What if they hadn't been ponies?

[Bari 7,021]

I've been thinking, what if they hadn't been ponies? I mean by that, what if they had been cats or something. What would it have been like? Would things have stayed the same course? Would bronies have even come about? I wonder if they'd still have their cutie marks. I'd like to know how things would have gone if the ponies had been different animals. Such as if they were all owls, or bears, etc.

[Finesthour 7,284]

It would be exactly the same, but just a different subject.

 

I know I would fucking love my little penguin, or my little kitty cats.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

If the show remained the same and all that was changed was the fact they were cats, we wouldn't be called bronies, I probably would still be drawn to the story and stuff.

[Satsuki Kiryuin 1,154]

I find it wouldn't matter. Bronies don't care if they weren't ponies. I mean, do we really love the show because of the ponies?Well. Yes, but that's not the point. We love the animation, the community(most of it), the creativity, the art, we love the quality of it overall! I find it wouldn't matter much.

[spas-ticShotty 3,582]

I'd be bored as hell right now, I'd never have found out about Applejack ( :( :( ), I wouldn't have a lot of awesome fan-art to look at, I wouldn't have nice people to talk to........yah, a lot would be different

[Reuel(Crystal Slave) 287]

I think ponies were the best possible choice of animal for the show. That said, Lauren Faust is such a genius that I'm sure she could have made a pretty comparable show using just about any animal. The show would still have essentially all the qualities we know and love about it, and I'm sure the artists and animators would find some way to make whatever animals they were look insanely cute/awesome. Ponies have a special place in my heart but I'd be a fan of the show either way. <3

[rainbow_hearts 148]

It would not my called My little cat or penguin and they would not have cutie marks and we would not be called Bronies. The reason they called it my little pony is cause that was the name from the start (not including my pretty pony) Cutie marks was first named in g3 (I think) And Bronies is a mix of bro and PONY! their names would be different too. So it would not be like the show but maybe the same colors.

[Key Gear 6,662]

In all honesty, I'm really sure that the species would not have made much of a difference. If it was still the same show, with the similar high-quality art style, excellent voice acting, etc.… Then I would've still watched it.

 

Then again, I think it depends. If the show had been My Little Termites, then I don't think I would've been very interested in watching.

[Demiurge 108]

I don't think it would have made much of a difference. I mean, if they had the same personalities we've all grown to love then I would still watch it and love it as much as I do now.

 

Still, I believe ponies were the best choice as AndrewClocksin said above me.

[Zerul 554]

I ask myself this all the time.I'm glad someone finally decided to make it I think it would still be the same however, we would be missing out on cute things they say like "It's out of my hooves " or "Come on everypony!"

[WordplA 42]

Care Bears?

 

In all honesty, any cute animal could replace the ponies we know and love. Rainbow Dash could have been any bird of prey of her choice, for example.

[Silverhoof 2,839]

anything other than ponies would have doomed the world. The show was fated to have ponies. Its was the perfect storm, at the perfect moment. No other concept would have created the Bronies phenomenon.

 

We would not be here for "My little transformers." No conventions would have formed around "Friendly Cats" or "Puppy Pals."

 

MLP is a signature moment in the universe. Tempt not the fates. Accept the pony goodness.

[Page Turner 607]

I can't help but think that if they were anything else tho only difference (aside from what we call ourselves) would be that people would'nt give us such a hard time about it. (I'm looking at you Howard Stern) After all, noone gives you guff for liking Phineas and Ferb or Adventure Time.

[Taco Horse 116]

I'm going to be completely honest, I probably wouldn't watch the show if it was about magical cats or flying pigs. Even if the writing where to remain the same I might not give it a chance. It would just seem off to me, now with ponies the writing seems to work when grabbing my attention, but that mainly because of the history My Little Pony. That's just me though.

[Opalicious 799]

If they were cats, the brony fandom would be called brats, and this would start a huge chain of jokes, insults and being just plain mean on the internet. I don't know...

 

Another thing. Bronies are pretty much people who are both brave and loving, and they want to show this to the world. The great personalities and the brave people who don't care what the world thinks of them evolved into the fandom.

 

Sorry, off topic.

Edited September 6, 2012 by Luna Opal

[spas-ticShotty 3,582]

Wow, I misread the title -_-. Forget what I said above.

