My Little Pony's TERRIBLE First Revival (My Little Pony Tales)

My Little Pony tried to refresh the franchise in 1992 with My Little Pony Tales, a show about mean-spirited ponies who bully and blackmail each other. And they sing about it.
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[@jesssoucy4976]

The cutie marks are a bit dystopian. Imagine wanting to be a musician but you are assigned Footstool

[@Delightfully_Bitchy]

😨

[@Taschenschieber]

Maybe it's one of these really small footstools guitar players sometimes use???

[@mastermarkus5307]

@@Taschenschieber Then you still got screwed over because your cutie mark could've been a guitar!

[@samhainhodgens2321]

Well live as a pony must really suck it seems ,just immagine .you are a Talented writer or musician but you are fucking Recycling pony! Life has fucked you my friend!

[@Tareltonlives]

Yeah, that problem carried over to G4: the mechanics in that version say they pop up once you find something you're good at, but there's no incidents in the show of someone who has a talent they don't like at all, and that's a bit disturbing.

[@gwendolynstata3775]

Okay, but the VA went so hard on, "MY CAKE! You RUINED it!" I 100% believe those ponies destroyed that baker pony's business.

[@aniasthompson4569]

14:08

[@androzani]

Wait, until you hear what Spongebob did to his drink.

[@rogue7723]

Same with the pony from 14:00-14:05. I think the vocal direction for the voice actress to sound like her dog got run over.

[@epicboyo4883]

Nice job, buddy. It took me 3 days to make that cake. *3 DAYS!!!!*

[@finnhaverkamp]

Do you think they were brainstorming in the writers room and somebody posed, "You know what six year olds need to learn more about? Human trafficking."

[@Tacom4ster]

Well there's was a G4 episode with an allegory of suicide, kinda messed up episode

[@Santoryu90]

My Little Pony Tales

[@edwardtjbrown1979]

My Little Pony: Pony After Dark

[@shawncat]

'Roman Polanski presents: My Little Pony'

[@Popcultureguy3000]

@@shawncat Please, let’s not get _the rapist_ involved in this. God, I don’t know about you, but knowing what I know about him makes it *impossible* for me to watch Chinatown again thanks to that twist about that rich landowning governors daughter’s “younger sister”.

[@SpedeVesku]

14:07 Script: "My cake, you have ruined it!" Direction: "Say it like you just found out that your significant other is cheating on you."

[@AllisonPregler]

That guy's delivery cracked me up so much

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

He really gave it 100%, props to baker pony

[@BingQilin]

He said it like that one guy in spongebob who got his pizza without a drink

[@natarisaru]

Fun fact: That baker pony’s VA is none other than Richard Ian Cox aka The English voices of InuYasha and Ranma Saotome

[@WubbaizyShipper1]

@@BingQilin "Where's my drink? *HOW AM I SUPPOSED EAT THIS PIZZA WITHOUT MY DRINK?!* "

[@brentparker7359]

As a boy who grew up watching the original "My Little Pony" series, "My Little Pony Tales" illustrates why I was never into "tween" entertainment, even when I was that age. The idea seems to be that you're supposed go from fantasizing about magic and high adventure to fantasizing about going to school and having an mundane job. No thanks.

[@dinosaysrawr]

Even the more grounded slice-of-life shows for adolescents will dabble in magical realism, farcical cut-away gags, or implausible situations!

[@XX-sp3tt]

I thought it was stupid as a child. Now I actually enjoy it unironically.

[@luvblueybingoheeler3150]

Well there are kids shows like Bluey and Arthur that are slice of life and are well loved.

[@SoramimiKeiki]

@@luvblueybingoheeler3150 Don't you get it? That show from the first season was meant to be about colourful ponies having their magical adventures. Then they turned it into a series which had 0 to do with the original. Ponies going to school, working jobs and being mean as heck to each other. It has nothing to do with "slice of life". It was about turning a show that was well loved by it's audience into something mean spirited that it wasn't before. I hope I didn't trigger your autism to much with my explanation, and also I fear you still don't get it. But well, at least I tried ...

[@ZehnWaters]

YES.

[@lastflunky]

Really says a lot about a show when the best character is some janitor that occasionally shows up.

[@brittanyrevia2542]

Hey, don't talk about Scrubs like that!

[@c1borgen]

Control by Remedy be like

[@mrlaz9011]

Dude is just minding in his own business, he's shill.

[@jamesbenefield3376]

"Scruffy's work here is done."

[@elainejsta]

"Justin proposed to Moonglow" sounds like a real life person marrying their mlp oc

[@Jamseth_Ingramious]

A man once married Hatsune Miku, so it's not unheard of.

[@MforMovesets]

I just wanted to say, it sounds like a furry convention speed marriage.

[@gracestarkes2644]

Teddy was a real chance squandered. Teddy could have taught young boys a valuable lesson about damaging gender standards and sent the message that it's okay for a boy to take care of a teddy bear. Teddy could still be a bully at first because of his frustration manifesting into hostility and peer pressure to be more “manly”. However, when the secret is revealed, rather than having everybody making fun of him all the time, some ponies should sympathize with him and work to support him in being his actual, honest self. They confront the bullies and may even admit that they themselves enjoy playing with stuffed animals but have been hiding it to maintain the status quo. As a result, the barrier is broken at school, Teddy befriends the main ponies, and he learns the important lesson that he can be a boy and still take care of a teddy bear.

