CONGRATS ON 1 MILL!! i found your channel about a year and a half ago and your videos have been some of the most comforting media for me to watch ever since. keep it up :3

This might sound condescending, but speaking as a disabled people, I'm not sure how someone could personally consider Derpy at the start to be "positive representation" unless their standards for representation are WAY too low. Y'all, learn that you can want better, please! Just that one scene with Rainbow Dash says everything. The message sent, clear. "It's acceptable for good people (RD) to treat disabled people (DH) harshly since they cause problems and aren't even aware of of how they negatively affect others, like a untrained animal, thus they don't deserve any agency (RD screaming at her to not do anything). And because they're so oblivious, you can be as angry or cruel as you want and it won't hurt its feelings." I remember being told online years and years ago that "derp" was an ableist slur, in line with the R slur. Even as a disabled people, I've never felt qualified to say for certain if that's deservedly true or not. But regardless, I think any movement created by people who just LOVE LOVE LOVE to say the R slur should lose about as much credibility as conceptually possible.

I miss the Brony days. What a zeitgeist.

You asked for thoughts so,I can see why Derpy could be taken as offensive but there's a part of me that's still attached to the name Derpy Hooves. That said, out of all the other names Muffins suits her the best, if it had to be changed i hate the other names. (kind of glad i wasn't on online spaces as much and missed her being referred to as the r word)

Congrats on a million followers! I've been subscribed for a long time and it's awesome to see you get the recognition you deserve! Anyways, Derpy hooves is definitely offensive. Some people might have liked the character with good intentions but the core of her popularity comes from ableism. If the episode showed her in a more positive light, she could have been redeemed but the fact that she was actively causing problems for everyone plays into the fears of disabled folks that we are burdens. Some of us were just too young to see it for what it was. If she was treated as just one of the ponies without her disability being used for laughs/the problem in the story, she very well could have grown past the offensive memes made about her.

I think people relating to derpy is fine and representing a character with development disabilities and whatnot is a good thing, however 1)i do not think the creators of the show were making this character because they wanted to represent the disabled community. She's very clearly meant to be a joke character and 2)i dont think a lot of the people defending her at the time actually gave a shit about representation either, they just wanted their funny joke character back

Never have been part of the brony fandom but even I caught the occasional Derpy Hooves reference online back in the day. Crazy how viral of a thing it was.

CONGRATULATIONS ON 1 MILLION!!!! YOU ARE SUCH AN ISNPIRATION TO ME IZZZYYYYYYY YOU WORK SO HARD AND ALWAYS MAKE MY DAY BETTER <3333

GOD..... I really liked Derpy back when I was in the brony fandom, but I also 100% get the criticisms. I think when she was just a Fandom Entity she was for the most part Alright, but as soon as she breached into Official Content things got a lot hairier really fast. I wish they'd gotten some sensitivity consultants or something surely there was a way to make people feel Seen without also getting so offensive.

I remember hearing in some youtube video made by one of the more prolific mlp content creators at the time (which one I don't remember since it's been so long) said that there had been an interview? or a mlp Q&A thing? with some of the voice actors and that the actress who was supposed to play the part of ditzy/derpy/bubbles/muffins had been given very little briefing on what they were supposed to say and somehow thought they were playing the role of a boy pony so they "lowered the pitch of their voice a bit and it came out like that" and that they had no intent of making it sound like a stereotype. But again, it's been years, does this ring a bell to anyone? I do remember being oddly passionate to keep the character in the show, which, looking back on it, I don't really know why I was so invested in that? I liked the character sure but I mainly engaged with the fandom with out of context clips, reviews from mlp creators, art compilations on youtube (do people remember when that was a thing?) and hardly ever watched full episodes unless they were up on youtube since i didn't know where to find any of them (didn't have tv and barely had streaming services at the time) so my understanding of the show was probably heavily biased to whatever it was the creators at the time said about it since they were one of the few access points I had to it. It was a weird time.

I can understand condemning ableism on account of most fans, but I don't think Derpy as a character was ever intended to mock or belittle special needs people. She's just a silly little pony who likes muffins and gets into trouble. While there were some bad actors, I feel most people weren't being malicious. Technically I'm mentally disabled myself, and I still say "derp" when I dissociate or just have a brain fart. I think people were just taking it too seriously.

I don’t see a problem with Derpy loved her the way she was

I love derpy, but mostly the derpy that some fans made. I got into mlp around 2014 when I was 15. So, seeing fans turning her into a mare with disabilities, but just living her day to day was nice. It was jarring when I got to the episode where she first spoke and she was that. It feels like she was dumber than what fans even made her. It wasn't even a funny bit. It would have been probably better to introduce her as a mail pony messing up her mail, with gags of her asking people, and maybe still messing it up or something. Mind you, I don't think the people who ended up putting her in the show saw her as a disabled character at all. I really think they went "hurr durr blonde stereotype on pony with cross eyes." and put her in like that. I 100% love the fan renditions of her that make her disabled but independent. Derpy will always have a place in my heart because of that.

