Cutie Marks

[Neo_Shiron 56]

I didn't really notice it while watching the movie, but did they mess up the cutie marks in two different ways?

 

1) I mean, Cutie Marks usually appear when discovering your talent/destiny. The way they appear always looked like magic to me. So no magic = no cutie mark

 

2) It seems as if the animators got lazy and only add a cutie mark on one flank.

 

What do you think? Was is an error or do G5 cutie marks work different than G4 cutie marks?

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

They usually only add cutie marks on one side of the toys, so that might have been intentional so they match, but uuuuuuugh, it drives my symmetry addiction up the wall!!

But I have NO EXCUSE for having cutie marks without magic.

Maybe they actually had their magic still inside them, but it couldn't be used while the tribes were separated. But that wasn't the case the LAST time that happened. The first time the ponies were segregated, they all still had their abilities.

[Fluttershutter 2,457]

I assume there was still just enough magic. Same with Hitch's animal attraction and Izzy seeing sparkles.

And yeah I noticed they're only on one flank. I hope they fix that for the show. It just makes it easier to see. Like license plates on both sides.

[Fluttershutter 2,457]

21 minutes ago, ShadOBabe said:

Maybe they actually had their magic still inside them, but it couldn't be used while the tribes were separated. But that wasn't the case the LAST time that happened. The first time the ponies were segregated, they all still had their abilities.

They weren't separated for that long at that time. 

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

15 minutes ago, Fluttershutter said:

They weren't separated for that long at that time. 

What? No not at the end of the show. The Hearth’s Warming Eve story.

[Landi 600]

I hope that cutie marks will return to being two sided again. If they just stay one-sided, it would not only retcon G4's cutie mark lore, but it would also make them asymmetrical and harder to see. I know that the toys only have them on one side, but that's not really an excuse to alter the pre-established cutie mark lore. Especially since cutie marks being two-sided became such an icon of the franchise.

[Neo_Shiron 56]

55 minutes ago, ShadOBabe said:

They usually only add cutie marks on one side of the toys, so that might have been intentional so they match, but uuuuuuugh, it drives my symmetry addiction up the wall!!

But I have NO EXCUSE for having cutie marks without magic.

Maybe they actually had their magic still inside them, but it couldn't be used while the tribes were separated. But that wasn't the case the LAST time that happened. The first time the ponies were segregated, they all still had their abilities.

Googled a bit and it seems that G1 and G2 also had cutie marks on both sides. So it's either an error or they forgot about it. Still hope they'll do it on both sides again

And yeah, the whole "lost magic" thing is a big problem for the whole G5 world. On one side, we don't have magic at all (which would mean death for a few species. and yes, I also add unicorns on the list of species that would go exctinct) on the other side we have those special things like cutie marks or special abilities. To be honest, even the singing and "everypony knows the text" is based on magic to me

 

A possible theory could be, that the magic itself wasn't completely gone, but messed up. That way, the "one side cutie marks" would make a little sense, same with abilities.

 

37 minutes ago, Fluttershutter said:

I assume there was still just enough magic. Same with Hitch's animal attraction and Izzy seeing sparkles.

And yeah I noticed they're only on one flank. I hope they fix that for the show. It just makes it easier to see. Like license plates on both sides.

Yeah, the pre Heart's Warming time was full of conflicts (and would have made a good G5 movie and show) but it showed that the magic does not need the friendship/unity of ponies. Other species also had magic, same as the whole world

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

2 minutes ago, Neo_Shiron said:

Googled a bit and it seems that G1 and G2 also had cutie marks on both sides. So it's either an error or they forgot about it. Still hope they'll do it on both sides again

It’s very unlikely that it’s an error or mistake. It was a consistent through the whole movie. And movies like this take years to make and have to be approved by Hasbro. They made a conscious decision to put the marks only on their right flanks.

Doesn’t mean I like it, but I definitely think they did it on purpose.

[Neo_Shiron 56]

1 minute ago, ShadOBabe said:

It’s very unlikely that it’s an error or mistake. It was a consistent through the whole movie. And movies like this take years to make and have to be approved by Hasbro. They made a conscious decision to put the marks only on their right flanks.

Doesn’t mean I like it, but I definitely think they did it on purpose.

So it might be likely that

 

1. they changed it because of "sell our toys"

2. to show that the magic wasn't completely gone but messed up. So the one sided cutie marks only been there because of messed up magic

 

I hope they'll change it back for season 1

[Will Guide 21,360]

19 minutes ago, Neo_Shiron said:

So it might be likely that

 

1. they changed it because of "sell our toys"

2. to show that the magic wasn't completely gone but messed up. So the one sided cutie marks only been there because of messed up magic

 

I hope they'll change it back for season 1

I don't think they will because it probably cost more just to put the same cutie mark on both side and keep it consistent so it doesn't flip around looking like an animation error

[Neo_Shiron 56]

54 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

I don't think they will because it probably cost more just to put the same cutie mark on both side and keep it consistent so it doesn't flip around looking like an animation error

I made a sacrifice and looked at a few scenes of all generations and so far every single one, G1-3.5 had the two sided cutie mark, just like G4

Changing it now because of money would wrong

 

Spoiler

G1

 

G1 movie (one of them?)

G2

 

 

G3

 

G3.5

 

 

I skipped G4 since we all know the butts of our ponies

 

So yeah, would be wierd to change it now after 38 years just to fit the toys

Edited October 2, 2021 by Neo_Shiron

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

My theory is you need magic drained completely in order for a cutie mark to disappear since we see Tirek able to drain magic completely with cutie marks gone and in season 9 of G4 also drain magic just partially and have the cutie mark still there. 

