Sunset's Backstage Pass - Official Discussion.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

Since this special aired in Mexico in both English and Spanish on June 26, 2019, I feel that an official discussion is now warranted which is why this thread has been created.

Please keep all discussion relating to the special in this thread, thank you.

Note: Will be edited in due time with appropriate header image and all that other stuff.

[Steve Piranha 28,778]

THEY, SAID, HUMANS, TWICE . Yeah yeah, I know they technically officially confirmed they are humans as early as the Rainbow Rocks book as far as I know 

[Rushing cash 824]

I ended up watching it this night and 

Spoiler

I thought it was good, I really enjoyed this special, considerably better then the last 2 special. The sirens played a small role unfortunately but they were still mean and selfish. At least they learned their lesson. The antagonists were pretty interesting but again the quick reformation is getting really repetitive. They could have shown more of the days sunset had to live through instead of just acknowledging she spent weeks trying to solve this. Some of the jokes did bot come out well in my view because it showed that she knew it was gonna happen, but it was not shown before(for instance when RD smacked her ass or when she slipped on the mud were shown before and it was more entertaining, for me at least). Over all, it was really good but could have been better. 8.5/10.

 

[Sparklefan1234 161,859]

"Sunset's Backstage Pass" Spoilers

 

Spoiler

I was wondering if they would be able to turn a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style book into an animated special &

I think they did a great job with what they had to work with. 

 

[Will Guide 21,325]

Wait, I thought this was the name of a few minutes short that aired weeks ago, not an over-30-minutes special. 

Huh, well, this is a pleasant surprise that slipped under my radar!

I'll check it out but I likely be busy with Super Mario Maker 2 afterwards for a full detail post.

[Will Guide 21,325]

Ok, I went into this special with absolutely no synopsis or clue what the premise would be about

While I can bet the fans will be happy that 

Spoiler

The Dazzlings have returned

For me, the thing that made this special my favorite is that

Spoiler

It features the premise of characters living the same day over and over. Ever since Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, I'm always be a fan of what TV Tropes calls a Groundhog Day Loop. Seeing how a character knows the day is repeating and them learning what needs to be done to break the loop always fascinates me. Especially when the time loop causes the main character to realize something about themselves that they might not have realized before.

Plus, on a side note,

Spoiler

That security guard when he gets a cat is within the top 5 cutest MLP-related moments I've seen this year! 

 

[Lord Valtasar 12,685]

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS IN THIS THREAD
so at your own risk have these coments read

[Lord Valtasar 12,685]

Time shenanigans are a weakness of mine,, and this one was full of it
i loved how the dazzling just gave her advice, even if they did it grudgingly and disguised as an insult
a really nice one overall

[Will Guide 21,325]

Wait, I just discovered this special was based on Choose Your Own Adventure style book that came out this past February. I just downloaded the eBook and am looking forward to it.

Boy, was I living under a rock!

[DonMaguz 1,023]

Wow, I still put Forgotten Friendship above this one because of its Greatness and Powerfulness... but it certainly was an amazing special. Didn't expect that.

[bigbertha 410]

I really like time loop stories so I was interested to see what EQG was going to do with it. What I got was a pretty meh special.

Firstly, I don't like how the special skips through most of the loops. It's just a quick transition and now it's day 17. Not only does this ruin a good opportunity for more jokes with at least a montage of the loops, but it ruins any stakes of the scene of Sunset running away. The audience doesn't feel Sunset's frustration with going through the same day over and over again because we don't get any taste of that. The frustration with going through loop after loop and what that leads the main character to do is my favorite part of time loop stories so it's very disappointing that that's barely a part of the special. There's one scene of Sunset's boredom and a couple other jokes during the next scene, but not much else with regard to that.

Secondly, Pinkie is really annoying. This is actually a combination of the writing and voice acting. For the voice acting, Pinkie's voice is so grating. It's so screechy and I hate listening to it. Sadly, this is a problem that's been plaguing MLP since season 4 and it ruins almost everything with Pinkie as one of the stars. It has hurt so many episodes (even episodes without her as the lead) including The Gift of the Maud Pie, Hearthbreakers, Maud Pie, Trade Ya, Filli Vanilli, Rock Solid Friendship, The Maud Couple, and this special. For the writing, Pinkie just ruins everything and doesn't learn a lesson to stop ruining everything. This is a troubling trend with this show dating all the way back to Griffon the Brush Off. I have no idea why both sides can't learn a lesson, but for some reason this show has a thing against Pinkie learning anything when she should. It doesn't happen in every Pinkie episode, but it happens enough for it to be very concerning. 

