"My Little Pony: Make Your Mark" ...............................(SPOILERS)

[CoffeeHorse]

1. Animation

It's interesting because there are plenty of moments where the animation looks completely fine, where it obviously got some necessary finishing touches. So it's not that they don't know to add those finishing touches or don't have the ability. It just didn't happen sometimes.

I do love that it accidentally resulted in Izzy looking tired for a bit. A person could just be tired. The story doesn't need to give a reason for it.

Zipp

They really did not give a good reason for Zipp to keep things to herself for so long. I suppose we could chalk it up to a bad habit she just hadn't broken yet. Prior to the movie she lived a very insulated and controlled life. It's possible she got used to her concerns not being heard so now she has a hard time sharing them.

Hitch

Hitch is a strange character. He's a parody of The Ace. He's the top (and now only) cop in town and is supposed to be awesome and looks great in the calendar pictures... but it's a peaceful town and he doesn't actually do anything important. He takes his job super seriously because he's bored, in contrast to Sprout who doesn't take the job seriously because he's bored. Hitch leaves the beach because he has absolutely no idea what to do. He's not actually that good at the job.

Unless someone he cares about is in danger. Then watch out.

Posey

I like to think Posey is just that mad about her flowers.

The script actually did answer her objections. Earth ponies just felt left out of this whole magic upgrade. They didn't know what they got out of it. Now they do.

The dragon

I don't know why, but I like that the dragon had no involvement in the plot.

The Plot

Yeah the plot is kind of a mess. This is exactly what first draft screenplays often look like. It's full of plot threads that don't really go anywhere, and there's scenes that could be combined for efficiency. It's just the beginning stage of a brainstorming session turning into a story.

I like it though. Maybe it's just because I'm a movie nerd that reads early screenplays for fun and can appreciate the weirdness of this, but I'm not philosophically against this kind of inefficient storytelling. The characters don't know opening credits have just played and it's time to get a plot in gear. They're just doing their thing and trying to adapt to events as they happen.

Songs??

The music was one of my few solid complaints with the first one, so I'm okay with this.

But I would gladly watch the director's cut if it turns out there was a bunch of songs cut from this. I'm always curious to know what the intent was even if I'm fine with the final product.

Sprout

Headcanon:

He's still watering those plants and that's where he's been this whole time.

Also, still a hundred times better than “War for Cybertron”, lol.

Easily. This was flawed but it's a happy mood.

 

[blueskyscribe]

LOL, I love the Sprout comic!

And yeah, the animation was just fine a lot of the time. It also makes me wonder if the problem might be Hasbro not providing a big enough budget. It takes time to render complicated CGI models, time that has to be paid for.

Well, here's what I meant about Posey having too many motivations to hate magic / non-earth-ponies.

1. Magic is dangerous
2. Magic is annoying
3. Pegasus and unicorn traditions being added to Maretime Bay Day means earth pony customs are being disrespected
4. She thinks someone is magically pranking her
5. It’s unfair that unicorns / pegasi have magic and Earth ponies don’t
6. She’s mad about her garden getting slightly rumpled by Izzy. (IMO they should've had the garden be absolutely destroyed, go hard or go home.)
7. She feels left out

And sure, people in real life can have multiple justifications for their bullshit. But in a story, it's usually easier to have one or two clear motivations.

Of all of these, "magic is dangerous" shouldn't have been brought up IMO because by the end of the movie it's clear that, yeah, magic IS dangerous. It's dangerous to the pegasus ponies specifically because they could fall to their deaths due to some other ponies having an argument! It's also dangerous because ponies arguing can create a bottomless void.

I question if the glitches were even necessary to the script tbh. I seems to me they could've made this work if the source of conflict was just Earth pony jealousy + Earth ponies mistakenly thinking the other ponies are pranking them re: their hooves sticking to the ground (when really it's just the Earth ponies getting magic that they don't know how to control yet).

I would alter Maretime Bay Day to make it a flower show or garden competition, because that would explain Posey feeling SO strongly about it and would also provide payoff when the Earth ponies get their magic. Also, the idea that "plants start small and weak but grow stronger until they finally blossom" is such a useful metaphor, and maybe that's why Earth pony magic didn't appear right away, it had to gain strength gradually.

