As a franchise My Little Pony has been going on for quite literally decades with the franchise spawning several TV shows and movies. However there's no question that it became more popular then it's ever been in 2010 thanks to the release of Friendship Is Magic and well it's been a while since an episode of that show was last talked about by me so I thought that i'd dive right back in and review another episode of the show and so then join me as I review the episode that really could been solved just a few minuets in with the episode in question being called simply just "The Ticket Master" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when Twilight gets given a ticket to prestigious ball she has to chose just one of her friends to go with her a task that is made harder when all of Ponyville gets wind of the extra ticket and wants to go as well. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad however tho this episodes plot wasn't all that good as it did come across as being like the kind of plot that you'd expect to find in a filler episode of an anime in that all it was there was to basically show you what the rest of the shows plots could be like moving forward which in all fairness is a pretty decent thing to do and even with that in mind this episodes plot was still a really fun plot that offered alot of really fun and more often then not funny interactions between all of the characters however when the previous two episodes went out of there way to show you just how epic that the show could be with it's more mature themes and storytelling it does feel out of place for this episode to suddenly go the more family friendly route which is something that does make sense as this was a show that was made for the whole family but at the same time it does kind of feel weird that after this truly epic two part episode we now get five of the six main characters arguing over a spare ticket when in just the last episode alone they were working together to save their world and while it's understandable to have the more epic plot come first as it sets up all of the main characters there could have been something in this plot that made it a little bit epic in it's own unique way with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is voice acting legend and Beetlejuice: The Animated Series star Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle and Ashleigh Ball as Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Also starring in this episode is Andrea Libman as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy , Star Wars: Ewoks , Swamp Thing and Beetlejuice: The Animated Series star Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity and Iron Man: Armored Adventures star Cathy Weseluck as Spike.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With it being clear as day that all of this episodes main actors have alot of really great chemistry together even tho there were most likely not even in the same room when the episode was being made in the first place with all of them turning in some really good performances in their own right which is something that really does make alot of sense as alot of this episodes actors are a bunch of really good actors in their own right with alot of them voicing characters from our own childhoods and pretty much being THE voices for these characters as that's just how good that all five of them really are in this episode and while only five actors in the whole show is a small list of actors to have it is something that does work well enough for this episode as it allows for all of this episodes to get alot of screen time and to show us just how good of an actors that they all are with the episodes best actor being Tara Strong which yes is a bit of cliche thing to say but she really is good in this episode as she goes from being painfully funny in one scene and then in the very same scene also be very serious and you totally by into it as it feels like something that her character would say and do with this episodes acting really being helped by this episodes script as the script for this episode is just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Top Draw Animation. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good as while the show was always animated in flash because of the fact that it's cheaper to do it that way that is something that work well for this show and for this episode as this is a show and an episode that really doesn't require that much money be spent on it as it this point in the shows history it was still trying to find it's feet and to that end the shows animation does come across as being alot more better then what it really had any right to be as while yes the some of the characters movements can be a bit stiff at times when they get it looking good however the characters then have these really fluid looking movements to them however tho where this episodes animation does fall a little bit flat is in the backgrounds as the backgrounds in this episode do look a little flat and uninteresting now this is something that could be due to the fact that the whole show was animated in flash as it's not an issue that's exclusive to this episode but at the same time it is something that you notice quite alot in this episode as the episode does spend quite a lot of it's running time outdoors as none of the backgrounds in this episode have any depth to them and instead look like that they were painted on some cardboard but in saying that tho we do get some really nice looking shots in this episode as well just due to how good and how pretty that this episodes animation can be.
Twilight spends the whole episode trying to work out who to give the spare ticket to as she doesn't want to upset all of her friends. When all she had to do was give it it Applejack because all of her other friends wanted to go for selfish reasons where as Applejack wanted to to go for a selfless reason as she wanted to sell more apples there as that would help her family busisness and improve her families way of life and that's really it which is a really good reason to go to this ball where as all of the ponies had rather selfish reasons for going be it wanting to visit the garden or to impress some people all of which are things that could be considered selfish and heck even when the group realise that they've been forcing Twilight to stress out over this due to them not leaving her alone like she asked them to it's Applejack that's the first to apologize and lead the others into saying that they wont go to the ball anymore which again is an incredibly selfless thing to do but for whatever reason the episode does spend alot of time with Twilight trying to work out something that was already lied out in front of her to begin with which is something that's true to her character as one of the things that made her well her is the fact that she's always honest and so when show says that she wants to go to this ball to help to sell more apples you know that it's the truthful answer but given that the show was still trying to find itself at this point in time it is forgivable that they would have Twilight ignore all of this as technically Twilight doesn't know any of them all that well and so she would have no reason to trust Applejack on her word as for all she knows she could have been lieing to her in the first place.
