It's Pony Time!

Booggity-boogity-boogity-boogity-shoo! :-D

 

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the most recent TV incarnation of the ever-popular My Little Pony franchise, as well as The Hub's most popular show. This series, which was written by Lauren Faust, who, along with her husband Craig McCracken, had previously worked on such acclaimed shows as The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, follows the daily life of the smart, sensible Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn apprenticed by Princess Celestia, the city of Equestria's resident royalty, and her goofy, lovable friends.

 

Twilight's group of buddies consists of the ditzy, hyper Pinkie Pie who loves to sing and throw parties, hard-working country girl Applejack whose family runs the local apple plantation, feisty tomboy Rainbow Dash who not only loves sports and races but also helps control the weather, sweet, bashful Fluttershy(Love that name!) who loves animals and nature, and haughty diva Rarity who is Equestria's resident fashion designer. The group is occasionally joined by Twilight's little dragon buddy Spike(who fans of MLP G1 will remember) and Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash's cute but accident-prone little sisters Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, who have dubbed themselves "The Cutie Mark Crusaders", due to their trying to find their mission in life.

 



Episodes often revolve around the ponies incurring a dilemma or situation of some ilk, which they always solve with the help of their friends, a little bit of magic, and plenty of humor!

Personally, I think this is the best version of My Little Pony(although G1 was certainly no slouch). The art style is beautiful, the characters are interesting, funny, and relatable, and the episode plots are clever, entertaining and amusing. The best thing about this show, at least IMHO, is that unlike previous MLP incarnations, it doesn't take itself seriously at all, with slapstick and silly jokes being a common occurence. A nifty show that MLP afficionados old and new are sure to love, with an excellent opportunity to introduce a whole new generation to that ever-catchy theme song!

"My Lit-tle Po-nee, My Lit-tle Po-nee..." Gotta love it! :-)

 

Several DVDs of the series were made, which are available on Amazon*:

 

Season One

 

Season Two

Adventures in Ponyville

 

The Friendship Express

 

Royal Pony Wedding

 

Adventures in the Crystal Empire

 

 Princess Twilight Sparkle

Celebration at Canterlot

 

Several other(very nifty!) items were made, such as books, a trading card game, and some very cool action figures!

 

Here are some links to some of the cooler action figures:

 

 

Twelve-Pak figure set, which includes six special edition figures

 

Night Mare Moon set

 

Princess Cadance figure

 

Friendship Celebration set

 

Royal Wedding Castle playset

 

Royal Castle Friends playset

 

Wedding Flower Fillies set

 

2-inch PVC figure mystery pak

 

 

 

"Friendship is magic!"

 

 

 

 

 

*There's another DVD entitled, "Pinkie Pie Party", which regrettably isn't currently available on Amazon, but occasionally shows up on ebay. 











Funny Christmas Poem Showcase:Santa's Helper by Shel Silverstein

Santa should start screening the helpers he gets.

Christmas Special Showcase:The Pups' Christmas

The two adorable little puppies who first starred in "The Wayward Pups" are back in this cute Christmas cartoon. In this episode, the kids sneak down to see what Santa's brought them, with the puppies in tow, and the pups get into some hilarious mishaps with the toys! Please enjoy!

Christmas Special Showcase:The Town Santa Forgot

In this sweet and somewhat underappreciated cartoon, a grandpa(voiced by the legendary Dick Van Dyke) tells his kids the story of a greedy little boy named Jeremy Creek who sends Santa a mile-long list. Santa, naturally assuming that no one person could possibly need that much stuff, wagers that Jeremy Creek must be the name of a place, and sure enough, there turns out to be a town with that very name, which coincidentally wasn't on Santa's route, so Santa ships the toys there. A nice story with an excellent message. Please enjoy!(Fun Fact:This show is based off of a little-known story by Charmaine Severson.)

In The Lemon-Limelight:Littlest Pet Shop

Everything they do is a wow.



