My thoughts on Gen 6 MLP (a very long ramble)
So we were leaked kinda early but know that the official SDCC panel happened, My Little Pony Forever friendship is happening! And I'd love to give my two cents.
The Art Style
Compared to the last gen, the artstyle is a welcome change!
While I am an avid G5 stan, I do see where most people were coming from when they said the character didn't feel like horses. I don't blame them, honestly. Their muzzles are too short, their torsos look unusually long, slender, and dachshund-like, and they have a full scalp of hair where real-life horse manes grow from the top head on a line down to the neck.
While I understand these designs were intended to fit into the 3D animation pipeline, the 2D tyt translations weren't beating the allegations.
Like I don't entirely hate Claudio Naccari's design for tyt. I just wish they didnt have to keep the faces so flat and human-like. The hooves also didnt have to be so small for Sunny and the Pegasui.
They were going to update the rigs for season 2 of TYT. But alas... they scrapped it
The G6 artwork we have recieved seems to been done by Nicholas Cole (I'm not sure if he was behind the redesigns). The ponies look like they have actual snouts, the hooves will still be promient with some adorable little shapes, and they seem to be a bit rounder.
But I hope this artwork carries over too the 2027 youtube series, which will also be animated by Lil' Critter Workshop.
The Redesigns and Show Details + Speculation
So the redesigns, they seem to have been given an extra splash of color. With the Mane 6, now 4, given some highlights and eye shadow, along with some adorable eyeshines.
Fluttershy seems to be sporting some teal/aquamarine in her mane, with it now being parted down the middle. Twilight now has some streaks of cyan which reminds me an awful lot of her Rainbow Rocks look. She also back to being a unicorn, but I presume she'll regain her wings eventually. Pinkie Pie is virtually the least different, aside from some conffetti like freckles, blue highlights, and an altered cutie mark. Rainbow is a bit hard to see, but what we can observe she now as a slicked-back, spiky mane and Ziggy Stardust-esque lightning bolt down her eye. (I perfer this Rainbow Dash redesign to the pony life one)
(awful. too gray, and whats going on with the hair doesn't feel connected!)
The longly awaited MLP show will be run by TYT writer, Gretchen Mallorie and TYT Producer Tayhan Mustafa. I like that they got a promotion, as I found Mallorie's TYT episodes to be the most well-written. Not every episode was a home run; some of my top 5 favorites were Alicorn Issues, Scent of Adventure, All That Jazz, Foal Food, and Bridlewood Spog. The TYT episodes were only five minutes but these will be nine minutes so hopefully they'll get to bang out more storybeats and character exploration.
The one phrase the showrunners used to describe the show was "magical girl awakening". It makes me think its going to be reminiscent of shows like Pretty cure or even Equestria Girls. Its possible that the new designs were seeing are magical tranformations, which would be interesting. Like would they resemble there original G4 counterparts in there normal forms. It makes me wonder if the G6 toys will share this gimmick, as I can see it as a play feature!
In terms of the panel reveal we also got introduced to the new main voice actresses of the characters. I think this was a good decision for the show; I think giving these familiar faces new voices will help audiences differentiate G4 and G6 as seperate shows. The showrunners where clear that this took place in its own continuity.
I'm okay with the recast, personally I dont think Tara Strong should ever return to voice Twilight in particular. Strong made some extremely insensitive tweets about Gaza in 2023.
Overall we didnt get to see any actual production footage for the show. Yeah we saw the voice actresses doing a recording session, but there was no animation, storyboards, or even reference sheets.
The show is stated to come out early next year so I can only assume the first few episodes are still being animated and finalized. But with only one piece of concept art being shown, I'm concerned of what the show will end up looking like. I doubt hasbro will mislead us but I hope the show will truly be faithful to Cole's art.
G4 again Minus Two Ponies
Reboots are a double edged sword. It can improve on the original, or disrespect the source material. Its not going to please everyone.
Of course it made sense to Hasbro, to bring back the G4 characters as the protagonists because FIM was massively successful and a good way to attract repeat customers or bring in new audiences is to just use what has worked.
But its not going to be FIM, and the sad truth is that FIM might never be replicated no matter how hard they try. You cant catch lightning in a bottle when it can only strike once.