[@trevingrayek1671]

I’m thankful for things like Spy Kids showing me a male lead who was emotionally open and into things I might otherwise have thought of as unmasculine

[@gracekim25]

Yeah 😅

[@TheNightmareRider]

The irony is that the plot you described wouldn't be out of place in FiM. But somehow Gen 2 wanted to challenge its audience but not actually commit to it?

[@Tareltonlives]

@@TheNightmareRider Babs. Nuff said.

[@ebwarg]

@@TheNightmareRider Maybe he could be a blank flank who finally gets his cutie mark when he admits his fondness for teddy bears!

[@jesssoucy4976]

The voice actors are giving it their all. The lines about the pie and cake had some real devastation behind it

[@aniasthompson4569]

14:00-14:08

[@yerabbit6333]

its true, it's like they're acting their hearts out inside of a dumpster

[@harmonetheanimationaddict4419]

Work with whatcha got, I guess.

[@kenthuang436]

Well Starlight Glimmer and Daring Doo’s voice actors are in the show. In fact they are the only voice actors from MLP to be in every cartoon up until G5.

[@pimp-sempai]

"How could you hurt yourself a day before the show?!" and "My cake, you've RUINED it!!" have me absolutely crying because of how funny the line delivery is

[@Hardman5509]

It's worth pointing out that Melody's VA is Kelly Sheridan, who would return to the franchise as Starlight Glimmer, a major character in FiM. That's the character that formed a cult based around removing cutie marks under the thought of 'equality' and after being foiled, she goes back in time to change history which leads to multiple apocalyptic timelines, including one where everyone and everything died, leaving the entire land of Equestria as a barren wasteland. ...yeah, that's a G2 character alright.

[@Tareltonlives]

The characters in this show are giving me HUGE Starlight Glimmer vibes

[@elaineb7065]

Tales is not G2. G2 never had a show. Tales is the back end of G1, & the Ponies were G1 Ponies (the few they made anyway - where were our Teddy, Ace, Miss Hackney, & Lancer Ponies for example???).

[@Tareltonlives]

@@elaineb7065 ah, so this is 1.5

[@elaineb7065]

@@Tareltonlives Kind of. It's the back end of G1 anyway, still taking the same form as G1 in toy poses. It COULD BE called 1.5, though unlike 3.5 & 4.5, both of which had the same Ponies but different poses & styles from 3 & 4 respectively, this had different Ponies in the same poses

[@Tareltonlives]

@@elaineb7065 See, when I think of generations, I think of the shows, not the toys. Different definition. New cast, new setting

[@alionfish5]

I just love how the alien-pegasus answer with : "the future is filled with possibilities" before immediatly disappearing when Patch ask if she can visit their home, Impling that they were too polite to simply say No.

[@kenthuang436]

And there was an alicorn too!

[@cameronstone4495]

"If someone is threatening to tell your secret, get the back even harder by framing them as adult babies." This sounds like a Jimmy McGill scheme.

[@Popcultureguy3000]

Ya gotta watch out for that “Slippin’ Jimmy”!

[@rushguy1]

One step up from the squat cobbler, that.

[@sugarfrosted2005]

"Our core audience are teenagers now. Let's appeal to them. But how? Make them catty jerks, like how we think teenage girls are!"

[@andrejg4136]

At least Care Bears Family had the good sense to only reach a little bit into late elementary school instead of making everyone insipid teenager equivalents.

[@SpinelFan64]

@@andrejg4136 going how i thought teenagers were at that age, not even teens but what 8-10 year olds think the “cool teens” are like

[@magicmoonart]

Teenage girls really do be like this doe. At least they are around where I live. They crib at me for dressing as a wolf for Halloween over a decade ago. They still call me wolfy and howl at me and I'm a grown ass adult and the teens are not the same teens from back then! They still do it and make fun of me! I'm like how do they even know me and that I did that? But also what of it?

[@jbiehlable]

@@magicmoonart Did you tell them furries exist?

[@gracekim25]

@@magicmoonart no….that is a giant generalisation

[@TheAdorkableRJ]

Nothing quite like a cartoon that teaches children the finer points of being petty and mean spirited when dealing with problems.

[@Iamafishproductions]

"If we let boys into the tea party, then we won't have time to not save innocents!"

[@MforMovesets]

"Hey little kids, wanna talk about peace contracts, depression, domestic abuse and the law system?!"

[@Iamafishproductions]

@@MforMovesets Not just peace contracts and the law system, but FORCED COERCION to sign peace contracts and ABUSE of the law system against minors!

[@alionfish5]

"I don't have time to fight demons, I have to blackmail people !"

[@samuelvzveddscs1638]

Well we now know what was the favourite show of the Charmed Ones during their formative years...

[@Keyboardeater1]

This is the type of content Alison excels at. Taking absurd old media and explaining why its absurd.

[@butterflyminder]

Absolutely.

[@eddiem6975]

Yes!!! I agree

[@XX-sp3tt]

What's absurd about it? It's no more nonsense than rainbow waterfalls or ponies crossing universes through clouds.

[@gracekim25]

@@XX-sp3tt did you WATCH the video?! 😅

[@thedarthmj94]

Justin finally proposed to Moonglow?! Moostin is canon!

[@richardgadberry8398]

"You may never be a magical unicorn, but you could feasibly be a janitor?"--My father's last words to me.

[@Pencilfiend241]

hahaa underrted comment

[@Pencilfiend241]

@@Kyumifun um... because he died after? Seems pretty obvious to me...

