Does MLP has much complexity for children?

[Lemon Slices 358]

First of all,

           Have in mind that I am not saying that children is retard, okay?

 

           So that's my question. Is MLP having a much complex plot for children? Does the kids really understanding the plot? I mean, does the entire target of the show haves sense to what are the characters saying?

 

           Observation: I won't answer angry or sarcastic posts here. Just be polite.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

It can depend on how old they are. Kids can't really get a grasp at what's going on in shows until they're like 4 or 5. Also, the plots see, basic enough for kids to understand. There might be the joke or two that kids won't get, but guess what? A lot of cartoons aimed at kids have jokes that only adults will get to keep the adult audience interested. When I was a kid, I would sometimes have trouble understanding what's going on in action cartoons but some kids can't.

[Lemon Slices 358]

It can depend on how old they are. Kids can't really get a grasp at what's going on in shows until they're like 4 or 5. Also, the plots see, basic enough for kids to understand. There might be the joke or two that kids won't get, but guess what? A lot of cartoons aimed at kids have jokes that only adults will get to keep the adult audience interested. When I was a kid, I would sometimes have trouble understanding what's going on in action cartoons but some kids can't.

Like WOody the Woodpecker. Did you know what policys was when you was 8?

[Frostgage 7,975]

I don't think it's too complex. There might be a few things they won't get, but I think they would still understand the majority of what's happening. Even if they don't, I don't think they have to understand everything just to enjoy the show.

[Alex Z 848]

I think kids could follow the plot very easily.

[Malinter 3,064]

I doubt they read into with same level of depth, but that said children can some times make quite profound realizations that adults wouldn't think of sometimes, partly due to having non of the mental clutter that we pick up as we get older XD

[MsMegan91 117]

One of the things I love the most about My Little Pony is the universal appeal. There are elements of the show that kids can relate to, and equally parts that adults can relate more to. But I think the fundamentals are the same.

[AlbaTross 1,586]

I think there's enough for kids to grasp in FiM, and the basics of each episode aren't that complex. I highly doubt younger kids would be focused on character development and interwoven plot threads, and the million and one things Bronies like to debate, but each character has a personality that is relatable to certain types of people, and children should be able to at least pick up on that, and the lessons learn are great lessons even for adults, but are actually quite simple, for the most part. FiM works for a variety of audiences because it adds plot, appealing characters and great action and musical elements, but it also doesn't forget it's a children's show at the end of the day. Just because FiM didn't take the route of G3 and G3.5 where it is essentially only intended to be background noise for little girls, doesn't mean children can't appreciate it.

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

I'll answer this like I do every time the question comes up:

 

Google Don Bluth and read what his opinion on that subject was. 

[mars 4,862]

I can answer this!

When my little brother started watching MLP, he was four.

A four year old doesn't really pay much attention to plots and such, so complexity didn't matter. He just knew there were six ponies who went on adventures. Probably could have learned it if he didn't half watch it during this time.

When he was five, he gained a pretty good grasp on the show. He learned the names of most of the characters, understood the plots, and etc.

So is the show too complex for children? Nope. The show was aimed towards children, remember, so too make it too complex for children would be silly anyway.

[[NULL] 906]

No, the plot isn't very complex. I think you're giving MLP too much credit. (Or discredit, depending on how you look at it.)

Edited December 9, 2014 by SpaceOnion

[They call me Loyalty 1,948]

I feel like you're misunderstanding children here. Let me explain myself
Some of them are far more capable and wise, than many "adults" I got to know along this experience.

Besides, as a child you do understand many, many things. Wether you remember those things, or not, it's up to your memory, and this "program"

I was pretty conscious since I was a baby. Getting to see stranger' faces, the size of a room, holding me up into the air. Which would be the height of a two floors building, from my former baby perspective, it's not a pleasent experience.

I'd remember being pretty dissapointed at this place. It was painful to me. I did understand what kind of people I was dealing with. It was bad news, for both of us.

So, yes, I've proven myself, that some children are beyond adulthood's frame of consciousness. They see things beyond this frequency, like some of you like to call them "ghosts"    They can detect you, given, you're an advanced form of perception, within physicality. Looking at your aura, higher frequency, since their mindframe is clean from any wordly interference at that point.

For example, I was at my balcony, enjoying the skies, taking a break from my meditation. While on a car there was a father and "his" baby. As it turns out, the little girl started smiling towards me, warmly saluting as if she knew me from somewhere else. The father tried to stop her from doing so, and she started punching her father's hand furiously. Then, she continued smiling towards me, while the father was looking at me, probably saying, "who are you?"

