Pinkie Pride

"Pinkie Pride" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and the seventy-seventh episode of the series overall. It was directed by Jayson Thiessen, co-directed by Jim Miller, and its screenplay was written by Amy Keating Rogers from a story by Thiessen. It was produced by Sarah Wall and Devon Cody.

"Pinkie Pride"
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode
Cheese Sandwich (left) and Pinkie Pie before competing in a "goof-off"
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 12
Directed by	Jayson Thiessen
Story by	Jayson Thiessen
Teleplay by	Amy Keating Rogers
Featured music	See Featured songs
Editing by	Margaret Reid Meghan McCarthy (story)
Original air date	February 1, 2014 (2014-02-01)
Running time	22 minutes
Guest appearance
"Weird Al" Yankovic as Cheese Sandwich
Episode chronology
List of episodes

The episode centers on Pinkie Pie (voiced by Andrea Libman), whose plans to organize a birthday party for Rainbow Dash (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) are interrupted by a similarly energetic pony, Cheese Sandwich ("Weird Al" Yankovic), leading Pinkie Pie to defend her pride as a party planner in a "goof-off".

Yankovic's involvement in the episode was the result of interactions on Twitter between him and Jayson Thiessen. Aired on February 1, 2014, on the Hub Network, "Pinkie Pride" was viewed by 459,000 people and garnered acclaim from critics, who praised Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich's characterizations.

Plot

As he oversees an extravagant party he has thrown in Appleloosa, party planner Cheese Sandwich senses a "doozy" of a party being thrown in Ponyville, where Pinkie Pie is organizing her friend Rainbow Dash a party, celebrating both the latter's birthday and anniversary of her move to Ponyville. Pinkie promises to throw Rainbow Dash the best "birthiversary" party ever when Cheese appears and introduces himself as the premier party planner in Equestria. Though initially delighted to meet a party planner like herself, Pinkie is upset as Cheese enraptures the townsfolk with his party-throwing skills, causing her friends to desert her for Cheese's party.

Cheese begins building a massive set for Rainbow Dash's party, while almost all help him build it. Doubting her own partying skills, Pinkie attempts several odd-end jobs around Ponyville that fail. She returns home dejected and begins to put her party supplies away before looking through framed pictures showing various parties she has thrown in the past. With renewed confidence, Pinkie challenges Cheese to a goofing showdown ("goof-off"), declaring the winner will be dubbed the single best party planner and headline Rainbow Dash's party. Cheese accepts and Rainbow Dash becomes the judge of the competition. The two try to outdo each other with increasingly silly and elaborate performances until Pinkie accidentally drops a giant piñata on top of Rainbow Dash. Pinkie realizes her pride has gotten in the way of Rainbow Dash's party and forfeits the goof-off to Cheese.

Pinkie packs up her belongings and prepares to leave Ponyville, deciding to let Cheese take her place. She is stopped by Rainbow Dash and her other friends, who apologize for neglecting her, but Pinkie counters that it is her fault instead, apologizing for her destructive pride. However, her friends affirm that, while both are talented party planners, Cheese could never replace her as their friend. Cheese arrives and apologizes as well, assuring that he never meant any harm, but rather wanted to impress her with his partying; he confesses that, contrary to his previous claims of being a partier all his life, he was extremely shy as a colt until he stumbled upon a party thrown by Pinkie, which inspired him to become a party planner. Pinkie and Cheese make amends and work together to throw Rainbow Dash a party before Cheese departs, leaving Pinkie his valued rubber chicken "Boneless" as a gift.

