Do the writers of the show sometimes do things just to spite Lauren Faust?

[Plonkett 345]

I tend to notice that there are some things in the show that Faust intended in the show that were done differently. For example, she wanted all hoofed animals to be sapient, but things like goats and deer (especially) are just regular animals in Equestria. I understand that she's no longer part of the creative team, but if it weren't for her this show wouldn't exist.

[Honsou 399]

In a nutshell, yes. Lauren Faust never intended for there to be multiple princesses. Originally Celestia was supposed to be a Queen, and I don't think she ever intended for Twilight to become a Princess.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

No.

 

I don't think the writers have any malicious vendetta against Faust. They've shown their love for Faust like subtly referencing her in Testing Testing 123. 

 

And no one say Equestria Girls. That wasn't the writers decision, that was a corporate mandate.

[NavelColt 22,881]

Not so much the writers as it is Hasbro. I'm sure the writers who were on staff when Lauren was around all loved her and aren't the kind of people who'd do that intentionally. Though I wouldn't put it past Hasbro's execs to try and push an idea on the writers that is contrary to Lauren's show bible if it meant they could in turn sell more toys. Key in point; Cadence is entirely a Hasbro idea. She was made by Hasbro to sell toys. Lauren originally planned for Celestia and Luna to be the only alicorns. Twilight becoming a princess followed this same route.

 

Hasbro lets the writers do what they want for the most part, but they do oversee the general direction of the show, make sure certain themes are used and obviously put in plug-in ideas of their own so that they as a company have more toy-selling ammunition. Cadence and the royal wedding, Princess Twilight, the designs of the Rainbow Powers, etc.

 

As far as the sapience goes, that'd be a whole lot of voice actors. If every single animal in the show talked that might distract away from the characters we're supposed to be focusing on, a little too often. It's one thing when there are designated episodes, and moments within episodes where the main characters take a backseat directly for side characters (the S5 Premiere being the latest example), but random animals all having voices would be both distracting and more work to make more dialogue, or at least that's their thought process.

[Shanks 10,816]

I highly doubt it, Hasbro mostly lets the writers do their thing but there have been some examples of interference with the most significant one being twilicorn though most of them amount to "work this toy idea into an episode" which usually does no harm. That is not to say the writers don't occasionally screw up, they screwed up ALOT in season 4 but also had a few successes as well. There is of course a huge difference between following misguided orders like twilicorn, doing something stupid and making as serious effort to troll which is something we are yet to see in the series.

[Plonkett 345]

Didn't Faust intend Twilight to take Celestia's place? Twilight becoming a princess should be the first in many steps for that to happen.

[Mesme Rize 15,685]

Why should they have any spite against Faust? I heard that some of them are still on good terms with her like Larson and Mccarthy.

 

Seriously. I can't stand people who make Faust look like a Matyr, just because she dosen't work for the show anymore, for reasons we don't know. Yes, she created the series and i am very thankful to her. But just because she isn't on the team anymore, we shouldn't assume that everything is bad now.

[Love//Hack 819]

Didn't Faust intend Twilight to take Celestia's place? Twilight becoming a princess should be the first in many steps for that to happen.

 

She did, but she didn't want Twilight to be a alicorn. She was going to have Celestia and Luna be the only alicorns in the show so if she was still writing for the show and Twilight had a princess, she'd be a unicorn princess in Celestia's place.

[Dark Qiviut 22,444]

Not at all. The creative team still has the ability to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't break content rating laws, but Hasbro keeps them in check via marketing, script acceptance, and corporate mandates (i.e., Twilicorn, alicorn!Cadance, the new castle, EQG).

 

 

Didn't Faust intend Twilight to take Celestia's place? Twilight becoming a princess should be the first in many steps for that to happen.

 

She did, but she didn't want Twilight to be a alicorn. She was going to have Celestia and Luna be the only alicorns in the show so if she was still writing for the show and Twilight had a princess, she'd be a unicorn princess in Celestia's place.

GGP answers this well, OP, but it's unknown if Twilight was to become a unicorn princess. All Faust said she was gonna be her successor.

[Plonkett 345]

I guess so, but wasn't Cadence also supposed to be a unicorn? In the show she started off as a Pegasus.

Edited April 22, 2015 by vgmaster9

[Nature's Spell 526]

The best version of anything is the one we have in front of us and not the version it could have been. Faust left-pushed out or not- but what she might have wanted is only important as a historic footnote. With that said the writers are doing what they think is best.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Nature's Spell

[Banul 3,831]

Why would the writers do something to spite the person who created the show that they work on? It would be insanely childish, let alone unprofessional. I don't think the people working on the show now are those kinds of people. 

 

There are many reasons that the writers may do something that Faust wouldn't. The writers may simply have a different vision for certain aspects of the show, or certain things (like Cadence and Equestria Girls) were mandated to them from on high by Hasbro. It isn't because they have some kind of beef with Mama Faust

[Plonkett 345]

Yeah maybe I was thinking too hard on this subject matter, and I think the writers having a more different perspective would be the best way to describe it.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

On the note of alicorns: While they seem to have gone against Faust's original intent by having more alicorns than Celestia and Luna, they seem to have some idea of Alicorns for the world that means they probably aren't just going to introduce anything that hasbro asks them to. The hacked e-mails of sony's back and forth about the 2017 movie occasionally mentions alicorns in a manner that indicates that their place in the world (and the number of them) is probably something they're looking at closely.
Heck, it seems that since S3 they started slathering the show with alicorn focus and information, what with the S4 finale having alicorn magic more or less be the villain's end game goal.

