Whoa damn fellow Scapists! Last minute Brony Breakdown before the newest episode hits the airwaves, so I better get this up and going like lickity split Virginia. If you eye spied our article last Tueday, then you know this episode has a super duper special guest star. DATS RIGHT! Weird Al himself! Enough horsing around, let’s breakdown “Pinkie’s Pride”
The episode opens up with an establishing shot of what appears to be Appleloosa, the stereotypical Western town in Equestria. We get a nice shot of the town during what appears to be the yearly UMF. Camera moves back and we get eyes on Weird Al’s character, Cheese Sandwich (that name still bugs me, reminds me of that school yard joke about “pulling apart a cheese sandwich”). He exclaims that those ponies have never partied so hard in their lives. Yeah, definitely UMF style, poppin mollies. I guess ketamine would be more apropos, what with the horse motif. Just as he gets the words out, he gets a twitcha twitch. He get’s a feeling that he is needed in Ponyville! Roll that intro!
Before we get too far into this Breakdown, I’d like to point out that Cheese Sandwich here looks like a certain Western Film character.
I cannot give more props to the animators in this show.
I mean, look at that stranger. So fierce.
The moment we are whisked back to Ponyville, we are met with a song by our Pink Pony, as she gallivants through town collecting supplies for Rainbow Dash’s party. As she goes from store to store, the townsfolk reminisce about all the parties Pinkie has thrown.
I should really say that this episode is a heavily musical one. The majority of the episode is in song. One of the show’s composers, William Anderson, used to play in Weird Al’s band! So they were a perfect match when recording the songs for this episode. This also makes my breakdown for this episode pretty thin. The songs really need to speak for themselves. With that, lets take a listen to the first tune. “Pinkie the Party Planner”
I really liked all the different background characters singing voices, I was most impressed with Chantal Strand. Yeah, the voice of that right bitch Diamond Tiara. Her line about her “cutesanera” put a little smile on my face. Yeah, she’s still evil.
If this tune sounds familiar then it’s because the episodes writer based the song off of Belle. Yeah from Beauty and The Beast.
Just out of the singing we find the Mane 6 enjoying Pinkie’s work on her Banner for Rainbow Dash. We get a quick glimpse of the serious side of Pinkie. She get’s all up in Rainbow’s grill, reinforcing the fact that “Parties are serious business.”. Just then the Horse with No Name appears on the scene, and he gives his name to the group right away. He informs them that his cheese senses have alerted him to Ponyville, and that a party is about to get underway. This is when we find out that not only is it Rainbow Dash’s Birthday, it is also the anniversary she came to Ponyville! A birthdaversary! Cue the next song!
Now this is what I am talking ’bout! Weird Al is right in his element in this song, I found myself involuntarily bobbing to the tune. Again, Amy Keating Rogers based this song off another famous tune. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (yeah I spelled that right, FROM MEMORY), but with a nice hint of Polka. I would also like to note that my main man Daniel Ingram had his fingers on this. He helped with the lyrics and wrote the music for this one. Sadly, Weird Al did not play the accordion for this. Now, now. I know you’re a sad pony over this, but it’s okay. It’s still good!
As we all saw at the end of the song, Pinkie Pie was feeling like her party throwing abilities weren’t up to snuff. THIS IS CALLED CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOLKS! After the music interlude, the whole town is worshiping Cheese Sandwich and his potential party abilities. We see our beloved Pinkie Pie LITERALLY holding back tears as her mane deflates and she goes back home. Twilight interrupts her sulking, just enough for Pinkie to wonder out loud if she isn’t cut out to throw parties. CUE ANOTHER TUNE!
This is a great example of how music can really evoke emotion. We went from full blast, balls to the wall Weird Al Polka to this down tempo sadness. I honestly felt myself feeling pretty bad for Pinkie. Amy Keating Rogers said she and Daniel Ingram based this song off “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from the musical Evita. Having seen Evita multiple times by different groups, I can safely say I am not hearing it. What I am hearing is exceptional performance by Shannon Chan-Kent, who does the singing for Pinkie Pie. I am really blown away by her in this particular song.
