Let's Watch This: An Episode of "It's Pony"

Jeez, how long has it been since I've reviewed a cartoon show that I've actually watched before and know that I like? Was it my review of Kappa Mikey?

Well, anyway, I don't normally do more recent cartoons - as in, ones that came out in the same decade as the year I'm posting the review - on this blog. That's probably because most cartoons made since I've created this blog are pretty well-known... for example, it's doubtful that anyone reading my blog hasn't heard of Hamster and Gretel or Middlemost Post, even if they haven't actually watched it. But I'm reviewing this show because A) it's been off the air for at least two years and B) I think it's really underrated. So, without further ado...

Why is It's Pony so obscure? I'll tell you why: because there's no justice. This show, created by Ant Blades, premiered on Nickelodeon in January 2020. Much like Breadwinners and (a far more well-known Nicktoon) The Loud House, the show got its start as a short in the Nickelodeon Animated Shorts Program. Apparently, the higher-ups liked the short enough to make it a show. And thank goodness they did. It's Pony also has the claim to fame of being the first Nicktoon to premiere in the 2020s.

The show focuses on a nine-year-old farm girl named Annie Bramley (voiced by Jessica DiCicco), who's still trying to adapt to life in the city, and her best friend, a pony named... well, Pony (voiced by Josh Zuckerman), a naive and eccentric pony who loves her more than anything. Pony generally winds up turning what would normally be a non-eventful activity - going to the bookstore, for example - into a bizarre adventure full of WHACKY SHENANIGANS. Other characters include Annie's parents George and Helen Bramley (Abe Benrubi and India de Beaufort) and several other kids who are Annie's friends.

Annie's the one on the right, Pony's the one on the left.

I stumbled upon It's Pony one night I believe in 2021 and quickly became anxious to watch more. This show is genuinely funny and charming, and I know it DOES have fans other than me, so why is it so obscure now? Well, you see, Nickelodeon for some reason decided to sabotage it. Reruns were moved to Nicktoons Network after the show's Christmas episode, then it was scheduled to return in March 2021 only for the premieres to be cancelled in favor of more SpongeBob SquarePants reruns. The United Kingdom got some new episodes, but it took forever for us in the United States to get those new episodes, and when they finally DID air they only aired on, again, Nicktoons Network - which I'm pretty sure not everybody has and since 2006 has basically just become a place for Nickelodeon to put shows they want to get rid of (and now just airs SpongeBob and The Patrick Star Show and nothing else. I love SpongeBob, but that's just ridiculous!). Unsurprisingly, the show wound up getting cancelled after two seasons. AND it was also removed from Paramount Plus.

This show, in my opinion, deserved at least one more season. It seemed to be getting even better with each episode. I'd say the chances of Nickelodeon bringing it back are very small, but in the meantime, you can find a couple full episodes on YouTube. As for me, I'm going to do my part to make more people aware of the show's existence... and what better way to do that than writing a review of it? So, let's watch an episode of the show's second season - this was when the show started to take a turn for the insane (not to the same level as Back at the Barnyard, but still pretty out there), so I think I'll get more joke material out of that season's episodes.

Specifically, we'll be watching the show's thirty-first episode, which consists of the segments "Pighog Day" and "Second Best Friend". This is It's Pony, everybody!

The episode starts off with Annie, Pony, and their friends Clara (Taylor Polidore), Heston (Josh Keaton), Gerry (Noshir Dalal), and Brian (Bobby Moynihan) excited because it's Pighog Day tomorrow! What is Pighog Day? It's a day where, at noon, somebody points at a pig, which marks the start of spring. Somehow. I'm not quite sure how it works.

Since Pighog Day is clearly supposed to be a parody of Groundhog Day, maybe I should've waited until Groundhog Day to post this review. But y'know what? It's my blog, so I do what I want on it.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, all of Annie's friends know that Pony can talk. Nobody questions it, even though he seems to be the only talking animal in... whatever the name of this city is (maybe they mentioned it in another episode, I don't recall). It's a cartoon, after all.

Everybody in this show desperately needs an eyebrow-trimming.

