Growing up?

[Digit 321]

So cartoons have been around for almost 100 years now and each generation has gotten their own gems. MLP has done a fantastic job striking a homerun with not just it's target audience, but it has also struck home with nostalgic young adults. Now on to my point. The show is going on its 5th season which will put it at a 5 year mark. That means in 2010 the kids it targeted then we're 5-8 years old. Those kids are now 10-13. Do you think they plan on adapting the show to age with it audiance a little (as season 4 finale showed) or do you think it will remain stead fast with out much change? Discuss.

[TenorSounds 832]

I think it's already changed over the 5 years from being very simple and moral-based to something a little more action-y and interesting. Perhaps, even, for the exact reasoning you brought up, though I'm also pretty confident the Bronies had a lot to do with it too.

[Red Cedar 1,408]

I think it will likely stay about the same. The target audience for the show is preteen girls and while some of the original fans may no longer watch the show new ones who weren't old enough for TV have started watching it, so keeping it consistent will be a consideration.

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

It will evolve a little, enough to give a modicum of entertainment to those people who "grew" up with it, and we can expect more background gags aimed at the adult fanbase, but on a whole it will remain target towards 5-8 year olds, as that is a far safer business practice, and is cheaper as you then do not have to really revamp your walmart toyline.

[Scootalove 10,692]

The show could adapt, and it will go more towards action and not making things too simple for the audience to understand.

[Lightning-flickr 214]

The show is already trying to appeal to us as young adults. If it hadn't then we wouldn't have gotten the fight scene at the end of season 4. Not to mention this little beauty   

[Jeric 46,880]

So cartoons have been around for almost 100 years now and each generation has gotten their own gems. MLP has done a fantastic job striking a homerun with not just it's target audience, but it has also struck home with nostalgic young adults. Now on to my point. The show is going on its 5th season which will put it at a 5 year mark. That means in 2010 the kids it targeted then we're 5-8 years old. Those kids are now 10-1u3. Do you think they plan on adapting the show to age with it audiance a little (as season 4 finale showed) or do you think it will remain stead fast with out much change? Discuss.

Funny you say that. That was exactly what JK Rowling did in the Potter books. It's a smart way to extend a franchise and keep your audience. It is also VERY hard to pull off.

 

MLP is different though. Most kids shows made for young girls are written under the intelligence level of their targeted demographic. MLP didn't do this. It sucked in YA and NA types because it was written to the audience AND their parents. It was already grown up.

 

EDIT: I just want to add that this was a question that I asked myself after watching the Season 4 Finale

Edited June 19, 2014 by Jeric

[Shanks 10,817]

The Equestria Girls movie was an effort to just that, an effort that actually succeeded with the movie doing much better than expected though you would think they would put more effort into the toys considering that they made them to compete with Mattel franchises like Monster High. They are making another movie and there are rumors of a spinoff show. As for MLP FIM the newfound brony fanbase is still recovering from the shock of twilicorn which I am sure Hasbro and DHX are well aware of so I doubt there will be anymore drastic changes like that in season 5. That dosen't mean that the show will not change, if anything it has already changed some of those changes have been good, others not so good and in the case of twilicorn it is a bit too soon to tell.

 

In season 1 every episode had an obvious lesson and there was pretty much always a letter to the princess but in season 2 while it still utilized the "letter to the princess" concept it didn't have it in every episode. This was a good change because while it is a good concept there was a danger of it being overused and overusing even a good concept can sometimes make a show stale and predicatable. Once the brony fandom became apparent more and more references and shout out were made which in some cases is good but there is a danger of overusing them. The season 4 finale is the most obvious and clear indication that DHX and Hasbro fully intend to do what they can to keep the newfound brony fanbase by channeling what made G1 awesome by taking one of the best villains in the history of the franchise and upping his badass factor tenfold.

[Lightning-flickr 214]

 

 

brony fanbase is still recovering from the shock of twilicorn which I am sure Hasbro and DHX are well aware of so I doubt there will be anymore drastic changes like that in season 5.

 

The show should progress, not change. There's a difference between changing and story progression. Story progression is good change is... well

[Shanks 10,817]

 

The show should progress, not change.

Story progression is change, the kind of change you are thinking of is change for the sake of change which we seem to agree isn't agood thing. What kind of change and how much change is necessary to progress the story depends on the story but there are some general guidelines. One of the reasons why I was against twilicorn is because of its sudden introduction in a season finale when the rest of the season had very little to do with it, it is soemthing that can still be salvaged but the bad taste in my mouth has still not left from that even though I am now neutral on that matter.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

The show managed to hook all audiences from day one. The matter is not just growing up with the original target audience but also staying fresh and giving their successors a more complete show. The show does evolve and try new things over time whenever Hasbro isn't forcing an eleventh-hour knee-jerk change on it.

 

The show evolving is a means for avoiding stagnation first and foremost. If a show didn't grow up...well, have you seen SpongeBob, Thomas the Tank Engine, or The Simpsons lately?