[Steve Piranha 29,429]

Nah, it's true that many things Faust visualized are now dust, but not out of spite, but of Hasbro's mandate. Still, if the writers were purposedly spiting Faust, trust me this show wouldn't go past S3 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Yeah maybe I was thinking too hard on this subject matter, and I think the writers having a more different perspective would be the best way to describe it.

 

Pretty much this. Sometimes a show will change over the course of it's run, and it can be quite different from the creator's original vision.

 

Case in point I doubt that Deep Space Nine was anywhere near what Gene Roddenberry envisioned for Star Trek; even though DS9 is generally regarded as good.

[ArcheoPony 76]

No. The current staff have a deep respect for her and her efforts in creating the world they work on. Anything that seems different from her original vision is either Hasbro meddling, or something they just feel is the correct approach for how the show is at that moment.

[Eloquence 2,076]

More or less what everyone else is saying. The writers aren't looking to spite Faust, because they are mature adults and not five-year-olds. Yes, they have done things that weren't a part of Faust's vision, but that doesn't mean that anyone wanted to spite her, and it doesn't mean that doing those things was wrong either. I love Faust's work, but she's an imperfect human just like everybody else, and not everything she does creatively is flawless (a certain episode of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends comes to mind). 

 

I don't even hate Hasbro's marketing mandates, because I feel like they're still written with integrity by writers who care. Yes, Cadance and Twilacorn weren't a part of Faust's vision, yes, Equestria Girls wasn't part of Faust's vision, but that doesn't mean that I hated Cadance, or that I didn't feel proud of Twilight when she ascended, or that I didn't have a ton of fun with Rainbow Rocks. I'm proud of what FiM's writing team has been able to accomplish, and I'm grateful to them for doing what they do

[Steve Piranha 29,429]

More or less what everyone else is saying. The writers aren't looking to spite Faust, because they are mature adults and not five-year-olds. Yes, they have done things that weren't a part of Faust's vision, but that doesn't mean that anyone wanted to spite her, and it doesn't mean that doing those things was wrong either. I love Faust's work, but she's an imperfect human just like everybody else, and not everything she does creatively is flawless (a certain episode of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends comes to mind). 

 

Ugh, I'd really want to hug that guy...... around the neck

 

 

Nah, it's true that many things Faust visualized are now dust, but not out of spite, but of Hasbro's mandate. Still, if the writers were purposedly spiting Faust, trust me this show wouldn't go past S3 

Allow me to add my previous post that I forgot, Faust had a vision for FiM, but Canterlot Wedding, Twilicorn and Equestria Girls would have happened regardless. Why? Because FiM is a quality merchandise driven show, but a merchandise driven show noteless, so, if a new line of toys camoes around, Hasbro would have made the writers to produce an episode based on those regardless if Faust was there or not.  Hasbro hired her to produce a show from their propriety, it's no different from you hiring a baker to bake a cake for you. The baker made the cake, but the cake is yours 

[immblueversion 331]

Honestly, I doubt the writers have anything against Lauren. They even paid tribute to her in "Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3" by naming the founder of the Wonderbolts after her username "fyre-flye", making it an indirect reference to G1 Firefly.

 

Ugh, I'd really want to hug that guy...... around the neck

 

Use your hands.

[Grumpy Enchantress 586]

Why should they have any spite against Faust? I heard that some of them are still on good terms with her like Larson and Mccarthy.

 

Seriously. I can't stand people who make Faust look like a Matyr, just because she dosen't work for the show anymore, for reasons we don't know. Yes, she created the series and i am very thankful to her. But just because she isn't on the team anymore, we shouldn't assume that everything is bad now.

But the show is super ruined now and not nearly as good as it used to be. It'd still be good if she hadn't left, Megan McCarthy ruined it.

[Mesme Rize 15,685]

But the show is super ruined now and not nearly as good as it used to be. It'd still be good if she hadn't left, Megan McCarthy ruined it.

 

Please tell me that was sarcasm.

[Grumpy Enchantress 586]

Please tell me that was sarcasm.

It wasn't. I think the show is terribly written now.

 

It's always been an excuse to sell toys, but Lauren was never a sellout that would make the stupid new toys affect what she wrote. Megan adds whatever Hasbro wants her to in terribly unfitting ways and it's bad writing. It's going back to the 80's level of terrible cartoons.

[Mesme Rize 15,685]

It wasn't. I think the show is terribly written now.

 

It's always been an excuse to sell toys, but Lauren was never a sellout that would make the stupid new toys affect what she wrote. Megan adds whatever Hasbro wants her to in terribly unfitting ways and it's bad writing. It's going back to the 80's level of terrible cartoons.

 

Well ladida. I guess then i am part of the problem, because i actually like where the show is going.

[Wingnut 7,000]

To the thread's original premise, no, I don't think anything is being done to "spite" Lauren.  With that said, there are no doubt differences between the direction the series has taken and her original vision for it.  But so far, of the ideas that have all been attributed to Lauren, the series has maintained at least 50 percent of them  On one hand, yes, we have multiple alicorns.  But on the other, Applejack's parents are still deceased and Scootaloo is unable to fly.  Some changes have been made, but Meghan shouldn't be accused of throwing out the series bible. 

 

Somewhere it was said that the writing staff has the right to turn down ideas and merchandise from Hasbro that seemed too outlandish for the series.  If it's true, I have no idea if that right of refusal has ever been exercised.  For one thing, some writers like the challenge of adding new elements to an ongoing program.  To date, everything that was incorporated into the show was done with a discernible amount of thought and care. Has it been perfect?  No.  But on the whole, I think they've done a pretty good job.