Batbrony

I'm just here to say HOW EXCITED I AM ABOUT THE DERPY BROHOOF ICONS!!! (oh and, yeah, I guess I'm going to with my fiancee or something like that, whatever...), but seriously, DERPY BROHOOF ICONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Well everypony, it looks like our time with Ms. Dubuc is just about at an end.  On behalf of the entire MLP Forums and Poniverse community, I just want to thank @NicoleDubuc one more time for taking the time out of her schedule to chat with all of us.  This has been a real pleasure for us all, and it's been very fun and informative getting to hear from one of MLP:FiM's very own creative minds.  In case Nicole was unable to get to one or more of your questions, fear not, she will be able to answer them after tonight if she wants to or is able to make the time.  Thanks for joining us this evening, everypony, and to Ms. Dubuc, our staff and members all wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

P.S. One more question for the road.  What is your personal favorite holiday TV special/film, that one (or more) holiday classic that you just HAVE to catch every Christmas season?

OK everypony, we've had our fun, now get back to your holiday shopping and prepping.  Those presents aren't gonna wrap themselves, ya know?  Here, I'll even provide some holiday tunes for ya'll to set the mood. 

Got another "Best Gift Ever" question for ya.  What holiday specials and films, if any, particularly influenced you and the creative team?  It seems that one of the biggest aspects of "Best Gift Ever" that sets it apart from previous Hearth's Warming Eve episodes is how well the ensemble cast is utilized, truly painting a very true-to-life picture of how hectic the holiday season can get for people and all of the varying, individual narratives that go into making these celebrations happen and as special as they are.  I can think of a number of holiday classics that similarly capture these elements of the season, but I'm curious to hear from you if any in particular inspired the creative team.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Executive Producer -- Nicole Dubuc

Good afternoon, everypony, and welcome to MLP Forums and Poniverse's latest Community Guest Q&A!  Today we've got a truly special treat for all of you as part of our Making Christmas Merrier festivities this year.  Please join me in welcoming writer and actress Nicole Dubuc, executive producer of a number of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Season 8's, most notable episodes, including "School Daze - Parts 1 and 2," "The Maud Couple," "School Raze - Part 2," and, perhaps most conspicuously of all, "Best Gift Ever," Season 8's post-season Hearth's Warming Eve special that many in the fandom are dubbing not just the highlight of the entire season, but also one of the best MLP G4 episodes ever and an instant holiday classic in its own right!   In addition to her work on MLP, Ms. Dubuc has over 50 writing, producing, and acting credits to her name on shows such as Kim Possible, Transformers: Rescue Bots, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Young Justice, LEGO Elves: Secrets of Elvendale, and Star Wars Rebels, to name just a few.

Currently an executive producer with Wild Canary Animation, Ms. Dubuc is the first writer/producer from MLP:FiM we've ever had as a guest on the forums, and after stellar Q&As with previous guests like storyboard artist Ward Jenkins and actress Elley-Ray Hennesy, I'm sure today's Q&A will prove to be just as special and memorable as those were.  Before we begin, let's just lay out a couple of more ground rules.  While Ms. Dubuc is no longer technically an actual employee of Hasbro Studios, we have to lay some guidelines similar to when we've hosted guests like Ward Jenkins and Elley-Ray Hennesy.  While you should feel free to ask whatever you want within reason, keep in mind that many questions, especially those that pertain to her work on the show, may be ones that Ms. Dubuc is unable to answer on account of confidentiality agreements with the studio and her former employers.  We want to have a great time with our first writer/producer guest, not get her in any trouble with those she's worked with or act like obnoxious or self-entitled hosts.  If you'd like to learn more about her, you can visit her own website here, her IMDB page here, and her Twitter page here.  That's all I've got for ya'll this afternoon, everypony, so without further ado, ask questions of Ms. Dubuc to your heart's content! 

I'll start us off to get the ball rolling: Ms. Dubuc, by this point in MLP G4's run, we've already seen quite a few episodes set in or centered around Hearth's Warming Eve.  With this in mind, what compelled you and the rest of the creative team behind "Best Gift Ever" to come up with a 45-minute Hearth's Warming Eve special in the same vein as some of the all-time holiday classic film and TV specials?

Well since nopony's nominated her yet, ya'll know what I gotta say... DERPY!!! 

@Salty Sweetness kid... I like the way you think. 

@Jeric be afraid, be very, very afraid.

Frankly, there's only one way this can possibly end for Jeric...

And I am all here for it!  Get ready to be fabulous, sir! 

