Line #97 SoYouWantTo/WriteTheNextMyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic


1	The popularity of Creator/LaurenFaust's ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has taken the Internet by surprise - with a huge PeripheryDemographic and a very active community, it was, after only one season, already one of the most successful shows in WesternAnimation in the 2010s and had a nine season run. Not bad, especially given that the previous incarnation of the ponies could have easily been a FranchiseKiller.
2	But what is it that made the show so successful?
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4	Let's try to figure that out. (And while you're at it, be sure to check out SoYouWantTo/WriteAStory.)
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9	!'''Necessary Tropes'''
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11	* Friendship. It's right there in the title, and there's a reason for that. ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' presented a lovable group of TrueCompanions, and showed how [[OddFriendship very different individuals could get along.]] Naturally, ThePowerOfFriendship is bound to show up - although whether or not it's ''supernatural'' is something you'll need to decide on (see below).
12	* [[RoundedCharacter Three-Dimensional Characters]]: This is true of any story, but worth emphasizing. If the characters had been walking clichés, the show wouldn't have been remotely as interesting. ''Friendship Is Magic'' went out of its way to [[SubvertedTrope subvert common stereotypes]] and produce non-standard characterization: Twilight Sparkle, an introverted intellectual, is also a natural leader. Rainbow Dash, the tomboyish sports jock, likes the [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter parasprites]] as much as anyone else, participates in a fashion show with minimal convincing, tries to look pretty for the princess's visit. Rarity, the fashionista, is a hard-working artist and a generous soul; in designing clothes for her friends, she tries to emphasize their personalities rather than make them all fit a mold. Giving the characters depth makes their friendship all the more meaningful.
13	* {{Comedy}}: Character development is at the heart of the show, but the excellent humor is what keeps the audience glued to the screen. Pretty self-explanatory - just be sure that the comedy doesn't come at the ''expense'' of the characters' depth.
14	* [[RuleOfCute Cuteness]]: Arguably the most critical part of the show that ties everything together. The show would've never went as far as it did if the characters weren't [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter pleasing]] on the eyes. One of the appealing aspects of the show is the simplistic yet wondrous and memorable character designs: the show is downright ''fun'' and ''adorable'' to look at, spawning ''truckloads'' of character fanart. This dimension has let ''Friendship Is Magic'' stand out on its own compared to its contemporaries: ''Friendship Is Magic'' knows its a fantasy show about cute little magical ponies and is not afraid to flaunt it without apology. [[BigAnimeEyes Big sparkly eyes]], bright pastel colors, strong line art, hearts and rainbows, go full Lisa Frank on your universe. If you want to have antagonists in the show, try your best to stay away from EvilMakesYouUgly. The show has quite a few cute antagonists like the Parasprites, Trixie, Starlight Glimmer, and Cozy Glow, that has allowed them to grab their own share of fans. Or they can be CreepyCute like Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings. While it is tempting to avoid due to causing SweetnessAversion, don't be afraid of the sugar. You can have the best, most well written show about friendship ever, but you can only get so far if your characters are hideous and unappealing. Endear your characters: be cute and warm the hearts of your audiences. It's also makes [[SugarApocalypse your subversive]] [[VileVillainSaccharineShow moments]] stand out that much more, plus it opens up more opportunities for comedy.
15	* [[HeelFaceTurn Redeemed Villains]]: One of the staples of Friendship Is Magic is the tendency for villains to be swayed to the magic of friendship (Chrysalis even lampshades it by calling it "a disease"). Some of the most beloved characters in the franchise fall under this category like Princess Luna, Discord, Sunset Shimmer, etc. Not only is it cathartic for former villains to create meaningful bonds with the heroes, it makes the show interesting as we watch their journey to learning the concept of friendship.
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17
18	!'''Choices, Choices'''
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20	Creator/LaurenFaust set the show in a world that was vastly different from our own, with a cast of {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s. That approach certainly paid off, with a rich world that drives endless fan speculation, and ''adorable'' character designs. In theory, though, much of the character dynamics could have worked with a human cast (and "humanized" fanart is quite abundant!). You may consider that the alternate setting offers too many opportunities not to be used, but it is not mandatory...and if you ''do'' choose to create a world for it, remember that ''MLP:FIM'' benefited from surprisingly rich WorldBuilding.