As the kids and horse talk about how exciting Pighog Day is, a limo pulls up behind them and out steps the city's mayor with the hat that the person who points at the pig - the "Hogger" - wears. She's going to dub one of THEM the "Hogger"! Pony thinks he's been chosen, but actually, she gives the hat to Annie. And as soon as it's put on her head, she falls over. Apparently it's a very heavy hat.

Something I love about this show is that it's not afraid to let Annie, who's a girl, partake in
physical comedy. This is one of the tamer examples, but I can assure you, she gets a LOT of slapstick
thrown at her.

Annie and Pony return home to tell her parents about Annie's being dubbed the "Hogger". Her father, instead of being excited, is horrified.

"That hat was made from an actual pig, Annie! It's PIGSKIN!"

"Ah! No! Take it off! That hat will only bring HORROR and SHAME!" George exclaims. How does he know this? He lets the family in on his deepest, darkest secret - when he was younger, he was once chosen to be the "Hogger". All he had to do was point at the pig... but when he pointed, the pig MOVED. Which somebody probably should have expected. It's a PIG, there's no guarantee that it'll stay in one place. He went to look for the pig, but he didn't see the cinnamon bun on the floor in front of him, which he promptly slipped on, and then everybody LAUGHED AT HIM. Because everyone in this city is apparently a sadist. Ha ha, that kid slipped on a cinnamon bun (who the heck left that cinnamon bun there anyway?). Let us all mock him.

In fact, everybody thought George's... not anticipating that the pig would move and then slipping on a random cinnamon bun so hilarious that he was laughed out of town, and his family had to move to the country. What's wrong with these people?

"Well, that's not gonna happen to ME," Annie insists. Plus, she can't back out NOW - everybody in the city already knows that she's the "Hogger", and the second she steps onto the balcony she receives applause. Pony, not so much.

There's something inherently amusing about Pony's design, but I can't put my finger on
what it is... maybe it's the long snout?

"Hey, hey, hey! Even the Hogger gets to have a private life! You'll all get to see my client tomorrow, at Pighog Day!" Pony tells the crowd. Yes, Pony is now Annie's agent. Believe it or not, he's got experience being an agent - he needs SOMETHING to do while Annie is at school, after all.

That's not his office, though. It's somebody else's, and they're not too pleased to find a pony and a
daredevil hanging around in their office. It's funnier in the actual episode, I'm just doing
a lousy job of describing it...

George still thinks that Annie should ask the mayor to pick somebody else, but Annie says that she'll be fine. After all, she's GREAT at pointing at things. Nonetheless, George insists that she at least practice. "There's a lot riding on this. It's up to YOU to restore our family name," he claims. So it's off to the park, where everyone is fawning over Annie and crapping their pants after she points at them.

George, Annie and Pony go to see the pig who Annie will be pointing at. Now Annie can practice pointing specifically at the pig, but wouldn't you know it? As soon as she points at it, it moves. Makes me wonder, is George really the only "Hogger" in the history of Pighog Day whose pig moved while they were pointing at it? And if so, why? Were all the pigs before his glued to the floor?

Must be a very fast pig, too.

"But... but, he was right there!" Annie protests. "They MOVE, Annie! They MOVE!" George declares. "If only they didn't have those LITTLE LEGS!" Pony kicks George out so Annie can focus, but when Annie tries to point at the pig again... it moves! AGAIN! Is Annie cursed?!

When she goes outside, Annie sees the pig playing cards with Pony. I'm guessing they're playing Porker... get it? Instead of "Poker", I said "PORKer"? 'Cause it's a pig? Please laugh. I'm trying so hard. Then the pig makes a dash for the cinnamon bun stand. "We have to get it back. You can't point at a pig if there's no pig to point at!" George points out. Fortunately, Annie and Pony manage to get the pig back remarkably easily. Now, how will they get it back to the barn without the mayor, who happens to be around because of course she is, seeing them?

The solution: Pony puts the pig in a disguise! Where'd he get the clothes? When Annie asks, Pony says, "Do you REALLY want to know?"

"If there's anything I've learned from Back at the Barnyard, it's that putting clothes on a pig
will automatically make everyone believe that it's a human being!"

Further complicating things is the arrival of an old lady who assumes that the pig is her date. Annie informs the woman that he's a pig, to which the woman says, "Well, I could say some things about that father of yours, too." Does she really not realize that her "date" is a pig, or does she just not care? Maybe she's got a thing for pigs. She'd hardly be the first cartoon woman who's expressed interest in a swine.