Production

"Weird Al" Yankovic, as seen in 2010, guest stars as the voice of Cheese Sandwich

The episode was first teased by Hasbro Vice President of Development Mike Vogel during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2013, where he hinted about a musical season 4 episode where "somebody will give [Pinkie Pie] a run for her partying money."^[1] The involvement of "Weird Al" Yankovic in the episode stemmed from a Twitter post by the parody musician, where he had linked to a user-created music video with scenes from Friendship Is Magic episodes set to "Polkarama!", one of his polka medleys.^[2] The tweet was discovered by co-executive producer Jayson Thiessen, who posted a reply asking the musician if he would be interested in the idea of guest voicing a character on the show since "Weird Al and My Little Pony seem to go together really well."^[3][4] After being met with a positive response from fans of the series, Thiessen received a private message from Yankovic about a year later, expressing his interest in participating. In the episode, Yankovic voiced a character named Cheese Sandwich, who is portrayed as being a rival to Pinkie Pie in the realm of party service.^[3] In a Reddit "Ask me Anything" on the release of his subsequent album, Mandatory Fun, Yankovic stated that he "had a blast" performing as Cheese Sandwich and was "extremely happy" with the episode, and would be glad to reprise the role if the showrunners asked.^[5][6] Yankovic would later reprise the character in 2019 for the season 9 episode "The Last Laugh".^[7]

The episode was written by Amy Keating Rogers based on a story idea by Jayson Thiessen. In an interview with USA Today, Thiessen went on to say that they had gone "all out" with the episode's animation, that it contained "a couple special things that we've never done before", and that the episode had "a lot of great songs" as well.^[3] A short live-action cutaway with a dancing, live-action balloon animal version of Cheese Sandwich's rubber chicken Boneless (made using balloons and rice) was filmed in Thiessen's basement.^[8]

Featured songs

The episode is a musical featuring six songs with music provided by Daniel Ingram. Lyrics for the songs were originally penned by Amy Keating Rogers and reworked by Ingram. Rogers wrote the lyrics for the various songs with other melodies in mind: "Pinkie the Party Planner" was based on "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast;^[9] "The Super Duper Party Pony" on "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from Mary Poppins;^[10] "Pinkie's Lament" on "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita,^[11] "The Goof Off" on "Together (Wherever We Go)" as performed on The Brady Bunch,^[12] and "Make a Wish" on Pink's "Raise Your Glass".^[13] While Shannon Chan-Kent sang as Pinkie for most of the songs, the character's regular voice actress, Andrea Libman, performed the character during "The Goof Off".^[14] Ingram recorded the character Cheese Sandwich's songs with Yankovic in Los Angeles.^[15] A full version of the song "Make a Wish" is included on the album Songs of Ponyville.^[16]

1. "Pinkie the Party Planner"
2. "The Super Duper Party Pony"
3. "Pinkie's Lament"
4. "The Goof Off"
5. "Cheese Confesses"
6. "Make a Wish"

Steffan Andrews and David Corman helped with the orchestration and arrangements of every song except "Make a Wish".^[17]

Broadcast and reception

"Pinkie Pride" aired on February 1, 2014, on the Hub Network.^[18] According to the Nielsen household ratings, the episode was viewed by 459,000 people and watched by approximately 0.3 percent of households in the United States.^[19]

The episode received positive reviews from critics. Daniel Alvarez of Unleash the Fanboy gave the episode a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, calling it a "really good episode and a very nice look at Pinkie Pie as a character", and praising the characterization of Cheese Sandwich and his rivalry with Pinkie, while noting the "mean" portrayal of Pinkie's friends as a minor setback.^[20] Raymond Gallant from Freakin' Awesome Network awarded the episode a rating of 10 out of 10, considering it "one of the season's best". Noting Pinkie's "moronic" portrayal in other episodes, Gallant praised her "good heart", which he thought gave her more characterization. He also praised the episode's humor, Yankovic's role as "a male version of Pinkie Pie", and the episode's use of musical sequences compared to the earlier musical episode "Magical Mystery Cure", writing, "the story had a chance to breathe, and be built up far better with all the songs added."^[21] Ingram and Andrews were nominated for a 2014 Leo Award for "Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series".^[22]

Home media

The episode was part of the Season 4 DVD set from Shout! Factory that was released on December 2, 2014,^[23] as well as the "Adventures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders" DVD, which was released on February 24, 2015.^[24] "The Super Duper Party Pony" is also part of Yankovic's Medium Rarities album which is part of Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic.^[25]