[@UJEvans]

Front facing bipedal ponies should be the villains of a horror story

[@mrlaz9011]

and those ones already behave like villains pretty much, so it cant be hard to adapt.

[@runeanonymous9760]

is fnaf still going on?

[@aniasthompson4569]

@@runeanonymous9760 Though your question doesn't have anything to do with the video, yes, Fnaf Is still continuing.

[@runeanonymous9760]

@@aniasthompson4569 yes it does; a horse animatronic

[@suzanneclark7706]

@@runeanonymous9760my sister made an OC like that!

[@Account_Not_Applicable]

Showrunners: We have revamped My Little Pony Allison: You ficked up a perfectly good pony is what you did. Look at it! It's got anxiety!

[@laranovelletto8694]

The screams from the ponies being dropped into lava are seriously haunting

[@aniasthompson4569]

38:10

[@stinar1855]

Fun fact about that princess song: In the swedish dub, Bonbon straight-up says "You shouldn't eat more, you should be thin!"

[@frickinfrick8488]

I hate the stereotype that girls only want to watch slice of life and don’t care about adventure fantasy stories. Not saying slice of life is bad, but it being basically 99% of the media targeted towards little girls when I was a kid was very frustrating. I loved the old gen 1 MLP fantasy stories growing up and I’m glad G4 and G5 are leaning into it more (even though people keep saying it’s just to appease the adult men in the audience, god I wish people stop saying that, little girls love those kinds of stories)

[@gracekim25]

Dang they could have done a lesson about how owning a toy and being emotional is ok through Teddy but I guess the writers just thought ‘EH BLACKMAIL galore!!!!!’🤷‍♀️😅 like holy shit😶

[@jbiehlable]

1992 everyone

[@gracekim25]

@@jbiehlable um right 😅

[@IAmBuddythedecibwave]

An example of how the messages in toxic masculinity get embedded in our heads - boy and girl - and promote awful ways of thinking. I grew up with this stuff. Looking back, Tales wasn't just a bad show, it was problematic af. 😐 It Told girls that boys and men were naturally nasty, and the meaner they are to you, the more they like you. It taught them that boys who aren't like that and are gentle and like 'girly' things aren't 'right'... I really resent this toon. Lazy thinking, lazy animation. I'm glad it didn't live for very long.

[@gracekim25]

@@IAmBuddythedecibwave mmm

[@TheLastFanboy]

This is like if the Tiny Toons acted like normal kids & students.

[@samhainhodgens2321]

And as we See, Terrible Result

[@gracekim25]

And YET tiny toons are high school kids that a Look young🤣

[@XX-sp3tt]

I love this series for how it took the 'no antagonist!' rule they apparently had in place, and USED IT TO THEIR ADVANTAGE! In the final episode, instead of the source of the garbage being some eco-villain, it turns out it was the ordinary citizens of Ponyville being wasteful.

[@altejoh]

I am reminded of how every disney cartoon for a while had to involve school in some way, allegedly because the higher-ups could not fathom how kids could possibly meet, interact, or have adventures unless school was involved.

[@Tareltonlives]

I remember going "Do I want to see Donald's nephews go on weird adventures or do I want to watch Goofy's son go to high school" and realizing that wasn't a dilemma.

[@andrejg4136]

@@Tareltonlives my answer is “both", but different reasons as to why

[@user-fx8zf2jy4r]

Disney: allways 29 years behind the current times

[@covcova]

There’s something so freaky about the ponies behaving both like ponies AND humans

[@neilsharpson996]

"I knew one of them had red hair like Ariel and one of them was a baby." Poetry. That is Poetry.

[@thewraithwriter22]

I _desperately_ need Alison reviewing and/or roasting every my little pony think in existence. Order doesn't matter

[@gregcourtney751]

If not aware she did gen 3.5 years ago.

[@runeanonymous9760]

@@gregcourtney751 wait wasn’t that Princess Promenade, which is not only not G3.5, but actually predates G3’s introduction of unicorns?

[@gracekim25]

@@gregcourtney751 wait when?

[@gregcourtney751]

@@gracekim25 what rune talks about. Ny bad on it not being 3.5. This was over 5 years ago I think.

[@FowlFolk]

Yeah, this explains a lot. See, when I was little, I would watch My Little Pony re-runs and I would get real disappointed because, to my little mind, they'd sometimes get randomly switched out with a much worse pony show. I haaaaaaated this show. I'd still watch it, because I wasn't allowed to change the channel. It was made so much worse because I felt like it was a bait and switch: Oh, My Little Pony is coming on? No! It's the bad one, fuck! (insert five year old's equivalent of fuckwords).

[@StrawberryCocoaPowder]

Why weren't you allowed to change channels?

[@FowlFolk]

@@StrawberryCocoaPowder My dad told me I wasn't allowed to use the box or the remote because I might break them.

[@allye9865]

My Little Pony Tales was the first show that I remember realizing it was bad

[@klisterklister2367]

I didnt realise it haha

[@allye9865]

@@klisterklister2367 i recall it running in a time slot that was sometimes the older MLP show and sometimes was this one and I think the contrast is what made me notice lol

[@snowblind9551]

I find the thought of someone going around calling ponies "losers" and telling them that their cutie marks are stupid hilarious.

[@PlanetZoidstar]

Funny there was an episode of G4 all about that fear with Applebloom, afraid she'd get a "Loser Pony" cutie mark.