Also, I think there's an editing error towards the beginning. After Pinkie says the set up to her stupid joke about her name having three i's for the first time, it immediately cuts to Fluttershy saying she doesn't get it. It's way too jarring for me to accept the cut as intentional. 

Outside of those two things the special is kinda dull. Sunset is okay as the main protagonist, but the story itself is fairly meh and most of the jokes don't land.

To be fair, there are some things I like. For one, I like how the Dazzlings are handled. They don't really influence the story, but they're a decent red herring and contribute some of the better jokes to the special. I also like that they're not reformed. Secondly, some of the jokes do work. For how brief they are, I do like the jokes about Sunset's boredom after being in the loop for a while. Lastly, the facial expressions aren't super over the top for the first time in way too long. Especially coming off of season 9, it is so nice to see something that understands the concept of oversaturation ruining jokes.

Overall, this special is just kinda there. There's nothing that good, but there's nothing too bad here either. The best thing this special did was remind me of Hard Reset, a fanfiction which also used the time loop story. I reread the story after watching this and my god is it still fantastic. That's how you do a time loop story right.

But yeah the special's fine I guess.

Score: 5/10

Edited July 27, 2019 by bigbertha

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

2 hours ago, Will Guide said:

Wait, I just discovered this special was based on Choose Your Own Adventure style book that came out this past February. I just downloaded the eBook and am looking forward to it.

Boy, was I living under a rock!

My friend if you're living under a rock, then I'm living under a rock and further underground. 

I wasn't even aware this was a full length special at first, like you earlier. All I know is it was a 3 minute episode of Sunset meeting a band. I'll try to find a way to see it

Edited June 28, 2019 by Lektra Bolt

[DonMaguz 1,023]

1 hour ago, bigbertha said:

Secondly, Pinkie is really annoying.

That's a character trait and has been that way since Episode 1 of FiM. She's the sweetest annoying character and everyone is supposed to live with that because she's Pinkie Pie.

 

One of the things I liked the most about the special is how the antagonists aren't bad at all, they're just perfectionist idols who lost sight of what's important about their performances and happened to find a magical object. These are not "quickly reformed villains" of any kind.

The story itself was entertaining from the start and the interactions between the characters were spot on. I absolutely loved Rarity's attitude towards Sunset the day she avoided Pinkie at all costs.

One thing I didn't like at all is the repetitive gag of Fluttershy spitting her juice over AJ, that's one of the most disgusting things they've showed in EQG and they had to shown it for almost every day, not cool.

[bigbertha 410]

22 minutes ago, DonMaguz said:

That's a character trait and has been that way since Episode 1 of FiM. She's the sweetest annoying character and everyone is supposed to live with that because she's Pinkie Pie.

Annoying to the characters and annoying to the audience are not the same thing. Also, it seems like you're trying to justify Pinkie not learning anything. I'm not sure why since obviously you'd want people who do bad things to acknowledge their faults and try to be better, instead of you just dealing with it because that's just the way they are.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

Now I can provide my thoughts on this special... in a spoiler tag of course.

Spoiler

 

Without a doubt, the Dazzlings return was perhaps the biggest part given how we haven't seen them since Rainbow Rocks barring their cameo appearance as their true selves during Shadow Play. Even now, they still have their attitudes and haven't exactly reformed in that sense, and that makes them more appreciated. While it'd would've been better had the Dazzlings been given more screen time as opposed to what they got, we should be glad they got something at all. Plus, we got to see what they've been up to since losing their Equestrian Magic. Also, Sunset referred to Adagio by her first name, something that never happened in Rainbow Rocks.

Maybe if there was one more special, the Dazzlings could be given a true proper send off. Kudos to the staff for getting their original voices back even if it was for five minutes. In terms of the story this time around, the idea of reliving the same day over and over is nothing new. It's been done so many times in the past so while it's not an original premise, it works here as it gives us some new insight on Sunset. Sure, she has overcome much, but there are things she still struggles with. I'd say the special has shown her a new appreciation of life in general and knowing that perfection is something that can never truly be achieved. Pinkie Pie in the meantime, serves as Sunset's ideal foil in how she gets constantly distracted by the most trivial of things.

