Why did you make this

Having both wings and a horn makes you an Alicorn, which is basically royality. They are the most powerful breed of pony and only 5 ever existed before this movie.

In case you aren't aware, there will be a Netflix series that follows from this movie and will probably explain more about this semi-rebooted world. I really enjoyed your analysis.

One bit of somewhat useful lore from the previous series that can be applied here: an alicorn (winged unicorn) is actually a pony that posseses all three types of pony magic - earth pony magic, unicorn magic and pegasi magic. You can see in the opening scene that the previous protagonist, the purple pony, was an alicorn too, and she gained that form by finishing a friendship spell and being infused by her friends' magic (hence the name of the previous generation being "friendship is magic"). It doesn't necessarily explain why only Sunny became an alicorn, but it does explain why she got that form from the three pony crystals.

I don’t understand his mindset of claiming sprout is a bad villain, because his backstory is too simple. I think it’s perfect because this kind of mentality is sadly true to life. You got somebody who has grown up under a fear mongering rhetoric. As early as his childhood he believed Pegasi and unicorns were vicious and wanted to cook earth ponies. Then he grows up and gets a job in a position of power, which we see at the beginning he’s not really good at, and he doesn’t get the respect he most likely thought he deserved. You can easily see that from the line “we want the real sheriff.” So you’ve got somebody in a high position of power possibly low self-esteem who is also scared I have another group coming and attacking them. It’s something I’ve seen before in some stories where somebody in a high position is scared and he hates that there’s still scared so then they want to lash out over a perceived threat.

There's a theory that all the three leader ponies knew about the lie. Phyllis, Haven and Alphabittle knew no body has magic but unlike Argyle who also knew about it, those three ponies decided to take advantage of the lie. Sprout himself hasn't that xenophobic as a kid. He wanted the unicorn cupcakes but his mom wouldn't let him have any. You might say he could even find unicorns cool because they can fry brains using their horn lasers. Its why he was playing with the Rarity figure. You could compare it to a kid that thinks Decepticons are cooler than Autobots so they play with Decepticon figures even though they're narratively the bad guys.

For herd animals, being ostracized IS the worst possible punishment.

Xenophobia are often rooted in fear and ignorance. Both feading each other. Has anyone noticed that Sprout is very much a coward?

It's so strange hearing someone who doesn't know anything about the G4 talking about the G5 movie like go off king, analyze the movie with no historical context It's kind of refreshing in a sense

ACtUaLy earthponies do have magic now. After the magic came back you can see 3 fillies from the three races racing and glowing hooveprints on the ground, but the hooveprints are left by the earthpony

"Personal relationships are the source of political power" - I guess you could almost say that friendship is magic, eh? Also, I'm inclined to this Ms Cloverleaf's xenophobia is mostly a result of her needing it to secure her power, while Sprout is genuinely brainwashed. That's why she's able to drop it at the end, while Sprout still seems baffled by everything. Sunny gets to be an alicorn because she achieved something uniquely special. That's the same way that Twilight Sparkle became an alicorn in MLP:FIM, so if you know the lore it makes perfect sense. Also, the state in Zephyr Heights might still have a monopoly on violence. A constitutional monarchy might be able to hold a monarch to account, especially if the basis of that monarch's power (that they can fly) is determined to be fraud. The fact that the Queen encourages Pipp's music career implies that that parasocial relationship was fundamental in maintaining public support for the monarchy, so it's likely their position has been precarious for a while now.

Interesting take! This new generation is actually a continuation of G4, meaning there was unity at one point thanks to G4's protagonist, Twilight (her symbol is the one Zipp shows Sunny during the flight demonstration scene). Ponies were divided thousands of years ago in a similar manner to the movie, until they found unity and eventually in G4, the Ponies spanned to accept other races like dragons and griffins. Now, it seems a lot of time has passed and history once again repeats itself in some fashion. Being a long time fan of the series gives this movie a unique view.