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22	Also note that in Equestria, [[TitleDrop friendship]] ''[[TitleDrop is]]'' [[TitleDrop magic]]. ThePowerOfFriendship proves capable of [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu defeating Nightmare Moon]] and [[DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu befriending Discord]]. Now, having love and friendship as an actual magical force has worked well here, and in [[Franchise/SailorMoon other stories]]...but it also possible to write ThePowerOfFriendship as an entirely mundane yet powerful force, whether or not the setting has magic in it.
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24	Perhaps more important is core cast. ''MLP:FIM'' has a core cast of six (seven with Spike), each of whom had been designed to exemplify something the little girls in the audience could grow up to be. This arranged provided a rich array of personalities, and allowed the story to play with the personal dynamics between them. Do you want a smaller cast, leaving more time to develop each member? Go the other way around, make a large EnsembleCast (and hope you can develop them all)? Can you make each one of them interesting in their own right? Given their personalities, how can each of them interact with the others - and can those relationships evolve?
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26
27	!'''Pitfalls'''
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29	Character development will almost inevitably mean the characters will learn from the events of the episodes. While you don't ''have'' to turn it into AnAesop, be wary of AesopAmnesia - if Twilight had learned the importance of friendship in the pilot only to need to learn it again and again every five episodes, it would have gotten frustrating fast.
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31	Another thing to remember is that ''My Little Pony'' achieved much of its surprising popularity by being [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism one of the most positive shows on television]] at the time. [[SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers Cynicism doesn't always sell]], and a positive show [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids doesn't need to be shallow or naive]].
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33	Take care with villains undergoing a heel-face turn. While some of the best characters are ones who underwent reformation, some of them are incredibly divisive like Starlight Glimmer or Wallflower Blush. If not done carefully, their turn may not feel earned, will come across as contrived, and the audience might feel they were easily forgiven for their actions. It doesn't help to have some setup for the villain's reformation and not making them too unsympathetic in order for the reformation to be convincing. Some villains don't need to undergo a heel-face turn and it doesn't hurt to keep an active rogues gallery.
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35	!'''Potential Subversions'''
36	Don't be afraid to subvert BeautyEqualsGoodness, as G1 did this several times with characters like the Grundles, Stonebacks and Crabnasties.
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40	!'''Writers' Lounge'''
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42
43	!!'''Suggested Themes and Aesops'''
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45	Aesops: Try to subvert the morals you set up, and make them something unexpected from the norm. For example, in the episode "Griffon The Brush Off", the moral seems to be set up as "a prank is only funny when everyone's laughing", but goes an inch further into a more general aesop, "a good friend will help you grow; recognize a bad friend and let go of people who only bring you down." So, if you were making a "face your fears" aesop, you could go an inch further into the friendship territory and say "even if you're scared, your friends will help you overcome them, and encourage you to face them on your own."
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47	You could even throw a tired aesop for a total loop. For example, take the BeYourself aesop and do something original with it. A character, Bob, could be expecting his friends to do things because of what he knows about them. His expectations of his own friends fall short, creating conflict when he tries to ''force'' them to act a certain way. By the end, Bob will learn the same BeYourself aesop... as applied to his treatment of other people. "Let ''other people'' be themselves". Aesops like these will help keep your audience learning about new things, which is part of what Friendship is Magic is all about.
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49	!!'''Potential Motifs'''
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51	Due to being an existing franchise before this iteration, the chosen motif for this show is that most of the main characters are brightly colored magical ponies. Therefore, it is only natural that the setting would be tailor-made for such characters, which for them, is a SugarBowl-esque setting. However, it should be noted that it does not mean that everything in the world should be diabetes-inducing. Elements such as the Everfree Forest and characters like [[GodOfChaos Discord]] offer a sharp contrast to the general cuteness that is often presented. In short, easily mistaken to be aggressively cheerful. Another thing to note is the tongue-in-cheek humor that is applied to the setting. It can be thought of as similar to ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'', but in a MagicalLand fantasy setting rather then a ScienceFiction setting.
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53	Another important motif to consider is the constant use of {{Furry Reminder}}s. What sets this show, and the franchise as a whole, apart from other girl's toys is that they really are ponies, not human beings in pony costumes. This was probably one of the biggest faults of G3 and G3.5 since Hasbro was practically ignoring what made ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' unique as a toyline. Thus, it is made very clear that the pony characters are ponies by the fact that they remain quadrupedal while walking and often use their mouths as hands since their forelegs are occupied by being... well, legs. However, this is forgone if it becomes awkward for a character to be speaking while holding something, so this particular rule can be ignored if necessary.
