S04:E12 - Pinkie Pride

[SparkBrony 379]

I liked this episode a lot, so many songs!

[HeroBrony 36]

I loved this episode!!!!!!! Best pony and weird Al in the same episode!!! I know there will be shipping but, o well.  awesome songs, Pinkie sang most of them, and Derpy!!!!!!. This is now defiantly on the list for best episodes ever.!!!! 

[An Old Head 4,816]

@,

 

Oi, Flippy, please tell me you're a Cheesepie shipper.

 

I need another Ship friend.

 

Absolutely. New OTP.

 

From their chemistry to the way they're connected... so <3.

 

Y'know, in addition to this, I'm going to re-add the review I wrote on the front page because I love this episode too much.

 

---

 

Here's where the review came from.

 

100/100, no question. From the sterling music, to the fantastic premise, to the quotables, to the character exploration and development... this episode ticked all the boxes and went even further. (Can you put five ticks in a single box? Eh, I'll find out later.)

 

Let me talk about how incredible the writing was. Start to end, it was stuffed with pure skill in characterisation, pace and continuity. The introduction to Cheese Sandwich was bang-on (I'll talk about my own love for Cheese Sandwich in a moment... CD isn't the only one!) in that it was concise, atmospheric and set up the premise for the whole episode spectacularly. I loved the inclusion of the buffaloes, showcasing how, like any good animation studio does, they keep elements from former episodes to demonstrate their care for world building. The idea of Cheese and Pinkie being connected through the similarity of their senses (also fit into the introductory scene, quite skilfully) left me perching upon my chair in anticipation.

 

The songs themselves (I'll talk about them too, because they made up 80% of the episode!) were just fantastic. It felt like Fantasia, or at the very least distinctly like Disney. And what I love is how it's not a musical for the sake of a musical; Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie are both extremely musical to begin with. I mean, Weird Al is voicing Cheese. Weird Al does music; by not passing up the chance to launch into numbers like that, they've really done well! The opening song, as I've said, had a brilliant tint of A Friend in Deed, and did its job perfectly in furthering the premise of the episode by showing Pinkie's role as a party planner in comparison with Cheese's role as a prospective party planner in the introduction. That's what I mean by brilliant pacing. It also doesn't hurt that Pinkie was as cute, charming, adorable, friendly and as heartwarming a singer as she always has been <33 And then the Cheese numbers! Did anyone notice how well some of these songs worked transitionally? Each song was there for a reason; to encompass a chunk of the episode as it moved along. Speaking of which...

 

I will now dedicate a paragraph to the Goof Off song. Oh, this song just makes me so happy. It's better than the Smile song... it's ten times better! =D This song was wild, fearless, completely zany (just how I love it) and filled with so many antics that I'm sure I'm still recounting them with each watch. (I've watched it about 20 times already!) The real-life footage, because it does need a mention - what a touch! Raw fourth-wall adventurousness, with no restraints, done in the best context possible. The back-and-forth between Cheese and Pinkie, in turn with their next goofy endeavour, felt like the world's best duel, kinda like the boss fight from Guitar Hero III ^^ In fact, like I've said, it's so overflowing with brilliant little details that I'll never fit them all into this paragraph. All I know is that I could watch that number endlessly. Hot dang.

 

And then there's Cheese Sandwich. My word, what a sensational character. Best stallion for sure; second favourite pony next to Pinkie Pie. Thanks to Weird Al's injection of fantabulousness into Cheese, we have the best complement to any main character in the show; one that means well, bears a connection to Pinkie, and is full to the brim with his own quirks and traits that make him so distinct and lovable. What I love even more is his tale; I feel that it's an analogy for our fandom. Let me explain how:

 

Do I speak for most of us when I say that we felt sans identity before we joined the Brony fandom? I know I certainly did; I stumbled across this fandom by chance and it lit up the happiness inside me. It's this fandom that distinguishes itself by being fun-loving, generally optimistic (...feel free to dispute that, but I love the spirit of this fandom) and a place for those wanderers to be taken in, loved, and tolerated... It was just like Cheese, feeling lost about his life, stumbling across the party and it occurring to him what life is all about; happiness, and enjoying yourself. And in further analogy, Cheese set out to try and give something back to the thing that turned his life around for the better; a wild party. Does that sound familiar? I'm thinking duty-bound Bronies who want to give back to the fandom that has helped them so much in the form of creative content. I saw all of this in Cheese Sandwich, and it's revitalised my ceaseless love.