References

1. Nguyen, Hanh (July 20, 2013). "My Little Pony: Pinkie Pie Lands a Musical Episode and More Season 4 Scoop". TV Guide. Archived from the original on April 11, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
2. Yankovic, "Weird Al" [@alyankovic] (April 19, 2011). "The Weird Al / My Little Pony mashup that the world has been waiting for: http://j.mp/frzYRU" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2014 – via Twitter.
3. Matheson, Whitney (January 15, 2014). "Exclusive: 'Weird Al' Yankovic graces My Little Pony". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 19, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
4. Thiessen, Jayson [@goldenrusset] (April 20, 2011). "@alyankovic mlp/yankovic make a perfect pair! Ever consider doing a guest spot on the show? (I'm the director and a huge AL fan)" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2014 – via Twitter.
5. Moyer, Justin; Kirkpatrick, Nick (July 16, 2014). "'Weird Al' Yankovic takes on Pharrell's 'Happy'". Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 17, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
6. Yankovic, Weird Al (July 15, 2014). "This is 'Weird Al' Yankovic – AMAA (Ask Me Anything, Again)". Reddit. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
7. Albert, Jared (March 8, 2019). "The Final Season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Premieres Saturday, April 6 on Discovery Family" (PDF) (Press release). Miami, Florida: Discovery, Inc. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
8. Thiessen, Jayson [@goldenrusset] (February 1, 2014). "that dancing boneless was made of balloons and rice.... filmed in my basement #mlpseason4" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2014 – via Twitter.
9. Rogers, Amy Keating [@KeatingRogers] (February 1, 2014). "When I wrote the lyrics for Pinkie's opening song, the tune in my head was 'Little Town' from Beauty and the Beast. #mlpseason4" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014 – via Twitter.
10. Rogers, Amy Keating [@KeatingRogers] (February 1, 2014). "The tune in my head when I wrote the lyrics for 'Super Duper Party Pony" was 'Supercalafragalistic.' #Mlpseason4" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014 – via Twitter.
11. Rogers, Amy Keating [@KeatingRogers] (February 1, 2014). "The tune in my head when I wrote the lyrics for Pinkie's ballad was 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina' from Evita. #mlpseason4" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014 – via Twitter.
12. Rogers, Amy Keating [@KeatingRogers] (February 1, 2014). "The tune in my head for the Goof Off lyrics was 'Together, Wherever We Go' which I know from 'The Brady Bunch!' #mlpseason4" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014 – via Twitter.
13. Rogers, Amy Keating [@KeatingRogers] (February 1, 2014). "The tune in my head when I wrote the lyrics for the ending party song was Pink's 'Raise Your Glass.' #mlpseason4" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014 – via Twitter.
14. Ingram, Daniel [@dannyimusic] (February 1, 2014). "Lets shower @ShannonCKent in flowers for her incredible singing in Pinkie Pride, as well as @AndreaLibman for the Goof Off #MLPSeason4" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014 – via Twitter.
15. Ingram, Daniel (January 15, 2014). "Last year I got the news from Hasbro [...]". Facebook. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
16. Songs Of Ponyville (Music From The Original TV Series). 2016. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2021 – via Spotify.
17. Ingram, Daniel (February 1, 2014). "Yes! 'Pinkie Pride'!!! Been waiting for [...]". Facebook. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
18. Busis, Hillary (January 31, 2014). "Weird Al drops by 'My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
19. Pucci, Douglas (February 7, 2014). "The Hub Ratings Scorecard – Week of Jan. 27, 2014". TV Media Insights. Archived from the original on February 10, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
20. Alvarez, Daniel (February 1, 2014). "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 'Pinkie Pride' Review". Unleash The Fanboy. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
21. Gallant, Raymond (February 2, 2014). "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 4, Episode 12 Review". Freakin' Awesome Network. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
22. "2014 Leo Award Nominees". Leo Awards. Archived from the original on April 26, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
23. "My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season Four". Shout! Factory. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
24. "My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Adventures Of The Cutie Mark Crusaders". Shout! Factory. November 5, 2014. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
25. Kreps, Daniel (March 17, 2017). "Watch 'Weird Al' Yankovic Detail 'Medium Rarities' With Quirky 8-Bit Video". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021.

External links

• "Pinkie Pride" at IMDb