S06:E08 - A Hearth's Warming Tail

[Betelnut 13]

Loved it. A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite stories--I read it every Christmas--so this episode was just perfect for me. The songs were great smd I loved the period look of the story.

 

Plus Luna was a wonderful addition as the future.

[Odd Ball 231]

Another musical episode that’s better than Magical Mystery Cure. Disapponted that Twilight didn't have everypony come listen to the story, as well as the fact the the story was just a retelling of A Christmas Carol. But the songs made up for it. Pinkie’s song is the best song in the entire series

Edited May 14, 2016 by Da King

[Cirrus. 1,089]

I thought it was a well done episode. I wish Big Mac was the "Ghost of Hearthswarming Future" or whatever. Luna was great of course, But Big Mac would make it much more uncanny.

 

 

Edited May 14, 2016 by Cirrus.

[Jeric 46,850]

Very very cool episode. From tree topper Derpy to some cool solo songs from Ball and Ms. New Luna Singer.

 

The expressions and some of the animation work seemed better than earlier eps this season so I think some extra effort went into this one.

[Dracu98 139]

oh boy, just where do I start? I am SO going nuts right now!

 

never before has Ponyville looked more beautiful! all the snow, the lights, DAMN, why can't it always look like this? someone needs to start a petition for it RIGHT F*CKING NOW! the picture suited the name of the holiday: it really looked heartswarming, and that means something coming from a gore-fan! it got even better when we got to see...wherever it was the story took place. it was such a nice place! why is the english language lacking so many words I could use right now? this deserves to be called more than just "beautiful"! maybe...beautypretty²?

 

second off, the music. boy. I usually really dislike the musical-episodes of this show. the songs just steal time, time that should be used for storytelling. but hell, they did it absolutely f*cking right this time! not only do work for storytelling, they are also absolutely flawless! it all just works so well along with the characters and the setting, it's simply divine! I especially loved Pinkie's and Luna's songs. Pinkie was at her absolutely best, and boy, never before has Luna looked more badass and intimidating! she also has one heck of a singing voice!

 

there isn't much to say about the story. we all know the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, but dang it, this episode managed to tell this story without missing anything important in a matter of twenty minutes while also being as enjoyable as the muppets-version of "A Christmas Carol". I simply loved how the characters were presented in the past and still suited their personalities!

 

I am, for the first time in quite a while, fanboying like a schoolgirl about an mlp-episode again (and this time, it didn't even include Discord! MIND = BLOWN!)! THAT! WAS! F*CKING PERFECT! (but seriously, how can one unicorn be able to erase an entire holiday from history?)

 

Also: Bless Spike, for he speaks our thoughts. Finally, the show touches on Starlights overreaction. it has happened...it has finally, finally happened...I found peace at last...

[Cosmik Vek 764]

This was an awesome little episode and here's why.

I thought the story that Twilight thought to Starlight was a great adaptation of typical real life Christmas story.

And I mean all the elements were there so nothing to really complain about.

Just an awesome Christmas episode, better to watch in the holidays though I would say.

I may be brutal about the song usually, but this time I thought that they were tolerable for me and also fitted well with what was happening in this story.

My favorite one was the one with Luna in it, this one felt very different from the songs we usually hear in this show.

Though I can say that I was not found of the initial song, this one felt too... happy lel

Also, Savarus Snape in pony form made me laugh more than I should have.

So yeah, great ep!

TL;DR - Great Heart's Warming Eve episode with a story that would best fit on holidays time, but that worked for now and with almost all of the songs that did not came miles above my head.

Rating: 9.3/10

[BlackWater627 700]

 

 

Derpy on top of the tree, how adorable!

 

Right on! Bronies will be making Derpy treetoppers shortly. 

 

 

 

I love that Luna musical scene though.   

 

It will live on eternally. Remixes will be good but the original is fab as is. 

 

 

 

That was a fantastic episode! Loved it. <3 Had its funny and heartwarming moments~ And of course, pretty good songs too.

