MLP G5 Discussion and Speculation Thread

Hot take: They made Twilight an earth pony just so she can become an alicorn again.

@cheezedoodle  
Please, my heart could not take that Bull.

@cheezedoodle  
or perhaps having rarity the alicorn role.

@cheezedoodle  
I was expecting a Black Clover thing

I tried to summarize what the production team wants and some other things. Remember that this information is from 2017 emails (most of it may have been changed), there are stuff that contradict each other because they come from different emails sent on different dates and information is missing because I didn’t have time to check all emails.
 
-Simple character designs (reminiscent of Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Gravity Falls, Mickey Mouse 2013, DuckTales 2017 and Be Cool Scooby-Doo), with fun and varied manestyles, eyes that are expressive and big (not overly big, due to the CGI from the movie) and a different body shape for each pony type. Earth ponies have large hooves, unicorns are relatively tall and pegasi have tiny wings in their hooves. Fur around hooves is something that most of the production staff disliked but shouldn’t should be taken off the table yet. Some potential design ideas to be considered may be big hoof feathers and a look inspired by the Gypsy Vanner breed for earth ponies, long horns, long manes, leonine tails and cloven hooves for unicorns and feathery, mohawk-ish manes (inspired by the Greeks), less hair and an aerodynamic look for pegasi.
 
-Applejack to be a tough, scrappy mare of short stature whose path certainly shouldn’t be crossed by. But she’s not cruel, she only has had a hard life since birth and has to work a little harder than everypony else. She probably won’t get along at all with Twilight Sparkle (akin to Sunset Shimmer and Tempest Shadow before their reformations kicked in) and may have a red streak in her blonde mane.
 
-Rarity and Fluttershy to have distinct horn patterns. (not sure about this one)
 
-Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to have different wing designs from each other. Rainbow flies fast (like her G4 counterpart) while Pinkie will more likely flit around in a series of loops and hops. If most (all?) concept arts are any indication, Rainbow will have large wings while Pinkie will have small ones.
 
-The Mane 6 being in early adulthood, like in the current series, or perhaps in late adolescence (I didn’t understand that part very well).
 
-The existence of the Cutie Marks to be still fundamental, but no one in the staff apparently was fond of the current version (I’m extremely sure they’ll give a new meaning for them).
 
-Magic as something outlined, exclusive to personalities, visible in some way and not so common (otherwise, it would not be special). Visible and repeatable magic is/was the top priority for Hasbro’s superiors and the folks from Boulder Media.
 
-Ponyville being a colourful meadow (or at least more familiar and easy to relate than the others, to prevent places like a bakery and a school from looking and feeling out of place), Everfree Forest being an enchanted forest (obviously!) and Cloudsdale being a cloud town (once again, obviously!).
 
-The changes in Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie’s species were done thoughtfully, deliberately and for reasons that will be significant to all main characters’ personalities and the story.
 
-Non English-speaking markets have been pushing to have different translations of each pony’s name and Hasbro is willing to follow their suggestion. For example, Pinkie Pie would have a Slavic name in Slavic countries (Rozeta, Roza, Rozi, Rozovka…).
 
-Connected to the fact above, one of the people in production team suggested that some of the Mane 6’s names could be condensed in order to age-up the brand and make things less cheesy. For instance, Dash instead of Rainbow Dash, Pinkie instead of Pinkie Pie and Twilight instead of Twilight Sparkle. The other three would still be called as usual (well, it was suggested during the designing stage that Applejack would be nicknamed Apple or AJ, but they probably gave up on that idea). It was turned down because the character names are prominent, recognizable and, you know, trademarked.

@Background Pony #EA45  
considering that those are subject to change, i’m not accepting that until hasbro has something to solidly confirm.

@Shimmering Spectacle  
Fair enough. I also don’t believe Hasbro is going to use everything in this summary I tried to do.

So let me get this straight:  
-Simple character designs aren’t a bad thing, it’s not good to overdesign
 
-So AJ really didn’t connect with the target audience
 
-How would that work?
 
~~Naturally ~~ wings could be very different
 
-So nothing’s changing there
 
-How else could they even be used?
 
-Magic is something that definitely needs an overhaul (unicorns are so fundamentally broken in G4 that they make Brawl Meta Knight look like Magikarp) but are they going the Empty Horizons route I wonder?
 
-So these are our three worlds then
 
-Twilight is presumably an earth pony to be more relatable, Pinkie a pegasus because loops, and Fluttershy because that was what’s left.
 
