Are the stories for all of the seasons pre-written (before the season starts)?

[~Scootaloo 440]

I was wondering when season 4 might be coming out (no that is not what this topic is about). I was wondering do the show writers write out plots and scripts for all 20-25 of the shows before premiering the season? or do they write as they go. 

 

Do they make the shows as they go or do they animate, and voice everything beforehand and release the episodes?

 

 

EDIT: you can vote on the poll, but we can still discuss it too 

Edited March 15, 2013 by ~Scootaloo

[Fhaolan 4,483]

I don't know how MLP is done for absolute fact, but I do know a couple of people who work in animation studios on other shows, and they say that all the writing for a season is 100% done long before it hits air. And while there might be rework done, all episodes *should* be animated/voiced/musiced before airing, as the customer (Hub, in this case) usually buys a season as a block of work and would only broadcast once that block is finished and paid for. Animation simply takes too long to produce to try to do it on-the-fly. However, sometimes it might be blocked out in half-seasons, or quarter seasons if it's a show with lots of short episodes, but this increases the risk of not having an episode done in time for broadcast.

[Scootalove 10,689]

I think only the scripts are pre-written. Since most writers don't have time to write during the season, I guess they mostly plan ahead of time to write before the season starts.

[~Scootaloo 440]

I think only the scripts are pre-written. Since most writers don't have time to write during the season, I guess they mostly plan ahead of time to write before the season starts.

Well I would think before the season starts they would have at lest three or four episodes ready to release.

 

If anyone knows the process (or at least has a good understanding of it) could tell us how this works (the release of episodes in/before) a season I would appreciate it.

[Betez 1,734]

I think they might get a basic idea of some of the episodes, and a basic idea of what they want the season to be about. But I don't think they write all 26 episodes before doing anything else with them. Like, while they're animating or recording voices for one episode, they may be brainstorming ideas, or writing the script for, another episode. But I don't think they have episode 26 planned as they're working on episode one.

 

So, to make a long post short, no. I don't think all the episodes for seasons are pre written.

[Nohbdy 4,108]

They seem write the episodes way before they actually air. I remember that there was a tweet going around when Magical Mystery Cure aired, in which MA Larson said "I wrote this episode in Nov 2011." The tweet appears to have been deleted now, but Google still caches the original.

 

[Megas 27,610]

Most stories are written pretty early, if anything they'll probably use plots and scripts that they couldn't use in Season 3(kinda like how Magic Duel was written along with season 2)

[Dark Qiviut 22,393]

Are [all of] the scripts/stories written before the season is released?

Yes. Each episode's final script gets submitted at least one year before airing. There are some, however, that are submitted for the final time more than a year in advance. Keep Calm and Flutter On was submitted in October 2011 and Magical Mystery Cure was submitted in November 2011. Magic Duel is the most mysterious case; it was supposed to be a season two episode, given by the final draft's submission date of January 27, 2011. But due to its delay, the episode aired nearly two years after the script was submitted.

 

Does the shows animation/voicing get done before the season starts?

For season three, this was almost completely the case on just about everything. The opener came very late in the calendar year, so almost all of the voice actors had completed their work at that point. Animation of each episode, from storyboarding to animation completion, takes several months to complete because it's in 1080p, which means a much bigger resolution, bigger file size, and a whole lot of layers to animate. Because of its late opener date, chances are the animation for almost every episode was complete around the opener (or maybe the turn of the year for episodes like the finale).

 

For the twenty-six-episode-long seasons, chances are the main puppets for animation are complete during the off season, with tinkering done near the end to fine-tune some of the latter ones like the final six to ten episodes. The voice actors might've completed almost all of their work before the season opener, too. There are exceptions for the animation, one of them being the gray background pony's eyes edited to become Derpy in response to her suddenly huge popularity.

Edited March 15, 2013 by Dark Qiviut

[~Scootaloo 440]

@@Dark Qiviut, out of pure curiosity do you have any experience in animation or television or are you just one of those people who seem to be like a magical encyclopedia?