 

The sensation of this occurring to me upon Cheese revealing this in the final scene was like no other. Spectacular, truly spectacular.

 

But how would this be a review if I didn't talk about Best Pony? Pinkie's characterisation was flawless. I mean flawless. They revisited Pinkie's best traits, and worst traits, in fine, intelligent, comedic and ultimately very moving detail. I love how Pinkie's initial reaction to Cheese Sandwich was offering him a place alongside her in planning Dashie's party; they didn't forget her motive from Over A Barrel. I loved even more the fact that her A Friend In Deed personality was revisited; it's one of the deeper aspects to her personality, and by going further into it, the writers have proven their opportunism. In fact, within this whole episode, we've seen Pinkie Pie go through her existing traits with this type of expertise as well as introductions to completely new sides; like her pride. I was so moved by that further detail in Pinkie's character; not only does she love hosting parties and winning the hearts of Ponyville, but she finds that affirmation in it too, and never once has she let it swallow her up in thick competition instead of remorseful contemplation, which outlined how much of a free spirit she is; again, expertly written. This is the best episode I've seen her in.

 

Never has an episode appealed to me so much on an emotional, humorous, and even personal level as Pinkie Pride has done. Being able to dig right into it in this review has, no joke, almost made me shed a tear from the joy. I don't even care what the rest of the season is like at this point, because Pinkie Pride truly has it all.

 

Oh, Amy Keating Rogers, Andrea Libman, Al Yankovic, Daniel Ingram, hell, everyone who's made this possible, I am in permanent debt. 

 

Edited February 1, 2014 by Cheese Sandwich

[Anilewe 2,178]

@@Anilewe,

 

Rogers wrote the Best Night Ever,  a Dog and Pony Show and Mystery on the Friendship Express too.

 

Make of that what you will.

 

Yeah, and Applebuck Season, The Last Roundup, The Ticket Master, A Friend in Deed and Fall Wather Friends. So?

Edited February 1, 2014 by Anilewe

[SomariFeyWright 776]

This episode.

This episode.

OH SWEET CELESTIA THIS EPISODE

 

... I enjoyed this episode.

 

This was an episode I was honestly quite afraid of as I saw where the plot was going. The idea of a good person getting jealous of somepony who may or may not be better than them is not only a common cliche but has even been known to ruin proper portrayal of a character.

 

But I was pleasantly surprised. This episode was full of excellent jokes, wonderful animation, and some of the best song work to date. The lesson learned was great, connecting Cheese Sandwich to Pinkie was done excellently, and EVERY SINGLE SONG WAS GLORIOUS.

 

What I loved most about the episode though was how excellently it tied in to Pinkie's lesser-acknowledged traits - the side of her afraid of being unacknowledged. The side of her that CAN'T please everyone; the side of her afraid no one will want her anymore. Pinkie's happiness, as I have said before, comes from making the other ponies around her happy along with her, and she can't have any fun if she's having fun alone. That's WHY she throws parties. That's WHY she always smiles, and fakes smiles even when she's sad... to make the ponies around her never have to suffer with her. When the other ponies left her for Cheese, it really nailed down the dependency Pinkie has on others and gave an excellent addition to her ever-developing character.

 

Overall, while I was initially worried about this episode, not only did I end up absolutely loving it, it may even be my new favorite of the season.

...

....

...

...

... Yes, I'll hype about it.

WEIRD AL WAS IN THIS EPISODE AND HE WAS AS AWESOME AS EVER WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!1!!!!!one!!

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

I won't call Weird Al's character Cheese Sandwich. I'm just calling him Weird Al.

Because, let's face it, he's just Weird Al's ponysona.

[Shift 4,272]

@,

 

*high hoof* Welcome aboard S.S Cheesepie! It has offically taken Daring Do x Rainbow Dash off my #1 ship mark. 

[ghostfacekiller39 23,860]

Bah.

 

Even though it didn't have a ton of Rarity in it like I prefer...

 

I gotta say...