[@GriffinGuitartwelve]

Sooo lemme get this straight: G1 - Decent but not exactly remarkable G2 - MEAN SPIRITED?! G3 - A bit too much on the sappy side G4 - For most modern MLP fans (including me), perfection :) FIM era gave them memorable personalities, clever dialogue, interesting situations, and didn't feel like it pandered too heavily to a female (or male) audience. Seriously, though...would have never expected any MLP generation to be so rude and snotty in terms of its characters!!

[@drakelamb4981]

My little pony tales isn’t g2, it’s still part of g1

[@RisingCrossroadsStudios]

And now we are in generation 5 which is sort of taking inspiration from the middle child in terms of writing and storytelling that is hopefully everything gets improved

[@gracekim25]

@@drakelamb4981 I thought it was 1.5😅

[@InvestedGman]

What about G5 in the 2020s???

[@ExtremeWreck]

G3.5: Lazy animation galore!

[@mathieuleader8601]

the pig ominiously breathing and staring at Teddy at night reminds me of a scene in a book about the Amityville Horror about an encounter the family had with a demonic boar

[@Tareltonlives]

SOON

[@sadtitties222]

Oh yes, Jodie was that demon pig's name. That scene freaked me out so much as a child, lol.

[@lunawings]

Your criticisms are valid, but I want to share the experience of someone who grew up with both shows. Honestly, I loved this one just as much as the original. It was just a different mood! Even back in the early 90s when I watched it, I thought the 80s aesthetic was cool. Plus, to 5-year-old me, it felt like watching a super serious teen drama, but with characters I could relate to... ponies!!! (I always preferred ponies over barbies and other dolls.) So this was my window into what being a teenager/older kid was like. Or so I assumed. I didn't know any better! I just went along for the ride.

[@PlanetZoidstar]

I was a pre-adolescent boy and I actually liked both shows. The first was better but by no means was 'Tales' awful. I also watched Thundercats, Transformers, He-Man, Ghostbusters, etc, so demographic was no barrier to my tastes in cartoons.

[@LynnieBird]

I also liked both, and still do! 😂

[@bethanysingsmrs849]

@@PlanetZoidstar my brother really enjoyed mlp tales, he told me lancer is gay rep for him

[@akaony]

Same tbh

[@lagozzino]

"to err is pony and forgiveness is divine" knocked the wind out of me

[@eldrichnemo9312]

There's a lot of discussion around the messed up cartoons that still come out on youtube for kids to find but I feel like there needs to be more examination of 80s and early 90s cartoons and their "messaging." The toxic friendships and the "modeling" were especially disturbing and right up there with the worst of "Elsagate."

[@rattis]

As a kid, I was always kinda disturbed by the relationship between Teddy and Sweetheart since it came of as so miserable but also realistic. I saw that exact scenario as a kid; a guy who is a terrible bully, so terrible in fact that even among other boys he becomes seen as the jerk that nobody wants to be around as opposed to a cool badass, who nevertheless has this one really sweet and kind girl who hangs out with him for good knows why and who defends his actions even though he bullies her just like he does everyone else (if slightly less). I never understood as a kid why some people become defenders of assholes like that.

[@spurguvitunhuora9119]

My brain is trying to process the idea about a series where the script was written by kids who were old enough to see how conflicts usually rise in series like this, but too young to understand that those series usually had some sort of moral at the end. Like... Kids over five but under eight? Thank you. This was way more interesting than it should have been.

[@MrAlman8]

Mailmen ponies seem like a rather practical job. Considering pony express is a thing. Even a pegsus would be great for the job, but it would cost extra jangles for premium delivery.

[@JeffreyPiatt]

Gray mares make good ones

[@MrSchimpf]

This entire series felt like a fever dream, and George Arthur Bloom clearly ran a writer's room that seemed to finish episodes at the last second. 🤭 I could imagine getting in MLP in 1992 and wondering why the show on Disney Channel (as this did) was so bad. The early 90s were just the best at creating such baffling yet repeatably enjoyable content.

[@samhainhodgens2321]

C.o.w boys of mumasa is as good of an Exemple of this!

[@bored_person]

Did George run the writer's room? Did the show even have a writer's room?

[@Musicradio77Network]

When “My Little Pony Tales” first aired on Disney Channel back in 1992, it has newer episodes mixing with older episodes from the previous series in the G1 cannon. For example, “Rescue At Midnight Castle”, originally the very first MLP episode was shown as part of “My Little Pony Tales”, or “The Glass Princess”, a 4-part episode which was part of “My Little Pony Tales”, but unfortunately, they got rid of the intro from G1 MLP and replaced with the newer intro like the way it was shown on Disney Channel back in 1992.

[@ChandrasTravels]

I actually had the Paradise Estate. It was one of my prized possessions. It really is weird that the 80s version was in many ways better than the 90s version. It is really terrible.

[@SoramimiKeiki]

Lucky you. I couldn't find it even in stores here. It was advertised, but must have been a rarity.

[@jbiehlable]

@@SoramimiKeiki It's sold on Ebay for very high prices.

[@171QA]

Yeah, G4 was a genuine step up from this series. But it sure is a trip to look at the cast list and see how many went on to become prominent VAs.

[@blaizegottman4139]

I'm amazed how starlight was already in the original series

[@58jharris]

I thought it took a nosedive into suckdom though after season 7.

[@falcon_arkaig]

@@58jharris Season 9 was pretty fun in my opinion, especially the last episode of the whole series. Shit makes me sad

[@lazylaziness1352]

@@58jharris honestly those seasons are better then this show anyways honestly

[@sameera.abdullah719]

Wasn't Tony Sampson in this? In case you don't know, he's the guy who voiced Eddy in Ed, Edd n Eddy.