I can say I was the kid that was found at the computer tears streaming down my face because I thought derby was gonna die because my brain was small and all i saw was the save derpy video. Got in trouble by my mom for watching somthing like that. Can say i cringe at the moment everytime

I need to find Bizzy Bee

As a neurodivergent person, when I was a kid she was my absolute favorite character and I related to her a lot! I never thought she was offensive

cook up some cheese rolls

Let us never forget that it was Apple that took Derpy away from us.

28:54 - were there any neutral people? "yeah, princess twilicorn isn't my cup of tea, but i don't particularly hate her either"?

oh wow, you mentioned Gaia Online. now there's a blast from the past.

I suggest for 1 million subscribers you make a hear me out cake

I was just thinking of her last night. Huh.

I'm neurodivergent myself and I don't think the name or the design or personality was offensive, but the way she was portrayed as a burden and how Rainbow Dash treated her in The Last Roundup. Especially in a show made to teach pro-social lessons to kids.

its worth mentioning too that around this time people discovered that the "derpy"/"herp derp" meme phrase had been highly associated with a photo of a girl with downs syndrome so people were starting to consider "derp" to be sort of a slur in itself, i dunno how much people still think this and for the most part people werent using the word "derp" like that but i think hasbro wanted to avoid that connection. the girl actually went on the local news talking about the meme iirc

Oh I have that messenger bag LOL I used it in college a bit

I think the character could've been ok... if they had the forethought of not fleshing the character out for the sake of the 4channers, like, come on, there's no way that a character basically written by them could ever end up well. They could've even keep the name as well, but just make her a normal background character with a few lines here and there should've been everything anyway... I never watched the show and the little I know about it has been due to osmosis, so what do I know

Personally I think the idea of representing the disabled would have been an excellent direction, unfortunately they leaned so heavily into acknowledging the bronies (and as a side result 4chan) that there was no separating her from 4chan. If they had acknowledged the adoration of the character model but veered away from naming her what the fandom named her, the fan art, the theories about her character etc, she could have still been a much adored character, without the stigma of being the "R" pony. As you had mentioned earlier the heavy acknowledgement and nods to the fandom/4chan was the downfall of MLP:FIM.

I, as a disabled person with a lazy eye (not quite cross eyed but you know), think the character was fine. It’s the NAME that’s bad. The whole “herp derp” meme culture was WIDELY used to mock disabled people especially those like myself with visible disabilities and conditions. A lot of popular “derp images/videos” were of disabled people, usually people with Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, people who have difficult walking or talking or other visible/noticeable illnesses. Not to mention many people used the words “derpy/derp” interchangeably with the R-slur. Ditsy Doo could be amazing disabled rep, I personally don’t think her voice or clumsiness was offensive, maybe her voice a touch to over exaggerated but over all I think it was fine. Disabled people, especially those with motor issues, tend to be a little clumsy. I think if they went and showed her with mobility aids and portrayed her as an Ambulatory mobility aid user that could’ve been super cool, and explain why she struggles with motor function. Over all!! Ditsy Doo is a perfectly fine character, even as she originally was, but the name derpy is too tied to ableist 4chan memes for it to be a good choice for children’s media.

Derpy controversy could be a textbook definition of overstating the harm

Idk when you got 1 mil subs but congrats you deserve it!

I never thought the word derpy was offensive- I always thought it was cute and it makes me think of that one specific face on some Minecraft skins lol

Bring back draw my life for your 1 mil that would be awesome!

personally i was never super big into mlp but i *am* neurodivergent so from one perspective i don’t have anything to say but from the other i think that they probably only needed to change her voice and it would’ve been fine, the name is on,y mentioned once (and there are worse insults imo (that 4chan users *were using*)) and the crossed eyes are kinda integral to the character lol. congrats on 1 mil!!!!

The Save Derpy movement is, for me, is a nuanced situation. Derpy/Ditzy is a character who had an animation error to someone who is loved by the G4 fanbase and considered as one of the fan favorites within the 2010s (more likely the early 2010s). On one side, we have 4chan who participated in the movement though some of them would be the same people who called Derpy a retard and other terms related to ableism. It would be a very short story if we stop there where the movement was a hypocritical stance however there's more to that. On the other, we have people who genuinely connect with Derpy despite claims of being an offensive portrayal since these people may have experienced of living with a disability/impairment/handicap that affects their lives and the people around them. With the notion of Derpy being changed, these people might feel an ick towards it by how their form of connection and comfort became a controversy.

