Do you find Lauren Faust overrated?

[Mzukiller 233]

Personally, I thank her for creating the show and for making an effort to make sure that it's not horrible, but after all this time I've come to believe that she isn't worthy of all the praise she receives. She made a kids cartoon, she didn't cure cancer.

 

And as far as the general opinion that she was cheated by the executives. She's an adult, and she knows how the business works, plus this project was never as near and dear as it's made out to be. She hated the old show, but she enjoyed the toys. It's not like Tolkien or somebody whose entire life revolved around the world they've created. She wanted Galaxy Girls, right? Just got stuck with ponies.

 

Just my 2 cents

[Princess Periwinkle 3,774]

It doesn't matter about Galaxy Girls. If it weren't for her, who knows where G4 would have gone? Probably the same way the rest of MLP was. Bronies would not exist. This site would not exist. Lauren Faust is not overrated.

Edited August 4, 2013 by Sky Chaser

[Zygen 6,065]

Well, She did create many great concepts, and I think shes a great cartoon maker as far as that goes.

 

Now while she laid down a great slate for FIM, i don't think shes a required force as far as the writers, I think the shows fine without her after she laid down the slate, infact it may even be better in some ways.

 

So I think she laid down the slate, and the team built FIM up from that.

 

Idk if that makes me think shes over rated or not, plus everyone has different admiration levels for her .

 

She did also make some other great cartoons aswell, so I mean its not like FIM is a one time thing for her.

[Scootalove 10,684]

If someone thinks that Lauren Faust overrated, they could change their opinion quickly.

 

 

She is known for a lot of good cartoons, stunning animation, and known for her work with FiM. Look, she isn't overrated she is far from it but after all she isn't perfect but, she is still known and a very talented person who deserves a lot of credit.

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

Some fans put her up on a pedestal and use her as an excuse to blast anything that they don't like about Seasons 2 and 3, and that's pretty dumb, not to mention disrespectful of the current team on the show. At the same time though there are those who, in response to this, rip on Faust or claim that she wasn't very special at all. This too is wrong. I'd say that they even each other out, although the fact that the debate even exists is a bit...eh. She did loads for the show and left an impact on it that will never entirely be gone, she's moved on, I wish we could leave it at that.

[Righteous Fury 344]

the one thing I don't like is how everyone assumes that Faust had some sort of grand plan for the series that would've been far superior to what they're doing now.

 

it's easy to look at potential ideas and say "oh that would've been great" when it just as easily could've fallen flat on it's face

[. eris . 1,661]

She is not overrated. She is our leader, the symbol on our flag, the tune to our anthem. She is our general, leading us into battle against the haters.

 

Please ignore this, I'm in a bizarre mood these past few days. 

[~Silver Essence~ 2,621]

I'm going to say I can see why some would consider her overrated, however.

 

Without her, G4 of my little pony would go down the drain like previous generations, plus she has been a big part of other cartoons that many enjoy like the powerpuff girls and foster's home for imaginary friends.

 

She is amazing and I do believe she does earn all the credit and respect that she still earns to this day. 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,313]

I am a mixed bag on this one. I completely respect her for being able to make MLP as fantastic as this. She really did create (in my opinion), one if the greatest shows ever. Of course though, it wasn't just her, but she got the ball rolling at high speed. If it were not for the others writers, the animaters, the voice talent etc., we may not have had the same show that we love despite Faust. Still, I give praise where it is needed and for that, it is needed, but...

 

What I do find overrated, is Faust NOW. I am tired of hearing about 'Hasbro is not following Faust's vision!' 'What do you think Faust would think of this?' While it is perfectly fine to speculate, the fact is, she left. Her 'vision' at this point may not matter. Really, we don't even know if her vision was best for the show in the long run. She left before season 1 ended and season 2 was great. Season 3 was still good, just not as good as 2 of course, but this could be for many reasons. She left before bronies became largely apparent I think and her 'vision' may not have been in favor of a long life for the show. We don't know, all we can do is speculate. I just hate seeing people dismiss the rest of the team and future episodes because of a lack of the Faust.

 

Of course, season 4 is looking fantastic, so, yay.

[Darkshift 85]

No matter which perspective and argument you look at it.If it wasn't for her and the My Little Pony franchise I doubt even a fraction of us would be fans of the show.Without her and the franchise I doubt there would be such thing as a brony.

