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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Adventures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders
Score: 75%
Rating: TV-Y
Publisher: Shout! Factory
Region: 1
Media: DVD/1
Running Time: 110 Mins.
Genre: Animated/Family/TV Series
Audio: English 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: Closed Captioned for the Hearing
           Impaired


Features:
  • Sing-Along
  • Downloadable Wallpapers and Coloring Sheet

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - Adventures Of The Cutie Mark Crusaders is a collection of five episodes about the group of young ponies who have not yet gotten their Cutie Marks. Cutie Marks, in the My Little Pony world, are rather mysterious and magical, but the simple explanation is that they are the marks that every adult pony bears on their flanks. They’re a bit magical since the marks seem to entail the individual pony’s job or calling. They are a bit mysterious since a pony never knows when they will get their mark. The young ponies in these episodes, Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle, all are a bit late in getting their marks, and have formed a pact to gain their marks together.

If there were ever a good group of episodes to make a DVD out of, these are those episodes. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are one of the longest running story arcs in the show. That may also be a reason why the episodes can be rather annoying. Another reason may be that it becomes fairly obvious after a while what the special talents and unique attributes of each pony are, and therefore, what their Cutie Mark will be related to; so yes, the story arc seems to be dragging along just for the sake of dragging along. The only twist I can think of at this point is that they don’t end up getting their own unique marks, and they all simply end up getting the Cutie Mark Crusader emblem instead.

Still, these are some good episodes. "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" is a particularly good episode. This is where the three young ponies run into the main six (Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack) and hear their stories of how they got their marks. Each story is just a little bit surprising in it’s own way. I particularly like Twilight’s story because it hints at some great hidden magical power. Applejack’s story is also interesting since you’d assume she just took a straight path to working on the farm and loving her apple trees. Instead, she had to take a journey and find her way back to what she loved.

"Cutie Pox" is a very appropriate episode for this collection. Applebloom becomes afflicted with the mysterious Cutie Pox disease. The disease causes her to gain Cutie Marks by the minute. With each new mark, she is forced to act out the talent for that mark. She sweeps chimneys, plays the accordion, balances plates, and can’t stop until Zecora helps out with a cure.

Another good episode is "Twilight Time." This is a bit of a world-building episode, as we see the ordinary life of Twilight Sparkle the princess. She devotes her time to learning and teaching, just as she did before she became a princess. It’s a rather nice look at her life after princess status was bestowed upon her, and keeps Twilight (and the MLP: FIM world) feeling down to earth. Of course, the episode is about the Crusaders as well, and it’s a good story about the mistakes the young ponies make along their way.

"Flight to the Finish" is a good episode that explores Scootaloo’s "disability" in a unique way. The trio are tasked with coming up with an entertaining routine. It never becomes a hindrance that Scootaloo can’t fly, and she finds plenty of other ways to perform the routine without flying. Mocking from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, however, convinces Scootaloo that she needs to fly, and she needs to do it now. By the end of the episode, Scootaloo isn’t flying, but she’s discovered that she doesn’t need to in order to be awesome.

Still, this is not nearly a comprehensive gathering of all the Cutie Mark Crusaders episodes. And as the CMC saga is still continuing (we’re starting Season 5 with the group still Cutie Mark-less), you probably won’t see one. I wager you won’t see one at all, and you’ll simply have to gather all the episodes on your own if you’d like to see them together. And oddly, some CMC episodes have been overlooked in order to put "Pinkie Pride" on this DVD. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle are barely seen in this episode that is more about Pinkie Pie’s showdown with another party pony, Cheese Sandwich, than anything else.

Overall, this is not a bad little compilation as far as they go. The theme is pretty strong, for the most part. If you like the Cutie Mark Crusaders story at all, you’ll like this set of episodes. If you like the moral lesson parts of My Little Pony, then this is also a good DVD to pick up. There are some extras as well, including a Sing-Along ("Super Duper Party Pony") and downloadable wallpapers and coloring sheets to round things out.



-Fights with Fire, GameVortex Communications
AKA Christin Deville
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