Why are people so opposed to the movie experimenting with its age audience?

[Cherry Palette 81]

I have nothing against the fact, that this movie pretty much should raise the stakes, no doubt about it. But i think it would be wrong, to just make this a full fledged action-adventure movie, because the MLP writers are hit and miss when it comes to that. If it was a mix of adventure and slice of life (meaning character interactions and maybe a bit of reintroduction of the characters) i probably could dig this movie.

 

There's something we can agree upon. All action and no interaction between characters is a recipe for disaster. Character development is a crucial aspect of any good story.

[Mesme Rize 15,687]

There's something we can agree upon. All action and no interaction between characters is a recipe for disaster. Character development is a crucial aspect of any good story.

 

Oh, absolutely. This is something that made MLP great for me, the characters and the way they interacted with each other, because these characters have so much personality.

[Megas 27,809]

You're right. A PG film would alienate the audience of My Little Pony. PG ratings are given to much more mature films, such as this one:

 

 

But I see what you're saying. If you make it PG, like Frozen here, then all the two-year-olds can't get in. And as we all know, MLP is an educational show that teaches children how to count past five and use the crapper.

The show has always been G rated and yet the show has been very successful with both bronies and the kids. it doesn't need to have edgier content or make it PG to be successful. Just let FiM be itself Mesme's on point

[TopQuark 409]

Did I miss some news? What's all this talk about the movie's rating?

[TheAnimatorOfficial 567]

If you make this movie PG, you pretty much deny entrance for the target audience that MLP was originally for. Where is the logic in that?

 

This is not a movie for Bronies and you can make it G to make it enjoyable.

Not really. MLP has had several PG moments before. Has nothing to with the Brony audience. Little girls have eaten up PG films like Inside Out and Big Hero 6 before. No reason why it has to be any different here. Remember it still has to be a MOVIE and not a 100 minute episode.

[PrymeStriker 408]

Implying that everything under PG is instantly educational or at the level of something like Dora the Explorer?

So you say, all G movies are educational and pre school stuff?

 

Nope. I'm proving that PG is not "too mature" for MLP's demographic.

 

Not really. MLP has had several PG moments before. Has nothing to with the Brony audience. Little girls have eaten up PG films like Inside Out and Big Hero 6 before. No reason why it has to be any different here. Remember it still has to be a MOVIE and not a 100 minute episode.

This.

Edited April 19, 2016 by PrymeStriker

[Mesme Rize 15,687]

Not really. MLP has had several PG moments before. Has nothing to with the Brony audience. Little girls have eaten up PG films like Inside Out and Big Hero 6 before. No reason why it has to be any different here. Remember it still has to be a MOVIE and not a 100 minute episode.

 

So G movies aren't really movies, you want to tell me, because non dark things don't pull?

[TheAnimatorOfficial 567]

The MPAA is very strict. In this day and age, unless you're Pixar, there's no chance of getting a G rating unless there's ZERO action or thematic elements (Peanuts Movie comes to mind, but MLP is not the Peanuts).

 

So yeah. It's gonna be PG if they're going for an adventure story.

[Mesme Rize 15,687]

Okay, since i don't want to make any enemies here, i better leave this topic.

 

I stand with what i say and we just leave at that. Have a good day.

[TheAnimatorOfficial 567]

So G movies aren't really movies, you want to tell me, because non dark things don't pull?

In this era, yes (with the exception of the Peanuts Movie because of the source material).

[PrymeStriker 408]

In this era, yes (with the exception of the Peanuts Movie because of the source material).

 

My point exactly. The MPAA gives anything that might have a character hitting its head on the ceiling a PG rating today. This isn't 80's PG where you were allowed to blow your characters to smithereens and say "shit". In fact, yes, a lot of G films nowadays are nature documentaries or Dora the Explorer-type flicks. Granted there are some that aren't, but the other half balances that out. PG films like Frozen are on the same demographic plane as My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic with all factors considered. I really don't think this is a debate. 

[TheAnimatorOfficial 567]

My point exactly. The MPAA gives anything that might have a character hitting its head on the ceiling a PG rating today. This isn't 80's PG where you were allowed to blow your characters to smithereens and say "shit". In fact, yes, a lot of G films nowadays are nature documentaries or Dora the Explorer-type flicks. Granted there are some that aren't, but the other half balances that out. PG films like Frozen are on the same demographic plane as My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic with all factors considered. I really don't think this is a debate.

If it's PG they might as well finally show the backstory of Applejack's parents.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

Look, I'm not against the movie being PG or the movie exploring higher stakes. I was more talking about the mentality that just making something dark and gritty for the sake of it.  

 

Now I shall leave before I get into a flame war.