So what I imagine is that Posey spends a lot of time demanding rules like "pegasi can't water their gardens by flying above them with a watering can" and "unicorns have to HOLD their trowels, they aren't allowed to levitate them", and she spends time running around town spying on ponies to make sure her rules are enforced and riling up the other Earth ponies. But she spends so much time doing this that she neglects her own garden, which begins to fill with weeds. Even the prize rose bush planted by her late mother is in danger of dying due to lack of watering. Then some kind of incident that sparks a change in her. Maybe Sunny and her friends offer to help Posey fix her garden, because troublesome though she is she's clearly in emotional distress, like crying in her garden over the rosebush, and even though Posey still distrusts pegasi / unicorns, she is VERY INVESTED IN HER GARDEN so she begrudgingly agrees.

And as they help each other and talk and open up, Posey finds out she actually is connecting with these ponies, she actually kinda likes them, and their abilities don't seem so "annoying" when they're all working together. She still thinks she's being pranked by someone, though, so she asks Izzy if she knows which unicorn it might be, and she describes how it feels when her hooves get stuck.

And Izzy's like, "Oh my gosh! That sounds JUST like the tickly feeling my horn got when magic came back", and the pegasi are like "Our wings felt like that too!" And Hitch is like "Wait, itchy hooves? I've been experiencing that, I thought I had athlete's foot." (Can horses get that?) And then they all look at each other like :O and realize EARTH PONIES HAVE MAGIC. Posey experienced the Earth pony magic first / most strongly because of her strong connection with plants, being a garden fanatic. Like how Zipp was the best flier due to practicing with that big fan.

So then the resolution could be the pegasi and unicorns, who have had a couple months headstart learning how to use magic, tell the Earth ponies about the techniques they used when learning how to use magic and help them learn to control it (after some funny, harmless mishaps, similar to the pegasi learning to fly in that one Tell Your Tale episode), and it turns out that cooperation and friendship are not only more fun than living in fear, but also that you can learn a lot when you reach out to people instead of resenting them. And the story ends with the best Maretime Bay Day ever, having a bunch of amazing plants grown with Earth pony magic, trellises put in hard to reach places by the pegasi, decorations levitated by the unicorns, etc. Fini.

I mean, it needs some fleshing out because there needs to be a reason to advertise the Mane Melody salon and the dragon character, they have toys coming up. But I'm confident they could be fit in there. Maybe the dragon hatches pretty early on and is an obstacle to the Mane Five trying to calm down the Earth ponies, because Sparky is constantly toddling away and then they have to stop what they're doing to chase them down.


Speaking of that one TYT episode, I was happy to see G5 Windy in 3D. She's so cute!

 

[CoffeeHorse]

The writers' lack of interest in Posey's motivations doesn't feel like an oversight to me, or a first draft thing. I think it's a G5 thing.

MLP in general has a habit of giving ponies credit for trying, and avoids dwelling on their failures as long as they mean well. I think G5 as a general rule isn't going to blame ponies for finding change hard. It's willing to grant that Posey has her reasons. Maybe many reasons. Maybe some downright good reasons. Her feelings are allowed to be valid even when she's wrong.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

IMO they could’ve been more specific about her motivations; they gave her like seven different reasons to dislike magic. So does she actually think it’s dangerous or does she think it’s annoying? It’s important because the script has to answer Posey’s objections and show why she’s wrong.

1. Magic is dangerous
2. Magic is annoying
3. Pegasus and unicorn traditions being added to Maretime Bay Day means earth pony customs are being disrespected
4. She thinks someone is magically pranking her
5. It’s unfair that unicorns / pegasi have magic and Earth ponies don’t
6. She’s mad about her garden getting slightly rumpled by Izzy. (IMO they should've had the garden be absolutely destroyed, go hard or go home.)
7. She feels left out

Here's the thing...Posey was actually RIGHT. She probably SHOULDN'T have been, but she was. Magic IS dangerous, changing their traditions in maybe the first month of being together is a little too fast, Posey seems to live SO FAR outside of town that you almost have to AIM for her garden to hit it, the Earth Ponies WERE left out....and MAGIC ITSELF was pranking her! She's placated because, hey, SHE has magic now, maybe magic is alright after all. But it doesn't really change the fact that, to paraphrase Applejack, she diidn't learn nuthin' cuz she was right all along!

And, I agree. Your fixes do work better than the Death Void, as a conflict.

Honestly, the plot of this pilot probably SHOULD have been "fixing Sunny's house"...because her singing a little tune about everything being perfect now, walking up to where her front door used to be, and then realizing "Oh...yeah, I'm homeless" would have made a GREAT opening (...and then it starts raining). And yeah, it bugs me that we don't actually see the Rainbow Brighthouse being built.

Or reorganizing Canterlogic's entire business strategy. It seems like ALL they did was Anti-Unicorn/Pegasus security tech. Do they just...start making smartphones now?