So, I do believe that children are more than capable to understand this show, and many other things beyond adult's perception.
Cleaner consciousness, which is basically advanced speed. As you grow up, your mind frame may slow down, on this constant interaction with this physicality's frequencies. As many fields meet each other.

Now, whether a child will exchange their frame of perception for this mere physicality, that's a whole different story. Exchanging your eternal heritage for a wordly distractions, it's usually pretty damaging.

 

 

From the baby perspective, adults are pretty funny. If not ridiculous, most of the times

[Cloud Strife 928]

I doubt that they look at the series with the same kind of complexity as we do, as we're adults and we have our own experiences to compare to theirs, but overall they should be able to understand the basic gist of what the plots are trying to tell them as well as the messages at the end, which is all that really matters. And even if it doesn't fully sink in now, they'll be able to reflect on it on their later years and pick up on anything they might've missed due to their age.

[VitalSpark 1,830]

No, it doesn't. I have two kids, aged 4 and 5. It is not too complex for them.

 

Which is not to say that they understand it on the same level an adult might.

 

Taking It Ain't Easy Being Breezies as a random example (because they happen to have watched it twice today), they understand the plot that the breezies are coming through Ponyville, and everyone needs to cheer very quietly for them because they're only tiny little things, and that some of them get delayed by a leaf, and that Fluttershy takes them in because she's good at looking after animals, and that they speak a different language, and that Fluttershy eventually realizes that they need to go because the way to their home will close up, and that Twilight turns the ponies into breezies to help them home, and that Seabreeze gives Fluttershy the flower to say thank you. You know, the plot of the episode.

 

The underlying message that being too kind to someone can ultimately be doing them a disservice, and the significance that it is Fluttershy, the element of kindness, who is learning this, is perhaps less obvious to them. I image my daughter, who is nearly 6 probably mostly gets it. My son, who has only recently turned 4, perhaps not. I can quiz them on it tomorrow perhaps.

 

Most well-written shows have multi-layered plots, and MLP:FIM is no exception. Without multi-layered plots it is difficult to appeal to a broad audience. Pitch your plot too complex, and you lose the younger demographic; pitch it too simple, and you lose the more mature audience. With a multi-layered plot, there's a little something for everybody.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Vital Sparkle

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

This show is most decidedly not too complex for the target audience to understand. It does a great job of keeping things clear so that people of all ages can know what's going on, and even for a show with continuity, it can still be watched and rewatched in almost any order, even skipping some episodes, without losing track of what's going on. It's very accessible to anyone of any age to jump onto at any point.

 

The characters, while multi-facted and developing, still provide a screen presence that aesthetically and subconsciously gives off a certain aura to each character that is uniquely theirs, expressed in aspects like their voices, designs, background music, and the visibility of their desires and interests. They are brimming with personality and diversity that anyone could catch up on fairly quickly.

 

The world is also not too complex for the little ones to understand. If you look at the writing style of the show, it never really tells any more than is practically necessary for the story at hand, while keeping continuity a constant. There is some dialogue sprinkled here and there of an expository nature that reinforces the nature of Equestria as another world (like in "Maud Pie" when Rainbow Dash casually mentions that "Celestia hasn't even raised the sun yet").

 

The beauty of the show is that kids in the target demographic will not be able to pick up on everything, but as they grow older and look on the show in retrospect, they will understand even more why the show was so great to them. They will look back to it with fond memories and consider it a major cornerstone of their childhood, while revealing nuances, either ones they missed or may have picked up subconsciously, that may actually make it look even better to them in the future. That's what good kids' shows should aim to achieve.

[sweetolebob18 728]

As most have pointed out, it depends on "how old are you talking about?"  & "How good is the child at this sort of stuff".  I remember watching Loony Tune cartoons as a kid & being too young to read the titles, later reading them out loud because I was the 1st to read.  Followed the plot OK, probably wouldn't have got any underlying message (I mean, I didn't understand why Elmer didn't wise up & quit chasing Bugs or why Casper didn't keep the new friend I KNEW he was going to make) (found that quite annoying, after a bit)

 

By the time a kid is 11, I'd guess that any kid of anywhere near normal intelligence is going to get it.  I mean, it's not Lost or the X Files, here.  The morals are pretty simple & even the season long story arc isn't that complex.