[Moonlight 7,279]

I wouldn't really call her overrated. But the people who say that the show is getting worse because she left are just annoying as Hell. She's pretty talented for giving us FiM for what it is, but people need to stop saying that she was the only good person in the staff...that's just wrong and idiotic. 

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

I'm sorry, but no I don't think she's overrated. I do think that FiM has remained strong even in her absence, and I don't agree with the notion that her departure has hurt the show's quality in any major or significant way, but at the end of the day, there's a reason her name still appears at the beginning of every episode.

 

Lauren Faust is the one who created the G4 that we know and love. Without her vision, ideas, concepts, and her dedication to quality entertainment, there would be no Friendship is Magic, and no bronies. Think of everything she has contributed. She created the art style of the ponies that we know and love. She took something like this:

 

 

 

 

 

And made it into this:

 

 

 

(Note that I am not bashing G3. I respect all generations of MLP. What I am implying is that the new MLP has the rare kind of appeal in its design to attract more than just young girls. If the show was as good as it is now but had character designs like G3.5, would we have ever given it a chance to begin with?)

 

 

She created the diverse, complex, and memorable characters that we all enjoy, as well as the creative and colorful new world of Equestria. She really set the stage for a fantastic show that anyone regardless of age or gender could enjoy.

 

Of course, Faust is not the only person to credit for this, as everyone who works on the show has put in a lot of love and dedication into maintaining the show's quality. All of the staff at DHX deserve credit, and not JUST Faust. A high-quality show like MLP:FiM is something that is accomplished as a team effort. You cannot credit just one person for it.

 

I do not agree with the notion that she is overrated because she put everything into place and kick-started a fantastic series that I hope we will all enjoy for years to come.  Thank you, Lauren.

[Shanks 10,811]

Some fans put her up on a pedestal and use her as an excuse to blast anything that they don't like about Seasons 2 and 3, and that's pretty dumb, not to mention disrespectful of the current team on the show. 

Dang it when did you bust into my house and read my mind? Seriously though alot of people do seem to either dismiss her contributions or treat everything she says as it is the word of God when the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Lauren Faust contributed greatly to making an awesome show but she didn't do it alone, all the other writers and artists also made their own contributions which though Lauren Faust no long works on the show have still kept it a quality show.

[Party Cannon 874]

Do you think this man is overrated?

 

 

Though Thomas Jefferson was not the only founder of something, or even the constant purveyor of it (The United States) he is still credited as a founder and should be respected as such. Maybe without him the rest of the founders could have accomplished the same thing, yet that will be never known for certain.

 

So yeah, even though Lauren let go of the reigns with the end of season one after she created the show, she deserves some form of gratitude of not only the fans of this great show, but also the creative leaders that follow in her footsteps.

[Mzukiller 233]

Wow, this is painfully one sided. Now I look like an asshole because I'm literally the only person that thinks yes. On the bight side, this is probably only the second biggest crippling disappointment I've had all week.

[Limey 524]

Wow, this is painfully one sided. Now I look like an asshole because I'm literally the only person that thinks yes. On the bight side, this is probably only the second biggest crippling disappointment I've had all week.

Well, I suppose you are right. But then I don't really understand what you mean by overrated.  On the one hand, I think she was pivotal to the creation of the brony fandom and we wouldn't be where we were today if it wasn't for what she did. On the other hand, she quit the show quite early, so her impact after season 1 was non existent.

 

I don't think she's overrated though. Maybe if everyone had an avatar of the Fausticorn saving babies from vampires she would be. But they don't. I think most people here respect Faust and hold her in a very high regard, but I doubt many actually worship her.

Edited August 2, 2013 by Spess

[Metemponychosis 1,236]

I wouldn't say "overrated". But I do believe that people credit her more than they should for the quality of the show.

That said, she WAS the mind behind the process that made G4 what it is, and what we all love. But it has it's problems.

[Paleopony 690]

No. I don't think she's overrated. She is the one who made up the main characters and did most of the creative work that made the show as popular as it is. Yes, the writers and voice actresses are important too but without Faust being the creator, MLP would probably be more or less the same as the previous cartoon.

