Pony Spotlight Generation 3- is there more than meets the eye?

[ManaMinori 4,145]

Do generation 3 ponies really lack personality? There are complaints from many within the FiM fandom that character development and interest on G3 ponies is as flat as paper. Personally, to that I say "horsepoop!"

 

Being a stalker of updates on Equestria Daily, and enjoying their Pony Spotlight posts that have recently been spotlighting unappreciated pony characters that the fandom doesn't take notice of, and finding canon points of personality to give the fans something to work with, I decided to do the same, but for Gen 3 ponies who get little to no love from the g4 fandom.

 

While the animated series of any MLP generation is merely a commercial to push the toyline, these gen 3 ponies DO, in fact, have colorful and fin personalities, quirks, and passions to them.

 

Starting with possibly the most remembered pony:

 

Minty is a klutz but also thoughtful; helping tends to lead to disasters. Attention to detail. Determined, not satisfied with the results of others' accomplishments. Perfectionist. Has a tendency to apply her own corrections to others's work. She has a sock collection/ fetish. Chatty, can sometimes dominate conversations. Can lie to cover up a mistake she made, but will acknowledge mistakes if her conscious is bothered, and attempt to correct them. Not skilled at explaining herself properly under anxiety.

 

Toola Roola enjoys painting, and other artistic activities. She's afraid of the dark, and always wins art contests

 

Twinkle Twirl is a good dancer, but bad at teaching others to. Has patience with others, and perseverance when things go wrong. Has humility; knows when she's undeserving of an achievement, and who rightfully deserves it.

 

Skywishes is generous and uses her talent of granting wishes to help her friends. Has a hopeful attitude, and continues to wish for the success of others, when it doesn't happen right away. Good at delegating tasks.

 

Starcatcher is leader of the Pegasus ponies. Secretive. Knows more about Skywishes than she does herself, and shares close friendship with her. Is able to manipulate the success of Skywishes' talent, in some way. Not shy, like other pegasi. Playful. Considerate of others of her race. Will attempt to draw shy ponies out, but she fails at motivating them to be assertive.

 

Rainbow Dash adores fashion (and rainbows), is fussy on precision and detail. Doesn't immediately believe her friends when somethings sounds made up (like Ponies who can fly).

 

Scootaloo likes being cool. Is confident in her abilities. Is a sore loser. Rebellious, fails to follow instruction. Has to use a nightlight, due to being afraid of the dark. Can't dance.

 

Cherilee is Scootaloo's sister. She knows more than most other ponies, due to book smarts.

 

Pinkie Pie likes pink things. She bakes, and organizes parties alongside Razaroo. Like Rainbow Dash, doesn't immediately fall for fantastic stories of things she hasn't seen with her own eyes. Though she can put aside her doubts and choose to believe in her friends, in spite of her own apprehension. She's tonedeaf. She's the voice of encouragement and most often rallies others to action.

 

Sweetie Belle enjoys baking cookies

 

Razaroo is a party planner, and on top of everypony's birthday.

 

Wysteria is caring and softspoken

 

Kimono is the keeper of all pony lore. Wisest pony in the land, according to other ponies. Difficult to surprise. Lives out of town, but can be relied on to give wise advice to others, if needed.

 

Rarity is possibly ADHD. Also is a princess. Ignores responsibilities in order to have fun

 

While the observations aren't convlusive, I think the findings found thus far lends enough evidence to say that there IS personality in the gen 3 ponies, and that it's not difficult at all to find, if you want to put bias aside and give that generation half a chance.

 

That said, do you guys think fans of g4 would be willing to give g3 ponies a chance, creating stories, music, art, etc. That further builds off these ponies' very evident personalities and quirks?

[Steve Piranha 29,419]

While I'm not fan of G3 myself due to their merchandise driven and girly stories, I did believe they DO have more personality than G1 ponies. I'm all out for watching G3 ponies if that means expanding my creative range..... as soon as I start one 

[Kivil 1,721]

Well I guess it has a little bit of depth considering Scoots and Cheerilee are sisters and we never get to see their parents. That leads us to question about the fourth gen

[ManaMinori 4,145]

While I'm not fan of G3 myself due to their merchandise driven and girly stories, I did believe they DO have more personality than G1 ponies. I'm all out for watching G3 ponies if that means expanding my creative range..... as soon as I start one 

are you not aware that literally every episode of every generation is merchandise driven? No, seriously. Without the toyline, there would be no episodes to try and push the ponies.

 

Maybe you could start working on that

[Justin_Case001 4,881]

Well, maybe....if they can transform into common, everyday objects/vehicles.  But seriously, maybe there is and maybe there isn't.  The point is, we'll never know.

[Riganthor 484]

even after the first time I saw it I was like G3 is decent but a bit too girly for my taste. There are characters in there and voice acting and animation is all pretty good besides the newborn parts those are just bad.

[Steve Piranha 29,419]

are you not aware that literally every episode of every generation is merchandise driven? No, seriously. Without the toyline, there would be no episodes to try and push the ponies.

 

Maybe you could start working on that

I guess I DERPed    real good with that detail  . Well, yes, FiM is as much of a merchandise driven show as G3 was, but at least FiM has a good slice of life, with some Equestria going bonkers plot, while G3 has no conflict other than making the biggest tea party or so  . It just wanted to appeal to young girls, that's very clear. FiM however, was the same, sure, but it's plot was made for parents to not feel like this  :scoots: , for being forced to watch with their kids, and look at the monster it ended up being 

 

even after the first time I saw it I was like G3 is decent but a bit too girly for my taste. There are characters in there and voice acting and animation is all pretty good besides the newborn parts those are just bad.

