Lauren Faust to leave MLP:FiM?

[BaconofChaos]

Lauren Faust no longer working on MLP:FiM

[Dessa]

That was my response, but people just told me I was being a negative nelly. I dunno. She led the project, and she's not going to lead it anymore. She was on this project from day one, and it's by and large her creative vision. I'm not saying that it's not the product of the contributions of many others, but she was the most important player, and she's going to be a lot less involved now. Things might turn out alright, but I see this as a cause for concern. Leadership changes mean something. I hope things turn out for the best. I suspect it unlikely that the show will immediately suck, at the least. Whether it does in the mid and long term, however, remains to be seen.

The Simpsons got better after Matt Groening went from producer to creative consultant, but that's far from a common result. Ren and Stimpy suffered after John K. left (leaving it in the hands of Spongebob's Bob Camp), and later, when Ren and Stimpy was revived with John K. only, it sucked worse. Taking it a step further, musical bands rarely survive the loss of their band leaders, and even losing a non-leader can have a major impact. Creative works are the product not only of the individual contributions of their creators, but of the interplay between these people as well.

Changes in leadership can be for good or ill, but they're always disruptive.

Edit: That said, she's not leaving entirely. This should smooth the transition. Now, the question is who WILL be running the show?

[MyLittlePonyTales]

However, there IS good news!

Hot from the presses of Equestria Daily: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/05/s ... s-mlp.html

From ED (TL;DR)

* Seven episodes of season two are already complete!

* Derpy is now an official Character

* Returning characters (*queue Twilight yesyesyesyesyesyes*)

* Luna episode is "pretty cool"!

* MLP Animators also watch it for the plot.

[BaconofChaos]

Yeah, I just saw that too. Honestly Lauren leaving was kind of a shock but she did say she'll be staying on as a consultant for a while at least, so that's something. I'm not expecting the series to take a nosedive any time soon.

Plus there's this: Season 2 to "knock our socks off"

[Dessa]

Season 2 seems like a good bet.

"Creative consultant" to me doesnt mean much. It could mean that she's still pulling major strings, and it could mean that she just nods and offers comments now and again. THat can mean anything

Scriptwriter is more concrete. Although there's a lot that's great about this show beyond the writing, the writing is a highlight. Still, a scriptwriter can be as little as setting a general framework and as much as writing every last word.

So many questions. I'd have been happier figuring this out in late summer. This totally harshes my mellow.

[Hippo]

Season 2 seems like a good bet.

"Creative consultant" to me doesn't mean much. It could mean that she's still pulling major strings, and it could mean that she just nods and offers comments now and again. That can mean anything

Scriptwriter is more concrete. Although there's a lot that's great about this show beyond the writing, the writing is a highlight. Still, a scriptwriter can be as little as setting a general framework and as much as writing every last word.

So many questions. I'd have been happier figuring this out in late summer. This totally harshes my mellow.

Yeah, this is my line of thought. I doesn't sound too much will change. But I wonder what exactly is meant when she made the announcement. If it's just a title change and the writing and artist staff is pretty much the same people, I don't even know why it's worth mentioning. I don't know.

I'm a big fan of LOST. LOST was created by J. J. Abrams, and he wrote the first two episodes, and that's pretty much it. He was known for the mastermind of a show that was (Although it didn't end particularly well) and it lasted for 6 powerful seasons, only the first he was really a part of.

I'm not worried. But I still don't like the bad news this early. I could have coped with it better after the first episode of season 2, so that I can see visual proof of my ponies not turning into a crappy show...

Mixed feelings indeed.

[BlazePrower9205]

After reading the article, I'm starting to lose some high expectations for Season 2 now. I'm afraid it might end up being like other shows that jumped the shark like Spongebob Squarepants, for example.

And you all know how that turned out. <<;

[Dessa]

Spongebob lost Camp after 3 seasons, so sayeth some dudes on /co/. PPG lost McCracken after 1. Dexters lost Tartaovsky after a few. I didn't have cable while these shows were playing, but I'm catching wind from close followers that these shows all suffered.

Lost died a slow death. Season 1 was amazing, subsequent seasons were less consistent, but it still had good highs. It ended badly, IMO.

If Faust is overseeing writing still, then writing may be solid, but what about directing? Episode pacing, expressions, timing, music, production methodology, chemistry, new visual content? Time will tell.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Spongebob lost Camp after 3 seasons, so sayeth some dudes on /co/. PPG lost McCracken after 1. Dexters lost Tartaovsky after a few. I didn't have cable while these shows were playing, but I'm catching wind from close followers that these shows all suffered.

