Directed by: James Wootton, Jayson Thiessen, Jim Miller
Staring: Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain
Introduction
It has come over the past few months that I find myself becoming less and less excited about new episodes of My Little Pony to where I now am at least seven episodes behind and have no wish to watch any more of them at this time. I think this might just be because of the lack of quality in the more recent season and the fact that most episodes feel like Hasbro wanted to sell more toys, rather than tell a good story with fleshed out characters. I do think I will eventually catch up on MLP as a whole, but for now I need a nice long break from it.
The Show
Episodes on this DVD mainly consist from season two while, of course, they have some from the newest season.
May The Best Pet Win! (Season 2 Episode 7): “After seeing the rest of her friends out in the park on a playdate with their pets, Rainbow Dash (with the help of Fluttershy) tries to find herself an animal to be her pet using a series of contests.”
The Mysterious Mare Do Well (Season 2 Episode 8): “Rainbow Dash’s flying abilities make her a hero around Ponyville, but she lets the publicity go to her head, and her friends are concerned. Later, Rainbow Dash finds she is being upstaged by a masked hero Mare Do Well.”
Read It And Weep (Season 2 Episode 16): “Rainbow Dash ends up in the hospital with a broken wing. Twilight offers her a book from the Daring Do novels, but Rainbow Dash refuses. However, boredom eventually overcomes her, and she starts reading, becoming engrossed in the adventure story.”
Daring Don’t (Season 4 Episode 4): “Rainbow Dash learns that the next Daring Do book has been delayed, and insists she and her friends need to help author A.K. Yearling finish the book faster. Arriving at Yearling’s cabin, the ponies witness the author fighting a group of thugs and discover her to be Daring Do herself.”
Rainbow Falls (Season 4 Episode 10): “Rainbow Dash leads the Ponyville team for a relay race to qualify for the Equestria Games. At the tryouts, she finds the Cloudsdale team is composed of the Wonderbolts Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin, and begins to doubt her less skilled teammates.”
These episodes as a whole are pretty good while still leaving something to be desired. I found the best episode on the list to be “Read it and Weep” while the worst being a tie between Rainbow Falls and The Mysterious Mare Do Well. Both of those episodes completely undermine the element of harmony that Rainbow Dash is, meaning the element of LOYALTY. Here’s an idea writers, don’t do that. While some may say these episodes are fine, or are good, I found them to be pretty bland in the entertainment department and I think this maybe due to the fact that I just don’t really like Rainbow Dash as a character. This may be a shocker to some but, while she certainly isn’t the worst pony, she is toward the bottom. I know she has had some very catchy phrases (i.e. “20% cooler”) in the past, but I find almost every one of her episodes to be a complete circle of her character with little progression. If one is a Rainbow Dash fan, I still think you might like this list but I found it to be a little bit too tedious.
5/10
The Video
Surprisingly My Little Pony DVD’s from Shout! have always had a very good reputation (except for “Equestria Girls”) when it comes to the picture quality and this one is no exception. Colors are extremely bright and vivid with very little pixilation happening at all. From where I was sited on my couch, it started to look like blu ray quality but upon getting closer to the TV, jagged lines started to appear. I did notice some weird color bleeding during the episode “Read It and Weep” during the Daring-Do sections when the screen goes into a 2:35.1 aspect ratio and I’m honestly not sure if this was done on purpose.
8.5/10
The Audio
When I first received this copy I was a bit disappointed when I read that, according to the back of the box, the audio mix was only in a 2.0. Upon putting this disc into my player I found it odd that I was noticing that the dialogue was centered and that there was discrete audio traces coming from my rear channels. Upon further investigation of the audio files themselves, it would appear that this is an actual 5.1 audio mix. I’m not sure whether to take off points for a misprint, but in actuality the audio sounds very good. Dialogue is clear and is almost never drowned out and pans and channel usage is done effectively and subtly. No real issues here other than the misprint on the back of the box.
8.5/10
Packaging and Bonus Features
Weirdly enough the back of the box lists the package designer so I guess I will now be addressing you, Samantha K Pennacchio! The packaging comes in a standard dvd case with a slipcover of Rainbow Dash flying out with a “sonic rainboom” behind her. I really find the artwork cool here due to Rainbow Dash being embossed giving it an almost 3D effect. Very nice stuff. On the flipside of the box we find the rest of the mane six though they look a little weird. Honestly every time I look at it I think that Twilight Sparkle is trying to steal my soul in those dead eyes.
On the Bonus Features side unfortunately we only get a sing-along feature with the “Find a Pet” song. This is also the only song on the entire disc, but I found it to be a cool little karaoke version of it. Menus are also very sparse with almost no variety or surprises.
2/10
Overall
Rainbow Dash may be 20% cooler to some but I have always found her to be a character that never really progresses to become anything more than a background pony that can fly real cool like. While the episode list on this dvd may entertain some, I found them to really be tedious and a missed opportunity in terms of being able to show off Rainbow Dash’s talents and traits. The Video and Audio, on the other hand are surprisingly good, aside from a misprint, and really do elevate this disc from where it should be. Sadly there’s no real bonus content to be found so I would only be able to recommend this to someone who doesn’t want the seasons as a whole, or as a birthday gift to a small child.
OVERALL (NOT AN AVERAGE): 5/10
The Show: 5/10
The Video: 8.5/10
The Audio: 8.5/10
Packaging and Bonus Features: 2/10
Fluffle Puff is Best Pony
Queen Chrysalis is best Overlord.