Poll: So Double Rainboom is out: What's your opinion of it?

[Leemaster777]

NOTE: From this point on, there may be spoilers in this topic. If you haven't seen Double Rainboom yet, I'm posting a link to it below. You have been warned.

So, as some of your are aware, the highly-anticipated fan-episode of MLP has finally been unleashed on the internet:


This work seems to be fairly divisive amongst the fandom (what else is new), and I'd like to get the general opinion of the Escapist on it.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that it's extremely good, by the standards of fan works. When judged against the actual show, it's definitely flawed, but still pretty good.

I think my only real, legitimate complaint is that they went a BIT overboard with the references. Don't get me wrong, I like references in MLP as much as the next brony, but I think they overloaded this work a bit with them.

The animation was slightly rough compared to the actual show, but it's leagues above most of the fan-content. Voice acting was solid (even if some of the characters sounded kind of off).

The sound design is actually really, really good. There were alot of sound cues in this that I would have expected from the show itself, and something you almost never seen in fan-vids.

And I'll be honest... my favorite part of the entire thing was the end credits. I just thought they were so cute and well-animated, I've replayed JUST the end credits several times (I'm waiting for someone to upload a vid of JUST the end credits).

So, yeah, overall, I like it. It's not perfect, but it's damn, damn good. What about the rest of you?

 

[Verkula]

Since I made backgrounds for it I have to go neutral in the poll. It could have been better, and most of the flaws were obvious once it was starting to come together, and I did say on a meeting that telling people it will be "100% accurate" is a mistake and will probably backfire even if its very close.

On another note, I learned a hell of a lot about how an animation is being made, and about Flash in general, not to mention all the people I met and connections made, also

Spoiler

PPG fuck yes

 

[Atlys]

That was a really entertaining episode. I let out a few chuckles throughout, and it all felt like a very well thought out tribute to the show. The only thing I would complain about is that the pauses between dialog and pauses between actions seemed a little too drawn out. I'm sure the episode could be trimmed to be about 7-10 minutes shorter and still fit everything in.

Edit: I would also like to add that I did not see that second half plot coming. At all. Blew my mind.

 

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

Too late for me to watch it right now so I'll be posting my opinion on it either much later today or tomorrow.
Let my friend who is very into every aspect of mlp know about this (if he didn't already) and if he is awake expect a lot of gushing and horrible spelling/grammar.

 

[Neverhoodian]

I don't hate Double Rainboom, but I don't really like it all that much either.

It probably didn't help that it was advertized as a 100% show-accurate fan episode. I think it resulted in getting people's hopes up too high. That, and failing to mention that

Spoiler

half of the episode doesn't even take place in the established setting.

First, the things I liked:

*The animation and musical score was definitely impressive, at times rivaling the actual show.
*Good sound-alikes for the characters.
*Fan favorite background ponies getting lots of screen time.

Now the things I didn't really care for:

*I'm not the biggest Rainbow Dash fan (she's my least favorite of the "mane six"), but her actions seemed too impulsive and at times downright baffling. Why in the world would you

Spoiler

drink an unknown potion that, upon its creation, produces a dark, creepy cloud that leers at you with a literal trollface? On a related note, why the hell was there even a trollface to begin with?

*Next to no Rarity. That is

Spoiler

*I probably would have enjoyed Double Rainboom more if I was at least passingly familiar with the Powerpuff Girls. As it was, the second half of the episode had me feeling left out of the joke.

Since the episode turned out to be a crossover, it might have been better if RD ended up briefly visiting several cartoons to broaden the appeal. Imagine the hijinks if she ended up on the set of Dan Vs. or Johnny Bravo. I imagine they kept it to a single show in order to minimize potential legal complications, though.

That last point is I think the biggest reason why the episode has proven to be so divisive. A big part of the humor in FiM is broad references that aren't essential to understanding the plot. The humor in the entire second half consisted of very specific references that were essential to understanding the plot. You can't do something like that and expect the general audience to follow along. Some of us (like myself) aren't familiar with the source material, so you're going to lose us with that approach.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I think they did well, It's not like they can make it perfectly spot on. It kept me watching and made me smile which is all I really need from MLP hehe.

 

[Filiecs]

The animation and background music were very good, but I found that the writing varied between mediocre and below average. Also, the pacing was HORRIBLE. They often spent 10 seconds of animation on something that should only take one or two.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

That was pretty damn good. Not perfect, but what is really?

I really like the small parts they put in. Like when we get to see the affects of Rainbow's Rampage on the townspeople(ponies).

