What If FiM was realeased in 1983?

[Denim&Venöm 19,055]

What if instead of the girly adventure show meant only to sell toys, what if the 1st ever generation of MLP was actually friendship is magic? Obviously the animation would be cell shaded, most of the voice actors would be different, the production would be a little grittier,  but what if the writing, the setting, designs and character development remained the same? How would that effect the growth of the franchise, or even the future of cartoons as a whole? What kind of fanbase would have spread form FiM in the 80's? Obviously there was just barley any internet in the 80's, but regardless, what kind of fan base would we have? Would it be bigger, smaller or about the same as what we've got? Would we be still loving and tolerating? Would it be a significant challenge to the gender norms and stereotypes back then? And what would the legacy be 30 years later?

[~Chaotic Eddie~ 479]

Given that most of the brony phenomenon came from 4chan and other websites, I get the feeling that the brony fandom would be a lot smaller if that were the case. Also I get the feeling that the show's popularity would start to grow in the 1990s with the introduction of the Internet.

[Katskratch 59]

Given that most of the brony phenomenon came from 4chan and other websites, I get the feeling that the brony fandom would be a lot smaller if that were the case. Also I get the feeling that the show's popularity would start to grow in the 1990s with the introduction of the Internet.

 

This is it, pretty much. This fandom really only became a fad in the first place because of the power of the internet. Without the internet the few people who gave it a chance would have had a far harder time getting the word out that, hey, this little girl's cartoon is super special awesome. So I figure it'd become a sort of cult cartoon, like He Man or something. It'd get interest in our current day from the peeps who remembered it and made nostalgia posts about it online. 

[The Awesome One 1,315]

It would be really small and exist in small groups here in there ONLY in the countries where it is actually aired on TV, and maybe it's legacy would survive on when the internet created but still it would just be a thing of the past and no one would care.

[Scootalove 10,689]

It would probably start out small but then grow after a long period of time, similar to today. Either way, it would still become popular back then as it is right now.

[GrimCW 658]

Hmm probably wouldn't have been as well off due to the lower quality production of the era, and how toons at that time were strictly for commercials rather than actual entertainment value. They were also designed for VERY specific target audiences, something that FiM successfully broke that mold and has all but avoided its "target audience" as being kept in the lower ages aside from its earlier toys (which have grown up)

I also get the feeling that without the prior existing material the nostalgia factor may not have drawn people back into it.

 

But if it were from back then hmm.. not sure. Lack of open communication between people and word of mouth probably would've wiped it pretty fast from anyones mind who didn't just happen to see it one day.

It would've likely gained a cult following that would boom later as new fans joined, the internet rose, and then seen a reboot down the road just as the original had.

Kinda how a lot of other series have recently done.

 

 

 

Given that most of the brony phenomenon came from 4chan 

 

I still have my doubts on this.

While the first more heavily dedicated fans may have ID'ed themselves as "Bronies" on these sites, I doubt thats where the fandom started, or what caused it to grow.

I find it hard to believe that the driving force was a poorly setup forum filled with the internets lowest were the reason the fandom took off.

 

What i mean is if other QUALITY shows/comics could survive without them and gain a hefty cult following thats given them strong footholds, than why wouldn't FiM have done so?

Star Trek came out in the 60's and its still massive among its fans without having had the internet back then.

Wonder Woman HUGE, batman MASSIVE.

And these started out as a low grade TV show, and couple of comic books.

 

The only thing that dragged down the original series (and most "for girls" series) back then was its lack of overall quality and appeal to anyone over the age of 6. Something FiM has managed to avoid by having a much more coherent writing staff and overall feel.

 

I won't deny it probably got a good boost by the 4chan forums and took off faster as a result, but I fail to believe thats what essentially created it.

Edited August 19, 2013 by GrimCW

[Super Derpy 535]

Probably would not have been as successful due to lower quality production than todays era. Also the brony community would either be very small or non-exsistent due to the fact internet was just getting started. Maybe the show would grow in popularity once the internet grew but it would never be as popular as it is today.

