Double Rainboom

Hello & welcome back to Trotting Through Life. Today, I am reviewing my second fan film or as it's creator called it, the first ever fan episode.  What did I think of it? IT SUCKED!!!   Honestly, this thing is so lucky that  it is not canon to the show because if it were, this would replace my most hated episode, Owl's Well That Ends Well as the worst episode ever.   There are so many things wrong with this that  I don't know where to freakin' start.    Am I being unfair holding this thing to a high standard?  No, not when it was promoted as the first fan made episode.




Promo







This promo showed so much potential for what could've been a good fan film   err episode.  No screw it, this doesn't deserve to be called an MLP episode.   This promo  got me excited for Double Rainboom.   I knew about it this thing long before Snowdrop and I was excited because it was going to be my first fan made animation from the Brony community.  Well, let me just say that I'm glad Snowdrop came first as if I watched this first, I would've been rather hesitant to watch any other piece of animation from the fandom.  



Plot

Plot,  oh don't make me laugh. Who needs a plot when a weak story can be hidden behind references to other cartoons. Because as we all know references are the glue that hold the story together. Right?!?  WRONG!!!!    You should have a cohesive story that can hold up on it's own and not have to rely on references that make me want to watch the shows your referencing instead of  this piece of garbage. Okay, let me go over what the plot of this jumbled mess was supposed to be.  Twilight was working on a potion that she had been working on since Magic Kindergarten. Rainbow Dash sneaks in  and distracts Twilight while working on her potion.  It turns out the potion can enhance someone's special talent as we see Twilight imaging her friends after  they drank the potion.  And right now I am going out of order with this sequence because I've really got to talk about Rarity's sequence as that had the most references during the potion drinking portion. Okay, so with Rarity's section, it showed making her outfits at a faster rate. Nothing wrong with that but again all of the outfits, Rarity made were references to other characters.  Let's see here, why don't I list them off.

• Dipper and Mabel - Gravity Falls
• Harley Quinn - Batman
• Zelda - The Legend of  Zelda (Okay I could see Rarity making this one but that's it)
• The film's creator (Which looked more like an outfit that Rarity's dad Magum would wear and Rarity is not the biggest fan of his attire. And also why we are on this subject, I understand wanting to insert your OC into your work as I've done that as well. For those of you that follow my oldest blog series, A Look at Disney,  I recently did a story arc, The Revenge of Darkfan21 and mentioned my Pony OC, Magic Dust. The difference here though is there is a reason he was brought up whereas with the creator of this film felt like insertion just because).

I'm sorry but these do not look like outfits that Rarity would make.   Rarity would you like to take over here seeing as you were the subject of this sequence.

Miss Rarity, I could not agree more.  Also  Issue # 5 of the official My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comic book had a Gravity Falls reference that was actually pretty good.

Now see this was quick and funny and you could still enjoy it without it detracting from the mane story of the comic book.  In fact it was part of the story as all of the Mane Six were having bad dreams and this was Rarity's nightmare that Maybelle as the Pony counterpart is named in the comic replaced her amongst her group of friends.  See this is good and it is actually funny to someone that is a fan of both of these shows, I loved this reference. Now let's move onto Fluttershy. Oh Flutters, I am so happy that you didn't have any lines.  Once again, Fluttershy's sequence also had a reference. This time, he referenced Looney Tunes. Thankfully it was quick and  not as  full as Rarity's sequence.   A bunny and a duck came to Fluttershy that were obviously  based on Bugs and Daffy.    No just no, this does deserve to reference such iconic cartoon characters such as as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.  Look,  I may be a bigger Disney and Pony fan then I am  Looney Tunes but as a fan of animation in general, this does not deserve the right to reference two of the greatest animated comedians ever!!!!  Thankfully with Applejack, there were no annoying references.   Okay the potion sequence  as Twily imaging her friends drinking it actually started with her and it showed that her magic would get stronger.  Now I don't think this was very true to Twilight as yes while I imagine, she'd want  Shining Armor, Cadance, and the princesses looking on, why would she imagine Trixie looking on jealously. Guess that is just another reference.   So anyways back to the plot, Dashie steals the potion and drink it while Twilight is rambling on about it.   And then she flies out of the library and starts going really fast, she flies so fast and so high that she flies into space. (Cartoon Logic, I guess)   And then Dash decides to try and do a double rainboom because of how fast the potion made her go. She pulls it off but at the cost of Ponyville as the entire town is ruined during this event and poor Derpy was trying to eat a muffin and the poor thing had it crushed because of the crisis.  Seriously, Dash was so irresponsible and her double rainboom caused Ponyville to become a town from a disaster movie and do we ever see Dash clean it up?

And oh how could I forget the rainboom left a trail of fire, albeit rainbow fire that was a direct reference to Back to The Future. Honestly, the only thing missing here was a license plate saying OUTTATIME.

 And that's when we saw Rainbow Dash going through a portal that led to Cartoon Network.  Wait wait wait wait wait, WHAT?!?!?!   And oh during Dashie's time in the portal, we see Johnny Bravo, Samurai Jack, Dexter and Plank from Ed, Edd, & Eddy.  This honestly felt as though they were just placing in references to old Cartoon Network shows that he watched as a kid. And that'd be fine, if this mess wasn't so bogged down by references to begin with.

