Trickiness involves the fact that I've been buying My Little Pony Ponyville toys (at the girl's behest originally) for some months now, and I've developed a distinct fondness for the tiny plastic creatures. So cute, so candy colored, so little and plastic they are! I guess I love cute, colorful little plastic toys - and if you can amass them in quantity it's that much better. It's getting so I prompt the girl to see if she wants more of them. She'll be mighty surprised, though, when I gather them all up in my arms and run away.

Yeah, so anyway, all the little ponies in Ponyville are riled up for the upcoming Winter Wishes Festival, during which Twinkle Wish, the Wishing Star grants a wish to each and every pony. Anticipation turns quickly to agony when it's discovered that the Star has gone missing! But Pinkie Pie, Toola-Roola, Scootaloo, Starsong, Cheerilee and others take it upon themselves to find the star, and ensure that their wishes will be granted. Wouldn't you know it, along the way they teach and learn lessons about friendship, sings some songs, and by the breathless end realize that their wishes have already come true! Clearly I've included spoilers here, so don't let your preschooler read this!

Our ponies' adventures aren't terrifically creative, and the old-school animation won't blow any minds. The songs are sweet but not terribly memorable, (except for their signature advertising tune - I bet you're humming that one right now, aren't you?) and maybe 30-minutes would be a better running time for kids' attention spans. But my girl certainly enjoyed it, and I found myself again smitten with all the candy-coated sweetness, especially as regards the Twinkle Wish Star, possibly the all-time cutest cartoon creation. And that's about all there is to say about the Twinkle Wish Adventure, the DVD hovers right around average in all regards, from story to execution, even with its standard message of relentless positivity. Your girls will lap it up, and your weird DVD Talk reviewer will revel in toxic doses of bright, childlike colors and innocent attitudes that cast him back on a sea of blissful, non-existent memories.

The DVD

Video:
A 1.33:1 ratio presentation is fairly standard for cartoons on DVD. The colors of course pop right out of your screen to strangle you with their vibrancy. Animation is OK, and the image is clear, crisp and sharp. My monitor reveals occasional slight halos around some characters - i.e. colors bleed over the borders - but it's not clear if this is a stylistic choice, down to my set, or caused by authoring. No other glaring compression artifacts crop up.

Sound:
Stereo Audio is also adequate. Dynamic range isn't terribly robust, and creative sound design is kept to a minimum, but the ponies' chirpy voices are clear and don't compete with music. The songs included seem not to have been mixed with lyrical understanding in mind, as sometimes those lyrics don't come through the music as strongly as one might like.

Extras:
Extras are fairly plentiful for a kid's cartoon DVD. Six songs form the 13-minute Six Sing-a-longs section of the disc. The songs are: "My Little Pony Theme Song," "Thing-a-ma-do Song," "Dreams Do Come True," "Somewhere Super New," "That's What Makes A Friend," and "Wonderful Winter Song." A six-minute bonus cartoon, "Waiting For The Winter Wishes Festival" A Prequel strains titling credulity and features tons of singing, including almost two full minutes of theme song. "Elefun And Friends": New Animated Short is 22 minutes of more cutesiness, with an even more old-school animation style that's delightful to look at. It's the '50s to Pony's '80s animation. Four PDFs to print from your computer - either get your dad to help, or help him - constitute Print At Home Fun. Choices are: Pony Note To Santa, How To Build A Snowman, Pony Ornaments, and a Coloring Sheet. A My Little Pony Advertisement and Previews for two other Shout! Factory Family DVD releases complete the extras.

Final Thoughts:
If your preschool-aged girl loves My Little Pony stuff, she'll love this just-average cartoon DVD. The story's cute, the songs are cute, and it's all cute. Plenty of extras render average slightly above average, and if you're a sicko like me, you might really appreciate all the bright colors. You'll know what your kid likes, but in the grand scheme of things this pretty good DVD of a so-so program merits a Rent It.

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