Hello & welcome back to Trotting Through Life and back to Party With Pinkie. Today, we hit perhaps Pinkie's most famous episode and the second big musical episode of the series. Starting with season three, every season has had a musical episode. Most of these shook up the show such as season 3 in Magical Mystery Cure, where Twilight Sparkle became an Alicorn Princess, Crusaders of The Lost Mark, where the CMC finally get their cutie marks. A Hearth's Warming Tail, a Hearth's Warming episode that aired in May and was A Christmas Carol adaption with Starlight Glimmer in the Scrooge role.
Okay so, the latest MLP musical didn't do much to shake up the show or the season but it did give us insight into Starlight Glimmer via a classic Christmas tale. So, does Pinkie Pride shake up the story? Well, I wouldn't say that as much as it advances the ongoing story arc of season 4 with the Rainbow Key arc. Admittedly, MMC and Crusaders of The Lost Mark have longer lasting effects on the series as a whole but for what Pinkie Pride accomplishes, it is important overall.
There is one other factor that needs to be addressed to this episode as this was the first episode to have a big name guest star. In this case being Weird Al Yankovic. Yes, we had the likes of John de Lancie in seasons 2 & 3 as Discord but his involvement wasn't actively promoted like Al's was and since then, we have had other big stars guest star such as Lena Hall and Patton Oswalt. And not to mention that I'm excited about Kristin Chenoweth being in the MLP movie.
To address, I remember that when this episode was being promoted, The Hub (as it was known back then) was heavily promoting Weird Al's involvement with commercials featuring The Goof Off and Pinkie asking :"Who does this guy think he is?" And text would pop up and say Weird Al Yankovic. Now Al's involvement isn't too shocking as he had talked about the show prior to his guest appearance and he's still doing voice work to this day as he will be the lead of a new Disney XD show from the creators of Phineas and Ferb. Oh and I'd be remiss to mention his guest spot as a D&D type wizard on Gravity Falls.
I've enjoyed Al's other voice work in the past and I'm curious to hear more from him and this is not meant as a hit but Cheese Sandwich is perhaps the Weird Al like character that I've Weird Al voice. As I'll discuss, when I get to his character, the team threw in a lot of references to Weird Al's discography. Some of which went over my head at the time as I was rather late getting on the Weird Al bandwagon but I do have a few of his songs on my IPhone now with perhaps my favorites being Ode To A Superhero and The Saga Begins. With that introduction out of the way, let's begin.
The Plot
We have a cold open in Appleloosa. Nice seeing you again, haven't seen you since season 1 and won't get another episode there until next season. And this is when we are introduced to Cheese Sandwich and at first, he's not what he thought as it's a reference to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. But once Cheese's cheesy sense kicks in, it becomes clear that it's Al. And he's heading to Ponyville as cheesy sense are taking him there because of a party.
The cutie mark acting like an accordion was the first big Weird Al reference and after the intro, we get our first song of the musical with Pinkie The Party Planner.
Which I love as it's a big introduction number that does a good job of introducing to Ponyville and the music and what they think of Pinkie. This song has a very Belle from the Beauty and the Beast vibe as we hear the townsponies sing about Pinkie and how she's helped plan different parties throughout Ponyville. Also not to mention that this episode shows us what we are going to get from Shannon Chan Kent as she'll be carrying the heavy workload with this being a musical episode.
Something that people may not realize is that not all of VA's for the ponies do their singing such as Rebecca Shoichet does the singing of Twilight Sparkle but she has gained more popularity since voicing Sunset Shimmer. And the same is true for Kent as she also has other roles in the series that do not require singing such as Silver Spoon and Lemon Zest.
It's nice to see that the singing voice actresses aren't just relegated to the singing roles and for those wondering why Andrea Libman didn't do the singing for Pinkie, she has a good voice but her singing is rather soft and while that works Fluttershy, it doesn't so much for the Pink Party Pony. Getting back to the review at hand, we find out that Pinkie is planning Rainbow Dash's birthday party and it's also the anniversary of when she moved from Cloudsdale to Ponyville. Considering what we'll learn in season 5 of how Cloudsdale is mobile city, I wonder how that worked. And Pinkie says that parties are serious business and that is when Cheese Sandwich arrives in town and the ponies are swept up with him as we get our second song, The Super Duper Party Pony. This is one thing that I must compliment this episode on as it gives you enough to time breathe between musical numbers but not enough that you get bored waiting for the next number. Certain musicals such as 1776 for example can pull off a long break between musical numbers but you better have a very engaging story to pull this off or people will get bored. Don't get me wrong, the story is quite engaging but the episode knows what the audience came here for.
Super Duper Party Pony is a great song and it really gets Al's style down perfectly and this is when you see Pinkie saddened by the going on's in the town and how they've been swept up by Cheese. We are able to feel bad for Pinkie without ever having to look at Cheese as antagonist. Sure, he's a foil for Pinkie but he doesn't mean her harm and we'll see how much she means to party planning lifestyle. Which leads into my favorite number from the episode, Pinkie's Lament as it brings more emotional depth to Pinkie as we see her at her lowest. Yes, we have seen something akin to this with Party of One but that was different and bit psychotic whereas this is a bit more subdued and interpersonal as we see Pinkie rise from the ashes of her lowest low to get back out there and prove to Ponyville that she is the bestest party pony around.
