S06:E08 - A Hearth's Warming Tail

[Liam_marshall 42]

i loved this episode bit early for christmas but i guess ponies have christmas 6 months before we do i got the reference its from a christmas carol i loved how on this episode that we got a luna song yay  

[Kimi Vulpine 219]

WHY ARE MUSICAL EPISODES SO GOOD?

 

I'm not kidding, MLP shines the best when it does them. Crusaders of the Lost Mark is my favorite episode of the series, Magical Mystery Cure is my second favorite and Pinkie Pride is my third favorite, and this seems like it will be at least on the top 20 or even 10. This was pure excellence. The songs were the overall best in a musical episode, as much as I love the songs in all of the other three, and all the interactions were really good.

The story and plot are the weakest part for being a retelling of something everybody knows, but they did it pretty darn well as far as adaptations go. I wasn't hyped for this episode at all because I never liked Hearth's Warming Eve and Hearthbreakers is a bit underwhelming, but man did this catch me off guard.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

The worst part of this episode was that it didn't premiere in December. That's most definitely a good thing.

 

MLP's official now. Virtually every kids' show has done an adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

 

Likewise, Ingram really earned his paycheck here, as did the visual and sound guys.

 

Vogel did a great job in his first script. Even though it's a relatively safe formula to adapt a classic story with new characters, it puts even more emphasis on staying in character and especially on being stylistically distinct given the sheer volume of Christmas Carol retellings out there. It's a different style of writing where you have to be loyal to two works at once and yet manage to stand out at the same time. Casting is important, too, and it's amazing to see the MLP characters bring their signature flair to their iconic roles.

 

It's a kind of episode that, by design, puts more emphasis on the technicals. They really nailed it with some of the best songwriting I've seen since "Pinkie Pride" and also some amazing visuals. Set design, character design, sound design, and effects animation were all at their top notch, creating an impressive atmosphere.

 

It's a beautiful piece that many of us will definitely consider looking back on come December. On its own merits, it's a good demonstration of how to do adaptations right.

[Luminance 2,186]

Stellar episode. If I didn't knew better, Rainbow Dash's relative and/or mentor Stallion is seen on the final closing scene next to Bulk Biceps.

Edited May 14, 2016 by MiataPony

[Luna 831 466]

i loved the luna part she needs more epsiodes get on it writers do her justice.

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

I don't think there's been a better 2nd act in the history of the show. Everything with Pinkie was perfect, and DHX did an amazing job throughout the entire episode at adding to every scene and line. Love Luna's new VA too.

 

9/10

[cider float 2,538]

Only thing I liked was Luna's song.

Edited May 14, 2016 by cider float

[Luna 831 466]

Way, waaaaay too much Glimmer for me. Turn off.
Glad Luna got a song, though.
Still, a boo episode, because so much SG.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Luna 831

[Dark Qiviut 22,431]

I think it's safe to say this is the best HWE episode so far.

1. Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol has been retold hundreds of times, but the biggest reason why is because it's a classic all in itself and is so versatile. You can parody it in so many ways without screwing up. AHWT retells it on the nose while keeping true to both the spirit of Christmas and FIM. Nothing here looks out of place, from the parodied characterizations to the characterizations of present-day Equestria.
2. There are so many hilarious jokes in here, and the meta references are timed perfectly. Pinkie announcing her song was great, and Spike's commercial cue is perhaps the best joke of the season:
   
   

    

   Twilight: Well, the party was—

    

   Spike: Wait! Can we take a quick break? I need to refill my cocoa.
    

   Twilight: *groan* Fine.
   
   *Spike leaves*
   
   Twilight: But hurry up! We're almost to the best part!

   Once more, great role for Spike.

3. The animation is really good. A lot of fantastic animation pieces. But, God, the graphics are gorgeous! Simply. Gorgeous! You can tell DHX really stepped up their game.
4. The songs. Just…wow. Beautiful. They work on their own and in the story. Amazing lyrics and score.
5. Three really good morals:
   
   a. Celebrating Christmas HWE is about sharing quality time with the ones you love.
   
   b. Just because you work hard all the time doesn't mean you can't not relax and spend quality time with others.
   
   c. Work hard, but don't suck the fun and life out of others' enjoyment.

The one little flaw here is the pacing early. It could've been a little tighter to smooth out, but it's minuscule compared to the rest.

 

All in all, phenomenal episode!

[Foliha 395]

I'm not a Starlight Glimmer fan myself, but she was great in this episode...

 

My favorite moments?

 

[Professional Horse 94]

Silly Luna, you can't bathe in a blanket.

 

Very enjoyable episode. Can anyone tell me where I can find Daniel Ingram? I want to kiss that man. He just keeps pumping out amazing songs!

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

It's gonna be a running theme for musical episodes to be the best episodes.

 

Very good episode. It had the right amount of emotions, very nice songs, and the characters fit their Christmas Carol roles perfectly.

 

10/10. The only flaw here is that it didn't premiere in December.

[SilyGeny 369]

This episode was so darn good!

 

All the songs were great, and the fact that they managed to put Luna in the episode just blew me away, I'm glad to see that musical episodes are going to be a recurring thing now in MLP :3

[Envy 6,169]

So that was A Christmas Carol with a slight dash of the Grinch. Lol.

 

"Luna's" song reminded me of Les Miserables for some reason. Now I'm going to wonder exactly which song from that musical made me think of it. Perhaps it was just a general feel.

