Not everything must end in a detailed philosophy about depression and anxiety, but that sometimes what someone believes is one of these things is really just stress. The writers did a fine job conveying this message and it felt broad enough that anyone could understand.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (TV Series)
Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? (2015)
User Reviews
Review this title3 Reviews
A pony night's dream
TheLittleSongbird28 December 2020
It is always very difficult to follow on from such a brilliant episode in a season and show high point in "Amending Fences", especially with a premise this good and with the chance to see an underused character return and take the lead this time. "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" is an episode that seems to have divided the fandom, some liked it a lot and appreciated Luna's development while others considered it a missed opportunity.
Can see both sides in this case. There is a lot to admire about "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" and it serves well as a mid-season finale (it would have worked too as a season finale), but a great concept to me didn't feel fully explored and the execution would have fared a lot better if the episode slowed down, didn't try to do as much and was also in two parts. Luna's development though was appreciated and it was great to see her play a bigger role.
"Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" has many great things. The animation is very good throughout, especially in the shared dream sequence and it has a lot of atmosphere in the climax. The music is similarly great, especially in Rainbow Dash's dream. The writing balances humour and pathos pretty well on the whole, Luna's conflicting emotions are touchingly done and did find myself very amused by Rainbow Dash's dream and the smart references in the shared one.
Furthermore, while the story is very flawed a few of the dreams are interesting (although admittedly they are not the most imaginative ones in the world). The best being Rainbow Dash's and the "Slice of Life Part 2"-like shared dream sequence. There is emotion and the Tantabus is a suitably ominous threat. It is not a dull episode, quite the opposite, and the characters are mostly written well and excellently voiced as usual. Tabitha St Germain especially.
As said earlier on in the review, "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" did suffer from its pace and that it did feel underdeveloped. Some felt that it would have been better as a two parter, and that is an opinion very strongly agreed with. The episode did feel very rushed, especially later on and Luna's conflict could have been introduced earlier and played more of a role. The dreams generally felt too short. Personally found the ending too anti-climactic and melodramatic.
While the moral was a beautiful one on paper and a deep one, it could have been explored with more depth and nuance in the episode itself and like the climax overall it felt too hastily written. Pinkie Pie definitely could have kept her explanation of Luna's role in her dream to herself, that was not in good taste and considering Luna's conflict pretty tone deaf. Plus while the action was fun there could have been room for more intimacy.
In summary, pretty good episode but there are far better Season 5 episodes. A small 7/10
Can see both sides in this case. There is a lot to admire about "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" and it serves well as a mid-season finale (it would have worked too as a season finale), but a great concept to me didn't feel fully explored and the execution would have fared a lot better if the episode slowed down, didn't try to do as much and was also in two parts. Luna's development though was appreciated and it was great to see her play a bigger role.
"Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" has many great things. The animation is very good throughout, especially in the shared dream sequence and it has a lot of atmosphere in the climax. The music is similarly great, especially in Rainbow Dash's dream. The writing balances humour and pathos pretty well on the whole, Luna's conflicting emotions are touchingly done and did find myself very amused by Rainbow Dash's dream and the smart references in the shared one.
Furthermore, while the story is very flawed a few of the dreams are interesting (although admittedly they are not the most imaginative ones in the world). The best being Rainbow Dash's and the "Slice of Life Part 2"-like shared dream sequence. There is emotion and the Tantabus is a suitably ominous threat. It is not a dull episode, quite the opposite, and the characters are mostly written well and excellently voiced as usual. Tabitha St Germain especially.
As said earlier on in the review, "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" did suffer from its pace and that it did feel underdeveloped. Some felt that it would have been better as a two parter, and that is an opinion very strongly agreed with. The episode did feel very rushed, especially later on and Luna's conflict could have been introduced earlier and played more of a role. The dreams generally felt too short. Personally found the ending too anti-climactic and melodramatic.
While the moral was a beautiful one on paper and a deep one, it could have been explored with more depth and nuance in the episode itself and like the climax overall it felt too hastily written. Pinkie Pie definitely could have kept her explanation of Luna's role in her dream to herself, that was not in good taste and considering Luna's conflict pretty tone deaf. Plus while the action was fun there could have been room for more intimacy.
In summary, pretty good episode but there are far better Season 5 episodes. A small 7/10
Why, Hasbro? You were doing so well.
jeremygirvan24 September 2015
I think Jerry Perry said it best in his reflection "Glass of Water: Self Destruction." This episode was great, right up until the end where Luna explains she created the monster of this episode. Let me explain. MLP:FIM has a tendency to teach important lessons to its young audience. This was not one of those episodes. At first, we thought it was an endearing tale that was a metaphor for the effects of depression, represented by the monster infecting Luna's dreams which she requires the Mane 6's help to defeat it. But this beautiful metaphor that would have explained how people (especially young people) with depression should seek help from their friends in combating the illness - because that's what depression is, an illness (like cancer). But this all falls to pieces when she reveals that she created the monster herself to punish her for the crimes she committed as one of the series previous antagonists. The show made it out like this was some sort of endearing trait to make us want to love and cuddle Luna because of how much pain she's putting herself through. Which is a terrible lesson to tell kids. If you know someone is harming themselves, as Jerry Perry stated, you drag them to a hospital - regardless of whether or not they hate you forever. The episode teaches that something like depression and by extension self-harm is an acceptable character trait. And not only that, treats it like it's something that has a quick-fix solution to it. This is NOT OK!
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