Make Your Mark: Chapter 3 - Winter Wishday

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Title: Winter Wish Day
Release Date: November 21, 2022
Written By: Gillian Berrow & Dave Horwitz
Synopsis: With different holiday traditions across three pony lands, the Mane 5 race against time to celebrate everyone's special customs and make it home in time for the Wishing Star.

NOTE: Episode is only available on NetFlix for the foreseeable future. Please keep that in mind!

[ShiningSword4622 12]

I have a sneaking feeling that this special will re-use elements from Twinkle Wish Adventure from G3½!

[Sparklefan1234 170,667]

Without giving anything away, I really enjoyed Winter Wishday. 

[Rushing cash 836]

Just watched it, and it basically was what I expected. It was cute and had some nice moments but overall nothing really special, at times I was actually bored. It was nice seeing ZH, the grandma's house and BW but we barely explored there, hopefully the next batch of episodes will expand upon these locations or new ones. The music was alright, nothing really stood out but it was pleasant. 

 

Some highlights:

 -Izzy basically flushed Sunny when she shook her butt on the plane. Sunny was stunned. 

-I liked the pegasi concert (what we saw at least). The sisters interaction with their mother and we got more of Thunder and Zoom (Not sure about the new voice actors, but their scenes were neat).

-A bunch of snow falling on Pipp.

-Onyx's conversation with Izzy.

 

How some unicorn and earth ponies (like Posey) got to ZH in this weather? What about Hitch's and Izzy's parents? 

 

[Ganondorf8 11,307]

This special was pretty much a paint by numbers scenario as it needed to check off everything it needed to accomplish which it did. It wasn't anything spectacular nor was it anything bad, so to me, it was simply an enjoyable experience from start to finish.

[ProjectRKA 2,848]

This was super cute :3 

 

1 hour ago, Rushing cash said:

Just watched it, and it basically was what I expected. It was cute and had some nice moments but overall nothing really special, at times I was actually bored. It was nice seeing ZH, the grandma's house and BW but we barely explored there, hopefully the next batch of episodes will expand upon these locations or new ones. The music was alright, nothing really stood out but it was pleasant.

That's really one of the things g5 needs to work on "nothing really stood out but it was pleasant." Everything so far has pretty much been that. Nothing really exceptional or anything like that since pretty much the movie came out. 

[J.J 923]

I actually really like this, and one thing I really noticed is that Izzys VA is really starting to fall into her character, there's more emotion and more zaniness and they are giving her emphasis in these moments so it actually adds something to the context of the situation and it's not just silly and cute for no reason but actually kind of funny...

Of course love Zipp with her wishentine hat lol, don't think it's ceremonial just a winter hat lol 

But my BIG QUESTION, is why there are Unicorns and Earth Ponies at the wishentine concert and not at their respective locations celebrating Winter Wish Day and Wishiehoof?

Ummm there's a big emphasis on the importance of these traditions it seems like lol, guess some ponies are more into cultural intrigue about a tradition that's somepony else's that theyve only been at peace with for a year lol... That or Hasbro knew those fillers would be easier 

One other interesting thing is in MyM the plane is Zipps idea, but in TyT it's Izzy's, but they kept the theme of them making it together, it's proven the continuity isn't the same, but I do think they aired the episode around this time for this very purpose of theme relation...

I love Christmas, I love ponies, this is cute, I love it 

 

 

 

[Rushing cash 836]

11 minutes ago, ProjectRKA said:

This was super cute :3 

 

That's really one of the things g5 needs to work on "nothing really stood out but it was pleasant." Everything so far has pretty much been that. Nothing really exceptional or anything like that since pretty much the movie came out. 

I think some of the episodes in "chapter 2" were great and stood out. The specials could have certainly been better, hopefully the others will improve. 

[Savy 5,077]

No spoilers, but WOW I really enjoyed Winter Wishday! <3

[Sparklefan1234 170,667]

4 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

Without giving anything away, I really enjoyed Winter Wishday. 