[@teixeiradasilva6299]

Surprisingly more disturbing than I could imagine.

[@phonybeautrain6520]

Could be the tagline of the show.

[@mrlaz9011]

27:43 this face shall haunt my nightmares for the next week.

[@nawf4372]

13 pairs of episodes is shocking to me. This isn't far off from the era when it was required for every animated show to have 65 episodes lined up or you wouldn't get to broadcast. Even if the higher ups thought the show stinked, you'd think the brand recognition would get it farther than that.

[@58jharris]

I think the 65 episode requirement was for daily cartoons. 13 was enough for Saturday morning cartoons.

[@nawf4372]

@@58jharris Still weird that it didn't manage more. 13 was something you'd expect for some bottom of the barrel show with no name or one of those video game shows that rotated out with other shows. This is the sequel to a show that was a toy sell juggernaut. You'd think the cartoon dollar signs would blind them to how much this show sucked and keep it on for at least double that.

[@58jharris]

@@nawf4372 Maybe they realized it wasn't very good and decided not to continue it. Perhaps they feared it might hurt rather than help the brand.

[@falcon_arkaig]

I actually kinda like this show weirdly enough, it's charming for me. Dumb stories in a dumb little world with dumb ponies.

[@mrlaz9011]

​@@58jharris Maybe they got complaints from parents due to how awful most of the characters and the lessons were.

[@Alucard-A-La-Carte]

That feeling you have is called "being in your 30s and having a very curious disposition." Source: I'm 37 and love learning stuff. Which is one of the things that's kept me coming back to this channel! It's also lovely to see where you got your Twitter avatar from.

[@FNGLHR]

What I'm getting from this is that Lauren Faust took ideas and concepts from this series and made them not suck balls. Because a lot of this just reads like Gen4 but done by incompetent people. Hell, they had similar slice of life scenarios for the Mane Six, but they had better lessons involved.

[@mastermarkus5307]

It also helped that the series balanced the slice of life with fantasy and that the world of FiM isn't SO non-magical and similar to our own world. I think that Applejack and the CMC's stories often suffered for being too "normal", but maybe that's just my opinion (the CMC definitely held less appeal for me because their scenarios had more of a "real life kids" vibe than the rest of the show, but I digress).

[@gracekim25]

Mmm

[@augustday9483]

FIM went back to the high fantasy setting, balancing the slice of life elements with moments of adventure and worldbuilding. Plus the show was just generally more mature and respected the audience's intelligence.

[@LostInNumbers]

There's also a LOT more G3 in FiM than most people realize. It took the best from all past generations.

[@herpderp3916]

I think it helped that the tech level of G4 was fairly low. There was some use of electricity, but no screens or electronics of any kind. It all felt very analog, but not just retro like Tales is.

[@HautaAntero]

I never realize as a kid that there was different generations of My Little Ponies. But I just now realize the REAL REASON of why I never liked or enjoyed this show when I was a kid. Adults wanted show this to us just because there wasn't any kind of violence. But I think this show make your kids more mess up than TMNT 1987, Batman or RoboCop Animated Series.

[@pinkdiamond1847]

There is violence but it's psychological violence. Luckily I grew up with the generation 3 cartoons which had no violence or conflict whatsoever.

[@HautaAntero]

@@pinkdiamond1847 Well, back in the day, most people didn't take psychological violence same way seriously like physical violence.

[@magicmoonart]

I watched the batman animated series too

[@gracekim25]

@@magicmoonart cool

[@ChrisDalek]

14.02 - "My pie is ruined! But what if...I was to purchase a pie from the pie pony and disguise it as my own baking?"

[@AllisonPregler]

Delightfully devilish, Chef Pony!

[@gracekim25]

Eh!😜

[@VerdantRange]

One thing that weirded me out was how the more fantasy based series was My Little Pony 'n Friends while the more slice of life series was My Little Pony Tales. Kinda feels like it should be the other way around. Here's a weird thing I found. While the main cast's toys weren't sold in America, some characters who show up in this did. A big thing with the pegasi from that one episode were The Glow 'N Show Ponies at Play... except none of them were pegasi in the toyline. They were regular old earth ponies while Dazzleglow was the sole unicorn. As for why they stuck wings on these characters, I can only assume they did so because they wrote themselves into a corner and there were only two pegasus toys in the line that year. One was a baby and the other was a rerelease of a toy from Year Two, and I guess they doubted anyone wanted a new toy of... Firefly, one of the main characters from the first specials.

[@robinchesterfield42]

Firefly was in fact the very first pony I ever got a present, when I was a kid. Her and Medley together. I decided Firefly was the brash impulsive one and Medley was the quiet voice of reason one, and immediately gave them a "buddy-cop" dynamic. ...I dunno, I was a kid. Kids are weird. :P

[@TomMSTie1138]

"Their math is bunny and turtle based." That made me laugh so friggin hard!🤣🤣🤣

[@mathieuleader8601]

The slow-mo bits really amps up the creepy factor good job

[@petercreedon1246]

27:55- I died laughing.

[@thelanktheist2626]

Honestly, the reason G5 works more than MLP Tales is because there’s still fantastical elements, there are weird rabbit things, Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood, despite being magicless, still have an air of this world boy having something so ideal. Even a place as cozy and normal as Maretime Bay has a done up lighthouse with cool lantern lights like the okra I used to watch on TV.