MAKEUP TUTORIALS PLEASEEEE!!!!!

i have no horse in this race so i'm just going by what i see here - she's visually impaired and an idiot, which is fine, but that combined with the name and slurred speech feel like they were mocking someone with Down Syndrome had they called her Bubbles and not slurred her speech she would be just fine the other ponies accept her, she gets a boyfriend, she has a job

I’m intellectually disabled and AuHD and I feel like derpy never read as “making fun of disabled folks” to me. She just feels a silly character who is like a product of 2010s internet. I do think it’s silly that a lot of official merch would refuse to say her name LUL LUL

I see u Blue Mayfield!!

ayyo that makeup during the ad went HARD

I honestly really liked Derpy and I thought she was adorable. Wasn't a kid at the time, but it was one of those kids shows that was written well enough that it was still entertaining. Every time I heard "derp" come up it was done in an "Oh I had a dumb moment!" way instead of a "haha look at the idiot" way. I didn't think she was offensive at all, and while her origins are offensive in nature being called Derpy isn't the worst thing. They didn't overdo her, and I felt that them actually trying to "scrub her clean" as it were was a huge over correction on their part. If anything what they did to her actively removed representation. Fixing her kinda gave the message to me of "Look kids, you can't be seen unless you're 'fixed' so that you don't make the able-bodied people feel uncomfortable with your mere existence!", which is arguably worse than her initial presence on the show was.

Back in the day I was very "pro derpy" and was made her S2 speaking role got cut but looking back, Rainbow Dash just straight calling her "Derpy" was not a good look without the context that thats her name. also for: 17:02 - you should show off the rest of your collection-recording room, this corner is the only ever shown and I've always been very curious what other Knick knacks and weird things you collected

I was a kid in the fandom at the time and I was a huge fan of derpy. In a lot of cartoons at the time, background characters have a tendency to be exceedingly stupid to serve the plot, including other characters in mlp outside of derpy. Child me just read that introduction scene as another example of that phenomenon, but with the exception that derpy managed to be incredibly endearing despite that. When I first heard that the scene was censored, I believed that the reason was that parents/hasbro were censoring her disability and not the portrayal of it. Bronies made it seem like that was the case, and since they uncrossed her eyes in the censorship, it was pretty easy to come to that conclusion. It very much seemed like it was her eyes that were deemed offensive and not everything else surrounding the scene. Now that I’m older and wiser, I can understand a bit better why people thought that scene was offensive and I can even agree with them on it. Like the statement featured in the video said, the idea wasn’t offensive on its own, but the execution of it was. However, in the same way, the execution of the censorship was even more offensive, because it didn’t remove the problematic parts of the scene, only the traits of her disability, and in doing so, they made her less endearing. All that being said, I like the way she was portrayed in future episodes. They seemed to find the balance of representing her disability without being offensive about it (which ended up being to treat her like an actual character, surprise surprise) and most importantly keeping all of the things that made her endearing. It was all just growing pains. I will also say I’m glad they changed her name as well. I think the fandom will always know her as Derpy, which I’m fine with, but in official capacity, it’s definitely for the better that her name isn’t a word that is incredibly offensive in most contexts. I mean, as a kid, I didn’t know that the word was offensive (I thought it was basically the same as quirky/clumsy), so if I wasn’t as shy as I was I could have gone up to my classmate with a lazy eye and told them they were just like Derpy.

Did people think Derpy was disabled because the character was portrayed as stupid? I’m not understanding why there was outrage over the character when there are plenty of other characters like Homer Simpson, Patrick Star, Richard Watterson, Cosmo, Ed, Peter Griffin etc who are also stupid. Why did no one get angry over them but Derpy was deemed offensive for just being another stupid character?

Loved Derpys old voice. honestly, wish they would have kept it even when they changed her up a bit

The debate with Derpy pretty much ends with "it was a differnt era". It was a stereotype that was acceptable back in the day. Society has changed. Let's move on. It's interesting how people were much more lax in the early 2010s about intellectual disabilities as comedy. Even the content I made back in the early 2010s did this to some extent. But I didn't go out of my way to do that out of mallace. It was the culture at the time. It was acceptable.

I still feel very mixed even today, I wasn't a huge fan of her but I think she was innocent enough, I wish she had gotten more time in the show and I think if voice casting had been different that could have happened. There's some good portrayls of neurodivergency or things that were relatable elsewhere though that I connected with when I was a brony. I felt like Pinkie Pie might have been and it made me feel seen when she was dealing with her family. Tbh now I just collect Gen 1 ponies and have disconnected a lot from the Gen 4 era.

I loved derpy as a kid. Still do! Derpy was even my nickname on the 360.

The 100 Episode felt like The 22 films about Springfield from The Simpsons (the one with Steamed Hams),bit not so memorable

I don't think Derpy was ever intended to be interpreted as disability representation. The creators made this goofy background character for the laughs. Then it became a fan favorite, and they put it into an episode. In said episode, they play off the goofy personality, adding, clumsy, and ditzy. Making the character similar to Patrick Star from SpongeBob. People then attribute these traits to people with disabilities and saying this character is a representation of disabilities. That is a whole new set of responsibilities. I don't think this character was ever meant to be interpreted that intricately. It was meant to be a goofy character that the fandom loved, end of story.

the ad at 6:34 was perfectly placed