This show is more decidedly aimed at young children, and
it doesn’t quite have the charm of the current series. Also, there is some
annoying baby talk in many of the episodes, stuff like “Me try” (from
“Little Pieces Of Magic”). But like Friendship Is Magic, this show
includes musical numbers. And there are important messages for children
included throughout the series, such as to not give up, to find the good in
people, and to set aside personal differences to work together toward a common
goal. And often the songs include the messages, as in the episode “Sweet Stuff
And The Treasure Hunt,” which ends with a song about being glad you are who you
are.
The voices for this series are done by different actors
from those of Friendship Is Magic, but that doesn’t mean these voices
will be unfamiliar to you. Nancy Cartwright is among those who provided voices
for this series. Fans of The Simpsons will recognize her as the voice of
Bart Simpson. Clive Revill also does some voice work on the series. Star
Wars fans will recall he provided the voice of the emperor in The Empire
Strikes Back. And there are a few guest voices in a couple of the episodes.
The episodes are not presented completely in the proper
order. Two episodes from the fourth disc – “Rescue At Midnight Castle” and
“Escape From Catrina” – should be at the beginning of the first disc, for it
seems these ones actually precede the series.
Here are some episodes of note:
“The End Of Flutter Valley”
“The End Of Flutter Valley” is a ten-part story, in which
a witch and her daughters decide to ruin the ponies’ celebration because they
hate Flutter Valley. Things don’t go according to plan, and the mother laments
her daughters’ failure to ruin the celebration: “I don’t understand it. I’ve
done everything a mother could do to make you low and miserable and wretched.”
This series does have some cute humor like that, which will appeal to adults as
well as children. The witches don’t give up, and their new plan involves
stealing the Sun Stone from the Flutter Ponies so that the valley will become
dark and dreary. (A lot of time is spent with the witches and with giant bees,
who also hate the Flutter Ponies – though it is unclear just why they do.) The
bees steal the Sun Stone and then capture and enslave the flutter ponies. The
witches sing a cute song about the joys of dark and dirty things. Morning Glory
and a bee named Sting seek the help of a human girl named Megan to return the
Sun Stone.
“The Ghost Of Paradise Estate”
“The Ghost Of Paradise Estate” is a four-part episode, in
which a ghost frightens the baby ponies. Megan sings a song about how ghosts
don’t exist, but later the ghost returns and Megan and Molly see it too. The
ghost says it’s his house, and he wants everyone to leave and then sings one of
the best songs of the series (if I can get a recording of it, I’ll add it to my
Halloween play list). The ghost then reveals itself to be a magical creature
named Pluma, capable of transforming its shape. Pluma is after a magical stone
to give to an evil monster, who plans to flood the land so he can rule again.
“The Great Rainbow Caper”
This episode features another magical amulet, this one
controlling a traveling rainbow. Monkeys are using monitors to spy on the kids
and ponies. The monkeys kidnap Danny and Surprise, hoping to steal the amulet.
One of the kids, Danny, compliments the monkeys by saying one of their gadgets
is “radical.” That totally takes me back to the 1980s, for sure.
“Bright Lights”
“Bright Lights” is a strange four-part episode, which
begins with Knight Shade putting on a pop concert for Megan, Molly and the
ponies. Megan tells a dancing pony to “sit down and be quiet.” Not the
typical young girl, Megan. By the way, Knight Shade sings “Do The Moonwalk.”
Three young ponies run into Zeb, Knight Shade’s shady manager, who invites them
to join the tour. Some magic green gas makes them tired and takes away their
shadows. It seems the message is not to try to get backstage to meet your
favorite bands.
In the second part of this one, Megan says: “Look at
the sick children. They cast no shadows. That’s the reason they’re sick. Knight
Shade must have stolen their shadows.” A pony responds: “That makes
sense. No doubt they feel empty and incomplete, the loss of their shadows being
an outward sign of some loss of substance.” Ha! This might be the most
absurd storyline. Knight Shade tells the ponies that an evil wizard gives him
orders through a mirror, forcing him to supply him with shadows. “If I don’t
help him, he’ll steal my shadow, which would end my career,” Knight Shade
says. Yeah, basically every line is silly. It’s best to be a bit stoned for
this one, particularly during the third part, when the evil wizard and Zeb do a
song and dance routine about tasty shadows.
