Should the shows style be changed to be more like the 2017 movie?

[Lunar Echo 10,335]

Do you think the regular tv show should be changed to this new style they have for the 2017 movie? 

 

I am personally unsure, I've come to love the shows current style, although I wouldn't be completely distraught if they were to change it to the 2017 movies style. If anything it's putting it up there with Disney's level of quality, not that the quality is bad currently, it's just giving it a fresh new perspective to first-time viewers and the broader audiences of the world. Like how the shows popularity went boom as soon as Generation 4 My Little Pony was introduced, Generation 5 could bring even more popularity and a wider scale of audience.

Edited July 7, 2017 by Lunar Echo

[Will Guide 21,360]

Unsure, but likely not! The budget for the movie's animation is much higher than the show's! The showrunners wouldn't be able to afford it!

Can anyone at least argue why this should be done first?

Edited July 6, 2017 by WiiGuy2014

[Patty Thundersnow 4,163]

No. It would cause the budget for the show to increase. Yes, i'd like to see it happen, but it most likely will not happen.

[SugarCoatxMarblePie 701]

If it did a season would only have 4 episodes due to production time.

[Luminance 2,186]

I've grown accustomed to the Flash animation of FiM for so long already and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

[cmarston1 5,959]

I actually would like to see this happen for season 8 or what have you.  I really really like the new style the moviews is going with.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

53 minutes ago, Lunar Echo said:

Do you think the regular tv show should be changed to this new style they have for the 2017 movie? 

No, because it would cost way too much.

Its good for the movie because they have money to spare, but they have to keep things low in cost for the show. Plus, it would run the risk of alienating long term fans: I LOVE the new art style after getting used to it (Its so much smoother for action scenes), but I see alot of complaints about it on other boards.

[Ganondorf8 11,307]

The budget for MLP would skyrocket if they were to use the same animation as seen in the movie. It--the movie--can get away with using a more proficient art style as there is a much higher budget for it, a common trend with animated movies, whereas the show has to rely on a small budget. While it would be nice if the show were to adopt the movie's style, logic proves that it would be financially impossible.

[Ruffled Daydreams 65]

It would be FANTASTIC. but as many people have said, it would take a long time, and would cost more so that it isn't worth it.

[Barpy 2,225]

I prefer old one on the show and new one on the film, i mean, they can always make MLP movie 2.

[Steve Piranha 29,424]

I would love too, movie poneh are more cute and adorable  . but I'm pragmatic enough to know that it would elevate costs too much, and flash animated poneh aren't exactly broke either

[Jeric 46,851]

I'm completely on the fence with this. Like others have said, you increase production time. I'm not talking per episode, since I can't honestly say which is easier and faster to animated jn, but switching from Flash to Harmony would require downtime. This is a huge production change, and that is assuming they scale down the effects we see in the film. The reason feature films look better is due to the increased budget and additional time. You could scale everything down and use the software with less effects, but you still need to convert processes, rebuild thousands of legacy assets, etc. Hasbro promised investors that a long hiatus will not occur again. 

You could conceivably increase staff to produce the new stuff concurrently, but that is a huge jump in budget. So the studio would ask itself, is the financial cost and opportunity cost worth the benefit? The truth is ... there is no real value in changing midstream. Fans aren't going to bolt because the show keeps production in Flash. They know this. It's always a value proposition. 

That said, if they magically change things for Season 9 (too late for 8), I wouldn't mind at all. Too me I am fine with styles changing. I look at the Harry Potter film series, and comic books in general, as proof that a visual style can change as needed without hurting the experience. So I'm not opposed to the concept of updating the visual style, as long as I like the new one too. In the case of the film, I do (from what I've seen). 

Basically, I doubt it will happen anytime soon, but if they do it later down the line I'm fine with it. 

7 hours ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

Unsure, but likely not! The budget for the movie's animation is much higher than the show's! The showrunners wouldn't be able to afford it!

Can anyone at least argue why this should be done first?

That last sentence ... that's the right way to approach many things in life and is the perfect approach to this question. Good show! 

[Will Guide 21,360]

4 minutes ago, Jeric said:

That last sentence ... that's the right way to approach many things in life and is the perfect approach to this question. Good show! 