1 hour ago, Savygriffs said:

No spoilers, but WOW I really enjoyed Winter Wishday! <3

 

Great Besties think alike. 

I'm so happy you enjoyed Winter Wishday, too! 

---

 My favorite tradition was Hitch's and his grandmare was awesome. 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Sparklefan1234

[Rising Dusk 27,691]

That was nice and wholesome.  Very fitting for the season.  A big improvement over the first special.

I hope we'll still get some TYT around Winter Wishday.  It is interesting that Nightmare Night survived from old Equestria, but Hearths Warming didn't.  Holiday evolution! 

[Misty Shadow 7,867]

"I don't remember life before that poem." 

My goodness, Make Your Mark gave us a banger for its final piece of content for the year. It's not all great. The minor Detective Zipp subplot feels a bit shoehorned in and like with many MLP specials, there's a bit of a rushed feel to the script towards the end, given that there's only so much they can fit in one special. Otherwise...this special...was so enjoyable. It does such a good job with its humor, its songs, and its expansion of G5's lore. I still can't believe they actually confirmed that the unicorn jinxes have real magic to them. Less than eight minutes in, I was already fully captivated by the story and jokes, laughing at how Izzy just makes herself and Zipp driver's licenses on the spot, enjoying how then they visit Hitch's grandma, Hitch actually tries to project himself being stuck in his old patterns onto her, and then when they got to Bridlewood and we got a full poem from Onyx...that and the reaction that follows is probably my new favorite moment in all of Make Your Mark so far. The joke in Zephyr Heights with the empty presents trick is priceless too, but nothing was topping that. Not even the moment with the special's best song with Pipp and Zipp. You know that you're watching a good special though when a part that has all the characters feeling tired and bored is a ton of fun to watch. 

I'm not trying to overrate this special. This is honestly how I felt watching it, it was awesome. I truly felt it was better than FiM's Best Gift Ever, no joke. Not better than my favorite Hearth's Warming Eve episodes of FiM, and it's a shame that Hearth's Warming Eve couldn't make it to G5 while Nightmare Night did, but what matters is that this special did a great job capturing the Christmas spirit. This also bodes well for the next batch of MYM episodes, looking forward to a happy new year with this generation. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by CloudMistDragon
Minor fixes of sentences.

[CastletonSnob 3,074]

The ponies in the audience during Pipp and Zipp's concert pretty accurately capture how I imagine the audience watching The Nutcracker must feel.

[Hellfire428 34]

Loved the special! It was Light and cute and had funny moments  in it. True it was a little bit rushed due to the strict limited 45 time, but nonetheless i enjoyed pretty much and it’s certainly a big improvement over MYM.

My favorite scene has to be hitch and his grandma it was so heartwarming 

[RDDash 19,173]

I think I liked the chapter 3 overall, so many different holiday traditions and history. I guess they have now a private jet, a toy that probably going to show up in the toy store

[Solar Power 299]

I really liked this special and I liked it even more the second time. After the movie it's my favourite generation 5 content.

I think it's going to be an episode that I'll be rewatching on many Christmases of the future. 

[GreenPile101 7]

It was pretty alright

[AlbaTross 1,586]

I finally saw this special...and I think it's alright.  It starts off as a paint-by-numbers Christmas special in a children's show, and ends that way too, probably because that's what it is, but I digress.  I will say the stuff the ponies do while they visit various locations is alright, so it's a good thing that's the bulk of the special.  There seem to be some attempts to avoid the pitfalls of various tropes, only to inadvertently stumble into others though.  While I'll give the special points for things not always playing out as expected, none of the conflicts, including the overarching one, are given enough time to really flourish IMHO. 

I kind of like that Hitch is the pony who likes things to be just so, and his grandmother tricks him into thinking it's her, though that conflict really goes nowhere.  Points for showing off Bridlewood once again.  Points off for the animation department still somehow being unable to show off more of it.  Zipp is once again the best pony of this series IMHO, and the dynamic of the Pegasis Sisters once again shines.  

I think this one is a mixed bag for me.  It's not going to be a go-to holiday special for me for years to come or anything of the sort, but perhaps it was worth seeing once.