17:28 There were a lot of vital scenes left in the "cutting room floor" to fit in the reduced 91 minutes run impossed by NETFLIX without proper warning [ after Paramount "failed" its contract because the closing of theaters (Covid), the streaming service was selected as an emergency alternative for the distribution of the movie ]. . Sunny clearly has some level of athleticism from her daily commute & job on roller skates (she also wears a Rainbow Dash pin like a badge). . There is clearly a "gap" in Pipp´s character development between the bridge scene (were she goes from an offensive stance to "take Sunny´s word" that she MAY get her fans back) & the much more relaxed, open relationship she develops with Izzy at the campfire. Pipp & Sunny must have had a "personal talk" sometime before sunset (since they set camp on that rock formation at nightfall), likely bonding on their passion for singing & their desire to be respected by the common folk [ everypony in Maretime Bay loves Sunny´s smoothies, but they do not respect her "non traditional" ideas ]. -> Because Pipp had to always avoid being on places were her lack of flying would be pointed out (since she is supposed to be able to do it), she had to keep herself physically isolated [hence why she uses livestreaming as a way to "connect" with other ponies besides her family & minions]. The reason Sunny HAS to do the dance (instead of Pipp or Hitch, who obviously have some real talent for it), is because she was the one who challenged Alphabittle [thinking the rubik cube would be easy for her]. Of course Alpha´s success as a pawnbroker is precisely to convince ponies to go against him on games they are not properly prepared. -> Pipp knowing Sunny actually HAS the ability to win the dance off sugest they exchanged stories [offscreen, at the campfire].

I could definitely tell you aren’t a brony and didn’t watch the show with generation 4 (this is gen 5) which explains some things you pointed out and/or questioned. Sunny became an alicorn (pony with wings and horn) because she was the one to unite the different pony races. An alicorn was the equivalent of royalty in the show in gen 4. Also the cute “everypony” phrase thing is something that was in the show as well.

izzy was not the one who encouraged sunny during the DDR scene, it was pipp

This is God tier analysis, hands down, but I can't not laugh historically at lines like "I guess the state doesn't have a monopoly on violence in pegasi society" Edit: I obviously meant hysterically but I'll live it as it is because funny.

I just like to put this out there whenever anybody likes to draw parallels between Sprout and Trump: it's been stated by the character designer for Sprout that his hair is inspired by Dio Brando from the anime JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, just with the bangs cut. And Phyllis has standard 80's big hair. Styled after an era, not any particular person.

Poor Sprout. If Sunny and Sprout's parents were swapped, Sprout would be the one running around with Izzy to the pegasus city while Sunny would be the one riding the giant robot.

I believe Phyllis Cloverleaf is meant to be a sort of caricature of Phyllis Schlafly, who campaigned against the Equal Rights Act alongside Ronald Reagan

Ponies with both horns and wings are called Alicorns and in g4 they were monarchy of MLP. But one could become alicorn by achieving great task like saving the world. In fact it point out in the episode where Flurry Heart is born that this is first newborn alicorn ever.

I think the reason why she turned into an alicorn is because she represents hope or light which would explain her Golden State and how it lights up

Nice analysis! One of my favorite lines in terms of Themes (tm) in the film is when Sprout sings, "You might not have a bale of hay to borrow / are you saddled with your sorrow / are you scared about tomorrow?" because it's VERY fitting for how fascism and similar ideologies tell people who are struggling or afraid that it's all the fault of the out group, and that only their brave and strong leader can protect them. Also, regarding how none of the three groups are particularly dominant over the others and they're almost equally bigoted, I honestly just think that was to avoid pissing off people who would accuse that of crossing the line into anti-white propaganda or whathaveyou.

One minor quibble I have with this review: Phyllis may or may not have been involved in getting Sprout (not Scout) onto the Maretime Bay Sheriff's department in the first place (I find it hard to believe his bare-minimum competence at being a functional adult, and profoundly work-shy attitude would have earned him a spot on his own merits, unless Hitch is displaying some pretty severe nepotism), but she didn't _make_ him the Sheriff when Sprout left town to chase after Sunny, or at least that's not how I understood it. As the Sheriff's duly-appointed deputy, Sprout automatically took over the office of Sheriff once Hitch was unable to discharge his duties at home. Phyllis was just the one who helped him realise that... and then Sprout went a little power-bonkers, after finally getting the position he's clearly resented Hitch over for some years now (notice how when they're foals, they seem to get on OK, but as adults Sprout has nothing good to say about Hitch once his back is turned. Well, nothing good except in a "how dare he be prettier than me" sense.)