[Dsanders 5,747]

This is one really interesting question. Probably the most unique one I've seen on here in weeks. Bravo for being mostly original.

 

Back in the early 1980s, technology was quite a lengths away from being as efficient, modern, and advanced as in today's standards. There's only so much the best TV show writers, producers, and animators of that time could do. Heck the quality of the greatest movies made around the 1980s, as awesome and classic they were, are really crappy in terms of the effects, animation, and CGI we see practically all the time today.

 

Plus, your talking about long before Lauren Faust even began to start learning her great artistry skills at the California Institute of the Arts in 1992. 

 

I don't even know who comes close to Lauren Faust's abilities at the time. 

 

If let's say, the show producers managed to find the closest human to Lauren Faust's artistic talents, it still wouldn't be the same. There'd be a easy difference in shape proportions, style, and pony characteristics.

 

It would most likely resemble this I'd imagine.

 

 

Plus due to the rareness of internet back then, worldwide communication was severely limited. The fandom, the 'bronies' would not have grown so easily at the time.

 

But because your talking about, if My Little Pony: Friend is Magic existed back then, then I would imagine that such quality and storyline back then would've actually sparked interest in more guys back then. Due to the show having qualities that go beyond the initial intention to make it for just the little girl demographic.

 

The show would probably get some good attention for being one of the most unique shows at the time. Because the quality and elements that it displays were not at all common if not unheard of back in that time.

 

Sure the animation would likely be in the less appealing typical G1 style, but if it were to have all the other characteristics of FIM, then if I for one were watching it back then, I'd probably get quite interested.

 

Sadly like most of the 80's shows and series, it would have eventually come an end at some point in the 90s given a probable prediction. There is the possibility a newer generation would come out that would even surpass the quality of FIM, then even a more massive fanbase could take off...if that were even possible.

 

Nonetheless, despite the major setbacks, one of which being lack of internet, once the internet would get common and the show would go through its typical adaptions like most popular classic shows go through, the fandom would eventually come to life and thrive as it is now...if not on a even greater scale.

 

So the scenario, overall, would be really interesting. 

 

So to finish off...here, enjoy a artistic interpretation of the G1 ponies in G4 style.

 

Edited August 19, 2013 by Sanderspie

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

I have also been writing on another forum of how FiM would had been in the 1980s. There would not had be major events like a Bronycon like this year. Songs like Discord would be with cheesy synths, old drum machines and a Deluxe.Paint music video.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Ulrik Raben

[DubWolf 17,264]

Either the show would be incredible today, and I would still have many episodes to finish (over 20 seasons to watch!), or the show would experience Spongebob Syndrome, and become a terrible show after season 6. Being a brony would be considered normal today because of their spreading overtime. Not to mention eating any equines would be illegal and the world would be rid of all its wars...haha maybe not.

[MichaelxXxTrixie 433]

The Brony phenomenon wouldn't exist due to the lack of being capable of smothering the internet with pony memes and jokes. 

 

Now would a cult fan following of men probably exist? Of-course it'd happen, it might pick up some steam when the internet comes around but not so much that we'll be producing anything worthwhile. It'd be a subtle Fandom probably not even called, "Bronies." We'd just be one of those weird internet groups.

 

Now if some theoretical reboot was made around this time to FiM then we would probably exist if we had all the same things. I think we might be less controversial seeing as the older gens quality would've been better and probably made a better image for what MLP is.

 

That or we just get called a bunch of faggots. 

[Latecomer 439]

On 8/14/2013 at 4:12 PM, Denim&Venom said:

What if instead of the girly adventure show meant only to sell toys, what if the 1st ever generation of MLP was actually friendship is magic?

But... FIM is a girly adventure show meant only to sell toys. Admittedly, with stronger more notable characters...

If it had gone out in the 80s.... I don't think it would have really had bronies. That was a pretty Internet thing... But then, there were fewer channels back then, so some boys would end up watching it and, decades later, looking back on it as a cartoon ahead of it's time.

