There's a reason FiM is widely regarded as a good show. Jacob Minkoff, developer at Naughty Dog, had this to say.
Action flicks, romantic comedies, children’s movies – those are the difficult stories to tell. Easy to get greenlit, hard to execute well. Robocop, Die Hard, Groundhog Day, Toy Story — these are all films that had no business being good. Literally. They didn’t need to be. People would have gone to see them regardless because of the cast, or the splosions, or the toys in the Happy Meal their kid got. These movies would have made their margins, put the studio in the black, and then quietly slid into obscurity, making room for the next year’s “good enough” fare. The bean counters would have been happy — they want “safe,” not “good” — and the directors, writers, and crew would have gotten more work. That’s how the entertainment business functions.
Instead, those who made them decided to try harder. They didn’t see the constraints of popcorn cinema as a limitation. They saw it as a challenge! All these films live on as icons of cinema today because their creators pitched a simple, digestible concept that they knew could get funding, and then they excelled. Friendship is Magic is yet another example in the business.
MLP: FiM is a superbly executed testament to the power that skillful execution has to elevate any subject matter. All it had to do was be pink and sell toys. Instead, it dares to not talk down to its audience. It presents complex personalities and issues in simple ways. It lavishes traditional squash and stretch and secondary motion all over its potentially simplistic, flash-like character animation. It transcends its demographic target and appeals to anyone who appreciates humor, sincerity, and a solid dose of cute.
Are there better stories out there? Yeah, sure. But there’s nothing that had less business being good.
Thanks to the team behind MLP: FiM for reminding me why we do what we do.