[@clown-cult96]

The protagonists we’re supposed to like and side for in this show would have actual bullies (like in Heathers, Jawbreaker or Mean Girls) running away crying.

[@EvanCWaters]

I'm vaguely curious as to how the girl ponies tricked the boy ponies into dressing up as babies and drinking milk bottles but there is no possible good that can come of knowing that.

[@phonybeautrain6520]

From MLP Wiki that's happened because : "Bright eyes and Melody talk Ace and Lancer into it and they soon get into the swing of playing with the baby ponies, At feeding time the babies’ wouldn’t drink their milk. Melody and Bright eyes trick Ace and Lancer to dress up as babies and drink the milk so the babies will. " ... True to My Little Pony Tales, No good came of this knowledge.

[@andrejg4136]

@@phonybeautrain6520 that is the perfect combination of insipid premise and hilarious escalation that bad 80s and 90s cartoons are known for.

[@vulturesareunderrated]

There’s nothing I love more than overlong earnest explorations into bizarre children’s media. 💕

[@witabif]

those baby ponies flying off that slide into the air really got me holy shit

[@CranberryCreekProduction]

I love that part. "Here I come!"

[@Dreadjaws]

LOL, imagine a reboot of the Justice League cartoon where none of the characters have superpowers or special abilities, they just dress in colorful costumes and they don't even fight crime. Who thought this concept was good and not absolutely insane?

[@wstine79]

My Little Pony wasn't much of a thing at my house growing up. My sister had a few of the ponies, but was more into JEM and Rainbow Brite. The villains were cool.

[@barry-allenthe-flash8396]

I can't tell what I liked more. The time the psychic pony had a vision of winning tickets and then did and the other ponies ran her out of town (because they were afraid of her gifts? I forgot already, lol), that time the ponies squatted in that house then assaulted the rightful owners when they tried to move in, or the time that one boy pony dressed up like a sea monster, or that time with the peace treaty, or the time Teddy bullied farm animals and created a rivalry with a pig. Whenever you set out to just explain something, and then - after saying it out loud - realize that everything you just said sounds _insane and made up,_ well that's just the mark of a *good show.* If there's one thing we learned from your years of covering shows like Baywatch Nights, it's that, Allison😆

[@warpspeedscp]

I know, 5his show loops around from bad to good with it's hilarious plotlines and crazy shit going in

[@kaelibw34]

How this franchise survived up to G4 and after is beyond me.

[@Tareltonlives]

I feel like it just coasted on G1's success. After all Transformers managed to survive G2 and Headmasters.

[@phonybeautrain6520]

The simple fact we got a G3 after this trainwreck of a show, especially after they decided to not use it for advertising toys (the reason MLP Shows exists !) baffled me...

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

The thing is, kids grow up. Look at Power Rangers, that show has like 20 iterations because they could just keep rebooting it. Wait 5 years and bam, everyone's memory is reset and you don't have to come up with a unique IP

[@LightBluly]

Funfact: There were no MLP series between 1992 to 2003 and it took them a full decade for a new MLP series starting G3 in 2003. Really fascinate how MLP survive a full decade without new series.

[@kaelibw34]

@@skeetsmcgrew3282 Fair, though power rangers is probably not the best example. That one keeps going due to it being cheap as hell since it relies on japanese footage for most of the expensive bits, as well as providing source material for adaptation.

[@itsjoshua2508]

Teddy is voiced by the same person who voices Eddy in Ed, Edd n Eddy. Just something I thought I'd point out.

[@Troels_T_Kjoeller]

I just really felt that “My pie is ruined!”. So is mine, pony. So is mine.

[@jmcg9822]

I always figured the horses pulling the carriage were actual horses, meaning that in their world “ponies” are highly evolved but they still have actual horses with horse brains. A similar comparison is that we humans exist on a planet alongside of many of our ape relatives including chimps and gorillas. The difference is that in their world they’re using the horses as work animals as we do, which would be like us using chimps as working animals which is an odd concept. If horses exist in their world it’s plausible they would have domesticated and be using them as working animals weirdly enough.

[@dottyContrarian]

also those horses could just be paid workers. sort of like bicycle carriages (small carriage pulled by a person on a bike).

[@mrlaz9011]

"reject poneykind, return to horse"

[@SoramimiKeiki]

@@dottyContrarian Nah. They look very different. They have a more horse-like look so they for sure are "normal" horses in that series. But it is kind of weird, nontheless.

[@RoseWaltz]

i had forgotten how mean this show was! it would sometimes play before school, and sometimes the original show would air instead, the one with the Glow Worms i wonder how Moon Dreamers holds up

[@PresleyRoxy]

I watched My Little Pony Escape from Catrina SO many times when I was little. Had no idea it was only 30 minutes long. I totally thought it was a full length movie as well.

[@Musicradio77Network]

And prior to “Escape From Catrina” came “Escape From Midnight Castle”, the first ever MLP (G1) TV special from 1984, and one of the voice actors was Tony Randall as Moochick. Before that, he played Felix Unger on the TV sitcom “The Odd Couple” in 1971 co-starring Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison.

[@RightEyeRaptor]

My parents bought me the DVD as a child, and the only thing I could remember about it besides how grating Ace's voice was to me was the musical parts and the scene where Bon Bon almost falls off of a CLIFF.

[@NextToToddliness]

I was a pony fan up until My Little Pony Tales. Yes, I was a "brony" before that was a thing. No, back in the late-80's / early-90's we got called other names (🤣😅). Anyway, glad you took this deep dive into these commerical darlings 🦄.