Or just focusing in on Zipp's plotline, since that was clearly what they wanted to do. She could have just read something in one of Sunny's dad's journals that kicked off her quest.

Or whatever brought the dragon egg got to Maretime Bay could have been the conflict. Random portals in the sky raining down critters or whatever.

Earth ponies getting magic they've never had before and just that causing chaos by vines and plants springing up everywhere could have easily been the B-plot to any of these.


The special that we got...checks off the necessary boxes to lead into the show, but not much more. The path they went down kind of broke magic in this world. And now I feel like they're going to HAVE to take some additional time to address or fix it somehow, which I'm not sure they planned for.




Also, *slight* addendum to my "Shadowy Alicorn is actually Sprout in a wig" theory.

Instead of just any old wig (of stolen mother hair)...it's a wig with Sombra's horn in it.

Sunny Battles KING SOMBRA in New Description of "Sunny Alicorn Glow in the Dark Plush"

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic News, Brony and bronies, my little pony merchandise, pony art, pony music, pony media

www.equestriadaily.com

I'll admit, I forgot about this little nugget.

Shadowy Alicorn's horn is curved just like Sombra's horn. I don't know HOW it came back after getting disintegrated for a second time, but it might be part of it.





Now, here's a random thought: What if the Death Void is actually Alicorn Space? That place Celestia took Twilight to when she became a Alicorn.

Spoiler

I mean, one is blue and one is purple, sure. But, supposedly Twilight would have taken control of Alicorn Space after Celestia and might have changed the background a bit. Celestia is blue-ish, and Twilight is purple, it kind of works. It's still a weird, starry, space like empty place.

What if the Death Void...ISN'T a Death Void? What if the sticky hooves and giant hole in the ground was taking them to a place where the Mane 6 are sealed away...and they're basically being taken to Friendship School? Where they'd be taught about Friendship and Understanding (...or else!)?

I mean, probably not. But it popped into my mind.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Here's the thing...Posey was actually RIGHT. She probably SHOULDN'T have been, but she was. Magic IS dangerous, changing their traditions in maybe the first month of being together is a little too fast, Posey seems to live SO FAR outside of town that you almost have to AIM for her garden to hit it, the Earth Ponies WERE left out....and MAGIC ITSELF was pranking her! She's placated because, hey, SHE has magic now, maybe magic is alright after all. But it doesn't really change the fact that, to paraphrase Applejack, she diidn't learn nuthin' cuz she was right all along!

Even Hitch thought Posey had a point, and he wasn't called out for it. The writers seem to have done this on purpose.

Honestly, the plot of this pilot probably SHOULD have been "fixing Sunny's house"...because her singing a little tune about everything being perfect now, walking up to where her front door used to be, and then realizing "Oh...yeah, I'm homeless" would have made a GREAT opening (...and then it starts raining). And yeah, it bugs me that we don't actually see the Rainbow Brighthouse being built.

I'd watch that. Maybe an episode will do it. Maybe there's enough story there for an episode but they didn't feel there was enough for a special. Or they don't know what to do with the lore around the lighthouse yet so they're putting it off until they figure it out. Or they wanted to avoid doing another Sunny focused story for a while. They let her save the day again but so far they seem to be trying not to let her hog the spotlight like Twilight did.

Or maybe they just didn't want to show Sunny suffering.

Or reorganizing Canterlogic's entire business strategy. It seems like ALL they did was Anti-Unicorn/Pegasus security tech. Do they just...start making smartphones now?

I'd watch that too. But if they tell us Canterlogic went completely bankrupt after Sprout was in charge for one day I won't question it.

Or just focusing in on Zipp's plotline, since that was clearly what they wanted to do. She could have just read something in one of Sunny's dad's journals that kicked off her quest.

They could have, but then they specifically wanted to have her keep it to herself as long as she could, for whatever reason. Maybe they wanted to emphasize an independent streak in addition to her detective side. Maybe that's her thing she'll need to improve on in the series.

There is an argument that you can't really have her be the only one seeing the bigger picture if there are no little pictures along the way. The meandering plot makes her attempts to stay on track meaningful.

Or whatever brought the dragon egg got to Maretime Bay could have been the conflict. Random portals in the sky raining down critters or whatever.

A weird little guy in blue robes dropped it. It's as simple as that.

Or I guess it could have been a random portal. We may find out that was indeed happening while magic was glitching.

Earth ponies getting magic they've never had before and just that causing chaos by vines and plants springing up everywhere could have easily been the B-plot to any of these.