 

[Ittoni 538]

 I would say it would have been very popular, kinda at the same level of sailor moon or candycandy or things like that, mainly with the girl audience because show for girls otherwise you're a weirdo back then, of course the fanbase would be very different. There wouldn't be fan creations other than what you can do with your hands at the age of 7 to 10 and up to even 15, and only with the friends you can have in your school, family or neighborhood. No conventions, no reunions, except with the occasional themed party if you had that much money for it. No memes, no world wide friends, just local. 

One important factor is that if it was on air as it is it would have been severely censored, mostly regarding LGBT content, so no LyraBon or AppleDash, there wouldn't even be that knowledge regarding those themes in the general audience or would be heavily taboo. No fan feedback either so many episodes would have been very different or not existed at all. You wouldn't even know who participated in it other than your own curiosity to see the credits. Derpy would have stayed like that first censored appearance and maybe even double down on it making her the mean-spirited butt of the joke every now and then. No pony porn (which could be a blessing or a curse for some), or any kind of forum of discussion. If you missed the episode when it aired you will have to wait for the rerun or to be creative with the beta recorder (did it existed already for your house?) There wouldn't be any references to other shows like pinkie and the brain, lotr movies, dragon Ball, sailor moon, because either they don't exist yet, so no epic battles or creative references. And in other countries it would be double censored and mistranslated or have liberties to change the dub as they see fit, so maybe even making rainbowdash (or spirtfire, scootaloo, lightning dust) a full on boy and censoring the episodes where she is seen with a dress or cutting parts where she's being girly. arriving at your country from 2 to 5 years later than everyone else.

In the case that it would magically just aired as it is with no changes I still think it would have been popular, but never as popular as today or in the same way. It would be just another of the many and a bit more controversial than the average.

Idk what else, but that how I remember shows in general from that era.

Oh and there wouldn't be purple in the title anywhere, it would be all pink. The toys would be so pink it would make sure to scare anyone that is not a little girl.

Edited November 8, 2019 by Ittoni

[BornAgainBrony 2,397]

Not much. It needed the internet. The "FiM" of the 80's was Fraggle Rock. And while it has a cult following, the fans of it were subjected to the social and political culture of the time. The male fans would never have had a chance, and would have been beaten into submission by the bullying of the status quo. Had that show come out in the modern time, things would've turned out very differently for it. Homosexuals didn't even have a good foothold yet, and anyone who dared take an interest in such things, was painted in the same broad stroke and ridiculed as such. For all the nostalgia of the 80's being the best decade, it was the BEGINNING of a shift that allowed FiM to thrive. Trendsetters at that time though were assaulted like the scourge of the Earth.

[Splashee 28,564]

On 8/14/2013 at 5:12 PM, Denim&Venöm said:

Would it be a significant challenge to the gender norms and stereotypes back then? And what would the legacy be 30 years later?

No. The stereotypes of the 80's, as well as a world without Internet, it wouldn't have meant anything. FIM is a result of having older generations growing up to the first show, and taking it in their direction. Of course, if that didn't matter, and we would just have an awesome show in the 80's, it had to compete against He-Man and other popular shows. I don't think it would have worked. I mean, some people still had black and white TVs back then! The colors of your TV was so bad, you wouldn't be able to see the show as it looks today.

Just a completely different world with a different mindset. I would say close minded, but we are kinda close minded today as well if you look at technology and what it has made us. In the 80's we couldn't go a day without our parents smoking cigarettes, and blowing that smoke onto us. And today we can't go anywhere because we need that social media fix.

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

I suppose the brony fandom would be different, and it might not have even existed at all if it G4 was released in 1983.

[Splashee 28,564]

Bronies without a social outlet like 4chan would exist.

No matter how well the show would have been, there were still a larger market for other stuff, and they would have stolen all ideas, and maybe even come up with something better than MLP!