And now for something completely PONY! My boyfriend is a huge Weird Al fan, and expressed a desire to see this on his own volition.
Weird Al comes to town. That’s him, observing ponies and their bison friends at what can only be assumed to be Loll-Appe-loosa (the puns in this are very thickly layered).
Cheese Sandwich gave them a party. And he’s coming to Ponyville.
This is an interesting characterisation – Al is riffing on his
After the credits, Pinkie is planning a party, and singing a jaunty song straight off the bat. Pinkie is the party artisan, and has basically wowed Ponyville with her talents.
It’s Rainbow Dash’s birthday. And parties are no picnic. All that fun is SERIOUS BUSINESS, and she makes her a Pinkie Promise that she’ll get a great party. And who’s ready? (I personally get the impression that Pinkie plans their parties spontaneously without needing to be booked. She probably
Cheese Sandwich. The other party planner. The Pree-Mare party planner. (That was my pun :(. I think I need to keeping looking for the day job.)
And we get a free Weird Al Song, which is a little less harmonious than Pinkie’s song but a bit more fun. Far from being a mysterious stallion with no name, he’s actually the male Pinkie. I mean, Pinkie is a female Weird Al anyway, so this is extremely self-referential.
I can foresee either that they get on fabulously or – as has become evident by the end of the song – Pinks gets left out in the cold. I think this is very unfair, actually – with both Weird Al (sorry, Cheese Sandwich) and Pinkie on board the party could reach the dizzy heights of cheesedom. But I think this conflict is manufactured to give us a story. I’m thinking that, because of the ‘self-criticism’ storylines lately, Pinks is going to learn to share. She hasn’t had many lessons throughout the series, so this must be her turn. (Remember, folks, I don’t spoil things before I watch them, so I am experiencing this in real time.) In many other shows, the outsider will go away emptyhanded. In Ponyville, the learning process is reversed. I think learning to share your job is going to trump learning to remember your friends.
On with the show.
The ponies are besotted with Weird Al. RD’s birthday is also the anniversary of her coming to Ponyville, a little like Reddit’s cake days, so there’s a ‘birthaversary’.
Twilight comes to see Pinkie, who is feel left out but trying hard not to succumb to melancholy. If Weird Al is the best, then she’s nowhere.
Which seems like a decent moral to give to people. Just because someone else is good at something, doesn’t mean you have to be nowhere. People can share their talents, or do different things for different people. But Pinks goes into a sad mode – not really a sulk, but just a little deflated.
Pinkamena alert. It will be a bad episode if her alter-ego doesn’t make a
She sees her achievements on the wall in the form of pictures.
I think the song gets a little bit like the Baby Lickety-Split song in the old Movie at some points.
Pinkie decides to try and rival Cheese. Hmmmm. We fade to black on evil eyes. This is definitely a Pinkie-Learning Self-Criticism episode.
Uhoh. Pinkie challenges Cheese to a goof-off.
And he uses the ‘Cheese stands alone’ line. And Al falls for Pinkie’s bait.
The winner gets to headline the Birthaversary. The joke is she wants to do it at high noon, but it’s already 3 o’clock. So three-ten it is.
Goof-off. Twilight has a rulebook for everything.
Singing, dancing, playing, prancing…the funnier, sillier, wilder and …well, OK.
The only thing that matches Pinkie’s anger is Weird Al’s bloody-mindedness too.
This is a great episode. Fun, and it seems to be tending towards a reasonable moral that people should co-operate rather than being divas. The animation lapses into real stock footage of crocodiles
Fun. It’s difficult to recap the goof-off, but it’s Weird Al plus Pinkie Pie. What’s not to like?
But poor RD is a little flustered. Pinks realises RD isn’t enjoying herself, and she hasn’t named a winner. Pinkie forfeits once she realises she’s broken the Pinkie Party Promise that the person will enjoy her offering. Weird Al looks rather surprised too. And Pinkie packs up her troubles in her old party cannon and gets the heck out of Ponyville.
To totally predictable responses from her friends. Awwwwww. C’mon Pinkie. (Hey, I got it right.)
Or maybe not. They apologise for getting carried away by Cheese Sandwich. But then Pinkie says – in the best tradition of the self-criticism gulag – that she got carried away by her own pride, and Cheese will be a great party headliner.
RD explains Cheese is a great guest party planner, but Pinkie is their resident planner. Cheese does the Self-Criticism Shuffle too, for added value to the episode. (I bet he has to do his own letter to Celestia too when he gets home.) He admits to being a shy nerd who left Manehattan for Ponyville and fell in love with the atmosphere there, wanting fame and fortune. And the party Pinkie Pie threw was how Cheese Sandwich got his start.
This is a real return to form. I think I’m going to give it 9 out of 10. Joining forces is the lesson, to give people double the fun from double the people. Pinks learns her lesson, and Al acknowledges his debt to her. And I love the disco beat of the latter song. (There is an album out of official pony songs, but I hope they release this on another one.)
RD is really happy. And Pinkie goes and writes her letter. Al gives Pinkie his rubber chicken Boneless – which is the sparkly artifact for this week. (I’m sorry, but I can’t call him Cheese Sandwich and keep a straight face.)
That was a really pleasing episode. It hit all the right notes in terms of message, and, despite what I’ve commented on above, didn’t have too much of the self-criticism gulag feel of the last few episodes. The writing has got back on form with this one and Weird Al is a great guest star. Al’s well that ends well, in fact.