Ever since I first watched this I've been describing it as one of my favorite "little white girl ends racism" movies, and I stand by that. A lot of what makes it not just tolerable but engaging is the way bigoted systems usually work pretty realistically (discounting the very end of the movie because I'm sure they'll walk back on it somewhat) and are Clearly Bad, rather than just being a fact of life.

I feel like the idea that earth pony have no magic (which is lorewise wrong but a mistake often seen both in the fandom AND the show) will play a huge role. I'm assuming you haven't watched the friendship is magic serie, but basically to sum it up, earth pony magic is very hard to see, because their magic is being physically much stronger than other ponies and also being great at agriculture, but mostly the first one. Well, how did we overlook super strong ponies? Because we were accidentally lead to believe that it wasn't a trait common to all earth ponies. Let me explain. In the main cast there are 2 pony of every kind, and for the unicorn and the pegasi, they do a great job of showing us their magic because the pair are very different, not necessarily opposites, but different. That means that when we see them doing a thing that maybe one would do because of peculiar capabilities connected to their personalities, you can see the other doing it too, someone that doesn't have that personality trait, so you understand that it's a thing of their kind. As an example, if you see twilight (purple one) making something levitate, you may assume it is because she studied a lot, or maybe her star symbolism means she has special telekinetic powers, but then you see rarity (white one) using it and you get that ok, so every unicorn can do this. Now, you may thing this should happen for Applejack and pinkie pie too, right? Wrong. Because they both have a peculiar reasoning for their strength, being that Applejack is known for being a strong and sturdy gurl who lived in a farm for her whole life, and pinkie pie is known for not abiding to the laws of physics, so when they pick up something that the others can't, it's because they are them, and not because they are earth ponies. And you don't see it either with side characters because they don't really get the chance to show you. I hope they delve into it more, I always thought it would have needed a fix sooner or later

The moment where Pipp inspires Sunny during the dannce-off is likely meant to harken back to her role as a pop idol - sprinkling MLP lore into it, it's not unlikely that inspiration is Pipp's special talent, what her cutiemark is all about. Of course, it was also important for the message of the movie, that one of the pegasi could actively help her during one of the challenges without actually taking over for her. It was important to show that Pipp was opening up to the idea of friendship between pony species. It was, however, incredibly rushed and had little-to-no build-up, making it seem like it came out of nowhere.

Regarding the part about mutual oppression and how the portrayal lacks the power imbalances of real-life racism... I view it as more analogous to xenophobia between different nations that are very capable of hating and excluding each other simultaneously.

Just wanted to add my two bits to the conversation. You identify the picture of Argyle and Sunny that's reassembled at the end as a "magical" item. That's not true. It's just a photo in a frame. One recurring theme that MLP has had since its 2010 reboot is that the magical relic you seek is almost never actually the solution to your problem. In the first episode, Twilight assumed that the "Elements of Harmony" she needed to defeat the enemy were physical items, but then realized that they're aspects of friendship that her companions each demonstrate. This happens over and over in the series: magic comes from some innate, personal epiphany or realization by a group. Cutie marks come from your realization of what it is that makes you unique. Twilight unlocks hidden magic when she refuses to abandon Discord to Tirek. The Crystal Heart of the Crystal Empire focuses the magic of all those there as a protective shield. It goes on and on. And thus it is in this story, too. Sunny assumes that reassembling the three crystals will restore magic. But it's both her realization that what's broken is pony society *and* the leaders of the three towns actually accepting her words that solves the problem. I wish it could have been made clearer that Sunny was carrying on the will of her father to reunite the three tribes, because there's no reason in the text of the film as it stands for anyone but Phyllis to understand the meaning of that photo. Even so, the film makes clear that it's the act of the three leaders each putting the frame back together that returns the magic. What I found a little funny is that Sunny's dad wears a pendant with Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark on it, and his belief in the old ways is almost coded as religious. This is supposed to be so far removed from Twilight's time that her adventures has passed from history to legend and finally to myth. If you really think about it, Sunny is that weirdo homeschooled girl who was brought up by her super religious father. She's very nice, but has utterly weird beliefs that isolate her from almost everyone.