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55	However, when making your own version, your own characters may not even need to be ponies in particular. What is stopping you from making a show where the characters are say... monkeys? penguins? turtles? actual people (as the Equestria Girls franchise proved so well)? the possibilities are actually endless.
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57	!!'''Suggested Plots'''
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59	!'''Departments'''
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61	!!'''Set Designer''' / '''Location Scout'''
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63	Variety, variety, variety.
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65	''My Little Pony'' is decidedly not a claustrophobic series. While [[SoYouWantTo/WriteTheNextHarryPotter Harry Potter]] casts a magnifying glass on a single school, with a few other places elaborated on as needed just to make sure you don't forget that there's a whole world out there, My Little Pony gives a bird's eye view of an entire country ([[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 or even beyond it]]), with occasional details as needed just to makes sure you don't forget that there's people living in all those different buildings.
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67	[[GhibliHills Ponyville]], [[ShiningCity Canterlot]], [[BigApplesauce Manehattan]], [[FloatingContinent Cloudsdale,]] [[CrapsackWorld Griffinstone]], [[TheWildWest Appleoosa]], and the Everfree Forest all look different, and have plot-relevant differences between them. They have different biomes, different architectural styles, different demographics, and the characters are shown taking long train trips and flights between them. Making a setting look big is... a lot easier when you just have to draw it than when you have to fly your acting crew all over the place. Probably use a lot of matte painting backgrounds, like Star Trek, if you want to do it in live action.
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69	!!'''Props Department'''
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71	In an animated show, you can of course create anything you need by drawing it, so this is more about the general level of technology that exists in your world. ''Friendship'' was roughly mediaeval but according to WordOfGod there was a lot of "wiggle room" to make storytelling easier -- if a story could be told better by having the ponies have cameras, they would have cameras. This could lead to anomalies of course -- one memorable sequence shows several ponies pulling a ''steam locomotive'' for example.
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73	So part of your process will be deciding what level of technology your setting has and how that affects the stories you can tell and if your world has magic, how that has affected the direction technology has advanced in - for example in a world where you can drink a cheap and easily available magic potion that cures every possible illness and injury barring death or old age, traditional doctors, nurses and hospitals are superfluous. It's important to remain relatively consistent without getting so snarled up in "the rules" that storytelling suffers.
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75	!!'''Costume Designer'''
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77	There are a couple of critical things to take into account here. One, all your main characters must be instantly recognisable and distinct from each other, be that by making them different colours or in different outfits. Also bear in mind that if you're creating an animated show, the poor animators have to work with what you come up. Having overly elaborate and difficult to draw and animate character designs will just drive up costs and make your animation team resent you.
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79	If you are creating a show where there is an existing market for merchandise derived from your characters or are hoping to have this happen for your show, then you'll have to have half an eye on how your characters can be realised in toy and other forms. Bear in mind you may have to make compromises on your original designs in order for the merchandise to be marketable - for example in ''Friendship'', Celestia was made a Princess rather than a Queen as Princesses appeal more to young girls and her toys are generally pink rather than white for the same reason.
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81	!!'''Casting Director'''
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83	In an animated show, it's critical to get the right voice actor for each role. Every main character should be instantly recognisable from their voice, even if they are not on screen. It's also important to keep accents reasonably consistent - if the main cast have all lived and grown up in the same small area, they are unlikely to have wildly diverging accents. Characters from elsewhere should have accents that vary more the further they are away from the home setting of your show.
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85	Resist the urge to blatantly "stunt" cast guest roles - these can break the willing suspension of disbelief if the character's voice is instantly recognisable as, for example, Creator/JamesEarlJones. The character of Discord is a good way to do this - the casting wasn't blatantly attempting to cash in on Creator/JohnDeLancie's sci-fi cred, more as a subtle homage to his 'Q' role from ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and it succeeded spectacularly due to it not being blatantly obvious.
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87	!!'''Stunt Department'''
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89	Again, in an animated show you can depict (within reason) anything you like - the choice you'll have to make is what level of action and/or violence you show. This is a balancing act, especially if you want to repeat ''Friendship'''s almost unprecedented PeripheryDemographic size. If you make the show too dark, violent and gritty you may put off your core audience, or even get your show rejected before it even begins, but if it's too light and sanitised you may find your show stuck in the AnimationAgeGhetto. A show marketed towards preteen girls isn't the place for {{Gorn}} or TorturePorn, but if there's no meaningful conflict or villains, and everything is resolved by talking it out, that will make your show a boring snoozefest. ''Friendship Is Magic'' utilized these tools effectively was able to strike a balance between the two, offering both action and talking (and even both at once) to resolve conflicts, with one aspect never outdoing or tossed away for the other. It's a show about ''Friendship'', after all. Your writing can work together as a team.