-So we’ll be getting Laini Mwanga the evil filly, Vetrenyy Svistki the hyperactive milf, Hoshi Akari Kirameku the resentful cultist, and Cucciolosorrisi the ghost in a radiation suit. Okay then.
 
-Gotta use the names you paid for. But are Rainbow and Sparkle really that childish and girly?
 
@Background Pony #EA45  
The delay is probably for either an overhaul… or to give the adult fandom time to die.

@Wiimeiser  
-Applejack sadly isn’t very well-liked by the production staff.
 
-Well, if other concept arts (and the wording in the email I got this information from) are any indication, Fluttershy’s horn pattern maybe would be something like her Row 4 design while Rarity’s maybe would be something like her Row 3 design?
 
-Well, maybe the Cutie Marks would be where Earth Ponies magic come from (if this concept gets to be used in the final product). But that wouldn’t explain why unicorns and pegasi would have it too, so I don’t know.
 
-For some of the production staff, Rainbow and Sparkle are cheesy/girly/childish names.

@Background Pony #EA45  
I can tell that. She’s had what, two, maybe three, episodes that affect her character? And most of her episodes in the last three seasons were terrible
 
Is there a comparison of those designs here?
 
Doesn’t it technically come from the hooves in G4?
 
And what about the general public? I’m guessing yes.

@Wiimeiser  
-Here are two fanarts that show what I’m talking about:  
(Fluttershy)  

This image is blocked by your current filter - click here to display it anyway

your current filter.

 
(more or less Rarity, this was the best I could find)  

This image is blocked by your current filter - click here to display it anyway

your current filter.

 
-Yep. But apparently earth pony magic in G5 will come from the Cutie Mark and may be related to a pony’s special talent, while unicorn magic will come from their horn (obviously) and may be related to a pony’s personality. Nothing is confirmed, obviously!

@Background Pony #EA45  
So Rarity will have no lines and Fluttershy will have a vine…

@Wiimeiser  
Rarity maybe would have a trio of diamonds in her forehead and her horn would come out of the middle one. There was a concept art in which her horn would be transparent and made of diamond, but it probably was dropped.

@Background Pony #EA45  
Please use >>123456t image format for linking derpibooru images, both so that the pics are visible and so that people who have any of those tags filtered won’t accidentally see them.

@Background Pony #EA45  
Applejack is probably the best person out of The Mane Six, but the worst character. She’s the right character at the wrong stage of development. There are no inner demons for her to conquer, and the Applejack we started with should have been the endgame. I want to see how she coped with the deaths of her parents and became the honest, dependable pony she is.

@DerpyFast  
Wouldn’t have happened in G4 as according to media kids find death too scary so you have to sugarcoat it. But then what happens to the kids who actually lose someone?

@DerpyFast  
I wish we got more of how important integrity is from her. Not just honesty, but keeping your word, and doing the right thing when no one is watching. That would’ve made for good AJ episodes- imagine this: she has a chance to steal something valuable enough to save the family farm, and no one will ever know. But she doesn’t, because of integrity- that’s what AJ should’ve had for episodes.

@DerpyFast
 
@GenericArchangel
 
You guys are so right. Applejack isn’t a bad character; the writers just never realised her potential. Mix in some pride, stubbornness and repression (me, sad about mah parents? Oh course not lip quivers ) and she could be great.

@GenericArchangel  
We kinda got that once: Leap of Faith.

i wonder if the voice actors that were voicing the characters, exclusively to rainbow roadtrip(i sense for now), will be become part of g5 with the characters that they voiced?

@Shimmering Spectacle  
Wait, did they change the voice actors for that?

@Applelight Limited  
i don’t know, as far as i can tell, it’s likely a Speculation

@Shimmering Spectacle  
@Applelight Limited  
No one changed VAs in Rainbow Roadtrip. And to be honest, we don’t even know if G5 still will be recorded in Vancouver. Maybe it’ll be recorded in New York with non-union VAs, like the current Transformers cartoons!

Why are you guys spoilering normal conversation about Applejack?
 
@DerpyFast  
We got at least a taste of it in Where the Apple Lies.
 
@Applelight Limited  
She’s got pride and stubbornness in spades. Just about every AJ episode demonstrates those repeatedly.
 
Her overprotectiveness toward granny smith and apple bloom also (intentionally or not) hints at her grief over losing her parents.

@cheezedoodle  
I think we exaggerated a bit in trying not to spoil things for those who didn’t see the leaked content and tend to go on forums here without knowing what it is about.