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

The show itself isn't really too complex for them too understand. I think only the vocabulary level is quite a bit above, (hell, Discord happens to be an SAT word, SAT is a COLLEGE LEVEL TEST), but not the plotlines. Nothing like Les Miserables or anything (I could hardly get the plot's most complex elements in that LONG book. I read the abridged version... That explains that problem probably.)

 

The characters themselves are quite complex for children too. I'd say particularly Rarity, because she's just... A bit difficult to understand on the surface.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Twilly F. Sniper

[Plato's Pony 455]

 

 

Most well-written shows have multi-layered plots, and MLP:FIM is no exception. Without multi-layered plots it is difficult to appeal to a broad audience. Pitch your plot too complex, and you lose the younger demographic; pitch it too simple, and you lose the more mature audience. With a multi-layered plot, there's a little something for everybody.

 

Yes, I completely agree.  Being a sort of movie analyst myself, I have noticed that in most television shows and movies there are 3 main layers:  the "concrete" layer, the "message" layer, and what I like to call, the "inner morality" layer.

 

To explain what I mean by the 3 main layers, I will use Luna's turning into NIghtmare Moon as an example:

 

Concrete plot layer: Luna turned into Nightmare Moon.  --this is the simplest layer, merely stating what is seen by the eye itself and not drawing any conclusions

 

Message plot layer: Luna turned into Nightmare Moon because she was angry and jealous.  --this is the second layer, stating the reason for what happened in the first layer

 

Inner Morality plot layer: Luna turned into Nightmare Moon because she was angry and jealous.  She was angry because she had spent thousands of years living in yearning and jealousy, and felt like no one respected or cared about her.  --this is the most complex layer of the three, stating the reason for the message layer.  This is what allows the viewer to know exactly how it felt like to be the character, in this case, Luna, and form a connection with that character.

 

 

There can be a lot more than just three layers in a plot, as is the case with most novels, but these are the main three which I have identified.

[Osiria 142]

I think the amount of complexity depends on the complexity of each viewer..

[Rainboom Dash 1,056]

I think the show just has a lot of appeal to all its age ranges now. I don't think it's complex for children.

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

I don't think the plot is complex for children. I feel that each of the Mane 6's personality has something children can relate to. They might not get some of the references as older viewers would. The music is also kid-friendly too.

[Jammo 986]

People underestimate the intelligence of children. My favorite shows growing up had ongoing narratives and story arcs (Digimon was good at this). My favorite shows didn't shy away from adversity and interpersonal strife. It exposed me to the realities that people are complicated and life won't always be ideal. This show strikes a perfect balance between honest humanity (ponianity?) and fantasy escapism. Making it work as a cartoon but also keeping stories relatable to anyone who's met anyone.

Edited December 15, 2014 by Jammo

[More_Fluttershy 127]

No, not really. There are plenty of good shows with plenty of complicated elements. Arthur, an example aimed more directly at kids, doesn't dumb stuff down to asking obvious questions like that Dora crap, but instead plays around with the situations and dialougue so that it is relatable for the audience at hand, without removing any important elements, which allows for the children to truly be able to learn and build character. With this idea, they can even get down to cancer and 9/11 terrorism, and convey it well without traumatizing them or anything. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a similar concept, only it's been able to wean away from just being for little girls towards the end of the first season. It still is completely suitable for them, though, as it still retains the elements that these good pre-school shows can have, while now having many other elements that could attract older audiences. It's nice. But don't have kids watching it every day when they're like, under 4 or 5, they're not going to truly remember it even if they do learn.

[The Comedian 10]

I wont considerate it complex for children, even more they try to reach children in a very sutil way.

 

For example the first chapter stated that if "you laugh" at you problems, they will be gone, now we all know that isn't true, but most children are afraid of things like dark, being alone, "monsters" (or me stealing shoes) under their beds. it can be also applicable at older ages, since taking a good laugh at a not so serious problem, can help you relax and think clear how to solve it.

 

At the end of every chapter the characters tell the spectators what was the message of the episode, the "conclusion", so we can know the meaning in case we didn't understand it, there are messages about manners, and how to not be a douche in society, but of course for older people, the message of the show can be put on debate depending on the experiences, routine, and personality of every one, taking for example what i just write about the first episode 

 

So, in my opinion, the show isn't complex, it would be if the narration at the end of every chapter didn't existed, because it would need some time to figure out the message for a children. But in the case of some episodes like again, chapter one it would be easy to understand even for a child.

[Lucky Star 972]

nah, even if there are things that they don't understand, the plot is still simple enough for them to follow.

 

for example, when I watch family guy and they make a reference, I almost never know what their referencing, but you don't need to understand them to follow the plot.