I totally agree. I give this a 5/5. It had good songs, a good story, and fun characters. I do have a few nitpicks but nothing that big or important. I get where they were going with this, as I imagine most people did. We now have three Hearth's Warming episodes now, right?  

[Will Guide 21,360]

To those complaining about why are they showing a Christmas-theme episode in May, here's a video from Nostalgia Critic that might explain why there's nothing wrong with that:

 

If you want a sum-up of my point in less than 20 seconds, watch from 5:25-5:41

 

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

Well that was a very early Chirstmas gift... or a really late one depending on how you look at it.

What I liked:
LUNA!: LUNA LUNA LUNA LUNA LUNA! AND SHE'S SINGING!!! AND SHE'S DEATH THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE!!!
Spike: Best sarcastic snarker ever!
The casting choice: Appleajack, Pinkie Pie and Luna were great picks as the ghosts.
The songs: More specifically, the Pinkie Pie and Luna one. Luna sings was great and we got tap dancing ponies!

Snape Pony: I want to see more of this downer pony!

What I didn't like:
The pacing: Holy fuck was this rushed. I mean I know they have 22 minutes but man.
The setup: Okay Starlight doesn't feel the holiday then gets read a story and then loves it. Okay I know it's not the focus but I don't feel it. Might have worked better if Twilight just offered to read her her favorite HWE tale.
The unfortunate implications: The episode seems to stress that hard work is not something one should aspire towards. I know the idea is that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy but the wording off it come off as implying the hard work and dedication to something are not ideal on should strive for, especially with the ending about the betterment of Equestria. Isn't that what people should be doing, trying to make the world better?

The Punny names: Oh Sweet Celestia they hurt! 

What was meh:
The Story: It's A Christmas Carol. Not bad but it's overused and combined with the rushed storytelling, just isn't that engaging to me. Also we had this set up in For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils and I thought that was a much more unique and clever set up of the story.

Anyways a nice fun Christmas story and I enjoyed myself, but this one is my least favorite of the three we have so far.  Jolly decent is a great way to describe my thought on this one. 

[EQ_Theta 457]

I liked this episode. Luna playing the imposing ghost-um... spirit-of hearth's warming future was really unexpected but it was great! 

[Cleverclover 1,526]

A very sweet and lighthearted episode. 

 

Even I can't find too much to complain about...

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

That was amazing. Granted, it's very hard to screw up a retelling of A Christmas Carol given the dozens and dozens of iterations, but this episode it really captures the musical feeling of other versions like A Muppet's Christmas Carol. All the ghost's songs perfectly flow with the mood they're trying to show Snowfall Glimmer. ApplePast's starts out happy before dipping into sadness to show her shifting opinion of the holidays, Pinkie Present's is chipper and upbeat the whole way through to illustrate the joy of the season and finally Future Luna (Seriously, who could have seen her coming?!) is gloomy and terrifying the whole way through.

 

My only complaint is, due to the time limit of the episode, Snowfall isn't given any time to ruminate on what the ghosts have shown her.  After seeing her past alone, she seemed to have realized that her spell is a bad idea, but she's given no time to show whether she still intends to cast the spell or not before Pinkie drags her by the collar and even less time before she's booted straight into visions of the future.

 

Still, that's a minor nitpick in the grand scheme of things and I loved and enjoyed this episode from start to finish. We also say Rarity's parents among the crowd, though I would have liked it if we saw Twilight's parents too. Yeah, they live in Canterlot so it wouldn't be easy for them to get their, but it still would have been a sweet touch.   

[Brony Lounge 102]

Honestly I think its a bit to early for a Christmas episode, if it isn’t in December its to early

 

Still a decent episode though

[Varrack 1,080]

This was great. Starlight as Scrooge was well thought out, and the three spirits...Yeah, I must say I liked this ep a lot.

 

The music was also really good. Wasn't expecting a musical but it happened and it was done well.

 

Not much to dislike about this episode, the story just seemed beautifully put together and that made me really like it.