So excited to be a part of this Q&A this upcoming Saturday!  For those who don't know yet, watch out for me to post the Q&A thread when the time comes.  We'll be promoting it a ton, especially on Saturday, and trying to get as many people to show up as possible.

10 hours ago, Jeric said:

I'll keep this in mind for something

 

*sees there's a chance to sing* 

Oooo, ooo, ooo, ooo, pick me, pick me, pick me!!! 

I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to sing!

Vote For Batbrony: He'd Rather SINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!! 

LA-LALALA-LA-LAAAAAAAAA! LALALAAA! LALALAAA!

Also, if I win, I promise not just the best showtunes I can muster, BUTTTTTTTT as an added bonus I will also make the happiest of Bat-kirin noises!  Really now, who could say no to that?

So glad to see this happening again, and very happy that we'll be donating to BC Children's Hospital once again this year.  The MCM events have always been some of my favorite on these forums and some of my favorite memories on MLP Forums stem from it.  While money is tight on my end this year, I'll do my best to contribute to MCM however I can! 

*gasp* Diabolical!  The horror, THE HORROR!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy-0ZwgeSvc

Well, that ending was terrifying.  But, at least Chancellor McRacist isn't a racist anymore. 

All around, hardly the best season finale ever, but it was still very entertaining and wrapped up Season 8 quite nicely.

It's the faceoff of the century, Pint-Sized Turd vs. Chancellor McRacist.

OK, what did that pint-sized little turd do to Glim-Glam???   And I swear she's probably trying to get the Mane 6 stuck in Tartarus too.

More intriguingly, it would appear that Cozy and Neighsay do not, surprisingly, have the same agenda, which I kinda like.  It would be easy, narratively speaking, to just have Cozy Glow be a lackey of his, but I get the distinct feeling that's not what's going on.

Very interesting conundrum presented here, and I can't wait to see what Tartarus looks like after all this time!

Sooooooooooo... was this the MLP equivalent of this?

Nah, I'm just kidding, this episode was nowhere near as powerful as that.  Honestly, this episode kinda felt redundant.  "Dragon Quest" all the way back in Season 2 pretty much covered everything this episode did minus the parent plot, and frankly I thought that Spike was more effective in that episode seeing as he had a bit more agency in making his own decisions (something that episode made a point of emphasizing).  Here, while the Smoulder bits were great, she also had to be the one to knock sense into Spike, which made him look a little more stupid and gullible than he is.  Like, I get the whole "parental manipulation" aspect of the plot and the lesson that a "parent/parent figure" whose "feelings" for you are that conditional isn't really someone who cares about you, BUT like I said, this lesson was covered years ago and done better, so while this episode was fine, it just felt redundant is all.  Not bad, but not particularly great either.  Just OK.

Gosh, this guy's a dick.  He's like Bowser mixed with the bumness of Bob from King of the Hill.  I really hope his comeuppance is worth the wait. 

OK, so, is the show canon now that, like, the only dragons who get REALLY big the ones with giant hoards?  Because I can accept that since they did establish all the way back in Season 2 that in this universe, dragons do get bigger if they collect more and more stuff, BUT that said, it's kind of been an unanswered question ever since Ember first showed up (given how big her dad is).  So... if we're going by that logic, I guess the "normal" adult size for dragons is more like what Ember, Sludge, and Garble, etc., are, that is, of course, assuming they never start a massive hoard.  Otherwise, I suppose it's safe to assume they'd get larger than that, much larger.

Spike having an 'embroidery zone' makes me so, so, SO happy. 

Ah, Autumn Blaze was a ton of fun.  What a great new character, awesome moral, and a phenomenal performance from celebrity guest VA Rachel Bloom.  Very solid episode all around, definitely slice of life MLP at its best. 

OK, best song of the season so far right there.  THAT was amazing. 

Also, very appreciative that this lesson seems particularly aimed at the present state of online Internet culture/basically what any difference between anyone these days does to public discourse.  Very, very, VERY appreciative. 

Ohhhhhhhhhhh boy... that train pony's been living by himself for just a tad too long. 

Fluttershy right now: "Damn it... curse my ass.  My fabulous, magical, glowing ass!" 

OK, Cozy's evil.  Like...

Yeah, that kinda evil. 

Ummmmmmmm... this episode is kind of terrifying.  Some interesting character developments as well.  Gallus is apparently claustrophobic and Yona may have at least a mild case of arachnophobia.  Verrrrrrry interesting.