The woman and the pig walk off, Annie running after them only to have her way blocked by her fans. She eventually has to hide from them in a bush, where the guy whose clothes Pony stole so he could disguise the pig is hiding. HE'S the woman's date, and so the three of them head to the restaurant he had a reservation at, Chez Phil (usually impossible to get in, but everyone's busy with Pighog Day so he was able to get a reservation that day), where the pig and the woman are.

Meh, still a better love story than Bee Movie.

Pony is put in charge of swapping out the pig for the guy whose clothes Pony stole. Because Pony is... well, Pony, he messes that up. Multiple times. In his defense, it's hard to see with the sunglasses on.

Is whoever ordered that lemonade still going to get it?

Eventually, he winds up swapping the pig with Chez Phil's CHEF... which means that the pig is in the kitchen. Since pigs aren't exactly known for their cooking skills, this leads to the fire department being called, but at least they manage to get the pig. But it's almost noon! How will they get back to the Pighog Day ceremony in time? Pony looks at the fire truck...

...which drives right by them, after which Annie complains that they wouldn't give them a ride. This, my friends, is what is known as a "bait and switch". Fortunately, Pony has a plan... a plan that Annie apparently has no confidence in, because she calls up her father and tells him that they're not gonna make it. HE'LL have to be the Hogger. "You need to do this! It's the only way to save Pighog Day! AND yourself!" she insists.

So, what was Pony's plan? Remember how he was previously seen acting as the agent to a daredevil with a cannon? Well, they're going to shoot the pig out of the cannon and to the ceremony. Why don't they just shoot Annie there with the pig?

If this doesn't lead to a "when pigs fly" joke, I'm going to be very disappointed.

The pig (and the hat) make it to the ceremony just as George jumps onto the stage. And when he points at it... it doesn't move! The Bramley family name has been restored. And Pony also makes it rain cinnamon buns! This is one of several reasons why Pony is better than Pinkie Pie.

And also Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity (I actually like Twilight and Fluttershy).

Next segment!

Annie and her classmates have an assignment - do a portrait of your best friend. One classmate, Fred (Kal Penn), is building a Paper-Mache statue of HIS best friend, "a spiraling tower of self-belief and acceptance that reaches up to the sky". Beatrice (Megan Hilty), the Elmyra Duff-esque animal lover of the show, is painting herself with a guinea pig. Henrietta (Grey DeLisle-Griffin), who up until this point hasn't given us any indication that she's a goth, is stirring a vat of dark paint to represent her old friend darkness (or maybe she's just a big fan of the band Disturbed). Gerry and Annie have decided to paint each other. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, back it up... why isn't Annie painting PONY? Her ACTUAL best friend?

Well, this time, she wants to get a good grade. In the past, whenever she's tried to make a work of art - a wooden statue of Pony's likeness, a portrait of her parents, a clay bowl - Pony wound up ruining it.

I'm sure all the kids watching at home are going to get THIS reference.

So, she's painting Gerry, since he's her SECOND best friend. When Gerry hears that, he is thrilled, and promptly opens a bag of Not-Funyuns. As soon as he does, guess who shows up? HINT: they're a horse.

I sure hope Gerry doesn't offer any of those Not-Funyuns to Pony. I looked it up, onions are toxic to horses.

Apparently, horses are also lactose-intolerant, so if you have a horse, don't feed them ice cream
either.

Gerry tells Pony that they're painting their best friends for their art project. Beatrice loudly says that Annie is painting Gerry, presumably because she likes stirring up trouble for Annie. It initially seems like Pony is upset, but he isn't. He's okay with Annie having a second best friend. After all, HE has a second best friend too - Michael.

No, not ME. I'm not a character in It's Pony. This is another Michael. He's a fly.

Here is a screencap of Pony with Michael.

Annie does not know who Michael is, to which Pony reminds her that Michael has been with them through thick and thin. Then the episode gives us flashbacks to previous episodes of the show, but with Michael in them. I love this - it's almost like the show is parodying that cliche in TV shows where a character is just randomly introduced out of nowhere and the characters act like they've always known them (for example, to use another show about ponies, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic's randomly giving Twilight a brother out of nowhere).