[Invincible 2,092]

I think they should keep the general formula they've had so far. While they could (maybe even should) make a nod here and there for the veterans of the show who have followed it from it's beginning, the direction the show currently is on worked for them. I believe straying too much from the core features would serve to alienate the huge fan-base that has grown accustomed to the show.

 

Why mess with success?

[Titan Rising 2,156]

I don't think it was ever designed as a show for kids or young girls.  Lauren Faust seems wise enough to me to not create a show that targets a specific age group, I believe she knows how pointless and how much of a waste of time that would be to her talents.

 

Still, if the show did target a specific demographic at any point then it has done well enough of a job for me to not view it as such.

 

I can't remember who it was exactly, but I believe it was C.S. Lewis who had written some of my favorite quotes on the subject of "children's stories" and their real value.  The truth is I hate the term "children's stories" with a passion because it downplays the value of the literature (or in this case art form).  At the same time it makes me sad that people do not wish to show any appreciation to it.

 

For a show like this that has such a stigma attached to it I feel particularly sad.  Although the theme is repetitive it has value both as a cartoon and as a work of art that should cause the viewer to think, unlike many of the more popular cartoons now that do neither.

 

To bring it back to the point of the thread - I don't like what you're suggesting.  If the show has not been suitable for teenagers from the beginning then it certainly should not change for them in the slightest.  I don't feel as though the season 4 finale was more mature than any other episode, we've seen fights before; If the show tries to become something that it's not and begins to target a demographic instead of simply create a cartoon that anyone should be able to appreciate I can't imagine it still having the same appeal that makes me want to watch it now

Edited June 20, 2014 by Titan Rising

[Spagem 505]

Yeah, like you said,  it does seem they are changing/progressing the show with it's audience as it grows, and the Season 4 finale shows this. I definitely think it's going to continue growing in this kind of way, but not a whole lot. I think what they did in the S4 finale is pretty much the "peak" of how far it will go. 

[Harpuia 68]

To a certain extent, the show already has been doing that. Go back and watch some of the old S1 episodes, and then watch something from S4. There is a big difference. 

 

I don't expect MLP to pull an Adventure Time on us with some huge revelation about the show's universe (as much as I would love that), but I do predict and hope that S5 and beyond will continue to expand on it's lore and characters in a way that's more complex than what's been done so far.  

[yeet 2,027]

Season four finale had a ton of lasers and explosions and fighting, I think it has raised the target audience a few years, and made it more suited to both genders.

[Pastel 7,630]

I don't think it was ever designed as a show for kids or young girls. Lauren Faust seems wise enough to me to not create a show that targets a specific age group, I believe she knows how pointless and how much of a waste of time that would be to her talents.

 

Wasn't the show originally created for little girls, but seeing how popular it became they adapted the writing a bit?

[Shanks 10,817]

Wasn't the show originally created for little girls, but seeing how popular it became they adapted the writing a bit?

That was what Hasbro had in mind when the commissioned G4 but Lauren Faust and the show staff decided to make the show appeal to parents and families in addition to appealing to little girls. This response Lauren Faust wrote on her DA account to a hater best sums it up

 

[Digit 321]

Funny you say that. That was exactly what JK Rowling did in the Potter books. It's a smart way to extend a franchise and keep your audience. It is also VERY hard to pull off.

MLP is different though. Most kids shows made for young girls are written under the intelligence level of their targeted demographic. MLP didn't do this. It sucked in YA and NA types because it was written to the audience AND their parents. It was already grown up.

EDIT: I just want to add that this was a question that I asked myself after watching the Season 4 Finale

One animation that really comes to mind in terms of growing with its audiance is One Piece. Countless times have I heard that people who are just starting it tell me they think it's to childish. But if you are up to date with the 15 seasons then you would know tho it still has much of its childish charm it has grown darker and more adult. Now I'm not saying mlp will be as drastic as Harry potter or one piece but I could see them tackling more teen to young adult problems such as anxiety or depression (both of which can be battle threw good friends) and even first love or love lost. Things that show there are other challenges friends can help you threw not just the basics. In other terms growing can mean more than just getting more violent. Edited June 20, 2014 by Digit

[Jeric 46,880]

@Digit

 

The argument you make sounds a lot like the one that was made by readers of YA novels about a decade ago who were pining for meaningful themes in books marketed to them.

 

I agree that there is room for subtle commentary on topics that older viewers face. Some of the previous episodes had little tastes ... but there is differently that feeling that the depth that we now perceive is fan invented rather than naturally intended by the creators. Not that I have an issue with that (I've made that known in a few of my posts on this forum). It seems like head cannon is almost filling this void.

 

I also love that you appear to make a distinction between pop culture references and theme. Having a Star Wars or Big Lebowski nod is great ... but something substantive is what you're talking about here. I would welcome that.