Lost died a slow death. Season 1 was amazing, subsequent seasons were less consistent, but it still had good highs. It ended badly, IMO.

If Faust is overseeing writing still, then writing may be solid, but what about directing? Episode pacing, expressions, timing, music, production methodology, chemistry, new visual content? Time will tell.

Umm, I just did a brief search, and I'm pretty sure McCracken was there for all of PPG's entirety.

[WillowWisp]

She's just not the executive producer, she's still on the team, she even said so. People everywhere are all over reacting. Not to mention most of season two is already done other than animation. It's not like she just walked away and isn't touch it at all.

Honestly I think just having a meltdown like a lot of people are doing is ridiculous. A whole staff worked on the show, not just her. It's like as if her moving to a lower position, out of her own choosing, it going to make the show turn into the gen 3.5.

And since I don't think we need a whine fest here, like there is on every other pony board, topic locked. There is plenty of pony things to talk about without reacting to this.

[Tam]

Willow, while I appreciate the effort to keep the boards from devolving into a "whine fest", the truth is that this IS a MLP forum, and this is rather large news. And if we cannot allow our members to discuss this news here or in the chat, then they're better off going to ED, RDN, and a host of other places where they can.

There's no controversy here, nor name calling.

As an admin I'm unlocking this thread and allowing our bronies to discuss this news.

And I submit the following from Lauren's DA:

And now I suppose it's finally time for me to deliver some unfortunate news. I've been uncertain for a little while now about how, when and, to be honest, whether to announce the news at all. But here it is: I am no longer working on the show. Various circumstances with the production made it increasingly impossible for me to keep up the level of personal creative involvement and control that I had at the start of the series. I don't think I can accurately express how difficult and painful the decision was and still is. When Season 2 begins, you will see my credit changed from Executive Producer to Consulting Producer. My involvement in Season 2 ultimately does not reach far beyond story conception and scripts. A little more involved in the beginning, and a little less towards the end.

However, you should be pleased to know that the gaps I have left are being filled by the same amazing artists, writers and directors who brought you Season 1. I'm certain the show will be as entertaining as ever, though perhaps in a slightly different way.

With that said, I hope you will still be interested in sticking around my DA page. I started this page as a forum to share my personal work and I hope that those of you who come here lured by ponies will be tempted to hang out for whatever else I have to share in the future---- as soon as I figure out what that will be!!

With sincerest gratitude,

Lauren

[WillowWisp]

Understood, I was trying to prevent a repeat of an earlier chat rant which many members expressed frustration over.

[Leon K Fox]

After just one season....you have got to be *censored* kidding me....

[Therainbowtroll]

Thanks Tam for unlocking this. I wanted to put in my two cents. While I am dispapointed that she wont be as involved in the show anymore I think everyone should just wait untill the first episode to judge it. To be honest I ont think it will change all that much. The writers are still there and so are the artists. Though I wonder whos going to be running the show now...

[Tam]

I believe it was Lauren's goal to relaunch the MLP 'brand' for Hasbro, and then move on to her personal projects. She was successful in doing so, and I think she can proudly hold her head high on that.

In her wording it sounds like this occurred some time ago -- and with the turnaround for animation I have no doubt the decision was made several months past. The show goes on, and I'm sure many of the same people -- from cast, crew, writers, directors -- will be in the credits for Season 2.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Time will tell. On one hand, we should give credit where credit is due for both Lauren and all the great people who've worked with her on this. I think it is safe to say that season two won't be much changed by this. Season three and beyond (if there will be such a thing) is perhaps less certain, but we'll see when we get there.

One thing I know for sure, creative people don't usually stop on a dime. I'm betting that we'll see more great work from both Lauren and the various members of the team for years to come, even if it isn't ponies. Especially now that Lauren has vindicated the merits of her "shows for girls don't have to be dumb," philosophy.

[Whitehawke]

Here are some clarifications about Faust's reasons for diminishing her involvement, although the credibility of the source is iffy(It's an anonymous comment in the Equestria Daily article).

Basically from what Lauren told me, the schedule was the biggest problem. We animators work under shorter and shorter schedules, and the demands placed on us intensify with every new episode. Directors work 7 days a week sometimes, under a lot of stress. And with budgets shrinking and writers changing their minds at the last minute it's amazing we can produce ANYTHING of quality.

And yet, we got season one of MLP :} Don't worry. Everything will be fine.

I've spoken to Lauren, and she held off telling you guys so you wouldn't get all upset. She wants you guys to give the rest of her crew a chance. Basically, she didn't want to sabotage their efforts. They've been running the show for a while and I'm sure they're gonna do a bang up job.

