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Is the show for kids or all-ages?


CastletonSnob

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2 hours ago, Concerned Bystander said:

It's clearly meant primarily for kids, at least it was to begin with.  However, it was made in such a way that adults could watch it along with their children without wanting to claw their own eyes out.

Exactly my thoughts and that was Faust's original intension for the show in the first place.

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3 hours ago, Concerned Bystander said:

It's clearly meant primarily for kids, at least it was to begin with.  However, it was made in such a way that adults could watch it along with their children without wanting to claw their own eyes out.

I agree with,, but I also think with later seasons they put more and more references for adults into it. With 'Fame and Misfortune' you even have a obvious and a meta plot in the same episode.

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All-ages. To echo what @AlbaTross wrote, good "kid" shows appeal beyond just children. I stated this many times over the years, but FIM and Adventure Time are responsible for beginning the ongoing Revival Era of cartoons. They proved that family-friendly cartoons can succeed.

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It's a bit nuanced in my eyes. I sort of see it like the first 5 seasons of Thomas and Friends where the creators at least at the start *primarily* targeted it for kids, but also wanted something that could be enjoyed by all ages for those watching around, with the audience in general expanding from there.

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I think only FiM approached Loony Tunes (although Ponylife felt like it wanted to be like that), but the other pony generations were watchable for adults to an extent, and I think even FiM was not meant to appeal to the Loony Tunes audience (it was a side effect of Lauren's mission to make girly things, like ponies, and cool things, like adventure, overlap). Short answer is: MLP brand is for little girls, and the MLP show follows that, and therefore it was also always for little girls' mom and dad too, but the original little girls grew up and continued to love it, and many parents were also enamoured in their own right, and then later on FiM attracted new talent (Lauren was among the little girls who loved the brand) and she believed that little girls hadn't been well served by the art/toys aimed at them (including pony fare) as shown by the fact that it tended not to appeal to a broader gender/age range and wanted to improve that - which had the effect of making it appeal to a wider audience.

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I would definitely say for all ages. I wouldn't just talk about stuff like fandom nods and that Rick and Morty reference, you can go all the way back to Season 2 and honestly try to tell me that your average kid would get that Big Lebowski reference. 

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4 hours ago, CloudMistDragon said:

I would definitely say for all ages. I wouldn't just talk about stuff like fandom nods and that Rick and Morty reference, you can go all the way back to Season 2 and honestly try to tell me that your average kid would get that Big Lebowski reference. 

Indeed, and you can go back further. Look Before You Sleep subtly referenced a revolutionary sex guide when Rarity read the title of Twilight's slumber party book out loud. :laugh:

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It's for kids first, and all ages second.  I.e. they designed it with children in mind as the primary audience, but once that requirement was met, they absolutely made sure it was fun and enjoyable for all ages.  I believe Lauren herself said that she intended it to be a show that parents would enjoy with their kids, rather than just watch it out of parental obligation.  And obviously, it's chocked full of jokes and references that only older audiences would get, so, yeah.

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