 And then Rainbow Dash ends up in Townsville from Powerpuff Girls. Oh because Lauren Faust and her husband, Craig McCracken worked on that show.  Funny right, great idea for a cross over.  No because this WAS NOT promoted as a an MLP/Powerpuff Girls cross over. This was promoted as the first fan made episode and I am sorry but when I hear this, I am not expecting Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup to show up. No matter how much I liked that show.   This was not promoted as such.   Look, here's an idea how about instead of these stupid references, why not show Rainbow Dash, oh I don't know dealing with the ramifications of her actions. Such as having to help clean up Ponyville.   Honestly, the only way, this even felt remotely like an episode was that at the end, Rainbow Dash wrote a letter to Princess Celestia  talking about the lesson she learned of not taking things that don't belong to you.  And even then that was forced and tacked on. Oh and Pinkie saved Rainbow Dash as when she drank the potion, it caused her to be able to go through time and space.  The big reason, I'm not complaining about this is because I expect weird stuff like that with Pinkie Pie.


Plot Device


Potion






Okay, I have to admit that the potion was a bit confusing as when Twilight explain it,  she over explained it.  And she at first, she said she didn't know what it would actually do and then she described how it would enhance the abilities  of her and friends.    What is it, Twilight?  Did you or didn't you know? And when Dash drank it, it made her stronger and faster.  It eventually wore off.   Something that confused a wee bit is that Twilight said that she had been working on this since Magic Kindergarten and in the second half, she whipped a second batch fast for Pinkie to use.  Okay so maybe, Twilight knew it well enough to be able to whip it up quickly but I would've actually liked to seen Twilight working on the potion in a working against the clock type of moment. Maybe I'm asking for too much here.  I don't know. Oh and I should also mention that for no reason the LOL U Mad Trollface appeared during the potion's first appearance.

WHY?!?!?!   








Characters


Okay, there's really no need to break this down  any further. So let's get on with it.


Rainbow Dash voiced by Emily Koch

The voice acting is maybe the only part, I am willing to give some leeway on because while it wasn't good, at least they tried and it is hard to imitate the voices of other VA's.    Now with how reckless, Dashie was acting in this special,  I was led to assume that this took place before season 3 as Rainbow Dash has matured.  I'd say the characters (the MLP characters that is) were the only saving grace of this diasterpiece but that'd be giving it too much credits as there were times, when they felt OOC (Out of character).  I'll explain that more with Twilight Sparkle.



Twilight Sparkle voiced by Kira Buckland

Twilight was okay in this at best.  Watching her make the potion was a little funny and the Magic Kindergarten reference is one of the few didn't feel like that it came out of nowhere as I could picture Twilight actually working on a project like this as a young filly.  And quite honestly, I was the most sympathetic with Twilight because in one fell swoop,  Rainbow Dash had drank a potion that Twilight had been working on for a very long time and to see your life's work gone in an instant has to be frustrating. And while the VA did not sound like Tara Strong's Twilight, she was close enough and perhaps the best MLP VA in this thing.  Now I know some people have rightfully complained that Twily was acting out of character and being too angry (she read the script for this I bet)   and not frantic like she would be in the show. Honestly,  Dash deserved every ounce of Twilight Sparkle's anger as what Dash did was so idiotic.



Pinkie Pie voiced by Brittany Lauda

 I'd say I have nothing bad to say about as Pinkie fit with the random nature of this fan made film but again that isn't the case..   Honestly, I could picture Pinkie being able to go through time and space like she did in this thing. And there actually was a build up to Pinkie drinking the potion as we got to see Twilight ponder what would happen if Pinkie Pie drank and she figured that it make her a crazy party pony but as Twilight said, there isn't anypony crazier then Pinkie Pie.    Okay, there is one issue, I have with Pinkie.  At the end, the forced and tacked on message is not to take things that don't belong to us.  Well, Pinkie brought back Bloo from Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends.

Funny, right. NO! Also way to undercut your hackneyed message just for the sake of a cheap joke.










My Final Thoughts

Yeah, that about sums it up.   This thing could've been good.  Neat idea with the potion but this story is so cluttered with references that I swear Seth MacFarlane worked on it.    Again, am I being unreasonable with this?   No, not when this was promoted as the first ever fan made episode. Honestly, promoting it that way set Double Rainboom up for failure and it failed because the promotion was a LIE!!!    I wanted to like this, I really did but it was terrible.   And I already know that some of the defenders are going to say "If you don't like it, make your own".   My response to that is I know my limitations and I know that I could never write something that is up to the quality of an MLP episode. M.A. Larson, I'm not.   If I can say anything nice about this, the animation was decent but there are so many things wrong with it. The big one being that this was thing was so saturated with references that trying to list all of them would take up another article unto itself .One I will not be writing because I would like to move forward from Double Rainboom and never look back.   My fellow Bronies and Pegasisters, if you are a fan of Rainbow Dash and want a story about her pulling off a Double Rainboom. Skip this and instead pick up the Rainbow Dash micro comic as Dash does a Double Rainboom in the climax of that comic without any aid and  used it to help Ponyville.   The comic can be found here.  As for this,  just forget about it.   Also, I imagine some people might want to call me out as a hypocrite seeing as I used a Big Mac reference and a Rarity reference but they were to get a point across unlike the references in Double Rainboom.   This is quite frankly the most disappointing thing MLP related I've ever bore witness to.  Okay, look let me talk about some of the things that I liked about this before I move on,  Ponyville looked good.   And it is impressive that they were able to get this done in just a year and they even got permission from Hasbro and Cartoon Network to use their characters but I still didn't like it.