Quick Question: Would you guys like me to make videos delving into fandom topics like this more? Or should I only do in-universe analysis videos like my theory videos?
Yep. Would have loved for them to adress that yes, she's rather dumb but that's ok. Hell, the scene discused here shows that even though people would know they still allow her to try to help out with what she was capable of doing. I know a guy who worked for my father when he was still in school in, literally translated, "especially/specially low education". Nice guy, hard worker. But if in the morning you gave him 3 things to do he would have forgotten the other 2 2 hours later after he finished his first task. So basically you always needed somebody with him. But hey, he's not going to be a doctor but with his attitude he'll be alright in the world.
Heck when I saw her I didn't even think she was disabled, I just saw her as clumsy and I thought she was funny. I think people nowadays actively look for things to be offended by.
idk if this has interest but I'm autistic and when I was younger I loved Derpy because she acted a lot like I did. 90% of the time, i really didn't know what went wrong until someone told me very firmly (and usually several times) that that thing was causing the problems. I hate the erasure of characters like this but I'm glad in more recent years people like derpy more and more
I'm also autistic as well although I'm the higher side of the spectrum. I merely like derpys silly attitude and it was rather a joy to see her at times. I'm sure the comics don't really count but I like how Luna take a likening to derpy in one as it was pretty obvious that she'd been through somethings. It's nice that this Pegasus get some love every now and then.
@@NathanielPiscian im also on the spectrum (higher functioning) and ive always loved derpy shes a preshus wholesome little muffin that needs to be protected
@blightswife3062 You must be new to the Derpy love train. Because if you're seeing the amount of love she's getting now, ooooh do I have about seven years worth of content to show you.
Don't you just hate it when people speak for a group who was never offended in the first place, honestly just thinking that they would get offended by a cartoon pony is more offensive than the character itself.
Random adults be like: OMG THAT ANIMATED HORSE HAS CROSSED EYES SHE MUST BE RETARDED THATS SO OFFENSIVE WAH WAH WAH Kids with disabilities: hah hah cute klutsy pony ❤️
Actually… we DID speak up! “d*rpy” is literally derogatory not only for autistics but also for those with other disabilities as well, especially in the context it is used where she is portrayed as a unintelligent or “goofy” light. I agree yeah, her design is cute originally, but this poor representation altogether has no place in media nowadays, especially in kids’ shows.
As a fellow autistic person Derpy is one of my favorites. I love her so much! Even have her funko pop. Honestly I want more Derpy merch but I don´t know where to get it.
As a nd person with autism and adhd, I've always loved Derpy. I had a plush of her growing up, and have never found her offensive. If anything, I always thought that "Ditzy" would be more offensive than "Derpy", but I never thought on it too much! I just loved Derpy haha
Yeah, definitely! I'm Autistic, and she's one of my favorite characters of the show! I just love her so much! She character is honestly so fun to watch, and I love how she's characterized throughout the show (other than the name change)
I also have adhd and autism but I was sadly too embarrassed to get derpys plush since I'm a guy but I did beat safijiva solo in monster hunter world iceborn
@@singledinner6945Don’t be embarrassed. I have seen people do things that are actually embarrassing in public. If you want to buy a Derpy plushie or anything else like that then by all means don’t let anyone stop you or make you feel uncomfortable for doing so. Besides most people don’t give a care what you’re buying when shopping and for all they know you’re buying for someone else. Buy whatever makes you happy as long as you aren’t bothering anyone else. To heck with what anyone thinks if it brings you happiness.
As an autistic man, I get the concern around Derpy and not wanting to accidentally seem ableist bc it admittedly is kinda easy to accidentally be ableist, in regards to autistic folks especially. But I think Hasbro handled it in a way that wasn't the best, especially changing her voice because it gives off the implication that you can "sound disabled" which just feels weird to me.
I find it really interesting that some fans go really in depth in MLP characters and episodes. Personally, I saw that episode where Derpy made a bigger appearance and thought nothing of it. Derpy to me is just a super cute, and relatable character to me!