You'd think that Pinkie's antics would get annoying, but they don't here as she is only being herself, and it took numerous do-overs for Sunset to realize this. Pinkie is reliable yet it takes time to get used to her personality which is erratic. Everyone else played good supporting roles yet this was Sunset and Pinkie's time to shine and shows that Sunset isn't necessarily restricted to having excellent chemistry with both Twilights. I also appreciate the security guard and how he proved vital in getting us to the final conflict. Beneath that gruff exterior is a man who simply wants people to play by the book and not cause trouble. I do love how he has a soft spot for kittens and how it was used to great effect at one point.

Then we have Post Crush, the antagonists. Unlike previous ones, these two weren't using Equestrian Magic to cause chaos, but instead, wanting everything to be perfect. Again, perfection just isn't possible. The two girls weren't consumed by magic or transformed--we didn't even see any pony-ups along with the typical magical laser that comes with it--which is a nice change of pace. They were much more relatable because pressure to be perfect is something countless people have to endure in life. We are expected to live up to certain expectations resulting in mistakes being made that we wish we could do-over. Being imperfect is just what we humans are and it's nothing to be ashamed of.

I also appreciated how Sunset and Pinkie managed to talk Post Crush into seeing that what they were doing was wrong without having to have some kind of massive conflict. Not everything needs magical lasers and over-the-top transformations. K-Lo and Su-Z... interesting choice of names right there. Is there anything else I need to talk about at this point? Yes, the songs. Obviously, the Dazzlings song was released as its own short and the consensus there is that it was really good. I also liked Post Crush's song especially Sunset and Pinkie getting to add their own lyrics to it--and without ponying up either. Oh yeah, the facial expressions. These continue to get better and better all the time. 

I give this special 96%. No, I'm not going to compare it with the previous specials. After all, that is something for others to take care of.

 

I had to wait six days to be able to post this.

[DonMaguz 1,023]

2 hours ago, bigbertha said:

Also, it seems like you're trying to justify Pinkie not learning anything. I'm not sure why since obviously you'd want people who do bad things to acknowledge their faults and try to be better, instead of you just dealing with it because that's just the way they are.

You said it, that's what you do with people.

But Pinkie is not people, she's a cartoon character. And the show made it pretty clear that even in-universe she's a cartoon character and other characters shouldn't question her.

As you see, is not me who is justifying her, it was the show long time ago.

I just accept it, because there's no way they're going to change that trait from Pinkie at this point. Why bother trying to make sense of her?

Edited June 28, 2019 by DonMaguz

[Castle Bleck 19,166]

 

K-Lo: "Dormammu -- I've come to bargain!"

Dormammu: "NOT ANOTHER ONE!"

Edited June 28, 2019 by Anti-Villain

[Sepul-Coloratura 756]

I think this is the first non-awful EQG film or Special for me.

[RDDash 18,864]

Holy Celestia on a drumstick, this is 40 minutes long video, and here I thought it was just a 2 minute short.

Let me guess Pinkie is going to get Sunset kicked out. Thanks for nothing Pinkie.

I think I saw Rainbow butt slap Sunset with a guitar at least two dozen times. 

Edited July 1, 2019 by R.D.Dash

[Oleks 1,983]

This special was not as forgettable as the previous two. What I took from it:

EG conflicts are still about "because magic, and we ain't gonna explain nothing".

Pinkie has a serious addiction problem. 

The Sirens still exist, and have fans even among people who know what they did.

Sunset has a weird obsession with teenage-oriented bands, even though she's technically an adult horse. Also, Equestrian musicians are superior.

The creators of the special rewatched Groundhog Day a couple of times before making it. Even the puddle was there.

[Sunlight Glisten 368]

Way back when there was a thread on here about what we hope the writers would add in season 9. One of my big hopes was for a groundhog day episode.  Im sure its been in production for over a year but I like to believe I played a part in the creation of this. 