However tho there is something else that could have ended the plot of this episode right at the start of the episode itself. With that being the fact that if Twilight had just asked for more tickets from Princess Celestia in the first place then she wouldn't have to chose which of her friends to take with her as they'd all get to go in the first place something which does end up happening when she writes to Princess Celestia saying that she won't go if all of her friends can't go which makes the whole episode feel pointless as she very easily could have written another letter at the start of the episode or even in the middle of the episode just explaining the situation and asking for more tickets in the first place while the show was still finding itself when this episode was being made this is something that really should have been fixed very early on in the development of the episode as it makes the entire episode come across as being rather quite pointless or if your not going to have Twilight write the letter asking for more tickets then have her suggest that they could do something that's equally as fun together as the show is meant to be all about friendship anyway this is something that would make alot of sense but for whatever reason the makers of this show chose not to do that and yet by not addressing this issue it does leave us with what could be seen as being a plot hole in the episode albeit not a very big one but it still could be one nonetheless with it seeming like the writers of this episode Amy Keating Rogers & Lauren Faust just didn't know what to do for this episode and so they just had the main character ignore the obvious way to fix it until the very end of the episode where they the have do the very thing that could have fixed the issue in the first place.
As much wrong as there is with the way that the show did this plot from a writing point of view it did get something right an it's the most simple thing it's the fact that they showed how all of her friends where doing ore harm then good to Twilight. As while yes they all just really wanted to know who got the extra ticket to this ball called The Grand Galloping Gala it's seeing how they all ultimately do more harm then good as they all try and upstage each other some in subtle ways and then in the case of Pinkie Pie throwing a Ponyville wide party when all Twilight wants to do is have some time to herself so that she can just think and get some lunch in her and that's it and yet because of each of them choose to put themselves first and not think of her and her wants and her needs then they do come of as looking like bad friends as no friend worth there salt would ever put pressure on someone to choose them for something especially if it meant not choosing quite literally any of the other friends as that's not only a bad thing to do regardless of your age but it's also something that does make you come off as looking like a selfish person so much so that Twilight would have been well within her right to say that she's not taking any of them and instead chose Spike as he was the only one that was helping her out just because it was the right thing to do and yet by showing all of the other ponies act in such way it does also make them feel more three dimensional as well as it shows to us the audience that these characters do have flaws and as we see in the episode are more then willing to grow and to learn from those flaws and become better people or in this case ponies because of it and while the episode does understandably wrap things up in a nice little bow at the end of the episode as this is still a kids show afterall it still would have been nice to show the characters that put all of this pressure on Twilight not get what they want as all that does is tell the kid audience that if you put pressure on people for selfish reasons then you still get what you want in the end.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty two minuets exactly. Which is pretty much the exact grand total running time for this show to have in the first place and to be fair to this episode this episode really does have the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time but tho in saying that whilst the episode does use it's running time wisely in one respect it doesn't use it wisely in another as the episode does develop it's plot as well as it's ever going to given the fact that this is a kids show and those don't typically develop there plots that well let alone if it's plot from very early on in the shows run and so to expected this episodes plot to be that well developed would be asking a bit much from this show but what isn't asking much is for the episode to develop it's characters alot more then what it already is as this episode really doesn't develop it's characters all that well this si despite the fact that it does show all five of Twilights friends do have flaws that they over come in the episode however the episode really doesn't give us the audience a reason to want Twilight to pick them as outside of Applejack who is the only one that has a legitimately selfless reason for wanting to go to The Grand Galloping Gala in the first place none of the other characters are shown in a positive light prior to the episodes third act and therefor it does make it seem like that these characters are just selfish characters and while of course the previous episode would make it look like that there all good people this episode doesn't show any of that from the rest of the characters when they really should have done as then Twilight would have an actually understandable struggle when it comes to choosing which of her friends to take with her to The Grand Galloping Gala in the first place but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With this episode having alot of painfully laugh out loud moments in it with this episode really being worth watching just for it's comedy alone as all of the episodes characters get alot of good jokes in it be it Applejack bringing Twilight a bunch of apple related foods just to try and soften her up or Rainbow Dash quite literally zipping a cloud shut there's plenty of good jokes in this episode however tho this episodes best joke is quite easily when Pinkie Pie throws Twilight up in the air several times and each time you just see Twilight is getting less and less amused by what's going on which is such a simply joke and yet it's one that does get a really big laugh in the episode just because of the fact that it does feel completely in character for both of those characters at that point in time as all Twilight wants to do is have some time to herself to think things through properly and all Pinkie wants to do is just be herself and that is a combination that does result in comic gold and while the running joke of Twilight just not being able to get some lunch while all her friends just bother her which is a cute little joke which is something that could also be said for alot of this episodes jokes as well as all of this episodes jokes are really good in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this is a solid episode but at the same time tho it's also a really bland and really generic episode of the show as well as it goes to all of the places that you think that it would go to and in the exact same way that you think it would do as well but in fairness tho this episode really does have some saving graces to it tho in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all pf the images that I personally used in this very review from the official My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.