‘My Little Pony’ Animator Arrested for Child Pornography

According to the Ottawa CitizenTom Wysom, who worked extensively in animation for My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop, both Hasbro franchises, was just arrested for possession and distribution of child pornography.

He had over 60,000 images and 1,600 videos on his computer. And I must say that these numbers always fascinate me in a perverse sort of way: surely if the first 59,000 images didn’t satisfy him, he should have figured that the 60,000th wouldn’t either. But then again, I probably don’t quite grasp how these people actually think.

I would bet even money that there is a lot of this in the field of children’s entertainment. The whole establishment is probably in need of burning with fire, starting with animation and moving from there.

The Magic of Friendship Compels You!

Featured image: “An Ordeal from God” by UniqueSKD.

A reader asked if he could use my face as the basis for a character in the cover art of some fan fiction. I told him I don’t think it’s actually necessary to ask permission for that kind of thing or political cartoonists would always be getting sued.

The story for which this image was created does not appear to have been posted yet.

Anyway, that is apparently an image of me as a Catholic priest holding up a DVD set of the original 1980s My Little Pony. Sounds legit.

I notice I’m holding up the complete season 1 released from Rhino in 2004, which is no longer available, but has been supplanted by the 2014 complete series box set from Shout! Factory, which also includes season 2 and is still in print.

Movie Review: ‘My Little Pony: The Movie’

Possibly the best thing ever to come out of the My Little Pony franchise.

My Little Pony: The Movie. Directed by Jayson Thiessen. Written by Joe Ballarini, Meghan McCarthy, Rita Hsiao, and Michael Vogel. Lionsgate and Allspark Pictures, 2017. 99 minutes. Rated PG. CNS Rating is A-I, General Patronage.

As I expected, critics are panning it, and it might turn out that My Little Pony: The Movie will prove to be a financial mistake for Hasbro and Lionsgate.

That being said, I honestly don’t know what the complaints are about. I thought this was a great movie. My only (mild) criticisms are that none of the musical numbers are among the franchise’s catchiest, and some of the animation could be better, but aside from that, this is a fine, if not exactly stunning, children’s film. Looking at a few of the negative reviews, I get the distinct impression that the critics are turning up their noses not because it’s a bad movie per se, but simply because it’s My Little Pony.

However, in my humble opinion, this may be the best thing ever to come out of the franchise. I daresay this is the first time My Little Pony has come close to living up to its potential.

G4’s central cast, from left to right: Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack.

Continue reading “Movie Review: ‘My Little Pony: The Movie’”

Bad Signs for the ‘My Little Pony’ Movie

The above image is screencapped from Rotten Tomatoes. At the time of this writing, My Little Pony: The Movie has no critical reviews, which means they’re withholding it from critics.

It’s also opening the same weekend as Blade Runner. They don’t have exactly the same target audience, but still.

I smell a bomb.

On Waifus

A debate has raged—raged, I say—in our combox on the subject of waifus.

What is a waifu? And how many waifus may a man have?

The first question is easily answered. As explained by Know Your Meme, the word waifu entered the parlance of English-speaking otaku largely on account of the popular anime adaptation of Azumanga Daioh, an irreverent and plotless slice-of-life story originally created as a four-panel comic strip by Kiyohiko Azuma. Azumaga Daioh is more-or-less the origin of the deservedly reviled CGDCT (cute girls doing cute things) genre of manga and anime, though it is considerably less putrid than many of its imitators. In one of Azuma’s comic strips, later adapted into an anime episode, the girls find a photograph of a beautiful lady, which fell from the pocket of their creepy pedo schoolteacher. When the girls ask the identity of the woman in the picture, the creepy teacher replies, in mutilated English, “Mai waifu,” that is, “My wife.” Continue reading “On Waifus”

I Am Definitely Getting Back into Ponies after Seeing This!

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.

Holy horse, it’s like someone at Hasbro read my mind.

I don’t know what it is about me and movies and TV, but sometimes I think someone in Hollywood is spying me. I’ll be all like, “You know what the world needs? A Battlestar Galactica remake.” And then it happens. Or I’ll be all, “A new King Kong, but still set in the 1930s, would be awesome.” I had cause to regret that one.

A few years ago, I was all, like, “You know what this My Little Pony franchise needs? A movie that has elaborately detailed fantasy environments instead of the minimalist Flash animation of the cartoon show, where maybe Equestria gets invaded by some bad guys with airships, and the ponies have to go to Aquastria to get aid from the seaponies or something.”

I wish I had actually written that online somewhere so I could show you a link to prove it, but I didn’t. But still … holy crap.

I wet my pants when I saw this preview. Only a little bit, though. And it only happened once.

This and my novel is getting published. Best. Week. Ever.

Art, Now with More Pony

Featured image: “Innocence” by LimreiArt.

Probably past time we had some ponies around here. I was a Brony for a few years, and I was really into it. I was collecting toys, comics, books … I became what we might call a “story completist.” I wasn’t interested in acquiring all the merchandise I could, but I wanted anything that resembled a canonical narrative thread, and I was trying to piece it all together into a coherent world.

It’s a funny thing about My Little Pony: it seems to drive certain sorts of guys to obsessive worldbuilding.

Anyway, I ultimately burned out and returned to my first love, which of course is magical girl anime. It’s now been a few years since I’ve even looked at the MLP franchise. Still, I wouldn’t mind getting back into it in a more casual fashion, especially since it has its own magical girl spinoff, Equestria Girls.

I wanted to write another review tonight, but I had a paper to edit and turn in instead. I should find time for more reviews later in the week.

Ciao.

Happy New Year from deus ex magical girl

Featured image: “new year magic” by mauroz.

I stand between the years. The Light of My Presence is flung across the year to come—the radiance of the Sun of Righteousness. Backward, over the past year, is My Shadow thrown, hiding trouble and sorrow and disappointment.

Dwell not on the past—only on the present. Only use the past as the trees use My Sunlight to absorb it, to make from it in after days the warming fire-rays. So store only the blessings from Me, the Light of the World. Encourage yourselves by the thought of these.

Bury every fear of the future, of poverty for those dear to you, of suffering, of loss. Bury all thought of unkindness and bitterness, all your dislikes, your resentments, your sense of failure, your disappointment in others and in yourselves, your gloom, your despondency, and let us leave them all, buried, and go forward to a new and risen life.

Remember that you must not see as the world sees. I hold the year in My Hands—in trust for you. But I shall guide you one day at a time.

Leave the rest with Me. You must not anticipate the gift by fears or thoughts of the days ahead.

And for each day I shall supply the wisdom and the strength.

—A. J. Russell, God Calling