[@LizardOfOz69]

So basically this show was "ahead of it's time/good ideas but incompetent execution because of the times"

[@mrlaz9011]

not only incompetent, but downright harmful in the way it delivers them. Just like serving a chocolate cake with anthrax mixed in.

[@LizardOfOz69]

@@mrlaz9011 thank god G4 happened. Basically did normal stuff the right way.

[@biggirl39]

Little kids deserve unhinged nonsense like this, keeps them on their toes

[@FabbrizioPlays]

This comment came at me like a hit and run driver doing a U-turn

[@gracekim25]

What?😅

[@finnanima2413]

I watched this show twice over the last year (and made dozens of videos about it, mostly compilations). What’s clear to me is that the worst part of this series was the writing for Teddy, especially in “Stand By Me”, “Shop Talk”, and just his relationship with Sweetheart. Other than that, the show was two pretty good things. First was another precursor to My Little Pony Tales. You mentioned some episodes where the girls were wrong about how to approach a situation like setting a partnership for skating, and confronting ‘thieves’. Those were precursors both to the inversive writing, and some plot lines that FIM would be so memorable for. Second was another thing MLPT became as the decades passed: a period piece. When I was new to fanfiction, I encountered people who wrote Pokémon into worlds like ours, and did a poor job at it. This show was more decent in execution of plot lines like that, and emphasized the culture of the 80’s, which is were all these descriptions of at least female-to-male relationships were really coming from. I’m pretty sure sitcoms like Friends and Saved by the Bell were not so different regarding treatment of their female characters. And third, MLPT must have the introduced the franchise to the slice-of-life genre. My Little Pony N’ Friends emphasized its fantasy and adventure genres with all kinds of merchandising opportunities, and offered character inspirations for FIM. My Little Pony Tales, on the other hand, offered characters interacting with each other, slight serialization with plot lines (like the pollution arc), and even VA’s to rehire, like the VA’s for Melody, Bon Bon, and Sweetheart, plus the Singer’s Director. All in all, I consider MLPT more a precursor to the generation of MLP that all bronies talk about.

[@zamulahuntress3702]

Oh, just when I was all dejected because the well of Star Trek reviews was dry, in particular the cackle of Janeway, this totally unexpected treat was presented! And it was indeed an utter delight! Although not a fan of the ponies, I was in high school during the 80's and lived through through the rein of Strawberry Shortcake and her cohorts, making this a sweet stroll down memory lane. I dunno, it seems like it might be really smurfy to revisit the land of the smurfs, and take us all on a smurfical journey!

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

That's it Zamula, I'm putting you on report

[@danbrum2]

@@skeetsmcgrew3282 My trembles are turning into rages.

[@theangryholmesian4556]

I'm watching Voyager right now. Janeway did nothing wrong. Other Trek captains did other arguably worse things yet they don't get hate for it. Why? You know why! Misogyny!

[@theangryholmesian4556]

@@skeetsmcgrew3282 Watching VOY now. Chakotay literally puts more people on report then Janeway especially after Season 1.

[@zamulahuntress3702]

@@theangryholmesian4556 The "cackle of Janeway" refers to her humorous portrayal in Allison's reviews only, and she is a fine captain. But just for that, you're on report!

[@shawnconway6009]

It's weirdly dark that a show about ponies would have so many problems center around leg injuries, when the main reason horses are put down is because of broken legs?

[@Annausagi2]

I saw a few episodes dubbed in Swedish when I was little, and the small voice-cast probably inspired them to give characters like the 'corn-ponies' super-thick stereotypical farmer-accents. It was hi-larious.

[@FaeQueenCory]

I clearly watched this as a child. Because I remember that theme jangle as nostalgic. But I think I purged the actual material of it because only bits and pieces flash in my memory... Like a fever dream...

[@theliveliestcorpse2997]

More like Friendship is Tragic, am I right?

[@joshuagonzalez4183]

yeah….

[@librarianontheloose]

I've been having the worst day and this video is just a DELIGHT. *chef's kiss*

[@spiltmjlk]

as someone who owned the mlp tales dvd and would watch it at least twice a week... my internalised attitude makes a lot of sense. However, I fuck hard w the show fr. it tastes like barbie perfume, strawberry shortcake doll hair and dust in my head and i will vibe with it forever idc

[@amandaa8472]

I grew up with My Little Pony and My Little Pony Tales, and as a small kid I loved it. Now what I remember is just the volcano sacrifice scene, the bee queen, and the witches.

[@TothanCrawk]

Friendship is Magic straight up spoiled us with lovable characters, amazing songs, and hilarious humor. Is so jarring to see previous generations.

[@amyroseday2893]

The ponies who stop the hot air balloon are the "Glow and Show ponies". The only difference is that they all have wings.

[@nickwalco]

i LOVED this series better than the original as a child.

[@cartoonkelly7924]

Why did every 90s ensemble cartoon have “The one that likes to eat”?

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

Little did they know we'd be the generation where everyone likes to eat and now obesity is an epidemic

[@KyleRDent]

The real question here is, what would Mitch's cutie mark be - a rescue can or a burger?

[@AllisonPregler]

Burger, no question

[@manicpixiefangirl4189]

How about a rescue can eating a burger?