[Dawn-Sunlight 1,228]

Spoiler

Sunset's backstage Pass was incredible. Sunset herself was top-quality(As usual), the Dazzlings were amazing, no reformed villains(because the people who reform weren't really villains, they were antagonists), Sci-Twi was actually a good character, Sunset was both incredibly cool and incredibly cute, Sunset seems to be the only character who knows how to do sarcasm well, the Dazzlings song looks SO much better in hindsight of this movie, and the only problems I have with it are Pinkie Pie being annoying, and I still don't know why Sunset was unaffected by the time loop and could still remember everything that happened before that. This was the third best EQG movie, after Rainbow Rocks and Forgotten Friendship. Wow, Pinkie needs to Learn. Self. Control. I know it's her character, but was I supposed to feel sorry for her when she overheard Sunset expressing her frustration at her predicament? Because, I kinda didn't. I felt sorry for her when Sunset ditched her without telling her why during the third time loop, because Pinkie didn't know she was ruining Sunset's day, but Pinkie, you were SUPPOSED to be guarding the tour van and letting Sunset know if the Sirens were coming back! Why was best character the one who needed to learn to accept Pinkie's behavior when it was ruining her day?????? Pinkie Pie should've learned to keep herself focused! I do wish that we had more interaction between Sunset and the Dazzlings in the movie, but the Sirens swooped in, were absolutely phenomenal, and swooped out again. And that was fine. I had no qualms with the antagonists Su-Z and K-Lo, but again, why wasn't Sunset affected by the Time Loop artifact thing? Thank you Hasbro for not doing the Exact. Same. Forms. For. The. "Special" pony-ups in this movie! Once upon a time, in FF, these forms felt special, they were obtained in a process that didn't feel rushed, forced, and were used quickly and efficiently. Now the Main 7 can transform into them whenever they want. Woop-de-do-da. I am going to admit though, most of my attention was on Sunset the entire time, because CHARACTER BIAS!!! I noticed that certain poses and lines that Sunset said or did throughout the whole movie just, really gave me Equestria Girls #1 vibes, especially when she said, "You have something that doesn't belong to you". Hmm, now where have I heard that before?

Sunset - "You shouldn't pick up things that don't belong to you"

Oh, who else noticed that Sunset is EXTREMELY good at getting exactly what she wants?  I noticed in Sunset's Backstage Pass that the movie explained indirectly how she was sooooo good of a villain that she had the school in the palm of her hand.  She acts all innocent and finds out what your greatest personal weakness is. It's AWESOME.

Mm, something something Sunset Shimmer this movie was awesome. 8.9/10

 

Edited July 3, 2019 by Dawn-Sunlight

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

Just saw this thanks @Will Guide! Hugs, my friend!

I really can't relate to Pinkie being annoying comments, I felt sad for her even though she had no idea that Sunset had lived the day at least 21 times and was frustrated. Pinkie isn't my favorite, but I never feel any of the Manes ruin an episode

I liked the villains being the band and I had started to guess this at the midpoint, and especially that the Dazzligs weren't reformed. They're making the best of their predicament

The only thing I never understood was the taco obcession and where it came from, but it didn't detract from the movie for me

Loved it! Everyone was in character!

[Will Guide 21,325]

6 hours ago, Lektra Bolt said:

Just saw this thanks @Will Guide! Hugs, my friend!

I really can't relate to Pinkie being annoying comments, I felt sad for her even though she had no idea that Sunset had lived the day at least 21 times and was frustrated. Pinkie isn't my favorite, but I never feel any of the Manes ruin an episode

I liked the villains being the band and I had started to guess this at the midpoint, and especially that the Dazzligs weren't reformed. They're making the best of their predicament

The only thing I never understood was the taco obcession and where it came from, but it didn't detract from the movie for me

Loved it! Everyone was in character!

You're welcome.

As for the taco thing, It's because the fanbase thinks Sonata is obsessed with Tacos even though she literally only said "It's Taco Tuesday" only once in their debut film, Rainbow Rocks

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

1 hour ago, Will Guide said:

You're welcome.

As for the taco thing, It's because the fanbase thinks Sonata is obsessed with Tacos even though she literally only said "It's Taco Tuesday" only once in their debut film, Rainbow Rocks

Ohhhhhhh! That's what that is? I see, thanks. Blown out of proportion as usual.... 

She also talked about tacos in this film and wore it on her clothes, but I never got a taco obcessed vibe from her 🤷🏻‍♀️

Edited July 4, 2019 by Lektra Bolt