[SailorCardKnight 85]

Man, some people just do not understand how the animation industry works.

 

I don't know how MLP is done for absolute fact, but I do know a couple of people who work in animation studios on other shows, and they say that all the writing for a season is 100% done long before it hits air. And while there might be rework done, all episodes *should* be animated/voiced/musiced before airing, as the customer (Hub, in this case) usually buys a season as a block of work and would only broadcast once that block is finished and paid for. Animation simply takes too long to produce to try to do it on-the-fly. However, sometimes it might be blocked out in half-seasons, or quarter seasons if it's a show with lots of short episodes, but this increases the risk of not having an episode done in time for broadcast.

 

This. I know for a fact in the days of hand-drawn animation it would take over a year (almost 2) for an animated movie to be completed from start to finish (and thats if theres no major changes or executive meddling involved, if that happens then the process can take longer). Independent self-funded projects can take even more time. But if there where plans for a video or theatrical release, always, ALWAYS, everything is completed long before the release date.

 

Tv series where the same way. Episodes where written, animated, and voiced months before the show aired.

 

The only animation studio I know of that actually animates their shows as they air is SHAFT, but thats because they are all a bunch of perfectionists who fail to organize thier time properly. So as a result some of the episodes they have aired on TV are incomplete even shoddy (Bakemonogatari is an excellent example), but they always clean up and fully finish all their projects for the DVD release, and the final result always looks gorgeous!

Edited March 15, 2013 by SailorCardKnight

[~Scootaloo 440]

Man, some people just do not understand how the animation industry works.

What was your first clue Mr. Holmes? excuse that bit of rudeness however it is really counter productive pointing out the obvious and attempting to offend others intelligence.

 

This. I know for a fact in the days of hand-drawn animation it would take over a year (almost 2) for an animated movie to be completed from start to finish (and thats if theres no major changes or executive meddling involved, if that happens then the process can take longer). Independent self-funded projects can take even more time. But if there where plans for a video or theatrical release, always, ALWAYS, everything is completed long before the release date.

 

Tv series where the same way. Episodes where written, animated, and voiced months before the show aired.

 

The only animation studio I know of that actually animates their shows as they air is SHAFT, but thats because they are all a bunch of perfectionists who fail to organize thier time properly. So as a result some of the episodes they have aired on TV are incomplete even shoddy (Bakemotogari is an excellent example), but they always clean up and fully finish all their projects for the DVD release, and the final result always looks gorgeous!

For one we're talking about a TV show not a movie (they are both animated, but not the same).

 

Also I really hope you're not trying to imply that hand drawn work is better than work done on the computer... the only reason I even bring that up is because that is the vibe I'm getting.

Edited March 15, 2013 by ~Scootaloo

[SailorCardKnight 85]

What was your first clue Mr. Holmes? excuse that bit of rudeness however it is really counter productive pointing out the obvious and attempting to offend others intelligence.

 

For one we're talking about a TV show not a movie (they are both animated, but not the same).

 

Also I really hope you're not trying to imply that hand drawn work is better than work done on the computer... the only reason I even bring that up is because that is the vibe I'm getting.

 

I will apologize for that first remark. I've always been fascinated with animation, and have been very familiar with how its such a time consuming process, so seeing people thinking that episodes are actually made in such a short time before they air just seemed downright silly to me, and forgot that there are people who are just as clueless as I once was.

 

I bring up hand-drawn animation because I simply understand how the process of hand drawn animation works. I know some things about CGI and flash, and that the steps involved are similar to a hand-drawn project (like the planning/writing/voicing stages), but I have no idea how long it takes to animate with either. I was merely providing examples of how animating all large projects takes time. Dark Qiviut up there explained how things quite nicely and did it better than I ever could, flash animation-wise I mean.

 

And I may be an advocate of hand-drawn animation (as I would hate to see the art form die off completely), but I don't think its superior to all CGI/Flash (as some hand-drawn animation I have seen is just as bad as the worst CGI). But lets save that debate for some another thread.