Rating:
Thanks to the consistent low quality of
certain writers on My Little Pony,
I’ve opined that choosing a random brony for the staff would be better than
some of the professionals. Technology
today is advanced enough that one such brony set out to prove me right. Animation student Zachary Rich decided to
make an entire episode of the show as a project, and comes closer to matching
the real thing than would have been possible even ten years earlier. Naturally he was hindered by not having
access to the professional animators or voice actors, but he also wasn’t bound
by series conventions or standard running times. Double Rainboom almost ends up feeling like
Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky had written it, since the action is
allowed to marinate for longer than would be possible in the real series. Fan favorites like Derpy and Dr. Whooves are also given extended screentime, and references that couldn’t otherwise be made are
sprinkled throughout (the unfortunately axed fan-game Fighting Is Magic gets a
nod in the credits). Of course, the
animation doesn’t quite match the crispness of the original, and the voice
actors aren’t spot-on doubles. This
serves to take the audience out of the episode a bit, even though it
unfortunately couldn’t be helped.
Despite Double Rainboom not being able to transcend its fan-made status
because of these problems, the freedom allowed such a production is where its
enjoyability lies. The episode may be
too light and frivolous to be considered a major effort of the series, but I’d
rather watch it than many of the numerous bad episodes produced by the
professionals.
Twilight’s latest project is making a potion
to enhance a pony’s natural abilities (generally strengths related to their
cutie marks), and Rainbow Dash pops into the library for some reason. After going through the various reactions she
would expect from her friends, Twilight’s description to Dash (“you should be
able to fly really fast”) is more than enough for us to realize that the latter
is about to drink the whole thing. Once
the potion kicks in, Dash heads for the stratosphere, and then quickly back
into town. After messing with the
Ponyville residents a bit just due to speed, Dash again shoots to the sky and
reaches space. Awed by her sudden power,
she opts to try performing a double rainboom.
Pulling a double rainboom off is not close to
a canon thing, so Dash knowing about this is awkward. A better solution would have been for her to
go as fast as possible (or attempt to approach the light barrier or something)
and then end up happening to do one. But
that wouldn’t have been as dramatic. So
Dash starts off with a quick boom and then pushes into a second barrier that
turns her whole body into a rainbow.
This visually spectacular double rainboom is unfortunately also a nuke
of sorts, and lays most of Ponyville and the surrounding area to waste. As a further side effect, Dash is transported
into another dimension.
After traveling through a wormhole of
familiar-looking cartoon characters, Dash plops out into the city of
Townsville. Yes, the third act or so is
actually a crossover between My Little
Pony and The Powerpuff Girls. The girls are taking on a big red monster,
but the fight goes poorly pretty quickly.
Thankfully Rainbow Dash is around to help, and yet another rainboom
sends the monster down for the count. He
surprisingly begs for and is granted mercy, but the girls decide to not let him
off so easy. Once the monster is done,
the Powerpuff Girls decide to keep Dash as a pet, and the latter’s attempts to
fly away are thwarted when the potion finally wears off. Now certain to be caught, Dash can only pray
that someone will help her.
And of course someone does. After Dash hears a voice call out a few
times, Pinkie Pie zips open a dimensional rift and pulls her inside just before
the Powerpuff Girls can find her again.
The two can laugh about returning safely, but Dash realizes she must
make amends after seeing the destruction she caused. Dash calls for Spike to pen a letter
regarding a lesson she sort of learned, and discovers she was saved after
Pinkie Pie drank the potion and became a master of the space-time continuum. Also, Pinkie has a new pet because oops.
If Double Rainboom was attempting to emulate
an actual episode, then there can be no question that it failed. As much as I complain about the regular
series requiring more time, DR clearly needed a stricter hand in the editing room. Even though the episode doesn’t really have
to be as long as it is, I don’t necessarily mind the fluff. My
Little Pony is actually rather uniform in tone, so it’s refreshing to find
an episode that enjoys its time instead of being a hurried rush to the
finish. Having a Tarkovsky feel works
for me, but that isn’t typical of the series.
Since most of the focus was clearly on animation, the plot was thin enough
that 6 or 7 minutes could have been cut without affecting the structure. This would have lost a lot of fun moments,
but keeping every scene in may not have been worth the price.
The voice acting is solid, but a mixed bag as
to how well the artists replicate their characters. Clearly the best are Twilight Sparkle and
Pinkie Pie (Kira Buckland, Brittany Lauda), although not all of Twilight’s
lines stay at the same quality. Less
effective is Rainbow Dash (Emily Koch), although the line readings themselves aren’t
of bad quality. Rich clearly decided to
focus on just a few characters for ease, but this can’t really be faulted since
the regular show does it all the time.
Unfortunately, we miss out on Rarity and Fluttershy, although the story
probably didn’t need all of the mane six involved. Choosing to pair Twilight with Rainbow Dash is
a bit odd though.
I’ll never understand the fetish fan fiction
has for crossovers, but it was still something of a delight to see the
Powerpuff Girls back in action. They
didn’t have much time for development, but the series felt a little bit better
captured. Obviously it was chosen
because of the Lauren Faust connection, but importing Dash into their world doesn’t
make much sense. Such an angle would
probably be better explored by a full episode rather than trying to fit it into
one act. The segment is still fun, but
doesn’t necessarily work with the rest of the episode.
There also might have been a few too many
nodding references throughout, but technically the main series does this as
well. Yes, the “U MAD?” face makes a
cameo in Twilight’s potion, while Jonny Bravo and Dexter are prominently placed
in the wormhole. But this is the kind of
fun that only a fan-made production can have, and it works well enough as long
as it feels like part of the episode’s fabric.
Double Rainboom wasn’t necessarily meant to be gut-bustingly funny, but
one can definitely argue that focusing on story or characters instead might
have been a better use of time.
That Double Rainboom is an amateur production
definitely shows, but it’s still amazing college students can make an episode
this close to the real thing. No doubt
it must be remembered that this is an animation project, and that the other
aspects weren’t necessarily meant to be top notch as well. But I of course must review what actually
made it to the screen, and not be kind simply because of the creators’
ages. Mostly Double Rainboom does show
potential, and Rich could definitely be a solid contributor to shows with a
better editor and writer.
Personally, I enjoy things that are
interesting, and the change of tone Rich created from the series proper
definitely qualifies. But I’m older now,
and younger viewers likely won’t get close to the same level of enjoyment. Double Rainboom isn’t for everybody because of
the length and not being close enough to make you think you’re watching an
actual episode. With all of the cease
and desists being served though, it’s something of a minor miracle that Hasbro
signed off on this, and the implications might not be realized until sometime
in the future.
Right now, it’s possible for the viewers at
home to make an episode of their favorite cartoon series. This is an idea that solely belongs to the 21st
century, and Double Rainboom might loom larger in spite of its quality because
of it. In a way, “intellectual property”
is a myth because these characters belong to everyone whether the creators like
it or not. They’re out there and in our
minds, and we can control what they do if we so desire. Much of the time it won’t be worth it, but
I’ll take Rich’s effort over another Merriwether Williams abomination despite
all of the concerns. The writing and
editing weren’t at the level they should be, and there really wasn’t much of a
point to the episode except for the creators having fun. I have to be honest that the production
lacked in a lot of areas and that there are a lot of problems with the
content. My rating is certainly generous,
but there was a level of creativity that the real show won’t ever have. My
Little Pony may not ever die as long as we don’t let it, which is not
something that could be true at any other time in history. Double Rainboom won’t ever be considered
good, but it might be seen as very important.
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