Wow... I didn't think I would be complimented like this, especially after last Saturday when I wrote an angry post towards some brones who simply didn't like Zephyr Breeze, my favorite, surprised-to-relate-to character Left me peeved at them! Oops! I said the p word!

Anyway, @Jeric, thanks for quoting me!

[cmarston1 5,959]

While I would like to see more of the 2017 movie's style for the show itself, I have to admit that I am really curious to see what the Equestria Girls franchise would look like if they were to use that style instead of their regular usage of flash animation.

Is anyone else curious to see what this would look like?

[Sonic5421 423]

I'll stick to the Flash animation for the series as that's what they've used for seven years now. I'd rather they not change it to the Toon Boom animation they are using in the movie for future seasons.

[heavens-champion 1,905]

Nah. I like it the way it is. Besides, I've heard Toon Boom was just for the movie.

[Hierok 11,831]

I actually prefer the 2d style, but for the movie it's fine.

I hate it when they change the style of the show. Like with winx club. Sometimes 2d, sometimes 3d. It ruined it in my opinion!

[Skyfrog 1]

I really like the show's Flash style much better. The movie style just looks kind of weird; sure it might grow on me but I would not want the show to be changed.

[Merion 783]

On 7.07.2017 at 8:10 PM, Sonic5421 said:

I'll stick to the Flash animation for the series as that's what they've used for seven years now. I'd rather they not change it to the Toon Boom animation they are using in the movie for future seasons.

Toon Boom is just software, you can use it to produce fluid frame-by-frame animation (like they did in the movie) as well as Flash-like animation (AKA cut out).

And I think they should actually switch to ToonBoom, but just to step up their cut out game. I was quite impressed by FiM's Flash animation back in the 2011, I really was. But now, with all the quality cut out shows coming out, MLP is falling behind.

The series could get a tiny upgrade and more advanced software could help, that's all.

Edited August 8, 2017 by Merion

[Sonic5421 423]

8 hours ago, Merion said:

Toon Boom is just software, you can use it to produce fluid frame-by-frame animation (like they did in the movie) as well as Flash-like animation (AKA cut out).

And I think they should actually switch to ToonBoom, but just to step up their cut out game. I was quite impressed by FiM's Flash animation back in the 2011, I really was. But now, with all the quality cut out shows coming out, MLP is falling behind.

The series could get a tiny upgrade and more advanced software could help, that's all.

Sounds good, but looking at the Summertime Shorts from Equestria Girls, it looks like they used a combination of Flash and Toon Boom Harmony there with how things looked with the girls in their Fall Formal attire in the first three shorts and the ones that followed.

[Justin_Case001 4,889]

I have been avoiding all movie spoilers with a meticulous level of dedication.  As soon as the first teaser was released, I began avoiding most pony content.  I stayed away from the forums for the most part, and I avoided watching anything pony related on youtube except for older things.  I was determined to be completely surprised.  I didn't want to know anything about the movie.  Absolutely nothing.  I wanted to walk into the theater completely blind and just be totally surprised.  But earlier today, I accidentally saw a thumbnail for a trailer.  That was to be expected, since I'm not going to completely avoid the internet.  (I mean, without youtube, what would I do all day?)  Upon seeing the picture, I was immediately and greatly disturbed.  I wouldn't have been bothered by it, because you can't tell anything about the plot from a thumbnail, but it was the animation style that upset me.  I had no idea that they were changing the appearance of the characters.  I mean, I had heard something about a new animation studio being used, but I just figured that it would improve the quality, not alter the actual character models.  I needed to know if this was really how they look in the movie, or if the thumbnail was misleading, so I clicked the trailer, left the sound off, paused it, scrubbed through a bit, and just clicked a few still frames so I could see what they look like without spoiling the plot.  Honestly, I am devastated by this new style.  I am shocked and horrified that they would actually change them like this.  They don't look right.  Not at all.  These aren't the characters I know and love.  I expected the movie to be upgraded and look fancier.  In fact, I wanted that, but I didn't want the basic shapes and models to be altered!  I just wanted some fancier lighting and depth.  Characters shouldn't be altered this way.  Take the Simpsons, for instance.  Now, completely disregarding the drop of quality of the content, the show never changed the way the characters looked, not even for the movie, and that was the right call.  The movie stepped up the game for lighting and made it look fancier, but the characters were still the same.  When you watched the movie, you felt like, "Oh, yeah, this is the Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie that I've always known."  But the ponies in this movie trailer look all wrong.  I expect franchises to evolve, JUST LIKE MLP DID, but not mid-generation like this.  You can't (rather, shouldn't) alter characters that we've come to know and love.  These just aren't the same ponies anymore.  They're fan art interpretations.

