I'm sorry, but Big Jim's answer on why we didn't see Saddle Arabia makes no sense

[ManaMinori 4,145]

Isn't the point of a roadtrip to see new sights and go to new, never before seen destinations? "On The Road to Friendship" did NONE of that. Flame Geyser Swamp? We Saw it already. Somnambula's homeland? Saw it already.

But in a tweet that Big Jim replies to, he says this: I can appreciate the disappointment. Unfortunately, it would require a lot of time and effort to deign and build the resources to see it (Saddle Arabia) properly.

source: https://www.equestriadaily.com/2018/09/why-we-havent-been-to-saddle-arabia-yet.html#more

in spite of the fact that we DID get to see the Peaks of Peril, which is an entirely new area where the Kirin live, in the same season. They couldn't be arsed to bother with showing us Saddle Arabia in an episode about taking a road trip to Saddle Arabia. ......ok.

[Jeric 46,860]

Look up opportunity cost and then his answer makes complete perfect sense. Unless you want to get a long year haitus like we had before, they have very limited time to produce new assets and have to be careful when selecting. You want Saddle Arabia or a kick ass episode involving Kirin with a bunch of new designs? You sir are going to be in the minority with that one. I wouldn't give that episode up and I'm glad we win on this one.

Opportunity cost. You have to give up something for something else. It's a business thing yo!

[ManaMinori 4,145]

16 minutes ago, Jeric said:

Look up opportunity cost and then his answer makes complete perfect sense. Unless you want to get a long year haitus like we had before, they have very limited time to produce new assets and have to be careful when selecting. You want Saddle Arabia or a kick ass episode involving Kirin with a bunch of new designs? You sir are going to be in the minority with that one. I wouldn't give that episode up and I'm glad we win on this one.

Opportunity cost. You have to give up something for something else. It's a business thing yo!

I'd rather have a place that has been repeatedly teased for several seasons, through delegates and mentions, rather than a brand new one which we haven't heard of until it's actual episode aired.

[Goat-kun 2,528]

They burned all the resources on Tartarus

[F.A.D.E 12]

I hear ya, i was expecting to see saddle arabia too, and I was pretty disapointed that we didn't. Here's to hoping we might get to see it in season 9, but considering it's supposedly the last season of mlp I kinda doubt it.

Edited September 5, 2018 by F.A.D.E

[DonMaguz 1,023]

Reusing old sceneries for a trip centered episode is not new, half of 'Party Pooped' had Pinkie Pie traveling to Yakyakistan showing known places and they only needed to design the mountain path and Yakyakistan's facade.

I don't know how limited the animation team's resources are, but I can fully understand why they would choose to reuse old designs saving their resources unless a story demands them to design a new scenery.

With that mindset, it becomes clear why one episode had a new location and the other one didn't. The Peaks of Peril are a needed new location to tell the story of 'The Sounds of Silence', while Saddle Arabia is off the focus of 'The Road to Friendship'.

[RDDash 19,197]

Aw, they never ever build any Saddle Arabia resources, except that overly friendly Saddle Arabian who was willing to trade carts. I am still disappointed.

Edited September 5, 2018 by R.D.Dash

[Ganondorf8 11,365]

DHX can only do so much with what they have on hand so some things are going to be left out on the cutting room floor as they say. Is it disappointing? Of course but then Big Jim's reasoning makes sense as a result of this. If they had more time and money, we could be given practically anything, but because things are the way they are, we have to accept what we get.

[Jeric 46,860]

38 minutes ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

I'd rather have a place that has been repeatedly teased for several seasons, through delegates and mentions, rather than a brand new one which we haven't heard of until it's actual episode aired.

Like I said, I'm glad I got what we got. I do think it's important to point out that you said the Supervising Director's explaination made no sense. You didn't say simply, "I just don't like what they chose to do over this". The former is not true as a sensical argument does exist with respect to why they didn't use resources to create Saddle Arabia. The later is just opinion. I'm not sure if your intention was to add weight to your opinion to give it further importance, or if you simply misspoke. 

[Misty Shadow 7,943]

I'm sorry, but I don't see anything wrong with Big Jim's response. Not just because it's extra time, resources, and money for something they need to get out as soon as possible...but why would the design team go out of their way for something that's not even in the script? Just cheer up and wait for another time we'll get to see Saddle Arabia for real.

[KH7672 1,604]

I mean it is called "Road to Friendship" not "Road to Saddle Arabia" with that latter kind promotion I'd be pretty disappointed but we saw plenty of Friendship along the journey.

I mean there's a reason it's not called "National Lampoon's Wally World Vacation"

[gingerninja666 487]

The plot was built around the fact that they never made it to Saddle Arabia. Trix and Star fail in their quest because they weren't ready to travel together.

[Steve Piranha 29,432]

Well, King Somb.... I mean, Big Jim's money and time justification is not necessarily true, they may have all that to make Saddle Arabia. However, doing so would have been a waste anyway, because it's obvious they've intended for the plots development development development to take development development development to take development development to take place on the road, and no sane person would spend all those resources for just one scene assuming, assuming they've intended to reach their destination in the first place. .

The difference between Saddle Arabia, and the Kirin Village, is that the  the plot required to be in location with the latter