I didn't see any immigration allegory when I saw the film. None of the three pony tribes are dealing with immigration from any of the other tribes; in fact, none of the tribes have ever seen each other before, as they've been staying away from each other out of mutual distrust.

The strange politics of my little pony: a new generation? The most amount of politics you get out of this franchise is a pro-monarchy, fairly progressive-ish society. That is only every now and then challenged by tyrants or rascists trying to create a new status quo. Hell a constitutional monarchy, a democracy, or a socialist/communist nation state. Would be a change of pace and give people something to talk about.

“The power of interpersonal relationships” is a funny way to say “the magic of friendship”

Death in mlp is.........delicate at best, even in g4 it was a dodged subject except in an episode where hibernation was used as an allegory to go through the 5 stages of it. There's also one of the main 6 who's parents are deeply implied to be dead, however it's never blatantly stated but rather hinted at. My belief is that the powers that were in charge of the show really didn't want to, or couldn't just come out and say somepony had died. In talking with the show staff including a producer at a convention i got definitive proof of the parents being in fact dead though. This generation seems to have less restrictions however and that is evidenced by "watch us shake our unicorn butts" butt was never used in g4, ever along with the obvious picture and personal effects of argyle when sunny grew up being displayed

"Why did the protagonist get wings" Back in my day, that was M. A. Larson's fault.

Uhh,Mr.Therapy...The pony giving Sunny encouragement for the dance game was Pipp...Not Izzy ^^;

im pretty sure sunny became an alicorn as a visual representation of the 3 tribes friendship, but i dont think it's permanent because alicorn wings / horn are usually not transparent like that. twilight sparkle, the main character of g4, was also an alicorn, you see her in the beginning of the movie with her 5 friends :3

This is a very interesting view! I personally think Pipp's encouraging words work with Sunny because at first she was focused on Alphabittle and having a hard time concentrating. But when Pipp told her to focus on the rhythm rather than her opponent she did better because she was focused on the music. But I loved the video! Great job!

Supposition, but I assumed in addition to being exposed for fake flying the queen was also arrested for having a fake crown. No one out side the five heroes knew about the heist, so as far as the general public might be concerned the queen's entire claim to leadership may have been called into doubt. Anyway, otherwise this was a pretty enjoyable outsider analysis. Always appreciative when people give this franchise a chance instead of just writing it off.

Sunny got her wings and horn because she made a very important, outstanding thing that not everyone can do. Twilight got her alicorn form because she ended spell that no one can end:)

17:30 That's Pipp, not Izzy. Pipp has a blue mane, not purple-pink.

Haven't watched the full video yet but I noticed that there's also a noticeable class divide among the 3 tribes. Earth ponies are a pretty well developed area with pretty good technology and livable homes, but the pegasai have them best in every way with gidamn smartphones and tv abd stuff. Meanwhile unicorns lack digital technology altogether, live in the woods, and everything, including dance machines, are done via analog. I think that has to do with the fact that, out of all pony kinds losing their magic, unicorns had the most to lose. In fact, before g5, unicorns were actually thr highest class of pony, being royalty and high society. But because they're not used to using their hooves like the other ponies, they struggle more and fall behind. I feel Pegasus made it to the top is because of the royalty pretending they can fly, giving Pegasai a social upper hand and giving them false hope, causing them to be more productive idk. Earth ponies didn't really notice a difference. They were originally the lowest class of pony, being the farmers, but now that time has passed, they invented technology to farm for them so they can do other stuff

Also yeah it's not a perfect 1:1 on real world racism but I can't imagine hasbro putting the green light on analogous pony racism even if they wanted lmao.... Assigning races to the pony tribes for any irl commentary would jus be. So messy. But it works for kids on a base level I think so like mission accomplished

The better call Saul to my little pony pipeline is real folks

This movie was pretty good, but it was a sequel to the last generation. They are connected, and if you like this movie, I would suggest watching G4. Plus, it would be interesting to see videos exploring the old generation from someone who started watching after the series ended.

