Feature: My Little Pony - Awesomeness! 1/2

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:icontwilightgalaplz: Greetings, my pretty Ponies! :iconbackhug:

I am preparing this Feature since August, and it is about time I get to publish it ^^; This is dedicated to the amazing artwork on deviantArt that relates to the animated TV series "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". The series is already fantastic for itself, but the devoted fan base makes it even more magical. In fact, it was the high quality of the fanmade images that drew my attention to Ponyhood in the first place. My full ponylicious collection folder can be viewed here, and additionally there are several Journal Entries listing the numerous plz-accounts.
In this Feature I will therefor focus on 20 examples that illustrate the versatile and creative approaches by gifted Bronies :clap:

Rarity by sererena Princess Celestia by ephoria516
:thumb186414702: Hysterical Rarity Poster by Skeptic-Mousey
Air Support by Max-F1 Pinkie Pie Nautiloid by Brainbread
.:Good Apples:. by Shineymagic :thumb253481227:
Coltbert by WillDrawForFood1 Vinyl Scratch by purmu

Since deviantArt cannot handle this amount of awesomeness, I have to split the feature on two Journal Entries. I also happen to have thoughts on every deviation, so if you are interested in them, read on :hug:

  1. Rarity by sererena
  2. Rarity by sererena Serena Samborski, 28, Canada Fabulous Rarity! :love: I do not exaggerate when I say that this is the most gracious Pony picture I have ever seen :faint: Rarity is one of the characters that differ strongest from traditional stereotypes. In any other series she would have been a classical Fashionista, a superficial, shopping addicted fashion whorsey following any clothing trend just to appear hip. In "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" however, she surprisingly represents the element of generosity. While she is indeed concerned with appearance and style, she appears as a gifted artist who just happens to pay more attention to aspects that others would not even notice or care about. The difference becomes especially visible in the Episode I/20 "Green Isn't Your Color", where Rarity is contrasted with an elitist fashion photographer and fashion-crazed ponies without an own opinion. Finally a TV series that dares unique personalities instead of using clichéd cardboard cutout characters! :tighthug: TVTropes.com is an entire website dedicated to the identification and collection of overused devices in the various media of storytelling, especially Television and Film. But it was already in the 90s when a text was compiled listing "The Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord". And the more series and movies I watch, the more I grow tired of getting the same regurgitated stuff served as dinner. Episode 200 of "Stargate SG-1", which pokes fun at numerous science-fiction-shows including itself, has a wonderful scene illustrating this point: Carter: "'The singularity is about to explode?'" Lloyd: [ravished] "Yes." Carter: "Everything about that statement is wrong!" Jackson: "And how exactly is having 'weapons at maximum' gonna help the situation? Lloyd: "The audience isn't gonna know the difference. They love weapons at maximum." Mitchell: "Never underestimate your audience. They're generally sensitive, intelligent people who respond positively to quality entertainment." Thank you, Cam! :wave: I believe this is a problem of competition. If quality productions fail because the mass wants what I call "Special Effects Porns", then the market has spoken. But if these productions are never attempted because everyone just believes they would flop, then they are never given the chance to fail in the first place. I do not know how many people out there share my taste, but I think there might be a significant disregarded audience still waiting to be taken seriously. One series which dared this leap in my opinion is "The West Wing", a political series about the lives and challenges a fictional United States' administration has to face. It addresses many tough Real World issues upfront, where any other instead desperately avoid them. In fact, I bought the entire collection a few months ago for 90 € only because of the YouTube snippets I had seen so far - and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made in my life :pat: What I find particularly amazing is the lack of special effects. Almost the whole series takes place indoors, and where action footage of blasting bombs and military operations could have been inserted, the Situation Room is the best you get. If you are weary of scripts where everything must inevitably explode, this will be a