Edited September 23, 2021 by Paleopony

[Astralshy 23,604]

5 minutes ago, Paleopony said:

No. I don't think she's overrated. She is the one who made up the main characters and did most 

I completely agree with you :>

She created the show, the world, the characters and she did a wonderful job with it. Nothing is perfect and taste differ and she was definitely not the only person working on the show. But she did a wonderful job there is no question about that in my mind.  And this comes from someone who like also the later seasons of MLP.

[JMTV99 1,348]

NO! No, no, no. Absolutely not! Say what you will about Faust, but she was able to revamp the franchise from the ground up and becoming the most beloved cartoons of the 2010's. Yes, her team at DHX did help out and so as the voice actresses and that's great, but Lauren was the most important that I think people should give her credit and respect. Just because she don't work on the show anymore that doesn't mean she don't deserved credit. Without her, we wouldn't have Friendship is Magic, period.

(Seriously, I fucking hate how people find any excuse to throw Laruen under the bus)

At the end of the day, whatever Faust's plans that she had on FiM is completely irrelevant. Whatever you guys like the later seasons or not, after her departure, is totally up to the person's perspective. But the fact that calling someone overrated is blatantly incorrect.

[EpicEnergy 22,098]

I do think she receives more praise than she deserves. While I acknowledge that she deserves credit and praise for creating FiM and it's characters, I think that the credit and praise should stop there. Undermining everyone else's contributions to the show while elevating Faust to a higher level than them is unreasonable.

[Evil Pink One 13,013]

On 2021-09-24 at 4:26 AM, JMTV99 said:

NO! No, no, no. Absolutely not! Say what you will about Faust, but she was able to revamp the franchise from the ground up and becoming the most beloved cartoons of the 2010's. Yes, her team at DHX did help out and so as the voice actresses and that's great, but Lauren was the most important that I think people should give her credit and respect. Just because she don't work on the show anymore that doesn't mean she don't deserved credit. Without her, we wouldn't have Friendship is Magic, period.

(Seriously, I fucking hate how people find any excuse to throw Laruen under the bus)

At the end of the day, whatever Faust's plans that she had on FiM is completely irrelevant. Whatever you guys like the later seasons or not, after her departure, is totally up to the person's perspective. But the fact that calling someone overrated is blatantly incorrect.

I believe hasbro is more important.... without their approval... Lauren Faust wouldn't be even making this project.

but what's more important is the fan base.... they all wouldn't exist without the addicted fans.

[North Star 4,540]

In agreement with the majority on this thread, and the below post by Logarithmicon on the MLP Reddit, I do not think Lauren is overrated and I don't think many of us would be here without her influence on what MLP FiM became.

Quote

Don't get me wrong: Many other staff of the show deserve significant credit for making it as good as it did. Individual episode writers, other senior staff (shout out, as someone mentioned, to M.A. Larson for his incredible hard work!), and all the other artistic staff all should not be neglected.

But why Lauren Faust?

Beyond the writing for any individual episode, season, or theme, has its style: Something which includes the basics of the world but also dictates, in broad strokes, the approaches and directions others should take in filling in the show. And Faust - Faust is heavily responsible for FiM's style, which she first laid out as the show was beginning:

• The cast should be pseudo-adult individuals living independent lives. The problems they should face should be understandable, but also not shallow.

• The cast should be distinct individuals, each with fairly significant depths which would be explored with time. None should be the butt of all jokes, but all should have faults.

• The world would be a firmly fantasy one that allows the ponies to interact with their environment, rejecting easy real-world duplications.

• The writing should not treat the audience as willing to ignore writing foibles or being unable to ask questions. "Little kids are not stupid."

These core traits (along with others, such as 'Ponies should behave like ponies') were what made the show so good - and Faust does deserve firm credit for that. She was, by all reports, an expert coordinator between various elements of the show staff and was constantly pushing the boundaries of what FiM was allowed to do.

Once she left, this careful balance began to come undone, one element at a time. Staff have also discussed how the writing environment became a 'too many cooks in the kitchen' scenario, where there was no central guiding force and instead a tortuous, multilayer process of review presided.

 

[Theautisticrebel 290]

Of course not, while she had no impact on the later seasons, without her we would've probably gotten something that might've been even worse than G3 and G3.5.