Also, I gotta say that this scene right here is my favorite piece of animation from the entire series as it's so crisp and clear as it's almost movie quality. It's like the animators knew they had something special with this number and wanted to make it look the best that it could. In particular, the balcony scene as that is just so gorgeous to look at. Also, I'd be remiss to mention that this is the first time that we see (the overrated) Maud Pie as Pinkie walks past a picture of her from a party that she threw as a filly.
But this is not the first time that we were made aware of Pinkie's older sister as she was mentioned in the book, Pinkie Pie and the Rockin' Ponypalooza Party. Which as of last season's episode, The Mane Attraction is canon.
Pinkie gets back out there and challenges Cheese to a Goof Off and this is bar none of the funniest moments in the entire series as you have Pinkie and Weird Al going back and forth trying to unfunny one another in order to make Rainbow Dash laugh as the winner gets to plan her birthday party. But this is also when Pinkie has her rainbow moment something that all of the Mane Six had in the fourth season, when they have a realization.
She has this moment, when it looks as though she has gone too far and hurt Rainbow Dash. At this, Pinkie decides to leave but Cheese confesses and we learn that Cheese was shy as a young colt and he didn't become a Party Pony until coming across a party thrown by a filly Pinkie.
What's interesting is that this number didn't have an actual name until the most recent album release, Pinkie Pie's Party Playlist where it's listed as Cheese Confesses.
Which I love this album as it's MLP music but that's perhaps the laziest album cover that has made for any of the albums thus far. And that's saying something as the first two were the MLP logo. Cheese and Pinkie plan the party together and we get one last song with Make A Wish. Which has become a favorite of mine to use on birthdays of my friends.
And Cheese heads off as he's needed for another party but he gives Pinkie, his rubber chicken Boneless and that'll become her rainbow key at the end of the season. I very much enjoyed this episode and I think that it's perhaps the best musical episode that the show has done to date.
Characters
Pinkie Pie voiced by Andrea Libman, Singing Voice - Shannon Chan Kent
This is easily one of the best Pinkie episodes to date as we get to see a full range of her emotions and she is able to pull herself back up from her low. Sure, the story is a bit simple but it is rather effective in getting us to root for Pinkie and as I said up top, this episode is a tour de force for Shannon Chan Kent as she had to do the heavy lifting with this being a musical episode featuring Pinkie in the lead and she pulled it off to perfection.
Cheese Sandwich voiced/singing voice by Weird Al Yankovic
Cheese is a fun character and perhaps the best use of celebrity guest for voice over work and he is perhaps the one that is most like the person that is playing him as he is just so full of energy and just so fun to be around and watch. I also like how while Pinkie views him as a rival, the episode never paints him as a bad guy. He's a pretty alright guy, it's just Pinkie's ahem well pride got the best of her and it's understandable that she'd be a bit hurt seeing her friends getting so swept up with a new Party Pony.
Songs
Pinkie The Party Planner
This song is really fun and does a great job of setting up and hey, Diamond Tiara mentions her party from season one for getting her cutie mark. To borrow from Silver Quill...
But as I said up top, this song very much has a Belle vibe to it as you hear the townsponies sing about Pinkie and how she's helped with various parties. It's a good song to kick off and also interesting to note that Pinkie Pride is the only musical episode whose first musical number doesn't come before the intro.
The Super Duper Party Pony
This song perfectly fits Weird Al's style and is just so fun and upbeat that it's infectious that you can't help but smile as you hear it. Though that colt is the fakest sounding kid that I've ever heard in this show. Still, this song is a total blast and one that is always a joy to listen to.
Pinkie's Lament
Sorry Weird Al fans but this is my favorite number from the episode as I love seeing these other sides to Pinkie. It shows that there's more to her than just fun. She cares about her friends and that she throws her parties. I like how this song starts with her at her lowest low but she remembers how happy her parties have made her friends and that's why they matter.
The Goof Off
Once again, this song is very fun as you hear these two great comedians try to one up each other. There really isn't much that I can say about that as this song speaks for itself. Though I do love the touch of Cheese singing the Smile Song and that sets Pinkie off.
Cheese Confesses
I really like this song as we really get the sense that Cheese never wanted to upset Pinkie because he admires her and looks up to her because she set him on the path to become who he is today.
Make A Wish
As odd as this may sound considering that Daniel Ingram wrote the music for Equestira Girls, this feels more like an EQG song than an MLP song. Shame, that we only get a short snippet of it in the episode but thankfully, the extended version was the one that was released on I believe the second MLP album, Songs of Ponyville.
I go back to what I said about this sounding more like an EQG song. In particular, This Is Our Big Night from the first movie. That doesn't make it bad but it does stand out for that reason more than the others. It's still a lot of fun and a great song to use for anyone that is celebrating a birthday.
My Final Thoughts
While Too Many Pinkie Pies is my favorite Pinkie episode, this is a close second as it just comes together to show Pinkie at her strongest and there is some great growth for her throughout this episode and it shows that there's more to Pinkie than one might assume at first glance. Well, we got one of the best Pinkie episodes out of the way. Join me next time as we look at one of my least favorite Pinkie Pie episodes (Pinkie isn't the problem) as we look at....
Maud Pie
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