I really enjoyed the line "I guess the state doesn't have a monopoly on violence in the pegasi society which is based" XD

imagine my shock listening to this video after your better call saul series and hearing the voice of chuck mcgill come from one "argyle starshine" i'm sobbing

Okay so, Sunny's horn and wings. Basically a pony who masters the magic of friendship ascends to a higher form, known as an alicorn, which is basically all pony kinds combined. Twilight Sparkle also did this in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode "Magical Mystery Cure", if you want to see another example of this transformation.

Firstly, welcome to the herd. Secondly, you said nothing? I highly disagree. You've delivered a fresh-face analysis better than some who are already familiar with the source material. Kudos to you good sir.

17:34 That's because it wasn't Izzy that encouraged her, I forgot her name but it was the Pegusus Princess (I think her name was Pipp) that was performing and got exposed that was.

4:25 Actually Hitch was absolutely right on that point: Giving ONE speech was not going to stop everyone from being afraid. They've been raised for generations with these fears, and mistrust of the other ponies. It's going to take time, effort and education, and physical proof to enact a change of perspective in the population. And some might never fully get over their fears cause its what they've been taught their whole lives. The problem with these feel good stories is they never portray a realistic change in culture, its just story plot happens, and then bam! Everybody loves each other and throws a party. Real change takes time. 7:31 The reason why it doesn't fit systemic racism is because its not. SR affects a targeted group within a society. Here the groups aren't living together. They're segregated. With their own power structures, and no group has power over the other cause they're separate nations. This isn't SR its plain old run of the mill Racism and Xenophobia.

22:08 - 22:21 cause she was the one who made the "reunion" of the three pony races possible, or rather she was the one who showed the three pony "rulers" that they can be friends instead of enemies...

They didn't stop being racist because they got magic back, they got magic back because they stopped being racist.

Bro this is bringing back memories of when I was 10 and watched this show together with my sister. Thanks for revealing the geopolitical socio-economic struggles of the funny pony people

You should keep on analyzing shows meant for kids/teens.

I found this channel because of the Better Call Saul videos, and saw this one and thought it'd be interesting to watch too, and I was not prepared for "It's called research, Phyllis" to be Michael McKean lmao

The photo wasn’t magic, it just represents each of the 3 types of ponies finally coming together and putting their prejudices aside. 21:59 It’s explained in the G5 series that when a pony accomplishes a “great princess worthy deed” that they become Alicorns (ponies with both wings and a horn). Both Twilight and Sunny accomplished a huge magical deed that helps unite all types of ponies so I assume that’s the criteria that needs to be met to become an Alicorn. Plus, Earth ponies are magic. In G5 it’s explained that earth ponies have greater strength and agility than unicorns or pegasi. And earth ponies having magic was shown in G5 when Tirek (a magic stealing monster) steals unicorn magic, pegasi magic, and then earth pony magic after which he proceeds to try to steal the Alicorn magic. When Twilight and her friends bear the elements of harmony the mane 6, which consists of each type of pony, grow more powerful. Not to mention the fact that the elements where created by 6 ponies from 1000 years ago who also consisted of each type of pony who are the obvious embodiments of the elements and have accomplished great deeds. I could get more into it but then I’d have to write an entire essay and I honestly don’t feel like it.

So at the beginning the Mane 6 were together again, but it was just the kids playing with toys which turned a lot darker because Sprout got bored and did what little boys frequently do: look for villains to fight. Outside of the movie that would be just a little kid creating a monster to defeat. Inside the movie it's a mix of foreshadowing and exposition.