At one point Zeb knocks the satchel of shadows out of
Zeb’s hand, and it lands on the floor. Knight Shade tells Megan to grab it.
Oddly, she and the ponies enter the castle and Megan says, “The satchel
should be in one of these rooms.” No, it should be on the floor near the
doorway where it landed. This episode ends with another concert scene, again
with the song about the moonwalk, but this time with the audience all seated
respectfully.
“The Magic Coins”
“The Magic Coins” is a four-part episode in which the
ponies find a treasure chest full of coins that seem to grant wishes. When it
rains, spoiling their fun, one pony wishes that it would never rain again. And that
has disastrous consequences. Megan and the ponies seek help from the troll who
once owned the coins, and Megan promises they’ll bring the troll something of
equal worth to the coins if he promises to undo the wishes. The troll responds
with a line that made me laugh: “Sounds fair, not that I care anything about
being fair.” And the ponies sing a song about what they should get for the
troll (“How about a nice big fur?” That would work for me). Well, the
troll is no help. And then there is a fire to contend with. But guess what?
Friendship is the key.
“Woe Is Me”
“Woe Is Me” is a two-part episode, and is one of my
favorites. It opens with a dinosaur chasing a little guy named Woebegone into
the ponies’ land. The dinosaur tells them, “He’s big trouble.” A rain
cloud follows Woebegone, and bad things begin happening. Was the giant predator
actually trying to help the ponies? The ponies are divided on whether Woebegone
should stay or go. Woebegone tells the story about how his bad luck began. The
first episode’s song, with the line, “Come back, little hobo, come back,”
is really cute. And the second episode’s song is one of the best of the series.
This episode doesn’t have Megan or Molly, and does have a message about
believing in yourself.
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
At beginning of this two-part episode, an early snow has
one of the ponies worried (though the others are playing). The penguin king’s
icy stare is turning the world to a winter landscape. “All who are unworthy
of living in such a lovely climate will be frozen, and I shall rule the whole
world,” he boasts. Edgar, his son, isn’t happy with his father’s plans.
This episode features a cool, slightly funky song (and the episode’s title
comes from one of the best winter songs of all time). After Megan and the
ponies are captured, Edgar helps them escape in a scene that owes a bit to the
opening of Raiders Of The Lost Ark.
“The Revolt Of Paradise Estate”
In this two-part episode, Paradise Estate is falling into
disrepair, and a mysterious stranger sells the ponies a can of magic paint,
which brings inanimate objects to life. It isn’t long before the objects become
demanding, and then want the ponies out of the way. The first line of the
second part, “I say we go back in there and show that furniture who’s boss,”
reminds me of my favorite line from Pink Flamingos: “The couch – it
rejected you.”
“Rescue At Midnight Castle”
Though on the fourth disc, this seems to actually be the
earliest episode, and it introduces the characters of Megan and Spike. Some
ponies are kidnaped by dragons, and Spike is at the castle they are taken to.
Firefly goes off seeking help and meets Megan, who exclaims, “Talking pony!”
Megan owns a pony named TJ, the non-talking variety, whom we never see again. I
suppose Megan loses interest in TJ when she learns about the more magical
ponies. Poor TJ. This episode features Tony Randall as the voice of Mr.
Moochick, which is just one of the many things that set this one apart. The sea
ponies have an introductory musical number. And Applejack is in this episode
(voiced by Sandy Duncan, who also provides the voice of Firefly). I would have
loved this episode when I was a kid, for it has lots of D&D-type creatures.
“Spike’s Search”
There is one special Spike episode, “Spike’s Search,” in
which Spike needs to learn how to control his fire-breath, and so goes on a
quest to meet and learn from other dragons. Fans of My Little Pony:
Friendship Is Magic might notice some similarities between this episode and
“Dragon Quest,” an episode in that series.
“Escape From Catrina”
The two-part episode “Escape From Catrina” stars Tammy
Grimes as Catrina, and Paul Williams as Rep, Catrina’s servant. This episode
features the introduction of the Bushwoolies, who are first seen as Catrina’s
slaves. After the Bushwoolies escape, Catrina decides to enslave the ponies. This
is a really adorable episode.
My Little Pony: The Complete Series was released
on September 30, 2014 through Shout! Factory. The four-disc DVD set contains no
special features.
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