huge change :D Another series that I only discovered in 2010 is "Avatar: The Last Airbender", a Western Animation playing on a foreign planet in a fantastically enriched Medieval Asian setting. Again, this series deals with topics that you will not find in most other productions, let alone those targeting children. The loss of family members to war is not just a cold-hearted convenience to make kids adventure-ready, but has deep, plausible and diverse impacts on everyone suffering from this tragedy. And that is just the beginning: Secret police, Imperialism, Military occupations, even Genocide are themes throughout the three seasons. And although these serious topics are presented in a non-violent way, they are not sugar-coated or dumbed down. So when someone ridicules it as a kids series, I reply that this is more mature stuff than all X-rated flicks he has probably ever watched. Combined. Both series were great commercial and much greater critical successes, which confirms my conviction that this demanding, but seldomly satisfied audience actually exists in a size that makes productions profitable. I explain the success of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" among adults partly by tapping this audience. I am preparing another Journal Entry where I explore this further, so stay tuned :D
  3. Princess Celestia by ephoria516
  4. Princess Celestia by ephoria516 E. Spears, 20, United States of America This is another fantastic portrayal. A truly majestic rendition praising the glory of Princess Celestia! See how her hair is shiny? And glittering? Sparkles everywhere! Must be Magic! :eager: This is a really neat effect that I have not seen often before in deviations. Very fitting for the most magical Pony in Equestria :worship: In the image that was used as a reference she has a slightly different expression that goes into the direction of a Trollface :trollface: The series shows Celestia having a good sense of humor, and there are numerous occasions where it is at least ambiguous whether she plays deliberate jokes on Twilight and her friends or not. This earned her the nickname "Princess Trollestia" among fans :D
  5. Vote Celestia by Equestria-Election
  6. :thumb186414702: Quentin Cadbury, 24, Ireland Celestia can also be portrayed in an entirely different way, though. A running gag among the Bronydom is to picture her as a ruthless despot who banishes any dissenters and rivals to the moon. This adult interpretation is an interesting view of a classical fairytale's setting. But to be honest, I asked myself the same questions when I was a child. How come that monarchy, nobility, absolutism et cetera are advertised as something positive? At best it is a single officeholder who is flawed, but never the system as a whole. Peasant's Revolts? Scorched Earth? That would only disturb the romanticized fantasy. There is nothing wrong with having fun in a Medieval Fantasy, but one should be able to tell the difference to reality. In fact, if it is approached this way, roleplaying games can provide a great motivation to spend time on learning history. Why do swords have different shapes? Were knights in armor really unable to move? What rights did women have? How long did the belief last that the Earth were flat? Many question yield surprising answers in the sense that people in the Middle ages were hardly less civilized than us today - or that we have not made as much progress as we think, to put it the other way round. But back to art: This specific design comes from the famous Barack Obama "Hope" poster in his 2008 Obama presidential campaign. A great collection of variants and parodies can be viewed on Obamiconme.com", where you can also easily create your own :w00t: The Hope Poster itself is by the way a result of art theft: Shepard Fairey had not only used a copyrighted photograph, but filed counterlawsuits against the original copyright holders and even destroyed evidence to cover up his infringement! And you thought Chad Lieberman was bad ;)
  7. Hysterical Rarity Poster by Skeptic-Mousey