[BlackWater627 700]

 

 

The unfortunate implications: The episode seems to stress that hard work is not something one should aspire towards. I know the idea is that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy but the wording off it come off as implying the hard work and dedication to something are not ideal on should strive for, especially with the ending about the betterment of Equestria. Isn't that what people should be doing, trying to make the world better?

 

Bam! You nailed my one major nitpick of the episode. I mean, I loved this and gave it a 5/5 but this is a detail that bugs me. I get that they didn't mean to imply this but it's just too obvious for anyone who picks up on the details. I think the writers might have written it in without any idea of the complexity of anti-work mentality. That is to say, most people in our culture (I should specify US for the international bronies) are raised with a certain understanding of what work and fun are. Work is this and it's undesirable and fun is that and it's what you want. And this comes down to fundamental economic structures - all of which is a very deep and complex discussion that is far beyond the scope of this show (or this ep thread for that matter). So, yeah I understand why work and betterment got that implication, but I do disagree with it. 

[Zantetsuken 364]

You see, Josh Haber? (first episode rating 4.1/10)

You see, Ed Valentine? (first episode rating 3.2/10)

You see, Fox bros? (first episode rating 4/10)
You see, G.M. Berrow? (first episode rating 4.8/10)
You see, Dave Rapp? (first episode rating 3/10)

 

Your first episode doesn't have to be complete shit! Why don't we all take a page from Mike Vogel (Or Corey Powell, who back in season 3 scored a perfect 10 with his first episode, Sleepless in Ponyville) and try to put some effort into our first impressions?

 

This episode was beautiful. Now I don't agree with our friend, Mr. Big Jim, that this episode was one of the best ever but I will concede that it was damn good.

 

The songs were all enjoyable with my favorite being Pinkie's song. Very upbeat and catchy without falling into the pop song trap most upbeat Pinkie songs fall into. 

 

Most characters were on point and I liked Spikes occasional snarky comments, that's right, someone actually used Spike as PROPER COMIC RELIEF and he didn't cut in too often, or make me cringe. I like how he basically ques the end of the second act.

 

Nothing really felt forced or rushed and it felt like a Disney musical at some points (Looks at Starlight's song.) I mean the only real complaint I have that's not really a complaint and has no bearing on the episode is that it's a Christmas episode airing in May. Two months shy of being able to make a Christmas in July joke. 

 

Bottom line is I very much enjoyed the episode and this is how you make a first impression as a writer. The 5 (technically 6) writers listed above all had TERRIBLE FIRST EPISODES. And this episode showed, hey how about I try to make a good first impression? Then again Mr. Vogel did have a bit of an unfair advantage seeing as how he was former VP of development at Hasbro Studios but that isn't really an excuse. Anyone can write a good episode if they put in effort and I commend Mr. Vogel and look forward to more from him. 

 

A Hearts Warming Tale 8.2/10 

Edited May 14, 2016 by Zantetsuken

[Sonic5421 423]

Dash is playing Cratchet, Applejack ghost of holiday past, Pinkie Pie holiday present and Rarity and Fluttershy are party guests. Which means future will be... Twilight. Calling it now.

 

Also, I say Sherlock and Watson ponies among the crowd. 

 

Edit: Well... I was wrong. Glad I was too, who could have seen Luna coming?

 

I sure did not expect to see Princess Luna as the Ghost of Christmas/Hearth's Warming Future, especially getting another chance to sing since Twilight's Kindgom. That was awesome to see Luna again.

 

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

 

 

The unfortunate implications: The episode seems to stress that hard work is not something one should aspire towards. I know the idea is that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy but the wording off it come off as implying the hard work and dedication to something are not ideal on should strive for, especially with the ending about the betterment of Equestria. Isn't that what people should be doing, trying to make the world better?

That's not what I'm noticing thus far. What I catch is that you can have fun and work hard without wanting to suck the fun and life out of others' enjoyment.

[Princess Book Horse 352]

Mother of Celestia, that was amazing!! I loved the songs, especially "Say goodbye to the holiday" and "Luna's future." This was definitely the best episode of S6, gg Mike Vogel.