Many fans, including me, would have preferred a new cast of characters similar to G5 did. Heck, G5 was originally going to be the FIM reboot with a drastically different Mane Six. That isn't to say I'm not interested in seeing what Forever Friendship offers.
Don't get me wrong, I don't need to see what's already been done regarding these returning characters, but I always find something to like about every gen of MLP. I could be grasping at straws for all I know, but I can never stop loving anything pony-related.
By far the biggest controversy of G6 was removing Applejack and Rarity from the Mane character roster. Everyone was freaking out when it leaked, even Twilight's cutie mark having two fewer stars cemented this fact.
The showrunners have gone on the record to reassure everyone that Season 1 of Forever Friendship will only feature 4 main Ponies. New cast members will be added later on.
Personally, I knew that they were never going to completely axe Rarity and AJ. Like, Hasbro always pushes their main characters forward in marketing. So when Rarity and AJ do return there probably going to make a huge deal about it and have all these playsets with the Mane 4 including Rarity! Heck, I think its possible Rarity and AJ will at least be season 1 supporting characters.
I think its fine if its just Twilight, Pinkie, Dash and Fluttershy for a while. Having just four characters in the roster gives them some extra screen time to be fleshed out.
What do I want to see in Forever Friendship
While dont want to overspeculate on what G6 could be, I thought of a few bare minimums I would like to see in Forever Friendship, how I think it could be successful and how it can avoid the mistakes of G5.
Forever Friendship holds viewership
So the main reason why G5 was cancelled came down to TYT having fewer viewership ratings than G4/FIM/EQ content. This is what mainly influenced this generation into being a G4 reboot.
However, now that this generation is going to feature 9-minute episodes, I think a good way to keep a viewer's attention is with a more serialized narrative.
A good comparison to this is the Rainbow High animated series
While Rainbow High kinda fell off near the end, it's seasons where serialized. Season 1 was about the main character's adjusting to school and passing exams, with one of the girls getting expelled. Season 2 follows the expelled girl returning back to Rainbow High and trying to reintegrate herself into the friend group. Season 3 is about a music competition with a rival school, etc.
TYT was a more episodic show, but it still had some kind of story progression that general viewers wouldn't notice if they didn't keep up with the show.
Forever Friendship is going to release on a bi-weekly schedule which will be a much more challenging way to hold viewership.
So I hope Forever Friendship has some sort of story arc, have episodes end on cliffhangers. Make people want to see what's happening next. Then they pay attention to the schedule and will mean more returning viewers other than the die hard fans.
It doesnt have to be saving the world kind of stakes it can just be interpersonal drama.
2. The Main Characters
So I'm blindly optimistic about how the characters could be written. From the few lines in the cast promo, I can deduce they are keeping the ponies' personalities the same. Pinkie Pie is still friendly and spontaneous, Fluttershy is still polite yet timid, Dash is still daring and reckless, and Twilight is curious yet worrisome.
Let me reiterate, I don't need to see what's already been done but I would be interested in seeing what hasn't been explored.
What if G6 Twilight was more blunt with a know-it-all type of attitude that she learns to reel back? What if Fluttershy feels more obligated to connect to animals than with ponies, so having pony friends is new territory to her?
I would personally like the show to focus on the relationship dynamics between Mane 4. FIM did kinda the same thing with the OG Mane six (Ex. Dash and Fluttershy have known each other since childhood, Rarity and AJ have contrasting personalities but still appreciate each other, Dash and AJ have an ongoing friendly rivalry, Pinkie and Dash like to bond over pranks).
An interesting way to flesh out the cast is to show how they get along with each other. Twilight and Fluttershy could bond over being the most introverted in the group and become very close with one another. Rainbow Dash could have a rivalry with Twilight since they are headstrong in different ways.
I would like to see relationships reinvented, as well as other aspects. They're going to be magical girls in this iteration. What do some of them want to get out of being magical girls? What would they be fighting for? Justice? Learning magic? What is their relation to the threat they are fighting against?
They could even give the girls different hobbies, something that doesnt feel like more the same. Fluttershy could be into gardening, or Dashie could upload online videos of her doing parkour.
When Rarity and AJ get introduced, I wonder if they are going to be completely different ponies and how they intergrate into a pre established friend group.