[@julioagua]

I'd love a shark seapony with an stethoscope as a cutie mark

[@holdenshelley4613]

A few Baywatching cutie marks. Mitch- Burger Eddie- Pug with Angel Wings Stephanie- A large and impressive looking gold trophy Caroline- A smaller, significantly less impressive looking silver trophy Summer- A wilting and dying sunflower Eyebrows- A baguette with beret place on top of it Neely- A skull and crossbones, possibly on fire Cody- A lightbulb with no power

[@julioagua]

@@holdenshelley4613 Love all of them XD

[@ariadnestyx1463]

I've been looking forward to this video ever since you posted about it on Twitter and it has not disappointed! your hard work on it really paid off!

[@AllisonPregler]

Thank you!

[@Tareltonlives]

As someone who loved the G1 toys as a little boy because I was obsessed with horses, and was a fan of the G4 cartoon (bailed when Starlight Glimmer took over) , I am here for this! And yeah, G1 was a LOT better. Escape from Nightmare Castle remains their best special/film. Yeah, it's a dumb show for very little kids, but it's cute and has some funny moments. Oh boy, G2. I remember the G3 review. I had to pause to laugh at "What kind of dump did life take on you when you end up the pony with the garden hose on its ass?" I think even the cutie mark crusaders would decide it wouldn't be worth it. Okay, teacher I get, but at least the teachers in the other shows didn't have an actual blackboard for their cutie mark Dollar sign pony is the town's accountant. He shares an office building with Insurance salesman pony, realtor pony and assistant supervisor in marketing pony. Lighting equipment pony is best pony! In this world the blank flanks are the slave class, forever branded to the others. So in this world is Justin the hippie name? Or do they come from different cultures? Is there an exchange program where Cherry Bloom switches families with Steve? What happens when Cloudy Sky marries Tiffany; how are they gonna name their kids? Are there ponies named Henrietta Sweets? Imagine being the pony with the inventory taking cutie mark. She drinks every night with garden hose pony. At this point even Dumbledore would say this school needs to institute some standards I'm flashing back to Lindsay Ellis' Baby Toy video. Getting a similar vibe. Apparently Generation 3 had a MINISERIES about babies called Newborn cuties. Dear lord. Social dysfunction is magic! So basically so while G1 and G4 are about empathy this is just about revenge? Didn't think I would ever see REVENGE OF THE PONIES but this is the same world where fans made Fallout Equestria (I have no words) Oh my god the third episode of G4 was a parody deconstruction of that concert invitation episode. Wow. Keep the change you filthy animal! Sexism is magic! It's weird- the original series still had Spike and Danny, and while they had their problems they were still decent characters who were good friends with Megan and the main group and sometimes even saved the day. Friendship is Magic just had Spike with occasional moments with two older sibling characters, but they were sympathetic characters too with their own strengths and weaknesses. #justiceforjanitorpony This feels like a show where nobody is really friends with each other, nobody really trusting and supporting, and when the ponies are all so humanized, that's a bit disturbing to say the least.

[@sourdough3533]

This show sounds so chaotic, dang.

[@ryanc5572]

This honestly looks so unsettling, in a mean-spirited unnecessarily dark way that makes me uncomfortable. A lot of these clips are out of context, but they still make me cringe

[@joshuagonzalez4183]

same

[@mariahs6]

Oh my gosh, the plot where one character wins tickets and now all their other friends are trying to get in their good graces for the other was done in Season 1 of Friendship is Magic as well, and it was DONE BETTER. It genuinely felt like a story that could happen between people that just started being friends! I watched some episodes of Tales and while I enjoyed seeing more ponies, I questioned where all the magic and wonder is in this world. It could've just been My Teenage Humans, which funnily enough, Equestria Girls also did while integrating magic!

[@xXxLovelyBloodxXx]

I don't know what it is with these cursed ponys and your amazingly fun way of talking about them, but i keep coming back to this video again and again!

[@amelialouiseJ]

Their first error was failing to use "tails" instead of "tales"

[@jamiethebadwitch4003]

This video is still a Patreon exclusive as I'm writing this, but I've already watched it twice and I think it's become one of my favorite of your videos

[@AllisonPregler]

Thank you!!!

[@URnightmares162]

I still have the DVDs from my childhood and one 2nd gen toy, i miss my 3rd and 4th gen toys T^T they look sooo good!

[@RedMageUltra]

“The school’s exit is a slide! That is not safe or handicapped accessible!” Should we took this fact and assume that, in the world of the MLP revival, any ponies that would become handicapped is… well… I didn’t see any pony with a glue cutie mark

[@jacobjcb8883]

Someone said it was an emergency exit in case of a fire

[@electrogeek77]

They Shoot My Little Ponies, Don't They?

[@kitty_gutzz]

This is now on my list of comfort videos! (Video essays I rewatch religiously) so thank you! Also this may sound weird but your voice is so pretty & relaxing to listen to! Thank you for an amazing video!

[@WolfxxBite]

I was born in 84 an remember some of these episodes. It was a cute show. I definitely remember the toys. As a boy I always secretly wanted some :c

[@DenderFriend]

If I recall correctly, Friendship is Magic did a remake of that "characters try to convince another character to take them with them to an event" plot, I assume they did it better.

[@Tareltonlives]

I want to say that was like the third or fourth episode? It's been a long time since I saw it, but I definitely remember Twilight and Spike in a Benny hill chase.

[@robertcooper4th259]

35:48 are they alicorns

[@gregthehedgehog0956]

Seeing the 2nd pony get thrown into the volcano with your edit back to the theme song fuckin SLAYS me every time I see it X'D