Equus

The fact that lessons as basic as Don't Be Racist and You Can Have Friends Who Don't Look Exactly Like You is considered 'political' and 'woke' by some outlets now instead of the very most basic lesson children should learn at the earliest possible age horrifies me for the future. I think the initial synopsis using the word 'activist' set that off. Probably not the choice of words they needed to use if they wanted to avoid that bickering.

Perhaps they're either promo animation assets or for the upcoming special before the show? I really truly hope the show uses the same animation as the movie but I have my doubts given the very high animation cost that would entail

None of the other generations besides G4 are relevant in G5 except as jokes since G4 and beyond rebooted completely. Not even sure how much of G4 is relevant but that's the only other generation that's actually real in that generation

Good lord these area some ancient threads being bumped for no reason by the same user. Be neat to get the G5 cast at BaB though, guess it could happen

Early morning hours of May 26th 2011, a couple weeks after S1 ended. That was the brief era when the episodes could be found on YouTube. Skeptically watched the first episode as per multiple friends begging me to, and didn't like it, but loved the second half of the pilot two parter and watched up to episode four that night. Finished marathoning it that weekend watching the rest of the first season then. Was pretty much hooked after the first four episodes and started contributing and fandom-participating later that same day. Soooo... nearly ten and a half years now. Wow.

Y'all know these threads that keep getting bumped are seven years old and the OP is almost certainly not even on the site anymore, much less still needing a reply, right lol?

Sunny is about as far from a mary sue as any main character I can think of imo; if we're gonna consider her a mary sue then Twilight was the worst mary sue in the history of fiction in comparison. Somewhat socially outcast nearly friendless idealistic smoothie-delivering earth pony desperately trying to bring back magic and friendship to the world just by throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks VS extraordinarily powerful unicorn born to high end family, trained by world-goddess herself, solving problems with magic blasts and rainbow friendship beams and being elevated to goddess simply for fixing a spell she screwed up are quite different characters lol I disgress though, I don't like comparing the gens more than necessary, I just hope the show keeps up the quality of the movie

I'm nearly 31 now, and would not have the same friend groups at this point that led me to G4 to begin with at this stage in life; I might have watched it on an absolute whim but probably would not have convinced me without the decade of G4 immersion that made me like the franchise. I'd mocked it before; I'd have probably mocked G5 too if G4 hadn't happened. Probably would have enjoyed it, but without the community that held G4 up, that'd have likely been it.

Took it twice a few days apart, and got Zipp both times. Interesting indeed. I am okay with this even though I have the athletic prowess of a sack of potatoes

The song from Perfect Pear is waaaaay up there, but being a fan of Rachel Bloom long before she guest starred on FiM, A Kirin Tale has gotta be my very favorite. Everything about that episode including the music is so perfect.

Lotta old threads being brought up lol. 2014 was such a good year, I wish I could go re-live it...

Honestly the tech differences were another interesting aspect; Maretime Bay has this chill 60s-70s seaside town vibe (except the factory, which seems sufficiently wacky that it works without going too industrial) Zephyr Heights maintains the sort of soaring Greco-Roman slightly steampunk thing from G4 but updated with very modern tech, aaaand Bridlewood feels very much like a G4-esque fantasy world even down to the dance machine being powered by critters. It's a highly interesting balance and I look forward to seeing how the show handles that. I also like to see the spaces between the cities still wild and desolate, adding a sense of exploration and adventure instead of a depressingly modern and populated world. I think even the most disillusioned with the modern world could find a great escape in Bridlewood at the very least.

Honestly this was a big worry I had going into it since the escapism of G4 is what drew me to it and one of the things that kept me watching. However I found myself actually really liking the way they went with it. Managed to make things more relatable instead of a bit too fantastical to escape into, which G4 occasionally ran the risk of. It has a very similar feel to Onward, which I really liked; a world where magic used to rule everything, but gradually disappeared with progress and technology to where it was now mostly stuff of legend. I like FiM's escapism a lot but some of its elements (weather and sun/moon controlled by magic) I could never really fully get myself used to. The smartphones and stuff were jarring at first, but again, I think it does a great job of portraying a world where magic and fantasy used to be the law of the land but has moved on, with a lot of the escapism now coming in the form of relatable characters with believable tech who are discovering more about the ways of the past. Sometimes a world that's much like our own, but with cute and lovable characters radiating hope and positivity and on a quest to make things better for all, can make for a pretty compelling escape too.

As much as I want G4 and G5 to be separated as much as possible, the way they bridged the generations in the movie with the front of the journal and the stained glass in the Zephyr Heights hangar thing was very tasteful and really offered a huge sense of piecing together a lost history very reverently without getting lost in the mire of trying to explain G4 again. If they do some more exploring in the show in the same vein they did in the movie, occasionally finding little artifacts of the ancient past in G4 here and there without letting it interrupt the story of G5, that'd be really cool. Nothing in-your-face like cameos, certainly not, but finding little reminders like the remnants of a structure from G4, discussing ancient artifacts or trying to figure out old maps and symbols, that would be an interesting start for some adventuring. Don't let it take over the narrative from the G5 story, and keep it tasteful and subtle, but I love exploration, archaeology, mysteries, history, and that sort of thing, and trying to recapture a bit of the harmony and friendship utopia lost in the ancient past by trying to learn a little about those times through what's left behind could be quite neat.

I liked Twilight for the first part of S1, then FS took the top spot from then on. In fact much of the main cast got grating after a while for me and FS was the only one I was happy to see lol. Became a huge fan of Starlight too so those two carried the show for me after S5.

Imalou is yeah, she did great with the character design imo https://twitter.com/ImalouArt/status/1443331783408369667

Very happy to see it. Imalou is definitely excited about it too, as the designer of Izzy and Sunny I'm so happy for her that everyone has loved it. I would say we had a part in propelling it to number one, but to be fair, it's a brand new generation of a very popular long established franchise so I'm sure a ton of parents and kids are also running the numbers up lol. I really hope this convinces 'em to keep going with more seasons than planned, but long way til we get there.

My pride and joy Now the quest is on in the new generation, perhaps a Sunny of similar size? Maybe... one day