[cmarston1 5,959]

I have nothing against the fact, that this movie pretty much should raise the stakes, no doubt about it. But i think it would be wrong, to just make this a full fledged action-adventure movie, because the MLP writers are hit and miss when it comes to that. If it was a mix of adventure and slice of life (meaning character interactions and maybe a bit of reintroduction of the characters) i probably could dig this movie.

 

That is pretty much what I want and expect to see out of this movie.

A good sense of slice of life and interactions between the main cast would showcase the actual feeling of the show, sense outside of the 2 part premieres and finales the show is mostly slice of life.

As well as how if there is going to a be a 90 minute feature, I feel there has to be at least some sort of adventure going on in order for it to actually feel like a movie, instead of a 90 minute episode of the show.  Plus the premieres and finales have already had major conflicts about the fate of Equestria going on in them, so seeing something like that happen in the movie would not be that much of a stretch to see happen.

Plus to be honest, that is the most realistic outcome for a MLP FIM movie.

It is definitely not going to be an action packed epic to the extent of something like the Lord of the Rings movies.

And I am pretty confident in saying that it will end up with a G rating.

I am going to try to go into this movie without any unrealistic hopes or thinking that it is going to be something that the show itself is not.

Edited April 19, 2016 by cmarston1

[Leave a Whisper 703]

Because its a kid's show. It's meant to have adventure and even danger yes, but it's not meant to be more adult. A little dark is fine, but why mess with the formula? You didn't come into a grim dark show and you ain't gonna come out of one when it ends and Hasbro starts thinking about the new one.

 

Rated G is a wide audience and brings in more money. It's why Disney and Pixar have done so well.

 

Besides no matter what some people may think, Adults are Not the Target Demographic in this franchise and they Never will be. They might toss us a bone now n then, but that's it.

Edited April 25, 2016 by Leave a Whisper

[Ponies4Bronies 394]

I just wish it wasn't because what got me into FiM and still keeps me today is that it is very positive and bright, it makes me happy. And most of the things I'm into aren't bright or in the sense of the word happy. I was a very different person back in 2010 watching that premiere while babysitting my cousin. I initially declined to even babysit her many times earlier that day but my mom forced me to. Who knows what kind of person I would be today without FiM, how I would have overcome the sizable adversity that I have faced since then. 

 

Thats the meaning it holds for me and I think it's safe to say that its what the show means to others, for whatever reason it is why they so fervently defend it, that they get concerned if it changes in any way.

[TheAnimatorOfficial 567]

Because its a kid's show. It's meant to have adventure and even danger yes, but it's not meant to be more adult. A little dark is fine, but why mess with the formula? You didn't come into a grim dark show and you ain't gonna come out of one when it ends and Hasbro starts thinking about the new one.

 

Rated G is a wide audience and brings in more money. It's why Disney and Pixar have done so well.

 

Besides no matter what some people may think, Adults are Not the Target Demographic in this franchise and they Never will be. They might toss us a bone now n then, but that's it.

I don't mean "adult". I mean more mature. Pixar has had very mature films (relatively) but they still were for kids.

[Quill Waver 1,408]

Bearing in mind that in the canon MLP universe there have already been moments of intense peril (the world is at stake), visions of enslavement (Sombra during his reign), despair, dark themes, mind controlling, and a few suggestive themes (I am pretty sure that the cider is hard).

 

That said, this has been kept in moderation. So long as the movie follows suit, there should not be that much of an issue with it.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,303]

Hasbro or whatever: "Hey, we've discovered a successful formula that appeals to both the target demographic and somehow managed to attract a totally unexpected audience of male twenty-somethings...  But let's change it just because a probably-minority among those said twenty-somethings thinks we should."

 

Better (and less-asked) question: Why are some adult fans of a children's show so hellbent on seeing the related film explore darker themes?  And an upped movie rating could encompass any number of things.  Even if you got the PG rating, it wouldn't necessarily result in a darker-themed MLP.  Maybe somepony straight-up hoof smacks another pony in the muzzle or fires off too many "horse apples," and someone deciding the, at times, arbitrarily-handed-out movie rating thinks that is enough to exceed the G.  Maybe there will be one too many inexplicable butt shots in the film, and it'll make PG that way.  Admittedly, I'll take any of those over a "darker, grittier MLP."  Because, if you started watching the show for dark and gritty, you watchin' the wrong damn show.

 

"B-but, there was that time in the show when..."  Don't care.  The show is still fundamentally an uplifting, standout program that has miraculously succeeded in bringing in two usually wildly different demographics.  It doesn't do what YOU want it to do, and you probably aren't getting what you want no matter how much noise a few fans make.