 

10/10

 

 

Now, I haven't seen a guest character pulled off this well in a while...or ever He had depth, a backstory, was interesting, but most of all he brought the Pinkie Pie I like back out; I think she was getting Flanderized a shitton before this episode, and hopefully this helped kick things back into shape from this point forward. Hopefully  I don't like it when Pinkie gets Flanderized

 

Now, the way I see it, a 10/10 on an episode that didn't feature Rarity heavily is EXTREMELY high praise from me; Rarity is the mane draw for me, the top of the bill; it doesn't happen very often, but dammit, this episode deserves no less than a perfect score, and it'll go in my top 10 favorite episodes, for sure.

The high point for me was when Pinkie was looking at all those photos of her previous parties; I'm a sucker for nostalgia, and that nearly brought me to tears. Nearly, though; I just got a bit watery, but nothing fell

 

Perfect episode, perfect score, what else needs to be said?

 

...

 

Oh, yeahh...

 

I also totally ship Cheese and Pinkie now

 

This is going to make it hella hard for next week's episode to live up to the previous one...and next week's episode is already going to be flame fodder

Ughh.

 

GODDAMMIT PINKIE PRIDE

 

Y MUST YOU BE SO PERFECT

 

 

Well, there's my review! Now gotta go slap this gem into my top 10 favorite episodes list on my profile, see ya!

 

Edited February 1, 2014 by ghostfacekiller39

[HeroBrony 36]

OMC I can't believe I didn't catch that the first time Weird Al sang a part from Pinkies Smile Song LOLOLOL!!!!

[Wingnut 6,988]

That was lively, funny, touching, and nearly flawless from start to finish!    There's so much that's great about this episode and so little to gripe about, I don't know where to start. 

 

-Songs!  Well, with Pinkie and a Weird Al character, we knew we'd get a lot of them. 

-Sometimes celebrity guest appearances are flops.  But as others have said, this one was very well done and lived up to my expectations. 

-I liked the nods to Pinkie's childhood as well as all the great parties she previously threw. 

-No matter how good you are at something, you'll eventually meet somebody even better and it can be disheartening.    Cheese Sandwich isn't a better party pony per se, but it seemed that way due to the novelty of his act. 

-Are overt Derpy cameos going to be a regular thing now?

-Real life Boneless and Gummy were not expected. 

-Ultimately, parties are about raising spirits and enriching lives rather than ego fulfillment.  Dropping a pinata on Rainbow Dash was clearly a life diminishing incident.    That was Pinkie's rainbow key moment. 

-But the resolution at the end wasn't what I expected.  Instead of CS admitting he learned the same lesson Pinkie did, he said he was inspired by a filly Pinkie Pie to become a party pony himself.  Nothing wrong with that, but it differs from how the rainbow key episodes usually end.

 

This is the first episode for Season 4 I can say, without reservation, that I love! 

Edited February 1, 2014 by Wingnut

[Radiance64 7,053]

Oh wowzers, what a good episode. Lots of songs(almost like an MMC 2.0 up in here), lots of laughs, mostly because of lots of Weird Al. Might as well make a musical episode to accommodate who's probably the greatest parody artist of all time no?

I love that it began with a callback to Appleoosa- that was seriously awesome. It had a lot of awesome little callbacks in it here and there. Cheese Sandwich basically being a male Pinkie Pie was cool too, just the right kind of character for Weird Al to be playing. The range of emotions in the songs was also great, Pinkie's second song was definitely the best one if you ask me, Cheese's second song was certainly a close second though. It might've been a little montage-y with the way they used the music, but nothing the show hasn't done before and done well, especially here. The fact that Cheese was inspired by Pinkie in the end was a great twist too(why she was in Ponyville as a filly though I don't know), really brought it all together.

The episode was an awesome, fun ride sure, but it did go by a little fast I'll admit- it was also kinda predictable too(come on, we all new the rainbow eyes and item/key thing was coming). Rainbow Dash didn't really do much here either honestly, despite the episode being about planning her party on the surface. That's all I can knock it for though really, I was enjoying and loving it too much.

Can't think of much more to say without outright gushing, but I'll just say that Pinkie Pride is probably tied with Rarity Takes Manehatten for my favorite Season 4 episode- it did just as much for Pinkie's character as RTM did for Rarity's character, in a different way but a just as good one. Beautiful episode.

10/10

Edited February 1, 2014 by Radiance64

[hawkflame 3,310]

I loved this episode, but this may well have been the *strangest* episode of MLP yet.