They could still do this one too. There is a lot here that's still totally viable.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

They could still do this one too. There is a lot here that's still totally viable.

I'm actually halfway expecting a episode where the Earth ponies start to annoy the Pegasi and Unicorns because they just WILL NOT STOP using their powers. They get a new toy and they want to play with it all the time. (Hitch: "Look guys, we're all excited, but I KNOW there wasn't a entire forest here yesterday. Maybe tone it down...")

 

[blueskyscribe]

I thought the implication was the dragon's egg was washed ashore like a coconut. Must have a tough shell to survive the ocean waves!

Honestly, the plot of this pilot probably SHOULD have been "fixing Sunny's house"...because her singing a little tune about everything being perfect now, walking up to where her front door used to be, and then realizing "Oh...yeah, I'm homeless" would have made a GREAT opening (...and then it starts raining). And yeah, it bugs me that we don't actually see the Rainbow Brighthouse being built.

I love that! They could've had Sunny couch-surfing at Hitch's place in the meantime, and the pegasus Royal Family too (while they get into their subjects' good graces via Pipp's apology videos.) And maybe Mane Melody ties into that somehow, like Pipp starts it as a PR thing but then is surprised to find that she really enjoys hairdressing.

Or reorganizing Canterlogic's entire business strategy. It seems like ALL they did was Anti-Unicorn/Pegasus security tech. Do they just...start making smartphones now?

Or just focusing in on Zipp's plotline, since that was clearly what they wanted to do. She could have just read something in one of Sunny's dad's journals that kicked off her quest.

Or whatever brought the dragon egg got to Maretime Bay could have been the conflict. Random portals in the sky raining down critters or whatever.

Earth ponies getting magic they've never had before and just that causing chaos by vines and plants springing up everywhere could have easily been the B-plot to any of these.

Those are all really good.

It would be interesting to see Phyllis + the earth ponies figuring out how to adapt and change CanterLogic, and maybe some ponies struggling with that. (Like some blue-collar worker pony going, "For forty years I've made anti-unicorn helmets, it's all I know how to do", but in the end the upheaval causes him to tap into talents he didn't even know he had, etc.)

I also like the thought of Phyllis repurposing her old assets. Like the crash-test-dummy pegasi and unicorns have been given basic motor functions and are now being marketed as "Your Mechanical Best Friend". They don't do anything useful, but they do randomly cycle through five phrases: "Hello, friend!", "I love you!", "Want to play a game?", "You're my favorite pony", and "Dress me up in CanterLogic(TM) ponywear!" (Phyllis doesn't make the clothes herself, but she has a licensing deal with a local seamstress. The ponywear could be callbacks to the G1 outfits, of which there were many.) The anti-unicorn helmets could be packaged with arts and crafts supplies and turned into "make your own unicorn horn" kits.

 

[Caldwin]

I thought the implication was the dragon's egg was washed ashore like a coconut. Must have a tough shell to survive the ocean waves!

Maybe it was carried by a migratory swallow.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

I thought the implication was the dragon's egg was washed ashore like a coconut. Must have a tough shell to survive the ocean waves!

This is true. But, it was also in a fairly deep hole. Almost making look like a impact crater on the beach. It's just odd that the egg managed to find the only little tide pool on that beach.

I love that! They could've had Sunny couch-surfing at Hitch's place in the meantime, and the pegasus Royal Family too (while they get into their subjects' good graces via Pipp's apology videos.) And maybe Mane Melody ties into that somehow, like Pipp starts it as a PR thing but then is surprised to find that she really enjoys hairdressing.

Oh, I really like that for Pipp. They have some damage control to do, magic returning or no.

...So, them immediately leaving the kingdom to live at the lighthouse kind of takes on a different connotation, if you think about the PR disaster at home. It doesn't seem like anyone bore them any real grudge, but it does look funny if you look at it in a different light.

I also like the thought of Phyllis repurposing her old assets. Like the crash-test-dummy pegasi and unicorns have been given basic motor functions and are now being marketed as "Your Mechanical Best Friend". They don't do anything useful, but they do randomly cycle through five phrases: "Hello, friend!", "I love you!", "Want to play a game?", "You're my favorite pony", and "Dress me up in CanterLogic(TM) ponywear!" (Phyllis doesn't make the clothes herself, but she has a licensing deal with a local seamstress. The ponywear could be callbacks to the G1 outfits, of which there were many.) The anti-unicorn helmets could be packaged with arts and crafts supplies and turned into "make your own unicorn horn" kits.