 

I dunno, but I think I wouldn't have liked it as much if it wasn't ponies . Can't explain why......

[Starshine 16,330]

It wouldn't be as phenomenal :/

 

One of the primary reasons of MLP:FiM's popularity is "they're goddamn ponies for **** sake! It's for little girls!"

 

If it was cars or cats, then we won't have as much haters, and there would be less fanatical fans

[Lightning Fluttershy 1,844]

Okay let me just pop this into all of your heads... What is the cutest animal ever? Koala bears. So I think if I had a second choice for the show it would be My Little Koala Bears. But I would still prefer ponies.

[Rarietty 632]

The Cutie Mark Crusaders would become the Destiny Defy-ers and be on an endless quest to find out what the want to be when they grow up, just because it works with the song.

 

We are the Destiny Defy-ers

On the quest to find out who we are

And we will never stop the journey

Not until we find our perfect jobs!

 

Ponies are typically categorized as girly animals, and unicorns and pegasi are often called storybook characters for girls (which is pathetic considering that in ancient mythology they were both bad-ass creatures). If it were humans though, everyone would think the only reason we're watching is the fanservice, even if there wouldn't be any. I could see that if it were cats or something, our fanbase would be plagued with people who only use Youtube for cat videos and people who are fans or the "Warriors" book series (or the fans of that series would hate our guts because they liked something cat related first).

Edited September 7, 2012 by Rarietty

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

The thing I like most about this show are the color scheme and the way the eyes look, so if they were cats and had both of those, I would proably still watch it.

[Creamy Arty 6,251]

My little platypus, my little platypus. Ahhhhhhh...

 

 

Logically, it shouldn't matter. Any animal should do. Imagine if instead of My Little Pony Lauren had rebooted the Care Bears or something. Can't think of any reason it shouldn't work so long as it's well-written. But I think the reality is that it wouldn't have worked with any other creature, at least not so well. Use an animal that's too domestic and the show is too "close to home" to provide the escapism we find in it; use an animal too exotic and it risks satirizing itself. The great thing about horses/ponies is that although they aren't a commonplace sight for most of us, they're still known for how strongly they can bond with a human. There's still that level of intimacy we get with dogs or cats but without the risk of it becoming mundane. A key part of the show's success, though not one that is expressly emphasized very often within dialogue, is the racial division. Not a division in the sense that they're at odds with each other, but that there are sub-races of ponies, each with their own strengths and weaknesses that are believably utilized. And two of those sub-races are variants from our own mythology, not something incredible that was just devised for the show, making it easier to suspend disbelief.

 

In conclusion, I don't think it would have worked at all. Such a show may have been clever and amusing, but without the ponies it wouldn't have been endearing, and that's the most important element of the show. It's the foundation of our ability to become intimately attached to the characters and by proxy to one another. So a fandom like this one wouldn't have happened.

 

 

 

 

Or maybe that's just how I see things. Sorry if it sounds like I'm rambling to all of you but it sounds fine in my head at the moment.

Edited September 7, 2012 by Artemis

[PonySoul 10]

I could see some consequences of changing it from ponies. If they were cats we would have to change our name because "Brats" would imply something about us we may not want.

Edited September 7, 2012 by PonySoul

[Regality 233]

Cats would be just as awesome, if not even more. But if they hadn't been ponies, I think we would've gotten less of a bad rap from haters, because ponies are considered way more "girly" than say cats, Now the only exception to this would be something like fairies, as they're associate with the stereotype just as much as ponies.

~~

[Chapien 26]

Part of the appeal of the show, to me, is the art style, the color pallet, and how the writer's creatively use the fact that all of the characters are essentially small horses, leading to many little clever jokes here and there.

 

The show would still have been good but, I think that the ponies are part of the appeal. Just for being ponies. I doubt that "My Little Kitties" would have spawned such a large fandom as part of the reason the fandom grew so big was the persecution of the fandom in it's early days (on 4chan) - and, let's face it, kitties are far more acceptable than ponies. I'm not saying this fandom wouldn't exist, it just wouldn't have really expanded much out of it's birthplaces (4chan and reddit).

[Ronaan 21]

Wow, that's harsh to ask me. Ummm, I really don't know if I would ever been able to convert without the fact that they're ponies. My whole life is based off of ponies now, every fanfic I write is about ponies in one way or another now.