I hope I can see more of their work soon.

 

[HoneyVision]

What exactly is the allure of this show? I see that many are quite taken by it, but it seems like any other children's program. Am I missing something?

 

[Hargrimm]

Awful pacing, horrible writing, mediocre voice acting(probably more due to directing than the skill of the actors).
Terrible crossover story, on par with the worst of fanfiction.
Overuse of in-jokes and 'le epic maymays XDXD'.

At least the Animation and sound was good.

If the creator hadn't hyped it like Peter Molyneux then it might have been better received. As it stands it is an overhyped mess and was a waste of time for all the 60-ish people involved in this project.

What exactly is the allure of this show? I see that many are quite taken by it, but it seems like any other children's program. Am I missing something?

Well, it's a good show. Good animation, voice acting and writing. It's easy enough to understand for children, but also has enough references, complexity and subtleties that older people can enjoy it too.

As for how it got so big, that's only partly to do with it's quality. Before it was aired, there was an article lamenting the 'end of the creator driven era' (paraphrased) and everybody(the most relevant here being the /co/ board on 4chan) was ready to tear it apart. Not unreasonable if you saw what came before it(the most egregious offender being G3). Then they watched it and found out that it was actually good, which caused them to hype it more than it possibly deserved, because they were so blindsided by it.
Being a wacky slice-of-life cartoon also meant that there were lots of exploitable faces and thus image macros to be made. 4chan, being an imageboard, loved it of course.
Another factor is the internets general love of cute things(think of the millions of cat videos) and 4chan's love of ponies. (Remember the Robot Unicorn Attack incident?)
4chan being a cultural center of the internet and memegenerator helped spread it like wildfire, mostly through aforementioned image macros.

 

[Nazulu]

I'm impressed with the detail and the music, I don't think I would be able to tell it was made by fans. However, I did notice the pacing is amateur, the writing is pretty bland, the characters I feel over-react with the faces over the smallest things, and the ideas in general are just... lame. That's what I usually see whats wrong with entertainment these days, the details are great while the creative work is average.

 

[Little Woodsman]

It was ok, enjoyable to watch.
My understanding is that the project was an exercise in animation & putting
together an episode of animation, done so that the creators could get some
experience. For that it was pretty solid. To be a real, finished product it
would need a *lot* more polish.
The opening credits made me feel pleasantly nostalgic--when I was a kid most
movies had opening credits done in that style.

 

[Ishal]

It was okay, but there was a lot of stuff in it that got me thinking about pandering. I know its a fan made video so thats kind of the point but eh..

Animation was good but the writing was bad, and having them show up was a surprise but again its just eh..

Snowdrop was absolutely better. Better writing and it fit in the setting better.

 

[VanQ]

I was never too into the whole MLP thing. However, since I did watch the first season and enjoy it with my little sister I decided to give this a go considering I was bored anyway. Glad I did, I enjoyed the PPG section so much.

I thought the animation was pretty good, and I'd love it to no end if there was a new PPG series released that looked that good. Loved all the golden era Cartoon Network references. I'll definitely be watching this again with my sister when I get a chance.

 

[lRookiel]

Animation: Great, it was fluid and nice to look at, just like the show.

Writing: Meh, but heck for a fan made episode I wasn't expecting a masterpiece

Overall: Good, it kept me smiling and kept my mind of my upset stomach (Oh god it's back!)

Would I watch more fan made episodes? Hell yes! :3

 

[XMark]

I like the animation. They especially did a good job of showing non-verbal interaction between characters that had me laughing.

I could do without the whole Powerpuff Girls part though.

 

[scorptatious]

That was pretty interesting. The animation was superb for a fan-made episode. Plus the bit with the Powerpuff Girls was kinda neat.

Could have been a bit better in terms of writing and pacing, but hey, I wasn't expecting a masterpiece.

The end credits bit was also pretty cute.

 

[Innegativeion]

Eh, I found it entertaining. For a fan project, definitely something to be proud of.

Didn't find it too hilarious, but it got a chuckle out of me from time to time. Voice acting was passable. Animation was great, nearly but not quiiite show quality, particularly in some specific scenes.

However, the *thing* that happens halfway through

Spoiler

powerpuff girls

came completely out of left field. While I did find that quite entertaining too,

Spoiler

that show being very nostalgic to me

it just seemed... odd to have.

Spoiler

I mean, if they advertised it as a PPGs crossover

then sure, but advertised as "fan made MLP episode", it just seems like a non-sequitur.