 

There is a  *lot* that made me smile or laugh in this episode, and if I were to list them all, it would take a while, and I'm kinda tired.  But my first impression is that this is one of my favorite episodes of the season so far.

[DryGuy84 (Inactive) 927]

I don't give number scores as a personal rule, but I loved this episode. The story was well thought out, I liked the songs, there was no OoC behavior, Weird Al was a great guest star, and the pacing was great in my opinion. The only nitpick I have was with the ending of "Super Duper Party Pony" with it focusing on Pinkie for just a second or two too long after the song ended (this is very, very minor though).

[ReverseFaller 2,483]

This episode was seriously awesome! There were a ton of things about it I loved.

• It was a musical episode, with a ton of fun songs. We even got to see Diamond Tiara sing, which was nice.
• Weird Al is freaking awesome, so to see him on my favorite show is really mind-blowing.
• Pinkie Pie's key is Weird Al's rubber chicken. That's so cool!

This definitely has to be one of my favorite episodes of season 4 so far, if not the entire show. I haven't enjoyed an episode this much in a while. Another cool thing about this episode is that I noticed a ton of background ponies that I've seen on some of the CCG cards I have in the episode as well. I was also happy to see more of Derpy as well. Anyways, This was pretty much my reaction to this episode.

 

Edited February 1, 2014 by Mikami

[galaxysquid 2,122]

Alright, Cheese Sandwich is officially one of my favorite ponies now.. x3

 

So much music in this episode...

And this... it's just beautiful. 

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2014 by Dj Starlight(PoW)

[Sir.Flutter Hooves 2,953]

Incase anyone is wondering what Pinkie Pie said when she was speaking spanish:

 

Dale, dale, dale (Hit it, hit it, hit it)
No pierdas el tino (Don't you lose your aim)
Porque si lo pierdes, (Because if you lose it,)
Pierdes el camino (You will lose your way)

 

It's a typical chant used in spanish speaking countries when hitting a piñata.

 

There is your spanish lesson for today folks.

 

[Princess Periwinkle 3,775]

This was, without a doubt, the greatest episode from season 4 so far. The whole episode was so ridiculous and yet so awesome at the same time... Cheese Sandwich is a great character.

 

Cannot wait for remixes of "Make a Wish, It's Your Birthday". I wish we got to hear more of that song.

[GameytheGeemer 147]

I'll be the first to point out the fact of, this has the most songs in the series thus far.

 

Especially if you consider the fact that "Life in Equestria" was only a reprise for "Morning in Ponyville" with a few different words, bringing the total for MMC to 6, this one has 7 unique songs.

 

But of course it has the most songs, one of the greats is on here.

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

Yeah a lot of people are calling this MMC 2.0 and you're right but I guess they needed to fill up time with songs.

[Shift 4,272]

Also, the whole stealing Smile Smile Smile thing was hilarious.

[Scootalove 10,689]

This episode was... AMAZING!

 

The wacky antics between Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich was just a huge laughing moment, with the songs, and how they are trying to best each other in trying to plan a party for Rainbow Dash was... no words can describe it. The funny live action of Gummy and Cheese Sandwich's rubber chicken could just make you laugh until you lose your voice, a strange episode but it wins my approval.

 

Seeing Diamond Tiara singing was awesome.

 

 

10/10

[galaxysquid 2,122]

DIS IS BEAUTIFUL! 

 

 

Like wow. .3.

[iceestarz 5,764]

This episode was freakin epic. I don't care what anyone else says, I loved it so much. Every single moment had me either happy or sad. I wasn't prepared to have my feels practically assaulted today. Favorite pony getting shown up? Ugh, whenever Pinkie was getting emotional made me want to curl up in a ball and die.

 

 

Also epic pony dances in Make a Wish were epic.

 

 

SONGS SONGS SONGS SONGS GALORE. Looks like my phone is gettin more pony music on it today.

[Shift 4,272]

 

 

Seeing Diamond Tiara singing was awesome.

 

That was surprisingly my favorite part.

 

Diamond Tiara is an awesome pony and third best ever, she needs her own song. 

[Radiance64 7,053]

Oh yeah, I have to say I really loved the Goof Off thing as well- only a combination of Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich trying to be funnier than one another could spawn stop-motion rubber chicken dances and live-action alligator jokes.