Why do a lot of bronies seem to dislike the earlier generations?

[Koukatsu 5,899]

I believe the reasoning is explained best by John de Lancie at the start of Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony.

http://youtu.be/OV-OF9wZWDs

[Bird Mom 900]

To be fair though, while that may apply to "My Little Pony Tales" and G3/G3.5, that might be a bit unfair towards G1. I haven't seen the whole series, and while it may contain some silly parts, what I saw was generally enjoyable and not really all that 'girly,' if you will. Heck, some of the storylines were fairly dark; especially "Return of Tambelon."

 

Of course I can see why the animation style might put some off, but that's the 80s for ya.

To be fair, I haven't watched Gen 1 from the 80's, so I understand your point. 

[SteveMorison 404]

Not really watched too much of any of the previous generations but from what I have seen here are my first impressions.

 

My Little Pony and Friends - Doesn't really appeal to me, only really watched the Pilot and seen clips here and there but it seems to be a show enjoyable to young kids only to me.

 

My Little Pony Tales - Obvious to me why it failed and not really that enjoyable, but despite the hate towards it I actually find it abit of a guilty pleasure, can't really explain why, I just do.

 

G3 My Little Pony - This is where it gets bad for me, all the characters are bland, too many girly stereotypes, flat storylines etc. Actually baffles me that this was created in the 2000s. Would like to see a G4 version of Minty though.

 

G3.5 My Little Pony - An insult to toddlers.

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

Being a brony and a fan of Gen 4 doesn't necessitate an appreciation for those that came before it. Disliking the earlier generations doesn't seem at all "ironic" to me. As a long-time Trekkie I'm very accustomed to generational debates, and never once thought it odd that so many people who loved The Next Generation disliked The Original Series, which happens to be my favorite. I don't berate those who enjoy the earlier generations, people can like what they like and that's fine. Not liking something that other people like is... very normal and totally ok, so long as you aren't a jerk about it towards them. I'm not violating any sort of brony creed here.

[ManaMinori 4,145]

I try to love and tolerate as much as possible, and even when I do make a subtle hate comment it is very subtle. Just I hate you, no cursing or death threats or you are a disgrace to our fandom. But I just feel like G3 love should not be allowed on this forum, I know I'm being prejudice to those who liked those shows. But just do your thing, don't give it to us, because the story was AWFUL and I would rather pretend than Lauren Faust created MLP and that there was nothing before it, because those shows are disgraces to the MLP franchise.

and you're forgetting that the older MLP gens were a pert of Lauren's childhood. She took influence from characters of those generations you pretend didn't exist before Lauren worked her magic on the 4th gen, to make the 4th gen's characters what they are, today, so you pretending the past didn't exist out of prejudice towards them - when those same past gens not only served as influence for Gen 4, but set the stage for the entire future of MLP franchise makes NO sense whatsoever, and WON'T work that way you believe it to be, in your head.

Edited January 1, 2015 by Nightmare Muffin

[Alleviate 342]

Simple answer- the voices.

 

Long ago, as I entered the fandom, I watched an episode of whatever gen it was with the girl and some sort of bunk room full of ponies...Dear lord...The voices... I have no doubt just re-voicing it all would make it 90% better. I don't think they were entirely beyond saving, just in dire need of redux.

[Ziltoid the Omniscient 286]

It's not as well produced as FiM is.

[DragonFlyer 329]

Aside from the first generation which in my opinion did have a few good stories, most of the previous generations of pony are seriously lacking in plot and character diversity. Hell I'm probably being a little too nice to G1 - I'm  biased because that's the MLP I grew up with, but it's not all bad. I'm certainly not gonna make fun of someone for watching and enjoying it, no matter what generation is happens to be. That's just plain silly and a touch hypocritical, considering the fandom. You don't have to like something but you don't have to belittle somene else for liking it.

[ThunderQuartz 8]

To me, older generations really look like failed anthropomorphism. I can understand that nostalgia makes it possible for some people to actually enjoy them, but really, even the intro looks scary to me. It really feels like there is something wrong.

[Misty Rose 3,216]

It's just not to my liking. And generally the reason bronies dislike the previous generations is due to the lack of quality and effort put into them. The previous generations were pretty obviously only made to sell the toys. While G4 is still considered a big toy commercial by many, you can see the effort put into it. All the main characters are different from each other and are interesting in their own way. The episodes are engaging and entertaining for people of all ages.

 

However you can't exactly say that about the previous generations. With the exception of G1 there was a lack of adventure elements in the other generations and more girly stereotypes included. All the characters pretty much were the same and had no distinctive qualities. Not to mention the quality of those shows was far from what G4 has to offer

[CosmicHooves 2,705]

Because...

 

•The voices of the characters were annoying.

•The character designs were a bit creepy.

•The earlier generations of the show were primarily targeted towards girls.

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

I had watched one G3.5 episode. IT WAS HORROR. The design of the ponies literally scared me. No nightmares.

 

I hear that G2 is educational... OMBG NO. Like SpongeBob says "EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION?!?!"

 

G1 sounds safe, but sounding something is not always being something.