I loved this video and wrote an embarrassingly long comment but I'm going to start over. Welcome to being an MLP stan by the way. He's divisive but personally I loved Sprout's character (though I have... a number of criticisms). Most kids movies about racism have 2 things 1. some lie or misunderstanding about a specific event or danger posed by the other group. Like how in Frozen 2 everyone hates the people that live in the forest because "they broke a promise" or something. but no one irl broke a promise and started racism. Zootopia was closer with the predator/prey dynamic but predators pose a real threat to prey animals and portraying minorities as predators wasn't the best look even though they tried. I like how in this movie none of the groups are intended to be the minority group and like you said, they fear and oppress each other. This isn't realistic but personally I care more about the message than the allegory. And I feel that the main message is that there is no one person responsible for racism - it's systemic and built into our societies and that's what we need to fight. Yes, we have a villain, but he's a product of his upbringing. He's the son of a CEO, he's a cop, and he's ignorant and unquestioning of his racist/xenophobic views. and then he gets drunk on power. Honestly my biggest issue with Sprout's portrayal is the way they dress him in the militaristic fascist type outfit. Yes, people like Sprout can be fascists but they likely won't dress the part. We need to recognize the behaviors and not the stereotypical look. I think he's more effective as a normal pony with a badge whipping up fear in the others. Also he didn't get punished but I'll wait to find out what the series does with him to complain too much. This is so long again. Anyway I liked the "the leaders of their communities, monarch, a CEO, and a skillful gambler" quote, it was so funny. but it reminded me of someone pointing out how the main power structure for earth ponies is a corporation, a monarchy for pegasi, and shared superstitious views for unicorns that they said may come from the unicorns religion. It would have been interesting to see almost a religious figure as a leader of the unicorns who said that unicorns were superior, or something. Thanks for the video!

This was a great analysis of the movie. Learned a lot of themes that I've either generalized too much or missed! :3

I came from your BCS videos and im glad to see your quality is consistent and good

"everypony" started in Gen 4 and Sunny became the god pony because that's what happened in Gen 4 with that protag

So a very important thing "Relationship gives you power" Yup, that's literally the title of mlp g4, my little pony: friendship is magic. Not to mention cozy glow literally used her "friends" to gain power explicitly saying "friendship is power" This is a thing that is continuously, repeatedly used in g4, almost can't go an episode without it

21:50 It was not the fact that they were "leaders" (as if some divinity or force/destiny only paid attention to "high ranking ponies"); but rather that their "example" *inspired* the hearts of each of the "background ponies" looking to them from behind (a few dozen earthlings, pegasi & unicorns reunited there at the lighthouse); since they would likely not "believe" anything Sunny would say just by themselves [because of their lack of willingness to perform "free thinking"], while at the same time they respect the "elders" & would follow/trust in their choices. . The crystals were always "saturated" with magic, but it was the apropiate "ritual" what activated them: [after perceiving the "good vibes" (Harmony) coming from ALL of the nearby ponies, a pre_programmed "release" was triggered]. . The photo itself is not special (except perhaps for Phyllis who at least knew Sunny´s dad & had a personal relationship with him); taking pieces of the destroyed lighthouse and place them where they should be would had done the same effect. About Sunny´s "Astral Enhancements": . She is still an Earth Pony, (she did not transformed into an "Alicorn" [winged unicorn] like her purple doll (main character from the previous generation, the same one from Sunny´s Dad bedtime story). -> Even if the permanent "magical upgrades" gives her flight & levitation, those are just "magical prosthetics" [ while the "true" alicorns are either born that way... or were a pony who DIED in a "special" way (allowing them to reincarnate inmediatly in a new, different adult body) ]. . Each one of the crystals gave Sunny a different "upgrade" as they were DESIGNED. The original function of each one of the crystals was to give ANY pony (regardless of their "race") a specific power from one of the pony races. -> The stained glass windows at the Zephyr Height´s Zeppelin Station has 3 different earth ponies being "blessed" by each crystal; getting either a pair of goldenwings, a golden horn, or "recovering" their (super)natural connection with plants. . Sunny was likely "attunned" already with the Earth Diamond simply by sleeping next to it every night for most of her life [ Queen Haven insistence of always wearing her crown is suspicious, she likely heard legends about the crown giving real flight from her mother ]. -> Why Sunny was also "targeted" by the Pegasus & Unicorn crystals is not clear [maybe she "won" them when their true owners (Haven & Alphabittle) willingly gave them to her (the animation & position of the camera gives focus to this "hoof_to_hoof" transfer). . Anypony COULD get the golden wings, the golden horn or the "mysterious" earth_magic IF the crystals were still around (but because they combined & "exploded", their magic was instead spread on the entire "world").