Is this cool?

Yes.

And this?

Again, absolutely.

How about this?

Heh, gotcha!  It's Ghostie!  (For all you old timers on the forums.)  But seriously, again, it's awesome.  But I wouldn't want the actual show to look like any of these, because these are NOT THE ACTUAL CHARACTERS.  These are fan art interpretations.  And that's what this movie is.  Just a big fan-made youtube video.  And don't get me wrong, I love fan-made youtube videos.  But it's not the real characters.

I am actually very sick over this.  Upset enough, in fact, that I don't know if I even want to go anymore.  And today I was planning on working on my skirt to finish my EG Rainbow cosplay that I was planning on wearing to the movie.  Now I don't even know if I want to see it.  This animation style change feels like a complete betrayal, a travesty of MLP.  Now, I'm still sane enough and rational enough to admit that the only reason I feel this way is because I'm a sick, sick person.  And I don't mean sick as in twisted.  I mean sick as in ill.  I'm autistic and clinically depressed.  (Heh, there you go, anti-bronies.  Have some ammo.  A fucked up person who couldn't fit into real life was drawn to ponies.  Surprise, surprise, huh?)  Now, I'm not telling you this to try to get attention, or to brag in some sick way about how screwed up I am.  I'm simply stating the facts.  I realize that I'm such a sick, sick person who is so miserable that I've placed an extremely unhealthy level of importance on this franchise.  I've used FIM as a crutch, sometimes to the point of being the only thing to keep me alive.  I built walls of ponies around myself to try to shield myself from the pain of my own existence.  When one has no self-worth and no confidence, it becomes horrifying easy to let fictional franchises become a tether that you attach your life to, even when you actively try to prevent that from happening.  If you let yourself become dangerously attached as I have, then it can come crumbling down at the drop of hat.  Escapism is a house of cards.

I am pathetic, and this is my own pathetic problem.  I'm sure that my opinion is an incredibly unpopular one.  I just wanted to express it.  I am probably the only person who is bothered by this at all.  I just have to deal with this, and I don't know how.

[Tacodidra 61,163]

9 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

Honestly, I am devastated by this new style.  I am shocked and horrified that they would actually change them like this.  They don't look right.  Not at all.  These aren't the characters I know and love.

I completely understand the way you feel. I do like the new pony designs myself in spite of their differences from the ones in the show. However, I have felt the same way about character designs in cartoons before.

I love the classic Looney Tunes, but I refuse to watch the new ones they've made in the last few years and basically ignore their existence. The designs in them look so ugly to me, the complete opposite of what they were in the classics. It may sound really picky and shallow, but I consider animation an art form – I have to like the visuals in order to enjoy an animated series or film. Too much of a drastic change is rarely a good thing.

[Micah 44]

I really wish it could, but I fear the show wouldn't have enough of a budget! Not to mention how much longer episodes will take to complete! 

While I love the movies art style and wish it could happen, I doubt it will!

[Justin_Case001 4,889]

On 8/9/2017 at 9:42 AM, ihhh said:

Dude, get over yourself, learn to accept change, and stop seeking pity. The movie's art style is different. Get the fuck over it.

Although you didn't mention me specifically, I have to assume you're talking to me, as I am the only one in the thread that appears to have a serious problem with the change.  I thought I did my best to own my problems and admit that they are just that--my stupid problems.  I wanted to express my opinion because it made me feel mildly better.  If that's a crime, then I'm sorry.  I'm not seeking pity, nor projecting blame, nor expecting someone else to cater to me and try to make me feel better, or anything else like that.  And those with mental illnesses cannot simply and easily "get the fuck over it."  If I could just "snap out of it", if I could just "buck up", if I could just "stop feeling sorry for myself", if I could just "get over it", then I would have done so twenty years ago.  It try every god damn day to get the fuck over everything.  It's a lifelong struggle.  Though I do always appreciate when someone takes a little time out of their day to make me feel worse about myself, so thank you.