  8. Hysterical Rarity Poster by Skeptic-Mousey Rhys, 19, Australia When I saw this deviation, it felt like a yellow press headline exploiting a personal tragedy. I always find it ridiculous how tabloids blow even the slightest mood change out of proportions, creating completely over-the-top drama. In this case it is especially fitting since Rarity herself goes for it :D Although it certainly helps, the Bronydom is not necessary for the Ponies to discover unexpected aspects of their personalities :giggle: All of them have their special moments, from Applejack's insomnia (Episode I/4) over Twilight Sparkle's fiery outburst (Episode I/15) and Rainbow Dash's nervous breakdown (I/16) to Pinkamena (Episode I/25) and Flutterrage (Episode I/26). Rarity has hers in Episode I/14, when her fashion show goes awfully wrong. Rarity lies on her bed crying, demanding that her friends leave her alone. This is one of the many moments where I am not sure how meme-savvy the creators actually are. I am confident that there are quite a number of cultural references, some easier to spot than others. The United States of Americage of Anvil Humour and the Yakety Sax tune are obvious hommages, and the Parasprites' relation to Star Trek's Tribbles can be supported by some research. But when Rarity finds her destiny, do we see and hear an allusion to Stanley Kubrick? Is Spike yelling a Big No because it is a classic, or is it because Darth Vader's scream turned into a famous internet meme because of an epic translation fail? Is Twilight calling Winter Wrap Up serious business as an intentional reference to the internet phrase? It may sound like reading purpose into mere coincidences, but consider this: We know for sure that the team is in touch with the Bronydom, and that it has repercussions on the show. The most prominent example is Derpy Hooves: Originally an animator's error, she grew a following quickly and got therefor special attention from Episode 15 on. So when a certain gruesome piece of fanfiction gained popularity, there is a chance that Lauren Faust - who can be also found here on deviantArt as fyre-flye - has stumbled upon it. And if she possesses a sense of black humour, who knows what innocent scenes in the series are actually deliberate innuendos? Confound this ponynoia! :paranoid:
  9. Air Support by Max-F1
  10. Air Support by Max-F1 Jayme Fulgencio, 18, United States of America So far we had examples for unusual personalities and moods. How about unusual shapes? In this deviation, Spike is nothing less but a Comanche Attack Helicopter :eager: The Comanche was cancelled in 2004 before it ever left the prototype stage, but Jayme explains that he took a Comanche instead of an Apache because Spike is a baby, and the Comanche is newer :rofl: The Spikecopter is an addition to the "Friendship Brigade", where the Mane Six are reimagined as war machi...err, peace-keeping vehicles ^^; This reminded me of a series from the 80s called M.A.S.K.. I had the Condor, and it was awesome! :w00t: But most people probably think of Transformers instead, of which I owned a Generation 1 Optimus Prime. Who was also awesome! :D Regarding crossovers, I can already announce a Journal Entry with handpicked YouTube recommendations. There are many brilliant Pony videos out there, and quite some consist of Movie Trailer audio accompanied by Pony Footage :giggle:
  11. Pinkie Pie Nautiloid by Brainbread
  12. Pinkie Pie Nautiloid by Brainbread Jeff Arychuk, 21, Canada Why in tarnation would you turn a Pony into a Nautiloid? I do not know, but does it matter as long as the result is freaking adorable? :tighthug: Yay for creative Ponyplush! Spines are overrated anyway :D A few days ago, Jeff put a Rainbow Dash Plushie on eBay. Starting at 150 $ without shipping costs, it quickly rose in price and is currently at 3,602 $. Why so much? Because in 25 hours someone will have won the bidding for a 1.24 meter tall and 8.6 kilogram heavy package of win. Your heard right, this Plushie is freaking life-sized! :wow: I would love to see the winner's reaction, but I can already imagine :giggle:
  13. .:Good Apples:. by Shineymagic
  14. .:Good Apples:. by Shineymagic ?, 18, United Kingdom A quite common interpretation of Pony characters consists in humanizing them. I chose this particular deviation not only because I find it appealing, but also because this was the first picture where I saw the two forms interacting with each other. And I would totally love to snuggle up to Applejack :huggle: In this context, I want to lose a few words on romantic or physical relationships. One of the reasons why I like "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" is that it hardly ever deals with romance. And that is quite an achievement! As someone who believes that there is more to life than romance, I feel from time to time as if I were the only human being in the middle of a world full of apes obsessed with mating. How many movies contain no romantic (sub-)plot? How many books do not end with the characters falling for one another? How many songs are not about romance, love relationships or break-ups? And I will not even get started on Slash fiction, since I have successfully avoided it so far and do not plan to change that. I am not embittered or jealous, and I understand that people like to spend a great deal of their time and energy on that. But the