• The Top Ten Pony Animatics of 2014!


    That must be how all those animators feel once the animatic is done, but they can't rest cuz then they have to animate them.

    Get my personal picks for top ten animatics below.


    #10



    This one is adorable to me, Trixie's language gets a bit salty in spots but Maud manages to win her over in the end. This is a sweet bit of friendshipping or Mauxie shipping depending on who you ask. Either way I think the idea is really great. I love how these two interact with each other and how Maud knows to just be patient.This is one of the few story animatics I found as a lot of them are stellar PMV roughs.


    #9



    This is a stellar video about following your dreams, and never giving up. From a not so great start at the beginning, we get to watch our hero improve and improve and get even more amazing, reaching out to touch hearts.


    #8

    Confrontation / Jekyll and Hyde Series

    This one's a bit different as there are three different videos tackling this incredible song.



    We have Luna and Nightmare Moon battling for control. This one is really solid and probably what a lot of people think of as the traditional Jekyll and Hyde dynamic, Luna's dark side is well known to us and the animators at Inky Potts studios really do a solid job. It's a slow build to some really beautiful back and forth that echoes the song really well.



    In this one (Another Inky Potts Studios, these guys are prolific!) we have Pinkie battling her Pinkamena alter ego and using the mirror pool for the eponymous mirror in the song. I love the small touches in this video, the waistcoats and the differing eye colour between Pinkie and Pinkamena, this is one of the most chilling ones to me.



    And this one is a really interesting idea. I've heard of the Ask Discorded Hooves Tumblr, but not really read much of it. Clearly that needs to change. I love the idea of ponifying his darker side and the climbing out of the mirror scene is a really solid touch.


    #7



    This one just overloads me with cute. I love little Luna and Celestia and this is just an amazing piece showing them interacting. I especially love Luna's reaction to finding the falling star.


    #6



    I'm a sucker for the classics and you can't get much more classic for my generation than Rudolph. So why not add to it by adding pony deer!


    #5



    This is one that blew me away. I started it and thought it looked really sweet and then it started making me giggle and smile at the characters. Then when things changed and I saw who they became it blew my mind. There's some great foreshadowing in this one and you might need to go back and watch it a second time to catch it.


    #4

    The Count of Monte Cristo (Series)

    Hell To Your Doorstep (Some language) 


    The folks over at Inky Potts Studios really love putting out incredible animatics. My favourite of their works has to be the Count of Monte Cristo Musical numbers, as they take our favourite ponies and put them in new and sinister positions.


    #3



    This is one of the rarer ones I've spotted. It's an animatic for a film rather than a PMV. It's hauntingly beautiful and these guys are reaching for the stars. From what I've seen though, they're going to shoot past the stars and go into the wider solar system.


    #2



    Even before ponies, I've always enjoyed all type of animation and stop-motion holds a special place in my heart. So naturally I had high expectations for a pony animatic of This Is Halloween. As you can guess by it's place, it does not disappoint. From some beautiful shots and angles, to using the Mirror Pool for a lovely chorus this one is really top notch.


    #1



    It was a hard choice to choose between this one and number two for my top spot. Both of them have really well designed animation styles and beautiful camera work and angles. What cemented thi one in my heart was a few things.

    First of all, I think we all grew up with that dancing frog from the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show right? This is the song he's singing the chorus from. Secondly, is how this is the Doctor and he uses the Tardis to great effect. I also love Derpy's expressions in this as she goes from confused to mad to forgiving to annoyed again.



    Honorable Mentions





    This one was a bit controversial when we posted it. A lot of folks argued that this changed the dynamic of the song by placing it as Celestia and Luna. I haven't seen the film, but I really like the animation style here, though I don't know if I get the reasons for choosing Celestia and Luna as Moses and the Pharaoh respectively.



    (Discord and Tirek meet Aladdin)


    This is another really cool one that didn't quite make the cut. The style is very solid unfortunately, I jsut can't see Tirek acting this way. He doesn't really taunt and tease his enemies like Discord does. Maybe if it was Discord messing with Celestia or Twilight I could get behind it more.


    (Sorta kinda NSFW topic in there)


    Because how can you top that?


    As always, we'd love to hear your favorite animatics from this past year. Do you guys prefer PMV animatics or story animatics?