DARKNESS is the hearts true essence, according to the weirdo ponytail man at the end of Kingdom Hearts. It's a really popular thing to do in terms of 'Modernising' things and I was thinking about it after seeing a discussion on it. Specifically, what if MLP:FiM were to embrace DARKNESS? My take was that DARKNESS in anything is like Cinnamon: a spice you use just enough of to add some flavour to things. Batman's a nice example. A relatively sedate, bouncy show without Tim Burton's gothic influence and you get the campy 'Brave and the Bold'. Add in a bit and you get 'The Animated Series'. Add a little more and you get the Nolan movies. Go nuts, you end up with 'All-star Batman and Robin', a strange book that has a scene where Robin is kidnapped then expected to eat rats, for some reason. MLP is mostly fun and joy. Adding darkness ended up with 'Part of One', The Royal Wedding' and 'Lesson Zero' where genuinely surprising elements appeared and have been beloved ever since. But were talking about tiny amounts of DARKNESSS. They're there to give the plot enough teeth to hook you in, something MLP:FiM doesn't need to do all the time. It's got comedy and adventure in there too. Though, DAAARKNESSSSS can then highlight issues that the magic of friendship, rainbow lasers, potatos or whatever happens could then attempt to fix. It would be bland if everything was all good. Just as Pinkie would be dull if it wasn't highlighted how dependant on others she is or how nerotic Twilight can be. Or that there are insectoid creatures hellbent on sucking the compasson from you like a walking juice box. Or that a slight tweak to the timeline would result in all out war. I'm for a little spice in the show. Just not too much.'m not lookng to have a DARKNESSSSSS Challenge again so soon after watching 'Man of Steel'. Though, what do you lot think? Have I hit the nail on the head or do you think the show ought to embrase DAAAAAARKNESSSSSSS?
I don't think I understand. Are you trying to say that it should sometimes take 'darker' tones? Or just become a crossover with Kingdom Hearts? From what I understand the rumor remains that 'Guardians of Harmony series' will be more action-packed ala Legend of Korra/multiple anime series and they might do something like that possibly.
I don't mind some darker themes every once in a while, but I prefer that the show at least stay lighthearted and fun. Save the darker bits for the Big Bads.
To some level I do agree with Ridley. It would be too off putting to add too much dark element to a show that is lighthearted inherently. Though at the same time, I would like to see some dark plot that doesn't have to involve a villain exactly. While such ones like "Party of One" and "Lesson Zero" touch on this, there isn't enough of that kinda darkness in the show to say it would be outside kid friendly. This is why fan works like Silent Ponyville and Story of the Blanks exist. We can take MLP places that Hasbro would be taking too much of a risk touching. Though at the same time, breaking barriers in what's expected of a show isn't bad in concept. Excellent execution would need to be applied to make it work and it would something creators of the show could do, but probably won't. Sadly there is too much pandering to what parents think of the show. 4kids is one of those companies that is a excellent example of parental pandering. They make everything kid friendly to avoid parents yelling at them. What cowards.
I really appreciate dark dignified sequences overwhelmed with suspense. But, sincerely I'm quiet unable to withstand any of Tim Burton's feature films. I do like Gothic, but when it comes to Tim Burton's Gothic, it is turned into an unfeigned phantasmagoria and hilarious body horror. Just take a look at that bad opium trip, that he made of Alice in Wonderland. Injecting so-called darkness into MLP:FiM would be a bit baroque to me.
This! All of this hits the nail squarely on the head. The best way of using DAAAAAARRRRKNESSSSSS is to subvert expectation. Instead of the releatively jolly cartoon, episodes like 'Party of One' and 'Lesson Zero' exacerbate character traits of their focused characters to such a degree that they expose an uncomfortable neurosis at their core. Sure, it's played for laughs but it's still not presented as these characters doing anything other than driving themselves insane for the tiniest of excuses. The fact that we've been shown that it's there shows us how dependant on others Pinkie really is and how entrenched in achedemia Twilight had gotten. I'm sure there are Uni students doing this somewhere too. See? Not too much, juuust a pinch.