You’re putting the weird feeling a lot of us parents had while watching it - but didn’t want to say and ruin the movie for our kids - into words so thank you 😂

The picture frame was a symbolic representation of their friendship and the magic crystals turned sunny into an alicorn magic

7:24 - 7:40 That was some of the most historical and advanced terminology I’ve ever heard used to describe something about My Little Pony… Bruh I would expect to hear stuff like that from my History teacher about something like Nazi Germany - not MLP 😂😂

WOW AN ACTUAL SOURCED DESCRIPTION YOU MY FRIEND ARE INCREDIBLE. This, from my barely passed Y12 english perspective, was such an eye-opening review. I'm not gonna lie I don't remember half the things you said but I was so enthralled by all the points you were bringing up that I'm now late for dinner. Thank you for such an awesome review on 'mlp:ang' politics. I hope to see more amazing discussions you bring up in the future, but I understand if it's not necessarily a viable option for your patreon's. :P Thank you - A new subscriber.

It's genuinely so interesting to me that despite this being a new generation of ponies taking place after the events of the main show, they chose to revert Equestria back to the state of things that was considered ancient history by the generation of mane 6. They had legends and tales of the three pony kinds living separately, and used them to teach moral lessons in one-off episodes. Yet this movie chooses to not only show them as being separate again, but also giving the Pegasi a princess? Implying that they've been separate for so long that not even the alicorn princesses have any power to bring back the order of things? It's so bizarre. Not even mentioning the way they chose to begin customising their pony designs.

Danger Danger also sounds like Poker Facer during the Mob mob part!

To answer you question about the alacorn thing at the end: it is my belief that she became the new alacorn aka technical new "Equestria princess" because her actions from a young age and continued friendship thoughts persisted, there for becoming the new becon of friendship and new sustainable magical power enforcement. In the G4 show it is mentioned that alacorns, the only higher power over ALL ponies no mare what, aren't born (usually, excluding that one baby from the Cristal pony kingdom) that status is usually earned, like with Twilight. So yeah, technically the main character just became legit royalty.

Sprouts song is so full of reference that is great!

22:06 "New MLP Stand" I was not expecting a Jojo's reference. Top kek. Hats off to you my friend.

Most of my enjoyment of the character Sprout comes from a little coincidence. He looks almost exactly like the oc of a mlp KZfaqr. Make sprout a unicorn and you have the oc. And sprout's character really makes me think of how this KZfaqr behaves. Like, there's a lot of similar behavior. So when the song he sings near the start of the movie comes up, I was just laughing my ass off. It feels so much like a parody of this KZfaqr, mocking him.

I just got Ken Jeong acting from he's performance as Sprout. I was really happy with the performance. I noticed while watching the DDR competition that she got a bit better for each time she tried, maybe Izzy noticed as well?

Sprout is giving me EXCEEDINGLY Gaston vibes. Even the mane and coat color looked like Gaston's red and yellow shirt and gloves.

Loved the research and thoughts that went into you making this video I subbed

As far a the DDR seen goes it was Pip that tells sunny that she can do this. I feel it had more the do with the fact Pip was still holding back on supporting the groups quest, until that moment when she tell her she is going to believe in her too. Sunny group is now all on board and complete. Giving her the extra confidence she needed to succeed.

I thought you were kidding about the picture frame veing a magical item. Dude.... it's taking on the metaphorical representation of what the real crystals represent, thats why the REAL crystals fuse once the frame is pushed together. It's not about the crystals, you seemed to actually understand that, but the photo frame is NOT magic

The thing with Sunny gaining the wings and horn is most likely a direct parallel to an event that happened in the Friendship is Magic show with the character Twilight Sparkle. They're both able to unite unity within their communities, and because of this feat are dawned with the royal status of an Alicorn. Alicorns in the show are only ever shown to be possible through preforming acts of friendship that exponentially influencial to the world, or in some very rare cases are just born into it.

23:40 since roughly 30% of the population polls as favorable to authoritarianism, spanning eras and geography, I think this is a rather realistic motivation. Though not as ‘interesting’ as something more bombastic, I agree.

Yeah the politics are weird in this. First thing I noticed.

