I keep seeing people going on about how Hasbro wants to distance itself from bronies and dumb down G5 for younger audiences….um, didn’t they get a lot of press and money from bronies throughout the span of G5? Didn’t the leaks say they wanted to appeal to an older audience with G5?
Seems really stupid of Hasbro to throw all of what they built up with G4 out of the window going into G5. I really doubt they’re that stupid
Agree. Do not consider myself a “brony”, but it is clear that it is not possible to limit the intended audience by age in our time without risking little impact and poor profits. Better to make MLP G5 suitable for children, but for these from 5 years to 11 years so one can reach a wide audience. After all, viewers are getting older, not younger. MLP G4 was a huge success, and had become far more than just a niche product - besides, one should keep in mind that MLP G1 is sometimes more harsh than MLP G4 when you look at the older episodes. Why give up on what made G4 so successful - the focus on the background of the heroines?
Regardless of whether the G5 should start over or not, it must be emphasized that there is now a common rule of world-building and background-building in the cartoon TV series intended for children, teens and adults. What caught my interest was the movie that depicts a much larger world than just a small village with a remote castle that represented the world view in the first seasons of G4. Zootopia and other cartoon films such as TV shows - like today’s Stevens Universe - have shown how important it is to have a “world” where the actions take place.
This is something Hasbro cannot ignore. But the older fandom will disappear anyway sooner or later as most will lose interest so only one core group will be back in place - the same rule every time. When I was a kid, I was a fan of different TV shows, and never forgot them. In my teens, I was deeply interested in Japanese anime TV series such as Tenchi Muyo and Ranma 1/2, they had a great fandom - which is now at an absolute minimum, yet in life. Sonic the Hedgedog, like Disney’s Mickey Mouse (European), lives on in full force for a very long time.
So if Hasbro wants to fight against the forces of nature, good luck.