Apparently, she's been holding off on these news for quite some time if that's the case.

And here's some stuff from a layout artist, apparently.

http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.ph ... try1822766

I've known about this for a while now, was wondering when the news would finally break. Now before people go all gloom and doom, I'd like to point out that she is still doing a lot of what she did in season 1. She's still heavily involved in the pre-production of season 2 (story and scripts), she'll just be less involved in the post-production. This really won't have any impact on the production.

To clarify what Kreoss was talking about in his blog, no 7 episodes are not complete, he's talking about watching animatics, essentially storyboards with the recorded dialogue from the voice actors. Layout starts later this month, and animation starts next month, so it'll be a while yet before the season 2 episodes are ready. I've actually seen more of the animatics than he has at this point, and season 2 is shaping up to be AMAZING.

So that's pretty much it. To be quite frank, I think that a lot of us are worried about Season 2's quality, even before this explosion of news from Lauren and some of the animators. It stands to reason that "any" bad news will send people flying into a frenzy. Personally, even if Faust retained her involvement at the same level, it still would not convince me that Season 2 would turn out amazing: reserve my judgement until I see the episodes myself.

Although it is sad to see Faust step down to quality control, it doesn't hurt my expectations of Season 2 all that much yet. The writers and animators remain, so the show will most likely still be very entertaining.

I think the only thing that could really send my heart racing would be if a major character changed voice actor.

I never want that to happen...although if it had to be done, I would prefer a voice actor change than pulling the show's plug, like they did with Reboot (Oh God WHY).

[RnbwDashIsWin]

I honestly was under the impression Lauren stepped down a while back myself. But I didn't want to bother her about it (who knows how many comments/notes she gets a day on dA), and I didn't want to speculate on a theory of mine. But this confirms it.

[GraphiteDoodles]

There is also some very encourage news from Jayson Thiesson's Twitter, who is Supervising Director of the show:

http://twitter.com/#!/goldenrusset

Lauren may have stepped down, but her influence on us is strong. We share a lot of the same sensibilities and ideals. #mlp

Lauren is an amazing person who I feel honored to have had the opportunity to work with and even consider my friend.

...We are saddened by her absence and will miss her greatly, but her influence is deeply ingrained in the show and in our work...

...rest assured pony fans, the show is not changing. We have doubled our efforts since she left and I am very pleased with the results.

...hopefully so will you, and Lauren.

WWLD

Thank you Lauren, for being so awesome, and trusting us with something so dear to you. We won't let you down! #MLP

[RCTwilightSparkle]

I'm not worried I think season 2 will still be great!

[Kirby Krackle]

I now fear for shark jumping. This makes me sad.

[Teh_Brawler]

I'm just going to jump in with Therainbowtroll on this one; it won't do us any good to make speculation, positive or negative, until we actually see the final product. It is completely disappointing that this is the case, but life goes on, and there is plenty of potential for it to all work out fine.

[Manestream]

There is also some very encourage news from Jayson Thiesson's Twitter, who is Supervising Director of the show:

http://twitter.com/#!/goldenrusset

Lauren may have stepped down, but her influence on us is strong. We share a lot of the same sensibilities and ideals. #mlp

Lauren is an amazing person who I feel honored to have had the opportunity to work with and even consider my friend.

...We are saddened by her absence and will miss her greatly, but her influence is deeply ingrained in the show and in our work...

...rest assured pony fans, the show is not changing. We have doubled our efforts since she left and I am very pleased with the results.

...hopefully so will you, and Lauren.

WWLD

Thank you Lauren, for being so awesome, and trusting us with something so dear to you. We won't let you down! #MLP

This just made my day- and put so many of my fears at ease x3

[DaBatGuy]

Bronies need to stop panicking and remember that FiM was was more that just the brain child of Lauren Faust, it was a team effort of several different artists, writers, animators, composers, voice actors, singers and more, and nearly all of them will be putting the same effort into season 2. Lauren will still work with the show similar to season 1 just to a smaller degree. We haven't even seen a second of footage from S2 so there's no reason to call "shark" yet.

[Whitehawke]

Lauren updated her DA page with a clarification.

*clarification: Story concepts and writers' meetings were completed several weeks ago, so my role is complete. I am not currently working on this show in any capacity at this time. Sorry for the confusion. While I'm at it, folks are asking if I left to work on another show. This is not the case. I had no other projects in the works when I stepped down.

So she's already finished her work on season 2 at this point.