Written by Muchacha Motorista
As a little kid, I was as into My Little Pony as Sombrero Grande was into The Smurfs. I had many of the first generation toys, and watched the show with gusto. So I was excited when they begin to release a new generation of ponies a few years ago for a new generation of kids. I even watched "A Very Minty Christmas" on TV a couple years back when it came out. After watching it again on DVD, I’m pretty sure I just blocked it out the first time around, not wanting it to ruin my good My Little Pony memories (or my Christmas season).
Santa is guided to Ponyville each year by the light of the Christmas Candy Cane, which is baked, sprinkled with something to make it glow, and then perched on the top of the tallest tree. When clumsy Minty accidentally knocks it over, causing it to break into “a hundred crackly pieces,” she despairs that she’s ruined Christmas for all her friends. She first tries to play Santa by giving them her old socks as gifts. Then she decides to take off to the North Pole and guide Santa back to Ponyville herself. In the end, because of the love and concern the ponies have for their friends, Christmas is saved for everyone.
Okay, a weak premise. But try to sum-up the plot for any episode of most any kids’ cartoon show and it won’t fair much better. The real issues with "A Very Minty Christmas" are the dialogue, the animation, the songs, and the continuity errors. What’s left to be good then, right? Exactly.
First of all, the dialogue seems so darn forced. Rainbow Dash has a yuppie voice and says “darling” after every sentence. And sometimes several times per sentence, such as, “You gave us your precious socks, darling? How darling!” Blech. Thistle Whistle whistles constantly during her dialogue. Not like on Arrested Development when Gob Bluth breaks his tooth and whistles when he attempts “th” sounds. No, this is randomly and way-too-often.
The other dialogue just doesn’t make any sense at all. For example:
Star Catcher: “You’ve brought us to the most magical place of all!”
Minty: “I guess the North Pole is pretty special.”
Star Catcher: “I meant in your heart.”
What the...? Minty has brought them to her heart? Or, more specifically, she’s brought them in her heart. I rewound and listened to this conversation three times, and it still never made any more sense.
Article comments