 

EDIT: It hit me... Javert's songs. Definitely Javert.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Envy

[ImpctR 155]

I'm kind of surprised... an episode in which not only nothing happened but some things were way weird got so highly liked, like are good episodes measured by the number of songs? (and if not Christmas songs I would ask what was that special about them). Not to say that while I felt some joy, the magic of the holiday was not present, or I may have been more positive, it is May, which is why again I'm baffled by the votes.  I am not fan of musicals but for a Hearth's Warming Eve it is suitable, so I think it was fitting and I did not mind that songs were here.

 

As for the good and bad in the episode, I will start with the bad. Firstly, the whole episode passing as a story, okay why not, it was unique, I did not mind that the story was presented as the Mane 6 and Starlight. I did not like Rainbow's mane style, sorry, it was way off. I know each of them were representing some last century's fashion and style as the story was taking place 1-2 centuries ago but RD's specially was meh to me. 

 

An episode with Starlight at Hearth's Eve is a nice idea but maybe they did not have much to add, it was written by a new writer it seems. Christmas songs I like hearing when it is really the holiday, they did not annoy me, as they were suitable but the whole episode was not in place for that. One song that I really liked and I think is the best and most touching I ever heard of all the seasons (well ive forgotten the old ones, I remember Season 4's had 1-2 nice songs but this one was better), that's Luna's song. Is it a coincidence that exactly Luna's idk but I loved it, for the rest I felt indifferent. I think when watching the previous Hearth's Eve episodes around Christmas they sure would have increased my holiday spirit, but as I said, I did not feel it here.

 

The Luna's scene brought memories of the 'Cutie Re-Mark' almost got confused is Starlight recalling her past or the tale's. That pony professor (...)  (A good idea for a villain pony I would say) was clearly representing Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) from Harry Potter (rip, another great actor of the 2 greatest movies of their time after Christopher Lee gone : /) .

 

I loved Ponyville's Xmas /Hearth's Eve City decoration! These pictures made it look magical, like a Christmas tale.

 

 

Nothing more I can say about the episode but Season 5's episode with Marble Pie introduced there was much better, and I was expecting something bigger from a Hearth's Warming Eve episode with Starlight, would have been worthy of something greater..

Edited May 14, 2016 by ImpctR

[Foliha 395]

Really, really freaking bland...

"snip"

 

...she is just BORING.

 

Dunno for sure, but I think somebody needs a hug.  hugs

[silvadel 1,393]

That was cheesy and I didn't like the moral...  That working hard for a better equestria is a bad thing.  The credo isn't a bad thing -- just taking it to excess can be -- but also might not be

 

Driven people bring achievements.  There is nothing wrong with having sections of your population be that driven.

It does say that it takes an extraordinary will to destroy Equestria because spirits will come to stop you.

It also proffers just how much more dangerous Scrooge could be in a world where powerful magic is attainable.

At any rate being driven gave her the ability to cast spells so very powerful that they could affect all of equestria itself.  I wonder though why she got so caught up.  If she truly believed what she was saying, she could have done so much more, although we didn't get that side of the story.

What we got was ... stop working so hard ... take a break and have some suds... with friends.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

Silly Luna, you can't bathe in a blanket.

 

Very enjoyable episode. Can anyone tell me where I can find Daniel Ingram? I want to kiss that man. He just keeps pumping out amazing songs!

He lives and works in Vancouver, but I think he'd prefer if you met him at a convention.

[Odd Ball 231]

I love Twilight's brief impression of Pinkie Pie at the end of the present song. Not only for being funny, but it was a bit of a development gag. Tara Strong was originally gonna do Pinkie's voice along with Twilight's until Andrea Libman got the part.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Da King

[Midnight Seashell 206]

Lalalalalalala sing a good song.

Lalalalalalala an episode filled with songs.

[Dynamo Pad 11,353]

This episode was amazing and a very good Christmas themed episode. The story Twilight told Starlight was very interesting and a really nice reference to "A Christmas Carol." There were some pretty good references, like Granny Smith and Big Mac reminded me of the cartoon version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Derpy on the Hearths Warming tree reminded me of Spongebob's first Christmas song. The songs in the episode were absolutely perfect in my opinion. The pacing of the songs were well done and just when you think one of the songs was the best, there was another one that was even better. AJ, Pinkie and Luna's roles as the spirits of Hearth's Warming fit very well, as well as everypony else's role in the story. I do wonder though, did Luna look a little taller than usual, or is that just me? All in all, this was an awesome episode and in my opinion, the best Christmas themed MLP episode we have so far. Happy early Hearth's Warming everyone. 

Edited May 14, 2016 by Dynamo Pad

[Sals 56]

 

 

A Hearth's Warming Tail

 

You should probably change the title of the entire post to match the actual title of the episode. Heh 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

You should probably change the title of the entire post to match the actual title of the episode. Heh 

 

 

Good catch; consider it changed. ^^;

[Thrond 3,263]

Best episode since "Rarity Investigates," which was an instant favourite of mine? Maybe. Clever changes to the Christmas Carol story, great visuals, great songs, great writing, thematic resonance... remove a little bit of questionable mild subtext and you have something nearly perfect. Delightful.

 

 

Full review at my blog. Posting URL because I can't hyperlink on mobile: http://throndponycorner.blogspot.com/2016/05/episode-review-hearths-warming-tail.html?m=1

 

Also, did Twilight just use Starlight's holiday apathy as an excuse to read a book?

Edited May 14, 2016 by AlexanderThrond

[FlutterForever 330]

Am I the only one that didn't like it? It wasn't the worst, but it wasn't great either. It felt really out of place for the time of year and I'm not interested in episodes that are pretty much musicals. I don't want to sound horrible towards it, but it just didn't work for me and did they really have to go with a scrooge spin-off like every has done before?

 

Like I said; I don't want to be hard on it, but I just can't bring myself too like it.