That said, and my stupid problems and prejudices aside, I actually, objectively, legitimately do think that it is wrong and a bit of a slap in the face to fans for any creator to vastly change the appearance or style of an established character or content.  I think that once fans get to know a character or a fictional world, they have an investment in it which is not trivial, and should not be ignored.  Now, I fully support digital remastering of picture and sound, but I do not support actually altering the appearances of the art.  This debate is similar to that of whether or not to colorize films or shows that were made in black and white.  I am an advocate for preserving b&w.  I think the poster child for this topic, however, are all the many changes to the Star Wars movies over the decades.  I'll try to make this brief so I don't careen too far off topic.  I'm young enough that I didn't grow too attached to the original, theatrical releases of the Star Wars trilogy.  Most of my concrete memories are of the special editions, so the changes didn't bother me.  I typically thought most of them were good.  But I actually had my mind changed in real time when watching a documentary on TV.  I believe it was called The People vs. George Lucas.  When I heard fans who fell in love with Star Wars in theater in '77 explain why they felt betrayed by the changes, I couldn't help but side with them, because I realized how I would feel if something precious from my childhood was tampered with in such a way.  For instance, what if Zelda A Link to the Past was altered with updated 2017 graphics and completely redone music and the like?  And let's say that it wasn't just a reboot meant to pay homage while preserving copies of the original as well, but they actually tried to erase the original 16-bit game from history, making it unavailable?  (This is essentially what happened to the Star Wars franchise, of course.)  If this happened to Zelda ALTTP, or Super Metroid, or Final Fantasy VI, I'd be f*cking horrified.  I want those games preserved, exactly as I remember them.  Change is fine, too.  That's why I love brand new games.  And reboots and remasters are fine, as long as the originals are still available, exactly as they used to be.  There is a special, indefinable quality to a piece of art inherent in the way it was originally created, and I believe it wrong to change it.  That's why we don't f*ck around with the original Mona Lisa.  It is preserved as is, flaws and all.  And I believe that it is a poor choice to change the appearance of the FIM characters.  The movie should only feature fancier lighting, smoother animations, etc.  In my opinion.  Once the appearances and shapes of a character are changed, they cease to truly be that character anymore.  If the time has come for a change, and a studio wants to update and use a new style, then I believe it's best to end their show gracefully, and begin a new show with new characters.  Hasbro should have kept the style the same for the movie, and then end it and begin Gen 5 if then wanted to adopt a new style.

I can already see some holes beginning to tear in my argument, such as why I am fine with video game characters looking better and better in each subsequent installment of a game franchise, such as the Master Chief from Halo 1 to 2, to 3.  Yes, I think that's great, but one might say, "But...but....but....by your logic, as soon as you alter his appearance from Halo CE, then it's not REALLY THE CHIEF ANYMORE....!"  Okay, well, I can see where that's going, but I do think there's a difference, even if I can't explain or defend it eloquently.  It's fine to make things look better as technology increases.  They used better special effects in Return of the Jedi than in A New Hope, because they had access to better technology, and that's great.  But the originals should always be preserved.  When 343 remastered Halo CE, they allowed toggling between the new graphics and the original, which made it a homage, not a betrayal.  But in the case of animated characters in a series, altering them just causes them to lose what makes them them.

On 8/9/2017 at 10:29 AM, Tacodidra said:

I completely understand the way you feel. I do like the new pony designs myself in spite of their differences from the ones in the show. However, I have felt the same way about character designs in cartoons before.

I love the classic Looney Tunes, but I refuse to watch the new ones they've made in the last few years and basically ignore their existence. The designs in them look so ugly to me, the complete opposite of what they were in the classics. It may sound really picky and shallow, but I consider animation an art form – I have to like the visuals in order to enjoy an animated series or film. Too much of a drastic change is rarely a good thing.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Guys; I had to hide a few replies here. You can make your point without getting over-aggressive about it. Please keep that in mind.