Ultimately, I would not like Rarity to be a mean girl. Yes its a different Rarity, but I wouldn't associate a refined, feminine character like her as a bully. It would be like a shallow downgrade to who she was before.
But I'm wondering what Applejack will be, if she'll even be southern or orange for that matter. There has been some evidence from Hasbro that they wanted to reinvent Applejack from the ground up from the aforementioned G5/G4 Reboot. Like, I'm not entirely against seeing a completely different Applejack; it promises something different that's more my speed.
3. Returning characters and G4 Fanservice
Just because Forever Friendship will be a G4 reboot doesn't mean I need to see every G4 side character coming back. Like, don't get me wrong; there are characters I want to see. But I would only expect: Rarity, AJ, Spike, and Maud as a treat.
Well, okay, I don't want to see... the "popular" supporting characters return for the show. Trixie, Starlight, Muffins, Discord- biggest hot take I don't want Celestia or Luna to return!
Gretchen said she was aware that the audience for this show was going to be multi-generational. So if you're bringing in the G4 returnees, bring in a little bit of everything, G1, G2, G3. It would be SO CRAZY if a G5 Pony returned for a G4 reboot.
And bring in new characters for crying out loud! I want to see new ponies and creatures.
4. Supply and Demand
So the entire point of Hasbro making this show is to sell toys. You're gonna watch characters you love and that you can own a toy of.
G5 failed as a toy brand; Hasbro barely distributed units to retailers and made most of its MLP products online exclusives. I doubt they wont do this again but they need to take up more shelf space in toyisles.
Even so the main reason was the toys weren't really appealing...
The articulation was nice but very limited but most toys had plastic hair. This cheapened the appeal of the toy coming with brushable hair.
Like this was just sad coming from a G5 fan perpective.
Then there are the actual brushables, which at one point they have also tried to integrate articulation. (Ironically i have this set and its one of the better toys from G5, but they had to really concave the torso to make the legs movable)
Personally, I kind of just want to see brushables brought back without the articulation. Like, no offense to those who like the plastic hair and poseabiltiy, I feel like Hasbro could still make those but I just want to see the good ol fashion brushable.
Tangent aside my biggest fear is that G6 will only push the main four characters in merchandise which is something that they've done both for G4 and G5.
We used to get characters that were merch exclusive; they were never seen in the show but that's what made them special.
But as G4 when on near the end of the decade and G5 started to release in 2022, you could only ever get the main characters.
This is apparent when FIM entered season 8 and they introduced the Student Six who where supposed to be consider main characters but only 2/6 were given the merch treatment.
Suprise, suprise, you cant get one of the students with out a main character.
They could have very well included them in this pack, but they were too cheap to produce new creature sculpts.
The important part of this brand is its collector value. You can only resell the same 4 ponies so many times until your customers have a full set of the cast and lose interest in getting more.
Tying back to my main point your gonna need a variety of different characters, I'm not just talking Trixie Lulamoon or Starlight Glimmer. Make the new characters, or include them in blind boxes, something that will have customers coming back for more.
Unfortunately, I'm not even sure about buying the toys myself...
My Final thoughts
Woo, that was a doozy of a speculative analysis! Maybe I went a little too hard at some points but I thought long and hard since the leaks last week and I wanted to make sure I left no stone unturned.
I am excited but largely skeptical about G6 and the company behind it. Mlp was a strong apart of my childhood; I fondly remember getting G3 ponies from Target with my mom or receiving them as gifts from family members. I watched the first four seasons of FIM up until I was twelve. And it's the major hyperfixation that I still hold on to and have a designated shelf for.
I have high hopes for the artists making the show, more than the executives trying to sell it. (That tweet from Lauren Faust has been confirmed to be from a hacker trying to scam people). Hasbro itself is opening an AI subdivision to seem high-tech.
These days, AI integration is something that a business figure or company will announce to the public, but quickly backtrack once they get public backlash. Only time will tell, if Hasbro will follow through or if will even be successful with customers.
When G6/ Forever Friendship comes out it be I'll probably just keep up with the show, and try to buy the merch second hand when I can. I just think I dont think hasbro has anyone's interest at heart.
If you know where you wanna get some better ponies check out HQG1C or Project G2 Redo