[BlackWater627 700]

@@PoisonClaw,

@@Sonic5421,  

If you were in the livestream on eqTV then you might have seen me guess it was Luna. I think the live poll had the majority of us guess that too. It was predictable. Not that predictable is bad. She just happens to be the dark-colored alicorn who used to be a scary villain and often steps into ponies' nightmares. I love Lulu. 

[Cleverclover 1,526]

 

 

You see, Ed Valentine? (first episode rating 3.2/10)

 

You must be joking...

 

 Flight to the Finish had to have been the single greatest first episode from a new writer there's ever been in the show. 

[Carolina 212]

I liked this one a lot. Songs were great, atmosphere was cool and humor was nice.

 

However, there was one problem. See, I have the same feelings as Starlight Glimmer about Christmas. I used to absolutely love it, but have come to see it as quite stressful and overly commercial. And I think specials like this (and The Grinch and Scrooge) reinforce it. Christmas is just made so overly important in our culture. It's like this magical pinnacle of the year where everything is supposed to be made better (hell, listen to some of the old Christmas carols! There's one by Raffi that says "every little hope, every little prayer, has a chance of coming true at Christmas). We've built it up WAY too much - advertising in November? Or October? Even September? Half the year practically focuses on this one day alone.  It just sets people up to be disappointed, I think, and to believe that its the ONLY time to show kindness to people (although the "spirit of Christmas" as they say, is actually a good way of thinking if it implies treating people well and warmly).  I kind of think that, in some ways, we spend the entire year getting over how Christmas has disappointed us. And how could it not? It's just one day! You can't expect that much from one day. I remember how much I used to hate the end of the holiday season because it seemed like now, you had to get on with dreary, not-so-special reality.

 

Also, this episode has that common problem of portraying anyone who doesn't like Christmas as having something WRONG with them. Snowfall Frost doesn't dislike it because it has disappointed her, but because someone convinced her to be a workaholic. And I also felt like Starlight was getting guilt-tripped for not absolutely loving Christmas (er...Heathswarming's Eve) and of course, at the end, she had a change of heart. Someday, I'd like a kid's episode/special where it's okay for someone not to like Christmas without them seeming like a douche (or in the wrong) for doing so.

 

Lol. This is the longest post I've made in forever. Yay for passion! It was a nice episode. Definitely one of my faves this season.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Carolina

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

spoiler alert! This was a good episode. I liked it but I liked it just slightly less than some of the earlier episodes in the season. I realized very quickly that this was a musical episode and a Scrooge parody which is adorable! I loved that Starlight played the Snow pony trying to take away Hearth's Warming because it was such a brilliant parallel to her character. My favorite line in the whole episode was Spike saying "Yeah, coming from the pony who took away cutie marks". I think Spike's blunt line there was the best part of the whole episode! I loved Luna's scene and I related to the Snow pony desperation when she realized she was wrong. Luna's song was my favorite song in the episode. The voice work on that song was awesome! I also loved the scene with the professor pony because I had a substitute exactly like him once. That substitute was horrid! It's interesting how the Snow pony used her studies as an escape like Moon Dancer did. I think this episode was a bit fast paced and except for Luna's song most of the songs felt very similar to each other. I also sort of wish that this episodes lesson had been something more along the lines of don't force others to agree with you instead of a lesson about the gifts having meaning but that could be just me. 

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

Gotta say Spike's snark in response to Starlight's criticism of Snowball Frost in Act 2 was hilarious. XD

[colt .45 259]

"Instant classic" is the first description that comes to my mind. The animation, and songs were exquisite.

 

On these forums people frequently ask what a good episode to show someone who is not a MLP fan would be, to showcase what makes this show special to us. I think this episode fits that, as everyone is familiar with the source material.

 

The only thing that could have made this any more perfect, would have been if it was an hour long special, at a more appropriate time of the year.

 

 

P.S. I would like to add that as a non-christian, that dose'nt celebrate Christmas, I have always appreciated the way they have presented Hearths Warming as a holiday that encompasses the spirit of what any culture that celebrates a holiday near the winter solstice is truly about. (Earth pony, Unicorn, Pegasi anyone?)