[Neo_Shiron 56]

10 minutes ago, StitchandMLPlover said:

My theory is you need magic drained completely in order for a cutie mark to disappear since we see Tirek able to drain magic completely with cutie marks gone and in season 9 of G4 also drain magic just partially and have the cutie mark still there. 

You're right, completely forgot about Tirek

So maybe the new writers actually did that on purpose to show that there still was a little magic in the ponies left. So hopefully, we'll get cutie marks on both sides again in the show

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

8 minutes ago, Neo_Shiron said:

You're right, completely forgot about Tirek

So maybe the new writers actually did that on purpose to show that there still was a little magic in the ponies left. So hopefully, we'll get cutie marks on both sides again in the show

Yes I see it as vary possible that as magic returns the cutie mark will appear on the other side of the pony flanks. 

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

4 hours ago, Neo_Shiron said:

I didn't really notice it while watching the movie, but did they mess up the cutie marks in two different ways?

 

1) I mean, Cutie Marks usually appear when discovering your talent/destiny. The way they appear always looked like magic to me. So no magic = no cutie mark

 

2) It seems as if the animators got lazy and only add a cutie mark on one flank.

 

What do you think? Was is an error or do G5 cutie marks work different than G4 cutie marks?

Not laziness. I'm 100% sure it was done like that because of the toys. Also, magic may not necessarily correlate to destiny. What bothers me is that cutie marks definitively lost their importance. I can 't remember a single one from the movie.

Now, my opinion: it's further evidence that the correlation to G4 is half-hearted. TO ME the movie feels like a completely different world.

[Neo_Shiron 56]

16 minutes ago, Metemponychosis said:

Not laziness. I'm 100% sure it was done like that because of the toys. Also, magic may not necessarily correlate to destiny. What bothers me is that cutie marks definitively lost their importance. I can 't remember a single one from the movie.

Now, my opinion: it's further evidence that the correlation to G4 is half-hearted. TO ME the movie feels like a completely different world.

yep, same as me. I didn't even realized that they had cutie marks until I made my big "Is G5  the same world as G4 or not" post. Had to visit derpibooru to search some pics until I noticed the one sided cutie marks

Kind of funny how the ponies just accepted the cutie marks as natural instead of a proof of magic.

 

I still hope that they will change it back to both sided cutie marks, just like every other mlp show did it for 38 years

 

ps: Yeah, I also see G5 as a complete different world as G4

[Pentium100 2,122]

14 minutes ago, Metemponychosis said:

What bothers me is that cutie marks definitively lost their importance. I can 't remember a single one from the movie.

It's probably because on a detailed 3D model, the cutie mark is not as prominent as on a 2D drawing like in the previous generations. If they made the cutie mark as visible as on the previous generations, it would look weird on a 3D model.

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

33 minutes ago, Pentium100 said:

It's probably because on a detailed 3D model, the cutie mark is not as prominent as on a 2D drawing like in the previous generations. If they made the cutie mark as visible as on the previous generations, it would look weird on a 3D model.

I'm not sure I agree. I mean, you could be right, but I'm not seeing that. That would be true for any detail on their models.

[Tom Gallagher 33,588]

Add that to the list of annoyingly unanswered questions this movie raises! 

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

Real world explanation: The developers probably didn't pay attention to the fact that ponies had their cutie marks on both sides of their flanks.

In-universe explanation: Things changed over time, and generations later from the mane six's generation, the ponies' cutie marks no longer appeared on both sides of their flanks. The reason for this change is unknown, and is left up to theories and speculations to determine that.

[JMTV99 1,353]

Honestly, I had no idea why the cutie marks in G5 are in one side instead both sides since it does look weird with one, in my opinion.

Then again, I don't want to be too nitpicky since someone at Hasbro is the one who called the shots on that, but whatever.

[Discordance 0]

Not only are the one sided cutie marks in tv and toy content, but they released a game to Apple Arcade where it is still the same so it’s obviously intentional. 
I personally don’t like how it messes with the lore like many of the people here have said. I hope they fix it. 

[Skylight Techboom 1]

The cutie marks only being on one side of their flanks is actually one of 2 complaints I have about this new gen. The other is the inclusion, or if you will confirmation that it exists in the same universe as MLP FIM. To get to the point, downright saying that everything the Mane 6 did, all their efforts to spread friendship and love ultimately led to nothing. What with all 3 types of ponies being separate again. Then, somepony else (Sunny) has to fix it again.

But I digress, the reason I am bothered by the cutie marks is, as mentioned by a lot of fans, that it messes with the lore. Not only does it not fit with the canonical cutie marks of the canonically confirmed connected universe of MLP FIM. It also seems like a regression back to Gen 1 MLP. When the connection was made to Gen 4. It makes no sense from a story-telling standpoint. Not only that, it makes no sense from the standpoint of wanting to sell as many toys as possible. Fans of MLP FIM are not going to want *new* mlp toys obviously connected to MLP FIM with such a continuity error. I know I don't. It really doesn't just disappoint me but, angers me too. To see the flanks blank on one side but not the other. It's stupid. I love the plot and lesson of the movie. The above mentioned things just leave a bad taste in my mouth. Almost like walking into a room that has a tense air about it every time I watch the movie. I'm trying to like it, but can't because of continuity errors and misuse of the Mane 6.

Tell me I'm not the only one.