Amy really tackled that email well. And the fact you cut out like literally half of it and it still sounded surfaced and respectable shows how much not only she but the staff cared
I’m autistic and I NEVER felt offended by Derpy, I always loved her sweet derp-eyed expression and was sad to see her sidelined ... and renamed (seriously ‘Muffin’?) Team Derpy Hooves for Life 💙🐱💙
as an autistic person derpy is definitely at least on the spectrum, theres a reason why disabled people flocked to her (and still love her, after all these years im finally getting a derpy build a bear for christmas and shes going to be the main star of my collection) but you can tell all the backlash came from neurotypicals, derpy is not a fucking offensive term and claiming it is because you saw someone say it means "retarded" is stupid its like saying "gay" is a slur because some people use it as an insult. its very giving neurotypicals trying to mean well but instead treating us like children.
@@itsjackieheredo you ever shut up? Derpy is not offensive in this case, I’ve said this before I’ll say it again, DERPY ISNT SOMETHING TO GET OFFENDED BY! She’s a LOVABLE character, the reason she’s named derpy is because of her derp eye, her derp eye was AN ERROR, A DERP.
One detail I always liked when it came to Derpy is that the town residents never got annoyed with her if she accidentally messed something up. Like, ever. At least from what I can remember. Like yeah, I think sometimes someone would show a bit of aggravation but it was never at her specifically or in bad blood or taste. If anything, I remember the town getting more annoyed at the ponies who DID snap at her. One scene I remember very clearly (least I think I'm remembering it clearly, it's been a while) was in Best Gift Ever where Rarity's delivery wasn't delivered to the right address or such other and she was frustrated with the situation. She snapped at Derpy's, with no disrespect whatsoever, slower uptake to trying to solve her problem behind the counter because she was in a rush. The line behind her actively scowled at Rarity for that small outburst and she reeled it back. So I like the small detail or idea that the town collectively knows Derpy is trying her best despite her condition and is being patient with her and is actually protective of her over others who take it a little too far, intentional or not. I thought that was always a nice little detail. Subtle positivity like that is what I really appreciated seeing, it was nice that everyone was so supportive of her and knows she's trying her best.
derby is disabled, I think we can say that now, and we lover her as she is. we can say she has movement impairment, like a lot of real people do, but she still contributes what she can to her community and people accept her as she is, even when mistakes are made, because everyone makes mistakes. She is a good role modal for disabled fans, kids and adults alike. And the fact everyone is still kind and tolerant around her is good for people to learn to.
It's really funny seeing this as somebody who was there to watch it happen. There's so much that happened in the fandom that newcomers wouldn't be aware of. Those 10 years were a wild ride.
@@anonamouse5917 twilight getting wings and Equestria girls was such a massive meltdown that looking back is funny cause EQG imo ended up becoming really good and heck better than the later season's of MLP
@@anonamouse5917 definitely Twi getting wings. I think the entire fandom expected that to be a series-ending thing. If she gets wings, what else is there left to do? It was around the time that we didn't know how long the show would last and I remember my friends and I going absolutely insane realizing that ending it was a real possibility. And we took it out on a cartoon pair of wings of what was honestly a pretty decent episode.
Those that say "X is offensive" on behalf of someone else, are usually just a-holes. I preferred it when people like us were called slow, because I sure am, slow to learn new things, slow to do things unless under pressure, slow to figure things out, but slow does not mean stupid, no matter what the normies say.
Looking back at the series as a whole, I feel like Derpy has her issues that need working out, but both the fandom and the writers realized she wasn't maliciously *stupid* like Patrick or Ed. And I like how, over time, the fandom collectively turned this character into one of the sweetest, most well-meaning ponies in the show, and it feels like the writers in turn did their best to turn Derpy into something of a love letter back to the fans who voiced their support for keeping her just the way she was.
Well to be fair, Ed from Ed, Edd and Eddy, is supposed to be a parody of Curly from The Three Stooges. So he wasn't written with the intent to specifically be offensive. He was the show's parallel to that character, since it was going for a modern day Three Stooges feel.
when i was like 9 i was obsessed with Derpy, had her as my phone wallpaper and everything, she was my favorite. it never occurred to me she might be offensive, i just thought her name came from the rage comics at the time (like how they'd use "derping around" instead of swearing) i just thought it was a silly nonsense word
Censoring her actually made fans so angry. And when she didn’t appear in Season 3, most of the fandom threatened to boycott the show if she didn’t come back and if they ever changed her again. At least that’s what I heard.
