Monday 13 May 2013

Equestria Girls official trailer released


Well, that was unexpected. Here's the official trailer for Equestria Girls, and I have to say it looks very different from the abomination that those early (leaked?) character designs suggested. The animation looks good and it has the proper VAs, so that's two points in its favour. On the debit side of the ledger, the setting is extremely clichéd, there's more than a hint of an (equally clichéd) romantic subplot for Twilight... and Spike is reduced from "number one assistant" to a dog. Yes, I know, I know, Winona.... but still.

There's certainly more pony in this trailer than I expected, though I can't decide whether that's a good or a bad thing. It's good because it's always nice to see our favourite ponies again, but what bothers me is that S4 of Friendship is Magic proper might now come to consider the events of EqG to be full canon. I hope not; I'd much prefer it to be treated rather in the way that Doctor Who and Torchwood are, ie as almost entirely separate entities. I don't like high school series much anyway, which doesn't help.

Meghan McCarthy has called EqG "an extension of the mythology", but that's (deliberately?) rather vague. Who knows what Lauren Faust would make of this? A lot of bronies are assuming that she'd hate it, but she's being as professional as ever and not shooting her mouth off, so assuming is all it is. Equestria Girls still looks like being a lesser show than the one that spawned it, and I do hope it doesn't end up taking over from its beloved parent. But if I get the opportunity, I'll give it a chance. Though...
"We are responding to the desire by our fans to experience the brand in more ways," said John A. Frascotti, Hasbro’s chief marketing officer. "They imagined themselves as which pony they would be or which pony they identified with the most."
That is probably the most depressing comment I've seen from anyone on the entire EqG affair. Imagining ourselves as ponies, quite possibly. As ponies, Mr Frascotti. Not as humans based on ponies.

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