Well, considering some of the voice cast is part of FiM too  . Andrea Libman, Tabitha, and Britt McKillips are the only ones I remember, but I'm sure there are more 

[ManaMinori 4,145]

even after the first time I saw it I was like G3 is decent but a bit too girly for my taste. There are characters in there and voice acting and animation is all pretty good besides the newborn parts those are just bad.

g3 is just as girly as g4. G3 ponies talk about birthdays, rainbows, have spontaneous songs. G4 ponies have sleep overs, Gala's, rainbow power, and spontaneous songs

[Leave a Whisper 703]

I have yet to watch Gen3 but I do plan on giving it a shot and the toys got me back into collecting.

[Denim&Venöm 18,738]

For those that are interested, I did a panel of Why G3 Wasn't So Bad at Ponyville Ciderfest. And while I couldn't get any video of the occasion, I did keep the PowerPoint presentation.

So for your consideration: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zXghKA5FWCf4cLdoLRIYhs593zEW0J8P8YpGp23jBbY/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=60000&slide=id.p3

[ManaMinori 4,145]

I have yet to watch Gen3 but I do plan on giving it a shot and the toys got me back into collecting.

awesome! Glad you decided to give it a shot at least. Hope you enjoy the series as much as you do the merch

[Leave a Whisper 703]

awesome! Glad you decided to give it a shot at least. Hope you enjoy the series as much as you do the merch

It's not bad. It's kinda cute and yay! I got to see Seaspray! She's one of the G3s I want most.

[ManaMinori 4,145]

Nice seeing that you find it enjoyable

Don't have seaspray? Have you tried mlp arena?

[Unr3alGamer 230]

Yes, because obviously Pinkie Pie is a Transformer

 

MOAR THAN MEATS THE AYY

[throwaway22212 37]

Well I dislike G3 for basically literally any reason. The story, the characters and I don't like the animation style

I was attracted to fim because of well what I said. I love the characters,story and the animation style & character design in g4.

Also because of the songs such as 'this day aria' and equestria girls 'help twilight win the crown'

 

 

 

Yes, because obviously Pinkie Pie is a Transformer

 

MOAR THAN MEATS THE AYY

Are you serious? Lol

[AlbaTross 1,586]

The problem I have with G3 is a lack of effort. There was a lot of potential to be explored with the characters, but the staff behind that series didn't really care because they clearly thought their target audience wasn't worth more effort than creating some formulaic, girly tripe. The characters in and of themselves aren't bad in concept, but we rarely see more than their base personality traits come into play, which are basic enough to be slapped on a toy label.

 

Minty was probably the closest thing to a well-rounded character but she wasn't generic enough to make it into the Core 7. I don't actually hate G3 Rainbow Dash in spite of her being the exact opposite of FiM Dashy, and actually think Venus Terzo brought a lot to that role, but even in the beginning we only really saw threads of something more than background noise for little girls. As that series dragged on it was a downward slope IMHO. What was dull but tolerable in the beginning quickly turned into even more of a waste of time. Oh well, at least I know the ins and outs of that series for discussion purposes.

[Leave a Whisper 703]

Nice seeing that you find it enjoyable

Don't have seaspray? Have you tried mlp arena?

I'm on the Arena and TP too. Hi *waves happily*

 

I've watched a bit more of it and I do see personalities, they may not be as strong or evolving as other cartoon characters in terms of evolving personalities, but that seems to be a staple more then an exception in cartoons.

 

I mean look at Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and Scooby are both cowards and gluttons, Thelma is the smart girl etc.

 

Why bash one for what most cartoons do anyways?

 

It really isn't a bad little show so far.

[EverEverOn 346]

I always believed that the Generation 3 ponies had personality.

I just don't like it because of how girly it is. Tea parties and all that doesn't work for me. I like G4 because it contains no romance, no girly fru-fru stuff, nothing like that. G4 is more substantial, and that's why I like it.

I have absolutely nothing against G3 ponies. Minty is actually really sweet.

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

When I was little, I was pushed into the show (people wanted me to like it). However, I turned it down because I knew in my heart that I wasn't girly like the ponies at all. I only liked gender neutral stuff and Mario Bros as a kid. I still have a G3 Scootaloo though. The only reason I like it now is because there are familiar faces in it (& Minty) & it's ponies! I might do a re-animation of G3 someday because if it had good animation & everything that G4 has, it could have a fighting chance. Also, have any of you ever watched Newborn Cuties or have seen a baby watch it? Do babies actually like that monstrosity? Please let me know I'm kinda curious.

[chaosprincess 1,067]

I believe that the generation 3 characters do have their own personalities sure its not like generation 4, but its nice having a generation where there is not always a bad guy killing and destroying everything  and people need to remember the voice actors in generation 4 also voiced ponies in the older generations including 3 like Starlight Glimmer her voice actor voiced Melody from my little pony tales and the list goes on so generation 3 is not as bad as people make it out to be in my opinion.

[Leave a Whisper 703]

I really am starting to appreciate Thistle Whistle as a character. It's my personal belief she's related to Quackers and Baby Quackers what with her bird whistles in between speech.

 

She has a very unusual phobia, turns out it's a real thing. But she is brave and willing to help her friends despite her fears, which takes guts.

 

She's also loyal and a bit sarcastic.