We quickly cut back to the festivities being put together, and we get a glimpse of a certain background pony indulging in a chocolate fountain.
Dat chocolate smile. Totes adorbs.
With her new found confidence, Pinkie is on the scene. She demands that Cheese Sandwich compete in a GOOF OFF! We are then presented with literally polar opposite faces from Pinkie Pie.
Mean muggin Pinkie, then suddenly…
Stroke victim Pinkie.
This is an excellent example of how creative the teams that work on this show are.
So you may be asking, “Da fuck is a Goof Off?”, well bookworm Twilight has the answer. She appears on the scene with a dusty old book, which just so happens to be the official rulebook of the Goof Off. Basically the rules say the competitors have free range to goof about in attempts to make the judge laugh, smile, chortle etc. etc. etc. Who is the judge you are saying? Well Rainbow Dash of course, and she is none too pleased about it. As Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie post up, we are met with yet ANOTHER SONG!
Now THAT is a party song. This is more a medley of a bunch of songs, even two of Weird Al’s songs (Beer Barrel Polka and W.A.Y. Moby Polka) can be heard throughout this jam. Heck we even got a Pinkies Smile cover by Al, and a Spanish Pinata song by Pinkie? It’s really all over the place here. I particularly enjoyed the live action clips. That alligator went ballistic!
The song comes to a sudden end when Pinkie see’s that Rainbow Dash is having a bummer of a party. Crushed by a giant pinata cake, Pinkie Pie quickly forfeits the competition. She’d rather see her friend happy than fight over the chance to throw the party. After the commercial break, we find the Mane 6 catching up on the edge of town. Pinkie has packed up her party gear and is planning on leaving town! Mutual apology’s are exchanged. Pinkie is sorry that she put her pride over Rainbow’s happiness. The other Mane 5 express their own apologies, letting Cheese Sandwich woo them and have them forget their friend. FRIENDS AGAIN!
After the air has been cleared, Cheese Sandwich hits the frame. He explains that he never meant to take Pinkie’s place as party pony in ponyville, he just wanted to impress her with his skillz. Why may you ask? WELL…
WHAT?! WHAAAT?! Did anyone see that ending coming? That was some next level twist. Like the ending of Sixth Sense, or Bioshock Infinite, or Primer (did primer have an end?). I actually went “OH! DAMN” out loud.
The melody in this tune had a real big Disney feel. The lilting at the end was top. I also can’t gloss over the animation during this tune. The dynamic movements really show off the power of Flash 8 and the expertise of the animators.
Rainbow quickly interrupts the sappy bullshit, and demands a party! CUE ANOTHER TUNE!
Now that is right up my alley, dat four on the floor break beat. Daniel Ingram really shows off his chops with this one. Amy Keating Rogers says the inspiration for this song was Pink’s “Raise Your Glass”.
Just outside the party we find Pinkie Pie writing in the group diary, as Cheese Sandwich gives her a little memento. No, not a Polaroid picture that says “John G” on it. He slides her a box, and inside is his rubber chicken. How…sweet?
He dons his Fist Full of Dollars cosplay and wanders off into the sunset, as Pinkie says “I never did get that pony’s name”. Perfectly book-ending this episode with Clint Eastwood references.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This episode, was a blast. I was very much looking forward to it after all the hyper surrounding it. Weird Al really blew me away with his performance. Since it was a musical, I can’t gloss over the musical team. Daniel Ingram really was on point, all the different songs really showed his range as a musician. That ending song, I would pay big bucks to hear him write a EDM inspired pop song, I absolutely loved it. We also cannot forget Steffan Andrews, who played a mean accordion.
This is easily my current favorite for Season 4. I’d love to hear what everyone else thinks about this episode, so please leave a comment below!