In fact, it's revealed that Michael is responsible for that aforementioned wooden statue of Pony that Annie made getting destroyed... Pony let him hold it, and Michael has butterfingers. He thinks that Annie is just pretending not to know Michael because she's still holding a grudge. Annie says that no, she doesn't remember Michael because he randomly just made him up. "Hey, I believe in YOUR second best friend!" Pony protests. "Well, THAT'S because Gerry is an actual person," Annie informs him. Peering at Gerry, Pony murmurs, "Hmmm... ISH." Sometimes it's the simplest jokes that are the funniest.

Speaking of Gerry, he is currently SWATTING MICHAEL because he does not know that Michael is Pony's second best friend, and Michael was getting into his Not-Funyuns.

GASP!

Pony is horrified by the sight of Michael's act of violence against Michael. "FLY DOWN!" he yells, holding Michael in his hooves, before hailing a bus. The bus driver knows Michael too, and she's very concerned for his well-being. Pony climbs onto the bus, then pulls Annie on board, leaving Gerry to work on his portrait... not of Annie, but rather of his grandmother. Little does he know just what the episode has in store for him...

Cue the dramatic music.

Pony nervously tells Annie that Michael is a pretty big deal in his family - if they find out what happened, they're go after Gerry. They're like a mob. But smaller. And with more vengeance. Annie is unconvinced, but tell me, did you notice the fly on the window in the previous screencap? That's one of Michael's kin.

More and more flies have arrived to make Gerry pay. And they don't take checks.

You'd think I'd be freaked out by this since I'm afraid of flies (all bugs, really. I know most of them are
harmless, it's just my weird thing). But strangely enough, I find this hilarious. Maybe because these
flies aren't very realistic-looking (that's the main thing that freaks me out about flies).

The flies manage to open the window and swarm into the school. Gerry, you have made a powerful enemy in the flies. Not only do they put his head through the portrait he was painting, they actually chase him out of the school. I wonder, how did they find out so quickly that Gerry hurt Michael? I'm sure there's a delightfully absurd explanation that Pony could give us...

"We're gonna make you an offer you can't refuse... if you'd like to stay alive!"
"Revenge is a dish best served cold!"
"It's not personal, Gerry. It's strictly business... oh, wait, it IS personal!"
"We don't like violence. Blood is a big expense... but we're still going to make you pay!"
"Don't tell us you're innocent. Because it insults our intelligence and it makes us very angry!"
"Hasta la vista, Gerry!"
"...Moe, that's not a line from The Godfather."
"I panicked! It's all I could think of."

Pony rushes into the hospital once the bus gets there and screams to the receptionist that it's an emergency. To Annie's shock, the receptionist knows Michael too, and she agrees with Pony that it's an emergency - as do all the doctors and nurses. He's even placed in a human hospital bed.

They don't have little fly-sized hospital beds? Considering how seriously they're taking this,
you'd think they would've splurged for some...

A very, very confused Annie says that she has to get back to work on her project, which is due that day. Pony is outraged - how DARE Annie leave Michael in his hour of need?! Clearly, she still doesn't believe in Michael. "How is he gonna get better if you don't believe?!" he demands. In order for flies to get better, they need people to believe in them. It doesn't just apply to fairies.

Pony steps out of the room to get a cup of coffee. And a Danish. Or maybe a slice of pie. He's still deciding (but he's leaning towards the pie). Annie laments that she's going to fail art, then sighs... and her sigh sends Michael flying out the window. Thinking quickly, Annie draws Michael on the bottom of a glass jar sitting on a table before Pony can return. When Pony DOES show up (he went with the Danish, for those wondering), Annie tells him that Michael, uh, got better and tried to fly away, so she put him in a jar to keep him safe. Pony deduces that Annie believes in Michael after all, and that must be why he's getting better. But what's this? On the television in Michael's room, Annie and Pony see her school, where a reporter is reporting on Gerry's getting the crap beaten out of him by vengeance-fueled flies. "Gerry messed with the wrong fly," Pony points out. They must bring Michael to the school so his family won't murder Gerry.

And nobody's trying to help Gerry becaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaause? Oh, right, because they all know better
than to get in the way of Michael's family. They're very smart.

