voice of Princess Celestia who's providing the exposition even though we'll later learn that Twilight is reading this book to herself. I have to wonder if it was originally planned for Celestia to tell Twilight the story before it was decided that the story would work better if Twilight herself read it? Anyway, what might be most interesting to note is that the story does not mention the term "Alicorn", it only refers to "Unicorn magic". I think "Alicorn" was originally a term the fandom coined, although I'm not entirely sure that's true so don't quote me on that. Anyway, Twilight finishes reading it and realizes she's heard of the Elements of Harmony before. She heads back to her tower to find some answers, and on the way she is stopped by a trio of ponies that would later be named Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts who offer Twilight an invitation to a get together hosted by Moondancer, who at the time was just a G1 reference. Twilight refuses and trots off as the ponies later established as her "friends" wonder if she ever does anything but study? In hindsight it was probably meant to come off as more of a teasing remark, but at the time this was just to establish Twilight's anti-social nature and nothing else so they kind of had to ignore this when they revisited it several seasons later. Still, for "friends" that's a pretty harsh remark when they have to know Twilight's always had her nose stuck in a book.
We get our establishing scene with Spike, being abused unintentionally by Twilight and having his gift for Moondancer damaged as a result. Twilight scolds him about how "We don't have time for that" and then starts scouring books to find anything related to the Elements of Harmony. She soon finds it tied to an apparent "Old Pony's Tale" called the mare in the moon, and realizes that the one thousandth Summer Sun Celebration is upon them which means Nightmare Moon could be about to escape. In something that would go on to be dropped without fanfare, Spike is unable to spell big words so Twilight has to simplify the letter to Princess Celestia. She soon gets a reply from the princess telling her to get her nose out of the books and stop worrying so much. To that end Twilight gets sent to Ponyville to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration there and make some friends. Sounds almost like the plot synopsis from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air's theme song.
In a rather odd quirk that I don't think was ever seen again, the royal guards give off a satisfied whinny like actual horses after the carriage they're pulling lands in Ponyville. Spike encourages Twilight to befriend someponies, and the first pony Twilight comes across is Pinkie Pie who lets out a gasp and runs away. The recap in Part 2 suggests this gave Twilight the impression that everyone in town was crazy, which doesn't exactly make her the model of sympathy. I think it's easy to tell that they weren't sure how far to take Twilight's anti-social tendencies since they wanted her to be relatable but didn't necessarily want to make it impossible to sympathize with her or want her to succeed. They do mostly strike a good balance, but at times it can feel as if Twilight is just looking for any excuse not to make friends (which to be fair, when you order someone to do something they don't want to do they're probably going to do it very reluctantly if at all). Anyway, the first real pony Twilight gets to have a talk with is Applejack, and this is probably one of the things that takes the most getting used to in Season 1, Applejack's voice. Before Ashleigh lowered it for Season 2, the voice really does sound like Rainbow Dash's but with a Southern (more specifically Tennessian according to Ashliegh) twang to it. Applejack proceeds to introduce Twilight to the whole family, but the only ones that get focused on are of course Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith. And when Apple Bloom asks Twilight if she'll stay for brunch, Twilight reluctantly agrees thanks to the puppy dog eyes Apple Bloom displays. Kind of a shame that this and "Call of the Cutie" are the extent of her one on one interactions with Apple Bloom considering in many ways Twilight was like another big sister to the filly.
Twilight has a full belly after apparently eating too much pie, but her stomach is empty by the time she meets up with Rainbow Dash. It's a pretty memorable introduction involving Rainbow showing off her love of goofing off and playing pranks, her seemingly carefree attitude, her fascination with the Wonderbolts and of course the whole "Ten Seconds Flat" line that the early fandom loved to quote. We then move on to Rarity who Spike develops a crush on, though it's interesting to note that the original plan was for Fluttershy to be the one and to date I don't think we've ever gotten an explanation as to why the decision was made to change the object of Spike's affection. Rarity's introduction isn't quite as good as Rainbow Dash's, and I think she was the character that took the longest to truly be pinned down. Her interest in dresses and big city life right now make her seem kind of shallow even if she's dressing Twilight up for free without expecting a favor in return. Then we come to Fluttershy who sounds just as different now compared to how she does in later seasons as Applejack, though this I think has to do more with Fluttershy's character development. This is what in particular I'm referring to when I say Marble Pie feels like a poor man's clone of Fluttershy, because here Fluttershy is hiding behind her bangs and speaks so softly she can't be heard. At least she can actually speak though.
