Why does everypony's parents look as young as their children?

[Dec Browne 17]

Ever notice how Twilight Velvet looks as old as her daughter, but Stormy Flare looks her age? Let's hear your thoughts!

[FanOfManyShows 392]

I'd assume it's because ponies tend to stop growing at a certain point, people do to.

 

My parents look 20 to me, yet they are a bit older than that. Some people don't tend to show their age in their appearance before certain ages. I'd assume this applies to ponies. Stormy flare is just old enough that her age shows. Whilst Twilight Velvet is still young enough to avoid showing her age, assuming she's only two decades older than Twilight- about 40 -She probably wouldn't show it. This is mostly based of the only evidence I have, my own relatives.

 

Welp, that's just my theory.

 

A game pony theory!

[cider float 2516]

Since Spitfire is the leader of the Wonderbolts she would of been in the business longer than Rainbow Dash meaning she would likely be older so her mother would also be a bit older than the mane six mothers.

 

Plus there's nothing stopping a pony to have had children in a later age. That could have been the case for Stormy Flare.

[cmarston1 5600]

I guess the show didn't really have that much diverse character designs when the show was first created with most of the characters having similar body structures or whatever, and some characters like Twlight's parents look younger than they should because of it.

[HereComesTom 801]

I thought Twilight's parents looked a little older than her---probably some small lines under their eyes are the reason why I think that.

 

Then again, the difference in age might be plain as day and night to the ponies, but opaque to us, since we're not used to seeing the difference...?

[Merrypaws 68]

To be frank, it probably is just a production issue. It's way quicker, and therefore cheaper, to produce just recolors of the same base rather than creating whole new base. And a character that gets maybe five minutes of screentime over several seasons put together probably won't weigh much in the scales when deciding how to budget the time and resources.

[ARagY 1147]

There's very little change from 20 to 40 years old other than the adding of wrinkles, change in colour, and similar. I'd assume that the mane cast are all at child-bearing age, so double that and do you think they'd be too different? Also I think Velvet looks a little older, so do the Cakes. I'd say at the beginning of becoming middle-aged. So around 40. I'd put Velvet around 35. 

[cider float 2516]

I think it's also because at that moment they needed to make Spitfire's mom look more important and prestige so I suppose making her appear a tad bit older was just a way of doing that in that episode.

[Gone Airbourne 20783]

Igneous Pie & Cloudy Quartz definitely look older than their children.

 

 

[Silver Letter 1812]

I think they did do some good in making some characters appear older such as Mr./Mrs. Shy. Usually though, there's little difference.

[Merrypaws 68]

I'd put Velvet around 35. 

 

I'm sorry, but I really had to pause at this. Because, Twilight Velvet's firstborn, Shining Armor, looks/acts/sounds somewhere round early 20s, maybe? Just for a moment reflect how young Twilight Velvet would have been when she had Shining if she truly was that young. 15? Maybe younger?

 

Sorry, this might be a little cringy, but the point I'm trying to make is that in cartoons you can't really trust the way people look when trying to determine their age. Looking at where the character is in life, both career-wise and in terms of family, might be a more reliable clue.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Merrypaws

[AlbaTross 1261]

I would assume it's because it's tougher to spot aging in animals, or at least I've found it tougher, at least until they reach the later stages of their life. When they're young it's easier to spot because they grow and do experience changes in appearance, but once they're full grown they tend to just look the same until they reach old age, and even then some animals only show age through things like decreased mobility and health related issues.

[Unlikeable Pony 2608]

Ever notice how Twilight Velvet looks as old as her daughter, but Stormy Flare looks her age? Let's hear your thoughts!

The show's pretty bad at depicting age differences in characters. Unless you specifically use Unique body models like with Mrs Cake the ponies will tend to all look the same age. This is something of an artifact from when the show first started: due to a lack of financial assets they weren't really concerned with investing in tons of unique body structures before they were sure the show would even be financially successful, so they tended to use the same cloned body vector for everyone, which is why "older" ponies like Cheerilee look the same as the mane six, ect.

[Steve Piranha 17269]

Igneous Pie & Cloudy Quartz definitely look older than their children.

Igneous definitely; Cloudy it's because of her usual stoic face, mane and glasses (she misses that, she would look as young as her daughters) 

 

Still, I believe it's mainly because of using the same base with most ponies. It's easier to make a stallion look older with facial hair, and while mare can easily look older with an appropriate mane-style and glasses, you'll make then being mistaken by siblings if  not, like the famous case of Twi Velvet and Night Light (seriously, they're grandparents and they still look like older siblings to Twi and Shining Armor )

[Kyoshi 26970]

I think with ponies you really have to get old to start looking old. Flare is probably a middleground, while Granny Smith is basically ancient levels. XD

[Gone Airbourne 20783]

Ms. Cake and Mr. Cake as well don't look as young as the majority of the ponies.

Edited December 11, 2016 by Gone Airbourne

[Cwanky 8390]

A lot of it seems to be the same reason why we see "clones" of background ponies that resemble other characters. The animators are on a budget,  rushed and perhaps a bit lazy at times, so there's often more tendency to reuse character designs and models for minor characters, unless they're significantly older or meant to stand out.

[Dec Browne 17]

Wait. Since Betsey Trotson has the Stormy Flare body, and the real Betsey Johnson is 74, then it could just be an alternate elderly body type.

[Denim&Venom 9351]

Perhaps the issue is that you're holding ponies to human standards of ageing. Humans do not age gracefully in comparison to other species. Halfway through your life, your body begins to break down, and age shows itself. This is not the case in most animals, where it's only during the last few years that an animal will begin to show signs of weathering. 

[cider float 2516]

Some people age faster than others as well, since the ponies were written by people this distinction is also made.

[StormBlaze 968]

have you seen horses at different ages? they all look the same until theyre reeeeeeally old, then they go all skinny and ragged in places (not all of them though)

[snowflame 180]

The show's pretty bad at depicting age differences in characters. Unless you specifically use Unique body models like with Mrs Cake the ponies will tend to all look the same age. This is something of an artifact from when the show first started: due to a lack of financial assets they weren't really concerned with investing in tons of unique body structures before they were sure the show would even be financially successful, so they tended to use the same cloned body vector for everyone, which is why "older" ponies like Cheerilee look the same as the mane six, ect.

In Cutie Mark Cronicles Cheerilee is a filly while Rarity is so she is a couple of years older than the mane 6 at most (the fillies can stay same looking for a while like we have seen with the CMC but not forever). So I don't think there is any issue with her age and charcater desing.