amount of media dealing with this particular form of social interaction make it more than just an interest. They make an obsession. They make it a fetish. And I do not like to be bothered with this fetish, at least not in the shape it usually appears in. You know what is worse than Captain Obvious pointing out problems that any halfway smart and decent person would not have in the first place? Not having Captain Obvious around, resulting in people thinking their problems were actually "deep", "complicated" and "serious". Insert Facehoof here. Apart from Spike adoring Rarity and Rarity longing for Prince Charming, the series is completely focussed on friendship. In a time where the planet is overrun by sex-crazy monkeys, this series poses a shelter of sanity for the people who have either not hit or already surpassed mental puberty. Please defend it against these Zombie Ponies at all costs! :fear:
  15. The Weapons Engineer by the-Orator
  16. :thumb253481227: Marka Marquez, 18, United States of America While the previous deviation depicted a really cuddly Applejack girl, I do not imagine her that cute myself. In fact, I picture her as a tough girl who is not afraid to dirty her hands and who could drink any man under the table! With apple juice that means, of course :giggle: Anyway, this is finally an artist's rendition that shows me I am not alone with this concept :phew: Not only does this Cowgirl look as if she could totally kick apple trees, she also wears an awesome belt! :eager: Unfortunately, giddy Bronies seriously lack opportunities to support the series with their money. So what merchandise could appeal to Bronies as well? Well, authentic toys would not be bad for a start. I do not want something with the same brand name, I want stuff with the same look, the same feeling. For this reason, I will definitely not buy figures like these. They completely lack the charm of the series and remind me of creepy baby dolls instead. Remember the spider baby from Toy Story 1? I am 26 now, and it still scares the sh*t out of me! NOT. CUTE. I would not mind having a beautiful little Pony on my desk instead of this Nightmare Fuel, though. Collecting devotional objects in various degrees is quite common among fans. Do not even get me started on all my Star Trek stuff - my Starfleet communicator and a label pin of the United Federation of Planets are just the beginning :D However, I would prefer affordable practical acquisitions, like clothes and bags. We will get to that in a moment.
  17. Coltbert by WillDrawForFood1
  18. Coltbert by WillDrawForFood1 Zach Morris, 23, United States of America Humanizing Ponies? That also works the other way round! In August 2011, the brilliant comedian Stephen Colbert surprisingly greeted the members of the herd! In his satirical news show "The Colbert Report", in front of 1.2 million viewers, he sent a shout out "to all my bronies who may be watching." :wow: It is unknown if he has ever seen a single episode of the series, but this friendly gesture immediately spawned grateful fanart. And by "immediately" I mean "within hours" :D This deviation demonstrates how quickly the Bronydom can react to new developments. It also shows how diverse tastes are to find in the Bronydom and how they come together to produce unexpected outcomes. Some results are weird, and some are outright scary, but I always admire the imagination involved in connecting very different preferences. And the idea of ponifying celebrities is just marvelous!
  19. Vinyl Scratch by purmu
  20. Vinyl Scratch by purmu Purmu, 18, Finland One particularly interesting characteristic of the Bronydom is their fondness of completely marginal characters. This disc jockey appeared for no more than six seconds in the entire first season (in Episode I/14, to be precise). But that was all she needed to gain a thrilled following. Nicknamed "Vinyl Scratch" and "DJ P0n-3" by her fans, her unique appearance elicited fanart of all kind, just like this one. Kreoss, an animator of the series, wondered about that last Christmas already: "Even the incidental background characters get some love. Its funny how even characters that seem insignificant can garner so much love from us without even saying a word. Maybe its the way they look or maybe its because we see them all the time in the background. Or maybe they don't really have a personality and being artist, we can project certain qualities in them without hurting the story of the show." Other famous background characters are Octavia, Dr Whooves and the aforementioned Derpy, of course.


© 2011 - 2024 Aquarior
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Equestria-Election's avatar
Great writeup! Thank you for the feature.