Edited January 3, 2015 by Twilly F. Sniper

[Argumedies 1,748]

You can tell that by the time Hasbro got to G3.5.... The animators and writers just didn't give a damn anymore.

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

the earlier generations are completely vapid, and the characters bereft of endearing adult qualities that we can relate to. They have no jobs, or anything that makes it seem like they don't spend 100% of their lives in complete, responsibility free, self indulgence.  

[Perradial 114]

"Generation 1 appeared on TV in the eighties; it was made to sell toys... Generation two, I don't mean to grouse and gripe, but these characters... Girly stereotype... And generation three is just too awful and too tragic..."

Basically.

I have seen a few G3 episodes, and they were all terrible. It was ridiculous! I can't even tell what the plot line was supposed to be!

Not saying the people who watch it are ridiculous. I actually have an eleven or twelve-year-old friend who still likes G3, and she's fine. I don't see what she sees in it, though.

Why do I personally dislike G3? Because it sounds like they only hired two voice actors (even if they didn't), the plot lines are either nonexistent or very hard to figure out, and the characters are a bit two-dimensional.

[KiwiPony 125]

Ha. I was watching some early gen episodes the other night and I think when you watch them you can understand what's "wrong" about them... Cheep, boring, and storylines were below par. However in response to the post itself, that isn't any reason to be rude to people who like these shows! We all have different tastes, I mean I don't like a few charactors in FiM but that's no reason to have a problem with people who love those said charactors

[[NULL] 906]

and you're forgetting that the older MLP gens were a pert of Lauren's childhood. She took influence from characters of those generations you pretend didn't exist before Lauren worked her magic on the 4th gen, to make the 4th gen's characters what they are, today, so you pretending the past didn't exist out of prejudice towards them - when those same past gens not only served as influence for Gen 4, but set the stage for the entire future of MLP franchise makes NO sense whatsoever, and WON'T work that way you believe it to be, in your head.

 

The only generation that she took influence from was Generation 1, and even pretty loosely at that. What she mostly took influence from was her childhood interpretation of the toys' personalities. She also mentioned her disappointment with G1 (or was it G2?) for not being adventurous like other shows such as GI Joe, and having plots that revolve around tea parties instead. And the only thing Lauren Faust saw G3 as was an example of what not to do. She was shown a DVD of G3, and asked "What would you do differently?" And here we have FIM.

 

But you are right about one thing: We should acknowledge the previous generations. (Particularly G3.) Being aware of their awfulness will only make us further appreciate G4 more, and to have an example of why dumbing down little girls' entertainment is a bad thing.

Edited January 4, 2015 by SpaceOnion

[Spikey-Wikey 378]

Bronies are too hard on G3. I mean, sure, it probably isn't as good as G4, but still.

 

Come to think of it...

 

What was the name of the Generation 3 TV show?

[Arpeggio Sweep 48]

I'll just state that I haven't really seen any other generation of MLP, other than that Bronies React to G3 video and various other little snips from different generations. So, I couldn't give a conclusive opinion. I can tell I would more than likely not like them, and I'll poke fun at them for the sake of fun and games, but I won't judge anyone who does like previous generations. In fact I'd think it's cool, in a 'respect the classics' kind of way.

I'm not implying that Newborn Cuties was exactly a classic, but you know what I mean.

[PriksCreep 7]

Because it sucks, because it sucks! a lot! 

[zombienixon 330]

Bronies are too hard on G3. I mean, sure, it probably isn't as good as G4, but still.

 

Come to think of it...

 

What was the name of the Generation 3 TV show?

 

It wasn't a TV show, they were all direct to video.

 

I think I may have said something on this in the past, but it's worth mentioning again.  I think it's ironic for bronies to dismiss G3 without ever seeing it and then get upset when people do the same thing with G4. And how they act like it's the worst thing ever just for being girly and cutesy, and act like they're defying gender norms.  Especially since the attitude the fandom as a whole takes toward G3 seems to be to pile crap onto it do distance yourself from something that's really girly, and to get really defensive when someone mentions that FiM is for little girls.

[Scaredypants~ 133]

It's just awful! Have you seen it?

My boyfriend and I put it on to see how bad it was and we were shocked as it was worse than we'd thought, honestly we just laughed at how creepy and girly it was, it was some christmas one and we watched like maybe 10 mins of it and the christmas tree star had a face and a pony name.

 

Nope.avi

[cider float 2,538]

I've tried watching G1 all the way but I think I stopped because the show was just so boring. I did see where many of the ideas Lauren Faust has taken from.

 

For one example there was this shapeshifting lizard guy that turned into a pony with a black coat and green mane/tail... hmmm sounds familiar. 

 

There's this big cloud monster that becomes bigger and stronger the more shadows he absorbs and sucked out all the shadows of the ponies sounds a lot like Tirek.

Edited November 17, 2015 by cider float

[JeyWiz 1,097]

Personally, I despise the older generations too, but anyone is allowed to like enjoy it. Besides, the older generations of MLP are the reason why our almighty Gen 4 exists today.

[ChikaChan 7,324]

those faces in my opinion looks weird to me o-o