Should something be considered canon just because Lauren Faust said so?

[ponies4fun 9]

Is Lauren Faust working on Season 4? From different sources they point no. In fact she wasn't working on MLP since the second season. So why would anything she say be part of MLP anymore? I think the best thing we can say is that anything she says is how MLP could have been but not necessarily. Then we can come up with all kinds of conspiracies of Hasbro changing those ideas into being used to make the show worst.

[BalanceBrony 259]

I agree with the notion of canon until proven otherwise. It's a notion which I also see on the RuneScape forums. If there is ever any lore speculation, we hold to the rule that a statement of lore by any past or present staff member is considered true until contradicted. I feel that applies here as well. Lauren Faust may not be directly involved anymore, but she is good friends of the writing team, and made MLP what it is. I feel like the team will respect her vision in most cases, in honour of what she did, and what she laid the groundwork for.

 

For example, Faust mentions plot "seeds" which she planted while she was working on the show. These seeds were a precursor to a certain vision for various aspects of the show, so where these "seeds" exist, we can still trust Faust's word on their related plot elements. For other things, we should accept them until they are debunked.

[Captain Brony (MG11) 218]

Not only do I not care how she feels, or thinks about mlp

 

Her input on what happens in the cannon shouldn't matter, but how she feels about the show should matter. She went in with the intent that despite that it's a "little girl's" show its writing should not treat its audience and target demographic as complete idiots.

She was also wise in not wanting main character romances as she knew there is a very long history, and indeed there is a very long histoy, of girl's shows being brought down by it.

Her input on Twilight being on an equal level with her friends was good because it makes the dynamic interesting.

Her input on only having two Alicorns in existence was agreeable because if something as unique as an Alicorn is more abundant, then it's not unique anymore is it?

 

She doesn't have these opinions just because FiM was her metaphorical baby, but because she has years of writing experience that fix her view to make sure nothing in the show goes too far out of hand and inevitably fail.

Edited October 23, 2013 by Captain Brony (MG11)

[Giggle@theGhosties 9]

I say that anything she says on seasons 1 and 2 is canon, but everything else isn't. Regardless of what she thinks should happen in future episodes or seasons, it may or may not happen. She has no control.

[Flash Fire 386]

I don't think so at all. I mean, it might have been at one point but now, anything she might have said in the past could easily be overwritten by current writers.

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

Since Faust no longer works on the show, she has absolutely no pull on what happens. I'm fairly certain that Faust doesn't even watch the show and has almost no idea what goes on in it anymore, but don't quote me on this.

 

That being said, some of Faust's ideas for the series have been acknowledged long after she made her departure. Faust had intended for Applejack's parents to be deceased and this was more or less confirmed in season 3's Apple Family Reunion. In addition to that, Scootaloo was always intended to be incapable of flying, and while Flight to the Finish didn't completely rule out the possibility of Scootaloo flying one day, it did emphasize that she cannot fly well at all at this point in time which goes to show that the current writing staff does tend to honor Lauren's concepts.

Edited January 20, 2014 by Sugar Cube

[Whatevs 377]

If it is about something she had a hand in, then yes.

 

For example, let's use Green Isn't Your Color. In that episode Fluttershy was picked to be a model.

The episode itself made it fairly clear by saying Fluttershy is model status because of Grace and Poise rather than being prettier than Rarity.

In addition , Faust designed Rarity as the prettiest and Faust worked on S1 and ostensibly okayed Green Isn't Your Color.

So Word of Faust can be used to resolve said controversy

[Nature's Spell 526]

I might have mentioned this already, but my issue with the "Fausts" (fans who lionize her) is that they use her "words" to almost defend themselves from what they don't like about the show. My feeling is what we see is what was meant to happen. Yeah there is always "what if", but those alternative timelines, if you will, don't matter since they weren't strong enough to change what's happened. Things take on a life of their own and our creations often escape our control.

As far as Lauren herself we have no idea what happened behind the scenes and perhaps her leaving was more a coup than her giving up and running away. Maybe she got tired of fighting Hasbro. I don't blame her, but I have to feel that her words have a bit less weight since she did leave. She fought to create it and maybe she should have kept fighting, but she chose a different path. I wish her well. She created something magical and something we all love and you can't take that away from her.

Edited January 24, 2014 by Nature's Spell

[Bucky McGillyCuddy 956]

 

 

Before anyone start stoning me to dea

Stone him! Stone him now! 

 

I agree with you though, once you leave the creative process your word is only as strong as a fans. 

[Shift 4,272]

No.

 

If it's not in the show it ain't canon.

[Brony Number 42 10,070]

Agreed. It is only canon if it airs, or maybe a deleted scene. I don't follow all of the politics of who said what and who is mad at who. Just enjoy the show. Why do people care about behind the scenes stuff? Next there will be a "reality show" about making a cartoon, and no actual cartoon.

[Aerial~Shot 177]

I personally choose to see her thoughts and ideas as possible, but not necessarily canon. If she has said something and there's no other ideas around that subject, then I just go with it until it's either proved wrong, actually made canon (if that happens) or someone comes up with something I like better. But I wouldn't fully believe it. It's just another idea like anyone else's.

[ReverseFaller 2,483]

Personally, I think that it has to be in the show to be canon. 

[Zekromic 1,054]

Wow this will be controversial.

 

Before anyone start stoning me to death, let me be clear. Lauren Faust is an awesome person and she has given us joys through MLP as well as the other shows she has worked on. No one can take that away from her.

 

HOWEVER I have noticed a lot of bronies especially some of you on this forum consider Lauren Faust's words and opinions about MLP as holy text. To the point where any alternative opinions that goes against anything Faust said to be wrong by default.

 

...I do not like this mindset at all. Especially now that Lauren Faust is no longer part of the MLP staff. Her opinion is pretty much headcanon now...completely on par with the headcanon we as fans come up with.

 

Can her opinions can be relevant and possibly valid? Could be sure. Are her opinion the holy text? NO!

 

Ok...*ties a blindfold and prepares for possible pain from projectiles*...whether you hate me or not, this conversation needs to discussed.

Since she no longer work in MLP, I consider her headcanons official unless stated otherwise by the staff, either by a notice, or the show itself

[Hive King 2,001]

Nope, she is a non-canon/canon source. This is a bit hard to explain, but it means that while she has some sway, taking it seriously is not a good idea and we should stick with the actual canon. 

 

Another example of this is Toei for Dragonball, Toei has some creative input, but the fact that they aren't in charge(and are idiots) means that their word means little

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

It's her personal IP(the revamp not the original idea) so I believe yes. But that doesn't exclude her from criticism. I honestly wanted arcs, I know it's a show for little girls. But 8 year old boys watched transformers, Dragon Ball Z and others. I really think just because girls watch the show shouldn't be exempt from that rule......

[Clover Heart 978]

I agree with the OP. Since Faust isn't involved with the show anymore, I don't think her word should be taken as gospel. If she were still a part of the show, it might hold some weight. However, the show has taken direction without her and it's now out of her hands. Being that she doesn't have a say anymore, anything she could say about it is now speculation. If it's an explanation of something that happened in an episode that she was actually around, maybe I could see citing her as a valid source. However, this is not true for all situations. If she explains something and then the show goes in a direction that doesn't line up with what she said, it makes her wrong. At this point, however, just about anything she says about the show itself is speculation. Having connections, it may be informed speculation, but it's not as if she can leak information on future plans if she even knows that much. So I don't think Faust knows that much more than we, the fans, do. So, no, I don't think something should be considered canon just because Faust said so. It could be a piece of evidence to support ideas, but one would need sources outside of just Faust's word to back it up.