Changing real world names to ponyisms, creative writing or laziness?

[Azureth 687]

By ponyisms what I mean is they will take a real world city or something any ponyfy it. For example:

 

Manhattan=Manehattan.

Philadelphia=Fillydelphia.

Saudi Arabia=Saddle Arabia.

 

etc. etc.

 

While I understand it can give a nod to our world and it's easier to do, would you consider it creative writing or just laziness on the writers part for not being able to come up with more original names for things?

Edited August 5, 2016 by Azureth

[Classic Play 232]

I say it's creative. I love all the ponyisms and puns, just as long as they work. Mareami doesn't really work too well, but most others do.

[Prospekt 11,020]

I say it's creative. I love all the ponyisms and puns, just as long as they work. Mareami doesn't really work too well, but most others do.

 

Agreed. As long as they aren't awkward, I don't mind them.

 

The MLP wiki saved this tweet from M.A. Larson before it was deleted:

Edited August 5, 2016 by Prospekt

[Megas 27,765]

I think it's fine. The puns are really lame, but At the least it helps it feel like a horse world

Edited August 5, 2016 by Megas

[Luminance 2,186]

Showing ponified places gives the viewers a point of reference to real locations and that just adds better visual and contextual clues to entertain and sometimes helps establish the setting in an episode. Each different location in the show is unique in a way that it simplifies and recreates a mini-version of the current places we live in just for a good laugh.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

It's kitschy, but pun names are endemic to cartoons based on a world with a unifying theme. It's interesting in the fact that few of these horse terms have ever been used in such a mainstream context, so there's a bit of a learning element to it as well. I doubt most of us knew what a canter was before this show.

Edited August 6, 2016 by Wind Chaser

[cmarston1 5,959]

Some of them are cute, some of them are mildly annoying,

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,730]

They are cheesy, sure, but I like them. They have a sort of quirky charm to them while also being close to something we all know too. I don't see it as really creative, but I also don't see it as lazy either.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

I say it's creative. I love all the ponyisms and puns, just as long as they work. Mareami doesn't really work too well, but most others do.

 

So Maneami then? Miami needs one!

 

Or at least something from Florida.

Edited August 6, 2016 by MegaSean45

[Goat-kun 2,528]

These are double-edged words.

 

On one writhing tentacle, you immediately conjure a sense of familiarity where viewers can readily comprehend background stories behind such places, leaving you free to get straight to business with them characters and lessons of the week.

 

On the other bulging appendage, you destroy any sense of deeper immersion and force your world to parasite humanity forevermore.

 

In the end, it’s all a matter of practicality, really, and since the only long-term goal of MLP is to make money, the first option seems like the most logical approach. One shouldn’t force upward-gazing working class individuals with a suburban Biedermeirer mentality to include shards of lore into 22 min long episodes of some family friendly cartoon which only truly represents one’s springboard towards better opportunities.

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

I say creative, it kind of goes along with the fact that Equestria is an alternate version of our world. Well, at least the world is, Equestria is the alternate version of America *the US.

Edited August 6, 2016 by Babyyoshi309

[Jeric 46,860]

They serve to give the younger audience a frame of reference with helps them build familiarity with unseen locations. That tends to be a valid approach to world building, and it isn't just the younger audience. How many here want to see Saddle Arabia, Las Pegasus, and Fillydelphia on screen?

 

It builds anticipation too.

[twiia 1,843]

Some of them are okay, but some just sound weird. Not the most creative, but not too lazy either.

[Teavvi 627]

Some of them are okay, but some just sound weird. Not the most creative, but not too lazy either.

I personally think it's not creative and laziness. But I do agree on how they sound very weird...