It takes Spike to get Fluttershy to open up (come out of her shell, you might say) and Spike goes on talking about his life. He makes a claim about his egg, which he probably is just guessing about since he likely doesn't know what his egg looked like (though wouldn't Twilight have told him about it if he asked where he came from?). Eventually, Twilight gets him to stop by basically treating him like an actual baby, and then they go into the Golden Oak Library only to find all the lights are off. They flick on as we're finally introduced properly to Pinkie Pie who's very first spoken word is "Surprise", which is a nod to the fact that she was originally going to be a pegasus named Surprise but Hasbro told Lauren they'd lost the name rights to all G1 characters except Spike and Applejack. Pinkie's introduction is decent, we get to see the good and the bad of her character though it does feel weird to have the other four ponies we met before appear suddenly next to her when she says "Lots and lots of friends". Yeah, it's foreshadowing, but it's of the painfully obvious kind. The real highlight though is Twilight bursting into flames and running away, only to reveal it was because she accidentally put hot sauce on her cupcake. But ultimately, the show would go on to do this gag better in a later episode.
Twilight retreats to an upstairs bedroom, having given up on trying to do any research with the party in full swing. She even rejects Spike's suggestion to lighten up, instead becoming worried when she sees stars closing in on the moon as she recalls the legend saying "The stars will aid in her escape". Then it's time to go to town hall to watch Princess Celestia raise the sun, and Twilight happens to notice the stars close in completely and the mare face on the moon vanish. Soon afterward, the cue is given for Princess Celestia to appear only for the spotlight to shine down and reveal that she's missing (although that would assume someone had seen her, which there is no indication anyone in the building was watching her even for a moment or got a glance of her, and there's no indication that was happening). Just as panic sets in, a mysterious blue mist appears and reveals itself to be Nightmare Moon. I really do appreciate the voice she had here, all subsequent appearances would make it more of a hammy Luna performance, but here Tabitha St. Germain crafted a voice that can sound distinct. It really does capture the bitter and resentful nature of the character, a kind of reserved frustration that can make a villain seem unnerving.
Twilight is the only one who seems to recognize who Nightmare Moon is and what she's here for. Nightmare Moon then declares that "The night will last forever!", summoning lightning and cackling as part 1 ends.
Part 2 opens with Mayor Mare doing perhaps the only useful thing she ever does on-screen, ordering the royal guards to apprehend Nightmare Moon. But in a nod to Maleficient from Sleeping Beauty she repels the guards with ease and flees, and that's about the extent of her villainy until the climax. From here on out Nightmare Moon becomes more of an implied presence that could easily be replaced by a natural disaster. You don't necessarily need to have your villain engage the heroes all the time, but you need to make sure they have some interaction and enough of a presence to justify seeing them. That's kind of why King Sombra and the Storm King flopped, despite them being the only villains to be killed off (funny how that works).
Spike is also put to bed for the rest of the episode because Twilight says he needs his beauty sleep (yet this is never really a plot point for any more episodes taking place at night), and then she's confronted by Rainbow Dash who accuses her of being a spy because she knew about Nightmare Moon.
Applejack, however, insists Twilight isn't a spy but she does know what's going on. Twilight reveals what she knows, and Pinkie Pie conveinetly finds the book that provides the information Twilight needs. And the foreshadowing is quite obvious when it circles over each of the mane six in order of the element they'll embody, I think even the target audience would be able to guess who would get what (though I think many were stumped on the sixth element, thinking it would be something else). But the elements reside at the Castle of the Two Sisters deep within the Everfree Forest. Twilight then insists that she can't ask the others to come with her, in her own way telling them she doesn't want them to be put in danger for her sake. But they refuse despite later admitting they know the forest is unnatural and has a mind of its own. It isn't long, however, before they run into their first major obstacle. Nightmare Moon is somehow able to cause the cliffside to collapse, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have to rescue the others (though Applejack manages to hang on). In a pretty clunky scene Applejack tells Twilight to let go, vaguely promising Twilight will be safe while conviently leaving out the fact that there are two pegasi ready to catch her. And yes, the obvious reference was not lost on early fans.