Littlest Pet Shop was a series based off of the ever-popular toy line, made by Sunbow Entertainment. It premiered on UPN 20 in 1995.

The show concerned the kindly(but slightly eccentric) pet shop owner Elwood P. Harvey and the group of mouse-sized pets inhabiting his shop. Said pets had the propensity to cause mayhem and get into wacky misadventures, much to Elwood's chagrin.

The main cast of pets consisted of the smart, sensible, but sometimes sarcastic purple cat Chloe who seemed to be the group's leader, the dopey but lovable blue dog Stu(no relation), the witty, British-accented pink rabbit Viv who was something of a musician and whose hat contained a band(consisting of a rat, a mouse, and a squirrel), the feisty, short-tempered yellow horse Chet who acted like a stereotypical cowboy(not unlike Ultimate Muscle's Terry Kenyon*), and the hyper, comedic red monkey Squeaks who spoke in chatters and was obsessed with bananas(Everytime he saw a banana, he'd go DOWNRIGHT CRAZY!!!)

Allies of the group, who appeared on occasion, were the talkative parrot Harriet, Sarge the hamster, who, as his name implied, looked and acted like a millitary sergeant, Bernice, a large yellow hamster who was Sarge's on again-off again girlfriend, and Rookie, a normal-sized Dachshund puppy**. The group's main antagonist was Delilah, a normal-sized Monitor lizard who spoke and acted like Zsa Zsa Gabor. Delilah was forever trying to gobble up the little pets(This behavior, of course, always occured in Elwood's absence). Some other recurring antagonists were a trio of bugs who lived in the pet shop's walls. Occasional appearances were also made by Elwood's globetrotting mother Mumsy.

Episode plots involved various wacky mishaps the pets would get into, such as getting an owner who'd end up not working out, or sneaking into someplace and trying not to get caught; the group would occasionally meet other littlest pets as well(one most notable being a white tiger). Much madcap humor and Looney Toons-cum-Tex Avery-eque slapstick adorned every episode.

The show only lasted a year, with only 40 episodes made. While this show, regrettably, isn't currently available on TV or DVD, four different videos were made, containing four episodes each(except for the Christmas one, which only contains two):

Treasure of Sierra Pet Shop***

 

Wrecking Havoc

 

Scaredy Dog

 

Do Not Solve Until Christmas

 

 

Overall, this is a fun, entertaining, and downright HILARIOUS show that really deserved more attention. The characters are likeable and humorous, and the episodes are a lot of fun. Some fans have (somewhat unfairly) criticised the show's art style and music(Honestly, I'll admit it's no Toy Story 3, but it's pretty well done for something of that era). An underappreciated series that's definetly worth a peek;like the Littlest Pet Shop franchise(as I do) and you like hilarious TV shows(as I also do) this is the show for you!

The theme song captures the show's wacky nature perfectly****

 

 

Several action figures were made of the various characters*****, as well as several playsets and a few keychain plushies, all bearing the official Littlest Pet Shop label. These items appear on ebay from time to time.

 

 

"It's all for one and one for all, and also slightly off the wall!"

 

 

 

 

 

*More on that franchise later....

 

**Rookie's my fav character, BTW.

 

***BTW, I highly reccommend the title episode of this video. IT'S A SCREAM-A-MINUTE!!!! :-D

:-D :-D

 

****Lyrics were later added to the theme song, but regrettably, I haven't been able to find the version with the lyrics. If I do, however, I'll post it here.

 

*****With the ever-inexplicable absence of Chet. :-(









Classic Cartoon Showcase:Somewhere in Dreamland

In this very touching cartoon made by Max Fleischer (creator of cartoons featuring Betty Boop, Popeye, Superman et al.), two little poor children, a brother and sister, have an elaborate dream about a magical land filled with toys, food, and other wonderful things. Needless to say, a happy ending is inevitable. (I highly recommend a full box of kleenex for this one.)  :*)  Please enjoy!