On 2022-11-21 at 11:58 AM, ProjectRKA said:

That's really one of the things g5 needs to work on "nothing really stood out but it was pleasant." Everything so far has pretty much been that. Nothing really exceptional or anything like that since pretty much the movie came out. 

Agreed.  I think that eloquently sums up how I feel about G5 as well.  It can be "pleasant", sure, but there's nothing really special about it.  I think Chapter 2 had some moments that showed potential, but I suppose we will see if that potential ends up being realized.  

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Honestly; that was pretty dang good! Nothing spectacular, but it was cute, heartwarming fun. Onyx got a moment, sisters sang together, Zipp was being Zipp, Hitch being adorable, Sunny being dependable, etc. Overall; loved it!

[Rosy Moonlight 369]

I was pleasantly surprised about-

Spoiler

-how the special used the aspect of the lost knowledge of magic. If saying "frosty shivers" repeatedly is enough for unicorns to accidentally cause a dangerous blizzard, the characters will really have to watch out.

I was hoping her Sparky to be- 

Spoiler

-more cold-blooded. Okay, it might sound strange, but I would have enjoyed it if the characters would have had to worry about Sparky accidentally getting hypothermia or something.

 

[Landi 600]

Winter Wishday was far from outstanding, but overall it was still a fun little special with some funny moments. It was pretty much what I thought it would be going into it, so I don't have too much to say about it. The story was simple, the conflicts were minor, and the animated has slightly improved. As a bonus, the special managed to actually give places other than Maretime Bay some screen time. Definitely not up to par with The Best Gift Ever, but also not bad. 

Now, there is one aspect that annoyed me a bit at the end, and that is the reason for the Blizzard. Throughout the special, some intrigue was built around what was cause the out of control blizzard, and I thought it might be building towards pegasus weather magic finally being brought into G5. I was thinking that maybe due to the return of magic, weather was starting to get chaotic, and the solution would be for the pegasi to control it. However, the actual reason for the blizzard was very weird and random, and it doesn't go along with G4s magic lore at all. I felt like that was a lousy conclusion for an otherwise decent special. 

[Ring Team 123]

A couple of weeks ago I watched the chapter 3 of Make Your Mark. It took me a while to watch it because I was busy. That said, this is gonna be short because, while I think chapter 3 is better and more focused than 2, I don’t have much to say about it.

The premise is that Sunny wants to celebrate Winter Wishday with her friends. However, they have their plans to celebrate it too. Sunny wants to see some shooting stars, Izzy wants to visit her unicorn friends, Hitch wants to spend some time with his grandma and Zipp and Pipp have things to do in their city. In a convinient timing, Zipp reveals she built something with Izzy, and that’s a plane. While it doesn’t look perfect, Sunny’s magic lantern improves the vehicle, and she has the idea of trying to do all these tasks in one day before the shooting stars. Everyone agree and they spend some time with the ponies they love. Unfortunately, some blizzard gets in the way to make things worse. Can Sunny and her friends do it?

Like chapter 1, chapter 3 is a 42 minutes special, which I find appropriate for this scope. I don’t quite remember if I said it last year after watching A New Generation, but basically I wished the characters had to go in new places in Make your Mark. And this is kinda what happens. We visit a giant ancient tree in the unicorn forest and we visit Hitch’s grandma’s house. I’m glad that the episode focuses on spendind some time with friends because I think a Christmas chapter going for that direction isn’t bad. The only major conflict is the blizzard, which appears by some funny misunderstanding. The episode is also very colorful, with appealing colors that capture the magic of these holidays. While I haven’t laughed too much, my favourite part was the play of Zipp and Pipp which lasted for… 6 acts, I guess? I’m also glad that Zipp was doing other activities and did some engineering stuff related to that plane because, even though it didn’t look great or safe, at least she tried.