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92	!'''Extra Credit'''
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94	!!'''The Greats'''
95	* ''Anime/SailorMoon''. ''The'' [=OG=]. Arguably the first ever female-centric show to leave a significant impression on North American audiences and develop a large PeripheryDemographic of male fans back in the 90's-Early 2000's, complete with its own FanCommunityNickname, the "Moonies" similar to [=FIM=]'s "Bronies" and inspired the creation of tons of fan characters and fan art. Everything that made ''Friendship Is Magic's'' structure a hit was played here. The show stars a team of cute teenage girl protagonists with diverse personalities (The tomboy tough girl, The bookworm, The cutie...) whom are all friends with each other, with [[TheOneGuy a single male character]] in the main cast that is connected to the heroine (Tuxedo Mask, Spike), lots of comedy, a fair share of both [[LaughablyEvil humorous]] and [[VileVillainSaccharineShow dark]] antagonists, slice of life hijinks mixed with magical action and adventure, themes of friendship, love and redemption and more than its fair share of heart-melting moments, that continues to inspire many anime and cartoons even after three decades. It's one of the most influential shows that its very easy to theorize that there is no ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' without it.
96	* ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'' had a fanbase in Japan that was very similar to the Brony community.
97	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' is also comparable in the size of its fanbase in Japan, the cute characters appealing to males, the absurd amount of fan material and fanmade characters, being a major convention presence, and the unexpectedness of its sheer popularity. Both franchises give more or less free reign for their fans to make whatever they wish, and the fans' sheer numbers and intense devotion to ''Touhou'' and ''Friendship Is Magic'' are thanks directly to that. As the years go by and ''Touhou'' starts feeling old, the torch will most likely pass down to...
98	* ''VideoGame/KanColle''. It's just gotten started, but it's already a contender for ''Touhou'' in Japan for every trait listed above except original characters. That being said, ''Touhou'' and ''Kantai Collection'' are coexisting and not competing.
99	* ''Toys/{{Jewelpet}}'' similarly has a cast of [[RoundedCharacter three-dimensional]] {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s who appeal to both genders and all age groups and can turn love and friendship into actual magic forces, mix slice-of-life and action, and defeat various foes of darkness. JP also offers lots of free reign for their fans to make whatever they want, and both [=FiM=] and JP have a bookworm who represents Friendship, a villain capable of turning virtues 180 (Dian shares this trait with his sister Diana, who also shares her [[TheDragon Dragon]] status, lightning casting, and powerful kicks with [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 Tempest Shadow]]), and a winged unicorn voiced by Creator/MiyukiSawashiro.
100	* ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'' had a similar tone to both G1 and FIM, but with a stronger Edutainment focus. It also gained a similar PeripheryDemographic, and shared a few voice actors with FIM.
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102	!!'''The Honorable Mentions'''
103	* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower''
104	* ''Toys/MilkyWayAndTheGalaxyGirls''
105	* ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds''
106	* ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls2019''
107	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard''
108	* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012''
109	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime''
110	* ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries''
111	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot''
112	* ''WesternAnimation/LuAndTheBallyBunch''
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114	%%!!'''The Fails'''
115	%%* The G3-3.5 DirectToDVD ''WesternAnimation/{{My Little Pony\|G3}}''.
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117	!!'''Proceed With Caution'''
118	* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials The original]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie1986 G1]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends continuity]] has all of the {{Camp}}iness of TheEighties, and most characters don't have enough screentime to develop a fully fleshed-out personality (a pitfall for any MerchandiseDriven show with a large cast). However, it does showcase some surprisingly dark and occasionally mature stories and has some of the same story elements that helped made ''Friendship is Magic'' so well-received.
119	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyPonyLife'' the successor series to ''Friendship Is Magic'' that takes place in a different universe and stars the same mane characters, and has a greater emphasis on comedy, but the simplistic art design and the ThreeShorts format limited characters and storytelling, creating an UncertainAudience and preventing ''Pony Life'' from reaching similar reception to ''Friendship Is Magic'', and it last for just two seasons.

Context SoYouWantTo / WriteTheNextMyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic