Movie's strength as a standalone vs. newcomers to MLP?

[Cirrus. 1,088]

 

I thought the movie was pretty good for what it is. It's definitely worth seeing.

 

Unfortunately I think a fan of the show proper is going to get more out of it though.

All of us here already know who the characters are and what Equestria actually is. The first 20 minutes of the movie isn't enough for someone new to MLP to really meet/connect to the mane 6 and Spike. Also, all you really see of "Equestria" is some of Canterlot, some of the castle, the bottom of the castle waterfall stream, and some of the badlands along the southern border. I really don't know what could have been done better to fix this issue for the newbies either. An hour and a half is basically all the writers had available to work with, BUT ABOUT 85 HOURS of happenings and history already exist with the show.

 

I'm glad the movie got made and expanded the world beyond Equestria, but I don't really see it grabbing new fans more than the show would.

 

It's hard to explain, but it's kind of weird to think of the movie as a stand alone thing. Its weird- personally thinking of what I would probably think of the movie if I had never watched MLP beforehand.

Thinkception!   Think about it!

What brings this up is how I even found MLP. In 2013 I somehow knew nothing of the G4 reboot- I found it looking up Tara Strong's project history. I watched the first 2 episodes on YouTube. I thought they were OK but wasn't interested enough to watch more. It was YouTube's related suggested videos that caused me to watch more because they stayed MLP related for two weeks and it was aggravating me. Finally, out of annoyance, I clicked on one showing Vinyl Scratch because she looked weird and I wondered what the hell she was, and well- here I am.

So, do you think the movie is going to get new people interested in checking out the show and possibly joining the fandom? Do you think it ultimately was worth Hasbro's investment?

Or on the flipside- do you think it could possibly disinterest new people from further checking out more of MLP?

Edited October 13, 2017 by Cirrus.

[Ivan The Adorable 304]

Unexpectedly had a chance to see the movie...if I were to summarize in one, it was a very strange experience? I'm of two minds of how a new viewer would approach it.

It was kind of an awesome action movie, more than anything really. The animation takes a little getting used to and suffers a little when big bulky models like the storm king's airship appear (It makes me think of Who Framed Roger Rabbit when that juts up against the toon boom characters), but adds a lot more expression when done well, which is fun.

The character choreography and movement from scene to scene is the best thing about the film, in my opinion. Like, hands down, some of the best in any movie I have seen. The storyboard crew nailed every aspect of their job. Which is consistent overall with the show, so if that's what you took away from this movie, I think you might be pleased with what the show has to offer.

And....uh.....the plot was not great in general, but especially maybe not for a newcomer.

I don't exactly want to say "just okay", I think "half-great" might catch my feelings on the plot better. The entire last half of the movie belonged to a story that wasn't exactly told by the first half. It's basically just coherent enough in the build up to let you fill in the blanks in your mind and imagine the second half's resolutions had the foundation they acted like they did. I actually don't think too many characters was the issue (You could totally throw out Grubber though. It's amazing how much was wasted on that Scrappy Doo) I feel they just didn't write the mane 6 in very active roles throughout the meet and greets to merit the big turnarounds.

A looot of the movie doesn't exactly feel like a standalone that represents the show very accurately or gets the feel across, I would say. Rather, it leans heavily on the series. I think a newcomer might easily get the impression that character moments are a lot of random nonsense without knowledge of the continuity behind them.

That aside, basically the plot just flat out needed to be written better if you were looking for mainstream appeal. I think it could have potentially had that, but the movie really didn't spend the time it needed to on the foundation of story and characters.

[strangepigeon 31]

I don't really think that the movie is the best way to introduce someone to the world of MLP:FIM. It felt like a film that was designed for existing fans of the show, since there were references to other episodes and other things like that. They did try to introduce the main characters to the audience at the start, but they didn't introduce the world of Equestria. All we saw was a bit of Canterlot at the start and end, for the rest of the film the Mane 6 were out of Equestria.

The film just starts while the characters are preparing for this friendship festival, which newcomers might not understand if they don't get the show's theme about friendship, or haven't read the prequel comic. It might encourage new people to join the fandom and watch the show, but those people probably aren't going to be watching it, unless they were dragged to the cinema by a child or friend. 

The plot was good, but it reminded me of a lot of other animated films, so someone might expect MLP:FIM to just be another generic kids' show. The music and the characters might just attract people, though.

I think this film was made for fans of the show, both old and young to watch and to also attract new fans in the target audience so they will buy MLP toys. Little girls would probably watch this film anyway, just for the colourful ponies and princesses.

5 hours ago, Ivan The Adorable said:

A looot of the movie doesn't exactly feel like a standalone that represents the show very accurately or gets the feel across, I would say. Rather, it leans heavily on the series. I think a newcomer might easily get the impression that character moments are a lot of random nonsense without knowledge of the continuity behind them.

 

I agree with this statement, too. I think that if you wanted to introduce someone who isn't a young girl to the series, you might want to show them one of the season openers/finales, or just the first episode of the series, so they can be fully introduced to the characters from the beginning.

[Dreambiscuit 8,021]

Considering they have to keep a story going and still introduce everything to a new audience without bogging it down, I thought they managed to balance it pretty well. When I watched it I was looking at it the same way I did when I saw my first episode of the show (Lesson Zero). Back then I had no idea who these ponies were but I picked it up quickly. I think the opening of the movie introduced the basics in a very similar way. I think I would have been drawn right into the movie (just like the show) even if I had never seen a single episode before. It's easy to see what each Mane 6 character is about and the ongoing story continues to flesh them out. If this movie had been my first exposure to MLP I would have gone straight to devouring every episode of the show I could get my eyes on. The movie only makes the viewer want to see more, while still keeping a balance between the new and older viewers. 

It actually brought back the old feelings I used to get when I first discovered the show, so in a way, it was a reintroduction to me.

[cmarston1 5,951]

I definitely enjoyed the movie and had a blast watching it.

However I don't know if I would say it is something that I would recommend to newcomers to the show.

I feel like the movie is more enjoyable for people like myself who are already fans of the show, than those who aren't already.

[Megas 27,050]

Just like most tv-to-film adaptations, if you weren't a fan, or at least interested from the start, it probably won't change your minds

Edited October 13, 2017 by Kiryu-Chan

[n1029 224]

I don't think the writers really knew who they were targeting the movie at. While there was quite a bit of fanservice none of it felt truly organic to the plot at hand and all of the established characters are pretty much reduced to the broad archetypes they're introduced as in the pilot episode, and not developed in any particularly interesting ways. Hence why I don't think the movie fully works for either long time fans or newcomers.

[Toon4Thought 273]

It was clearly at least trying to aim for newcomers just as well as the fans. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it really succeeded on that front, and I'm not even really sure if it really could have at this point.

One of the few real complaints I did have toward the film was that I felt it didn't start on a very strong note. As fantastic as the opening logos and shot is, they kind of suddenly thrust us into a quiet scene right off the bat. Twilight's character is introduced to newcomers fine, but I can't say the same about her friends. Something about the way they act when we first see them didn't really come off like they quickly and fully encapsulated their personalities and dynamics in a way that would've immediately appealed to newcomers, which is a problem because we're meant to care about these characters throughout the entire film. To me, an ideal way for them to have done this would've been like the first post-opening credits scene of Regular Show's TV movie, of all things.

It's somewhat disappointing for me to say that it seems to mostly appeal to fans, as the Equestria Girls films pretty much intentionally did that already and I really wanted a pony movie to win non-fans over, even before it was officially announced, but maybe it really was just wishful thinking. They clearly did what they could to please both sides, and to be fair it's not like non-fans will HATE the film or anything (for the most part), but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

[n1029 224]

They should have taken the moral of Suited for Success to heart and just written what they thought would be an interesting story. As long as the core narrative isn't difficult to decipher and the characters manage to stand out it's possible to get newcomers on board even if they might not be completely familiar with all of their backstories. Heck, I'm sure not everyone who saw the latest Star Wars watched all of the previous movies first.

Edited October 13, 2017 by n1029