Why So Blu?

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Adventures Of The Cutie Mark Crusaders (DVD Review)

Ah, yes, the My Little Pony DVD with the incredibly long title.  I had to look up what exactly it all was.  So, this is a fourth generation My Little Pony show.  It’s called My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.  Just like the Transformers have something like Transformers: Beast Wars.  This particular collection of episodes is then dubbed Adventures Of The Cutie Mark Crusaders.  Okay, you got all that?  This show is pretty well known for its large cult following of males.  No, not kidding, look it up, they’re called “Bronies”.  Apparently, it has something to do with fandom of one of the head writers of the series.  It was intended for young girls 2-11, but the boys have pretty much taken the fandom over.  The criss-cross is certainly eye-opening and surprising.  I was looking forward to seeing what this was all about and how it could happen.

Show 

In Equestria, obtaining a cutie mark is an important coming-of-age moment for a young Pony. After all, Ponies acquire their cutie mark only after they discover a unique characteristic about themselves, setting them apart from all other Ponies. So when Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom meet, they instantly become friends and make it their mission to find their cutie marks! They are The Cutie Mark Crusaders!

This collection from Shout! Factory contains five episodes from the critically acclaimed and cult phenomenon series.  The episodes included on this disc/release are The Cutie Mark Chronicles, The Cutie Pox, Flight To The Finish, Pinkie Pride and Twilight Time.  These offer a nice varied look at the series as the episodes are comprised from the series’ first, second and fourth seasons.  The show is scheduled to return in 2015 for its fifth season.

I can’t say I’m a big fan of this show.  Surprisingly, I fit demographic for the who is the biggest fans of the show being a male between 13-35.  I can appreciate the animation and spirit of the series.  Its a very bright and vibrant show with a positive outlook on everything.  There is some fun to be had just looking at it and listening to some of the fun voice work being done.  There is also some really great referential humor mixed in too. I’ll will say, its much better than the My Little Pony series that was sold to girls when I was a wee lad.

To be honest, I thought this was possibly going to be a nightmare for me to sit though, but it was actually not “that bad”.  As a whole, it really wasn’t my thing, and I doubt I’ll make it appointment viewing anytime soon.  But, I can say is that I definitely get the appeal and as to why it has this very strong cult following from an unlikely demographic.  Its got some tantalizing, super colorful animation along with some actually clever writing.

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-2 NTSC

Resolution: 480i

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Clarity/Detail:  This is pretty impressive.  Unlike some of the Cartoon Network DVDs I’ve reviewed, the transfer for Shout!’s My Little Pony DVD is quite exquisite.  The image is vibrant and sharp.

Depth:  While a two dimensional animated program, there is a good deal of depth on display here, especially when any given character is flying or floating around.

Black Levels:  Blacks are accurate and quite solid.  The episodes also feature a good deal of nicely shaded scenes at times too.

Color Reproduction:  Colors are bright, vibrant and very solid.  There’s a good deal of pastel-ish ones on display as well.

Flesh Tones:  N/A

Noise/Artifacts:  Pretty clean, even DVD related anomalies were scarce.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: N/A

Dynamics:  Audio on the 5.1 is nice, loud and clean.  Effects are well defined for a compressed source.  There’s a nice balance of voice, effect and music.

Low Frequency Extension: Sound effects and music give the subwoofer some to work with.  This isn’t a demanding show of that caliber.  Much of everything goes in the more higher pitched range.

Surround Sound Presentation: There is some solid ambiance that distinguishes itself from just being background that plays in the front as well.  Also, the movement of sounds is accurately depicted from screen to speaker.

Dialogue Reproduction:  Loud and clean.

Extras 

“Super Duper Party Pony” Sing-along (SD, 1:57) – A version of the scene with this song including sing-along lyrics on the screen.

Digital Wallpaper – Insert the disc into your computer’s DVD-Rom drive to access a folder containing the wallpaper.

Coloring Sheet – A printable coloring page, accessed by putting using the DVD in your computer.

Summary 

This is a nice little sampler of this current My Little Pony series that airs on the HUB network (One that’s schedule oddly looks exactly like what I was watching back in my childhood).  I think its movie networks for its fifth season, so definitely look up that.  This DVD has an impressive presentation for a DVD, with Shout! Factory putting in the best work.  The bonus material isn’t much, but for kids, I’d say its beneficial.  Collectors wanna have everything or they may just hold out for a season set, but for parents with kids, this is a nice little helping that could be used for when its not on TV but your daughter/son wants to get their fix.