*snerk* My Little Phoney, My Little Phoney, how many crashes can you survive?
"They'll leave a impact...on your heart"

Little filly: So I can hit my new friend as hard and as often as I want, and they won't crawl away?
Phyllis: *worried looks* ...I guess?
Little filly: Yippee!

 

[Videomaster21XX]

Hey we get a full version of the other song from Make Your Mark that most people forget is technically a new song from it given it only plays a bit during the very start when Zipp is flying.

 

[Videomaster21XX]

YEAH! FULL VERSION!

 

[CoffeeHorse]

So can we get a director's cut?

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Rewatch party!

5:48 It does feel different knowing this special isn't going to try to force Posey into a villain role. I'm not sure she even meets the definition of an antagonist. She just wants her life to go back to normal.

6:51 Unicorn Concentration Face.

7:23 Izzy and Pipp bonded pretty well in the movie, and I'm glad it's continuing. Their little scene here goes on longer than is necessary for the plot of this special but I don't think I would cut it shorter. I still like the slow pacing.

8:30 Pipp and Zipp have such good sibling energy. It's something a lot of writers have no idea how to write.

9:09 Part of my brain still expects to hear the Tales 'sploit' sound.

9:30 They use paper money now. Bits just don't go far enough anymore.

16:11 Hitch is bored. He is so happy to have a call. Sprout may have been a terrible deputy but I wonder if he was also the source of most of their calls.

24:21 Usually it's annoying when everyone instantly completely disbelieves the protagonist's suspicions. But the alternative explanation, that everyone is still learning, is blatantly plausible.

30:14 This is the closest Posey gets to being an outright antagonist and I'm still not sure she meets the definition. Her big threat is that if there's magic at Maretime Bay Day she won't show up. She doesn't do anything to stop the protagonists from doing what they're doing. She is willing to remove herself from the situation.

33:18 I was going to say it beggars belief that anyone is showing up the the festival when they sky looks like this, but in Florida we have hurricane parties and don't question it so I guess I can't point fingers.

34:45 I think we need to replace the "Izzy is Gross" count with "Unicorns are gross". It's not juzt Izzy. I think this is a thing. Unicorns are weird and gross.

35:53 Et tu, Dahlia?

The climax still doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

34:45 I think we need to replace the "Izzy is Gross" count with "Unicorns are gross". It's not juzt Izzy. I think this is a thing. Unicorns are weird and gross.

*Goes to look it up* *Unicorns are both the ones serving the Moss-flavored ice cream AND dumpster diving to eat the food the other ponies throw away*

....You might have a point.

It might have something to do with the Unicorns just having to live with less, almost in poverty, after magic disappeared. Unicorns took the loss of magic the hardest, and it kind of destroyed their pride.

Mind, I'm probably staying with "Izzy is gross" because...I just think it's funnier. And it usually IS Izzy, if only because she's the only Mane unicorn.

Although, we did just have a TYT episode where EVERYPONY was sneezing, and not a single pony even attempted to cover any of their sneezes. Maybe it's just "Ponies are gross"?

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Half my family lived in the woods and they struggle to grasp the concept of grossness, so maybe there's something to it.

It's another case of G5 taking its world seriously. Pegasuses still had to build things like earth ponies. They could move into Canterlot and adapt to not flying. Anything they ever did that didn't involve flying or cloudwalking could continue on as before. Unicorns forgot how to basic things without telekinesis (wouldn't we all?) and had to start over from nothing.

Poor unicorns. They needed a nerf after G4 but this is humiliating.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Eh, this whole “Zipp doesn’t want to be a princess” plotline could get old fast. Especially when Pipp’s right there, and seems like the perfect fill-in for her. The Queen needs to take a hint.

Pipp was right there... but cherry thieves don't get to be queen.

 

[wonko the sane?]

The general rigidity of the rules regarding royalty are a long beloved writers cliche. As is the whole "Well, why didn't you say something?!?!" trope.

 

[blueskyscribe]

Pipp would enjoy being queen more, but I'm not convinced she'd be better at ruling. She might be a little too carefree.

I wonder if the sisters will end up co-ruling somewhere down the line, which would be a fun throwback to Celestia and Luna.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Pipp is obviously the favorite, but the queen respects Zipp more. A tragic twist is that the qualities she respects so much are probably the very ones that strained their relationship during their phony days. Zipp needed to know why they did what they did while Pipp was happy to go along with it.

 

[wonko the sane?]

Pipp was happy to go along with it because she seems to be a text-book narcissist.