The flies chase Gerry to the top of Fred's spiraling paper-mache tower. Now they've got him cornered! Fortunately, Pony shows up and opens the jar, urging "Michael" to save Gerry. It takes him a few seconds to realize that the "Michael" in the jar is just a drawing. And clearly it was a random police officer nearby who drew Michael on the bottom of the jar! The FIEND!

"Admit it! You put a hit out on Michael!"

Annie tells Pony that SHE drew Michael on the jar, and that Michael blew out the window. Pony laments nobody believes in Michael. But then the bus driver says that SHE believes in Michael. Then the receptionist says that SHE believes in Michael too. Soon the whole crowd is chanting "We believe in Michael!" while Annie just stands there baffled.

But Michael isn't back yet. He needs more people to believe in him. I believe in Michael. YOU believe in Michael, don't you? He just needs you to believe. Say it. Stand up right now and shout "I BELIEVE IN MICHAEL!"

But does Annie believe in Michael? She finally admits that she, too, believes in Michael. And that is what was needed to restore Michael to full health.

MICHAEL LIVES!

But he'd better hurry - the flies are about to turn Gerry into a splat on the pavement.

Were the Not-Funyuns worth it, Gerry? Were they?

Filled with the strength of a lot more than ten flies plus two, Michael zips to the school and saves Gerry just as his family has sent him flying off the Paper-Mache tower. "HE'S ALIVE!" Pony cheers. Only problem is, Michael can't hold Gerry's weight, so the other flies have to pitch in and get Gerry down safely... but then his shirt tears and he falls into the vat of paint Henrietta was using.

Gee, Gerry's looking blue...

Annie has learned a valuable lesson: something as little as a fly can be a pretty big deal. Speaking of little things, there's a spider by Pony's hoof. Maybe the spider can be Pony's THIRD best friend... oh, wait, Pony just stomped on it. Never mind.

Annie winds up using the drawing of Michael on the jar as her art project. Her teacher dubs it "a decent portrait of a really ugly fly". "Oooh, you shouldn't have said that..." Annie says nervously. She is correct.

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer... to the pavement, that is!"
"If history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone. And we're going to use YOU
as an example!"
"We don't feel we have to wipe everyone out, lady. Just YOU!"
"...uh, that 'Never hate your enemies, it affects your judgement' quote... was that from the second
Godfather or the third one?"
"Dang it, Moe..."

And thus Annie's art teacher is killed by flies. The end.

What's the Verdict?

I highly urge you to seek out It's Pony if you haven't already. This is definitely one of my favorite post-1990s Nicktoons, and one of the most underrated as well. Every joke lands, the animation is good (I think this was done with Adobe Flash but it manages to avoid the fidgety and flat movements of some other Flash-animated shows), and the characters are all likeable - it's very hard to pull off "endearingly dumb" characters in animation, if done poorly Pony could've wound up an extremely annoying character (like Pinkie Pie) or another Patrick Star knockoff. But there's an earnestness to Pony that, combined with Josh Zuckerman's delightful performance, makes the character fun to watch, with the hammier moments characters like this usually have used more sparingly so he doesn't feel obnoxious. It helps that Annie makes for a fun straight man to Pony's antics.

I enjoyed both segments in this episode, but of the two I definitely found "Second Best Friend" better. The entire thing is just so ridiculous and over the top (Gerry ignites the wrath of FLIES) that it's hard not to find it hilarious. And this is just ONE of the episodes of this show with plots like this. And unlike other shows that use absurdity and bizarre situations to get laughs (Jellystone!, I'm looking at you), the show has actual wit to it and, again, doesn't rely entirely on characters screaming and randomness.

It's Pony likely never had a chance of becoming as big a hit as SpongeBob or The Fairly OddParents, but it certainly deserved better and if Nickelodeon hadn't essentially sabotaged it, I feel it had the potential to be at least as successful as, say, The Loud House or the more recent Rock, Paper, Scissors. Though I doubt we would've gotten any spin-offs or an It's Pony movie... not that we NEED any, honestly, I don't think we needed any SpongeBob spinoffs either. But what do I know? I'm not a TV executive...

To end this review, I guess I might as well suggest we get #bringbackitspony going on social media. I know the chances are slim, but hey, it's worth a shot.