So Twilight lets go and is saved because Applejack was being honest in the most cryptic way possible. Fluttershy also just happens to guess right that the manticore is only attacking because it has a thorn stuck in one of its paws. Pinkie Pie's is a little bit better, literally laughing in the face of darkness as we get a discount version of the spooky forest from Snow White. This in turn leads to the first ever song "Giggle at the Ghostly", and for much of the first two seasons it was kind of a trend for Pinkie Pie to be the one to burst into song and dance for almost any reason. Rarity's segment is perhaps the best one since it lets us see a different side to her when she's willing to slice off her own tail in order to calm a sea serpent upset at losing half his mustache (fun fact, it was YouTube captions that led to him being given the named Stephen Magnet, due to them being hilariously inaccurate). Rainbow Dash's is kind of good, she's offered a chance to join a group of flyers calling themselves the shadowbolts, but she can't first tie a rope holding up a bridge for the others to walk across. At the same time, however, it's probably easy for her to turn down an offer from a group she's never heard of before, and had it been say the actual Wonderbolts that could've presented an interesting dilemma not unlike what we'd get in "Wonderbolt Academy".
The ponies make it inside and Twilight starts using her magic to activate the Elements of Harmony, only for Nightmare Moon to show up and teleport them away, Twilight leaping in to prevent this. She's brought before Nightmare Moon, but there isn't much in the way of interaction aside from Nightmare Moon scoffing at the idea that Twilight would actually come charging at her and then finds out too late that it was a ruse for Twilight to teleport (establishing her tendency to quickly learn spells shown off by others).
Twilight tries to activate the Elements of Harmony but it doesn't work, and Nightmare Moon slams down on the ground and seemingly destroys them. But Twilight has a spark of realization as she reveals that the Elements of Harmony haven't been destroyed, and recounts all the challenges her new friends helped her overcome. And Nightmare Moon just stands there and lets Twilight prattle on instead of trying to attack her. She doesn't even really fight back when the Elements of Harmony are activated, making her threat very short lived. I will give credit to the flashback scene in "Princess Twilight Sparkle, Part 2" as that did show her to at least for a while be an actual threat that had to be put down (or in her case put away). All is right again as the mares realize they have the Elements of Harmony with them, and then Princess Celestia officially makes her onscreen debut (though it's never stated where she was or whether she was ever in danger or even a prisoner). We also have the only official appearance of Princess Luna in her Season 1 design. It's not bad, but her redesign for Season 2 definitely fit the bill for "Celestia's little sister". Kind of find it weird she isn't talking in her royal Canterlot voice here (I know that hadn't been established yet but there could've been a retcon in-universe for it).
There's a big parade to celebrate our heroes' victory (and they give Princess Luna a reath which seems quite odd considering their later treatment of her in "Luna Eclipsed"), and Twilight is saddened at the fact that she'll have to leave her new friends behind, but Princess Celestia declares that Twilight will now officially be assigned to study the magic of friendship and send in reports about what she's learned.
And that's the story, so what do I think of these episodes looking back? I think I have a lot more appreciation for them now knowing that they were a pilot for a twenty two minute show that Lauren Faust did all by herself after her original plans and original intended pilot were either passed over, or she felt needed to tweaked to fit the longer run time. Still, pilots are almost never a show's best episode and for good reason, pilots always have to establish the world and the characters and what (if any) consistent themes will be present. And even among the best of shows it can usually take a while to pin down what they want to be and how they want to do it. That's definitely on display here as Lauren was clearly trying to salvage as much of her original vision as she could, and there's a lot of details that even for the time felt kind of off. Everyone gets a chance to shine here, but some stand out for better or for worse more than others. It still holds up in my book, for late 2010 this was not something we had ever seen before from the My Little Pony franchise, and it showed that this show wasn't going to fall into the trappings of previous generations. It was really going to go back to the days of G1 but without the humans who were crutch characters for the ponies. It's still a decent jumping on point for new fans, but probably not the best episode to show if you wanted someone to see what made this show so special (what episode or episodes that is is probably up for debate, though I would say a good general choice is "Lesson Zero"). These two episodes get a borderline C+/B- grade, elevated mostly by being darn revised first drafts but definitely showing signs of needing more time to be polished.
Now, assuming there are no set backs, come back tomorrow to see my re-review of "The Ticket Master" which was going to be the show's pilot initially. Perhaps that will make it better somehow?
The weirdest thing about these episodes for me is that Spike has trouble spelling at first, and then that's just dropped.
5440185 Yeah, no clue why that's there.
I think you got that in reverse. For you see: It was her Season 1 design that's truly the look of being the little sister to Tia. Season 2 is just copying and pasting Tia's design with differences. :P
5444184 It's similar to Celestia's but it's not a carbon copy like Twilight's design in "The Last Problem" was.
5444195
Heh.
Either way, S1 Luna design is love, S1 Luna design is life, S1 Luna design will always be her true form. =3