Sunny became an alicorn. Same thing happened to Twilight Sparkle in G4 when she mastered/completed some form of ancient spell that could change a pony's destiny. Alicorns in this continuity (since this is constantly being hammered in as a sequel to G4) are basically demi-god or god-tier beings, most notably Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the previous rulers (and I groan every time I mention that) of Equestria who were so powerful they could control the sun and moon as was their destiny, which still begs the question of who or what is maintaining the celestial bodies or the weather since it was established that the ponies needed each other to survive. Let alone where the Windigoes are. Windigoes are beings of cold that come about due to hatred which almost destroyed Equestria in ancient times due to the three tribes constantly fighting.

I thought they were brothers too because of the opening the dialogue between the two boys. So glad I wasn't the only one. I thought the same thing when I heard Sprouts song about soundin like Offspring. I was like wow sounds so familiar. Also thought it sound like Ra ra ra lady Gaga song.

It makes a lot of sense to me that Sunny would become an alicorn. In Friendship is Magic, Twilight becomes an alicorn because she learns about friendship, unites the ponies, and becomes the Princess of Friendship. It makes sense that Sunny would become her successor, since she essentially did what Twilight did (although arguably on a larger scale), bringing friendship to Equestria.

The Strange Politics of My Little Pony: A New Generation

I think sprout just wanted to impress his mom

I don't know why I watched a 30 minute video of the politics of a MLP movie I haven't seen when I stopped watching the show after season 3. But I liked it.

I'm sure someone else noted it, but at 17:40 with the "Feel the rythm" towards Sunny quote-you miscredited it to Izzy saying it. It's Pip who says it. At 25:10 we can assume she might have taken Zipp's words of telling her "the unicorns don't have magic" to heart. Sort of the "I'd like to see you try" is her taking the chance her daughter is correct.

Super interesting video! Not sure if you're planning to, but I'd be really interested in more videos when the series comes out, to see it analyzed like this from the perspective of someone who didn't watch G4.

I think its super cool that you watched the movie from a perspective of never having seen G4. its kind of like you're experiencing the same confusion as the ponies at the history. I think it adds more mystery to be uncovered in the series!

I actually thought that the pegasai had a revolution and over thrown the queen.

I think that the references or flat ... "copies" in songs like "danger danger" are more an emotional impulse than a simple reference

the mob song sounds like when I come around as well. Also, pipp's song (can't remember the name) sounds like can't stop the feeling

I found you from this video and im glad i did! I really enjoyed your breakdown of the film and the little jokes along the way got me to chuckle, would def love to hear more of your humor sprinkled into your stuff. If i could make one suggestion tho? There was a LOT of blank screen that was boring to look at and it made me want to skip ahead to when you cut in video but then i would of missed the points you were currently talking about. Im not sure how copyright bots work but im sure theyre a pain to deal with, but would it be possible to add in more footage between your talking points, or at least something different each time, or more visually interesting to look at? Regardless i really loved your voice and the flow of your editing, will def be checking out your other stuff

This was interesting, I would love to see more mlp related content in the future.

Man I KNEW I heard Chuck McGill

*Heya coming in with my MLP knowledge!* So about the Alicorn thing - Alicorns were Royalty in the previous Generation (the one that took place years before this movie in their universe). BUT ALSO ponies were gifted wings/horns (in addition to their already existing body part) when they completed some important magical tasks, to a degree even impossible. Only a handful of Alicorns existed in the show (with only 1 of them being born an Alicorn as far as we know, but that's still up to debate). In the show it was Twilight Sparkle who got wings and became an Alicorn (and later Princess of Equestria, succeeding the 2 previous Alicorns) after accomplishing a task about the Magic of Friendship, soon after becoming the "Princess of Friendship"

basically, the theory is no alicorn is born**** and you need to be infused with the magic of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. it's basically a power-up. there's a ton of better explanations you can find tbh.

This was really good! Honestly I wonder what your take would be on this if you had more context to the mlp universe. Probably not that different but the theories are wild!

Ok now i want all Mlp:FiM being analyzed by you

sunny got wings and a horn because her actions caused the healing of the rift between the pony tribes. making her the new princess of friendship