I have some minor complaints about the episode. Remember what I said about the use of music whenever Zipp speaks? This time isn’t too constant, but it’s still a bit annoying. Another problem I had was, while I enjoyed this, I wish it was a bit funnier. There’s a scene where Zipp and Pipp are in a hurry and their mom sees the showcase of some shops. That scene could have been much funnier. Another complaint was the use of a classic christmas song Sunny was singing for a bit. I’m aware it sounds weird, but I think Make your Mark shouldn’t depend on classical songs with different lyrics. I think they should go for original songs if they’re going for christmas episodes. Friendship is Magic doesn’t have tons of holiday episodes, but they have original songs and themes, so I think Make your Mark should have been more original in that aspect.

Despite everything, I enjoyed chapter 3. Not every episode has to have a premise that involves the antagonist trying to achieve her goals, especially after seeing a lot of that in chapter 2. Sometimes a cozy chill wholesome episode is all you need, and the Christmas days are the perfect occasion for an episode like this. Although I do wonder what they’re going to do with Misty and Opaline. I said it again, but I’m glad that they’re taking their time and develop the characters in a more appropriate way than, say, season 5. If you know, you know. I’d argue that my favorite episode is still the first one because it was more focused, but this one is cute.

[mlploverlizzy 291]

I actually found this episode better than the last few. I defo saw improvement on the animation as well which i found really cool! 

[WickedGames 240]

Secrets of Starlight might be another Winter Wishday holiday special apparently 

[Casey Pones 87]

Personally I think this special had the potential to be a lot better. The show was supposed to be about inclusion and respect for other cultures, this could esily have been a great way to express that.

I'm British, when I was 7 my family moved to the Nederlands where I attended an American school, so you might say I was exposed to 3 different cultures and each one has different approaches to Christmas.

You're probably American, so you're fully aware of the American version of Christmas and the figure of Santa Claus who lives at the North Pole and rides through the skies on Christmas night in a flying sleigh drawn by magical reindeer to deliver toys to the good children of the world. You hang your stockings, leave out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer and watch It's a wonderful life.

The British have a similar version of the character that's been replaced by the American version. But to some Britishers, he's still called Father Christmas and he lives in Lapland. We gather around to watch The Snowman (the animated film, not the one about a serial killer.) Or Holy, the Christmas episode of the sitcom Bottom. And of course the royal speech.

The Dutch however have an entirely different character. Sinterklaas, who's actually one of the precursors to Santa. Instead of the north pole or Lapland, Sinterklaas lives in Spain, comes over every Christmas on a ship and rides through the streets at night on horseback to leave toys. The children leave out wooden clogs with carrots for the horse.

And that's just the tip of iceberg of the different ways different cultures celebrate the same holiday.

 

Winter Wishday could have done the same thing. Go into how the 3 pony kinds have the same holiday but celebrate it differently. Thus teaching lessons on how to respect cultural differences and how they can be a good thing.

the way I see it, they could have had everyone gathered round in the Brighthouse, Sunny would have said "On three... 1, 2, 3!" expecting everyone to say "Happy Winter Wishday!" but instead they get a cacophony of 3 different holiday names and greetings. It is only then do they find out that each pony kind has a different name and tradition for this holiday. At first they're a little at odds over this before they decide to work through it and respect each other's traditions. But Maretime Bay is preparing a holiday pageant which no longer jibes with everyone as the town is now full of unicorns and pegasi. A similar situation is brewing in Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood. The new 6 resolve the conflict by adapting their own pageant and having it broadcast live. The pageant now shows not only how the holiday began but how it began to differ between pony kinds but still revolves around the true meaning of the holiday. The lesion for us would be that we shouldn't squabble over differences over Christmas, to do so would be antithetical to the universal meaning of the holiday. Peace on Earth, goodwill to all.

But instead we just follow them as they rush around trying to make everyone's holiday plans happen in time. We never even get to know what this holiday is about or how it started.

On another note I was disappointed to see they no longer celebrate Hearth's Warming. But it makes sense as it's about how all pony kinds came together and the ponies of G5 no longer believed that happened. 

One thing I did like though, was the song which was a cunning parody of All I want for Christmas is You.