That's more/less what happened. But then the Twilicorn controversy happened in Season 3 and people kind of stopped talking about Derpy for awhile. Which is understandable, given they just made such a radical change to the status quo. There was an episode way later in Season 8 that they did as a way to protest all of the censorship that happened over the course of the show's run, because Derpy is not the only time this happened. This happened with several characters, up to and including Tirek. But anyway, the episode was called Sounds of Silence, and it was basically the show's way of telling all the parents that wanted to censor characters to go to hell. It was glorious, and it had one of the best songs in the entire series in it.
Hasbro missed a huge opportunity to expand on Derpy and her Asperger's, her visual motor impairment and her concrete random learning style and show that while she has issues, they can be adapted to and worked with to help her be accepted and achieve a happy life and fulfilling work.
Person with asperger's here. I never seen anything wrong about Derpy! She's actually my favorite!! I can totally see myself in Derpy! She's clumsy yet she tries her best even when things go wrong yet she keeps smiling. She's also friends with the Doctor, a reference to one of my favorite shows "Doctor Who!"
I find it odd that this event doesn’t seem like it was that long ago. I guess when you start watching MLP in your 30’s 14 years doesn’t feel like a long time. It probably feels like a lifetime ago for teenagers that watched back then.
@@EffMinus I started watching pony in June of 2011 after reading the grimdark fanfic Cupcakes. I just had to know what the show was like if people were writing horror fics based on it. I watched all of season 1 in about a week. I was already posting comments on EQD and finding fandom music on UA-cam. I remember teaching myself to draw ponies that summer and I began submitting art to the drawfriend on EQD.
It becomes really complicated when it comes to correcting content that could be seen as offensive by some people, but inoffensive to others. As an individual creator I wouldn't have changed it, but Hasbro is a company first, and they want to avoid any controversy that could be stemmed from it. Only they made the wrong decision...until they finally gave Derpy her proper characterization, and allowed her to be called Derpy in some cases, like in the A Day In the Life of Equestria manga.
Honestly you really can’t please everyone it’s either you’ll love it or you’ll hate it if only a minor amount of people hate it and a majority love it then just leave it the way it is because they really don’t understand the real meaning behind certain things they just look at it and assume it’s designed to be offensive then yell at the creators over it
Idk if this is just me but I personally see the word "derpy" as a word of endearment. Saying derpy for me is saying "you're goofy/clumsy but I love you anyway" I've never heard someone call someone or something derpy out of a place of malice.
Yeah, very much this. Everyone I've ever known that used "derpy" as a term was using it in an endearing way...a sort of "goofy, maybe a little clumsy or flaky, but affable and friendly" descriptor. Like, it's a word we've used before to describe a member of our friend group who's exactly that: a big, happy-go-lucky, sometimes awkward goofball whom we all love.
Well Derpy is clumsy but remember she wasn't always. This is due to her eye condition that overtime has permantly made her crosseyed. We see in the Parental Glidence photos of a filly Dashie on the podium over the course of several years. In the first photo we see Derpy with normal eyes and she got gold. Doing better than Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Lightning Dust, and Spitfire. But over the next several years her eyes get more crosseyed and her flying got worse. She may have a Physical Disability that prevents her from seeing and flying normally like any other Pegasi. But that doesn't stop her from living a normal life in Ponyville. Derpy works at the Post Office and delivers the mail everyday and occasionally helps Doctor Hooves in his workshop. This is why we love Derpy Hooves as a character.
Even if Derpy was portrayed as "stupid" for comedy, I don't see what the problem would be when even more popular stupid characters exist like Patrick or Goofy.
the thing about goofy. they would sometimes make him super dumb and once in awhile just normal. that's also a reason with those animation spoofs of him finally snapping one day. because disney are just that bad with him.
Thanks to this video, I’m gonna start naming my friends who are also bronies, “brownies”. Jokes aside, great video as always, I’ve always projected myself onto derpy, and she’s been a favorite character of mine.
I don't really care if you think Derpy is disabled or not, but I guarantee all the children see is a character they might like, and possibly relate to being "fixed", and that will just make the kids that think she is relatable think they are broken or incorrect like her.
I think Derpy has a visual motor impairment that is interacting with Asperger's. It not a mental impairment its two different and recognizable and clearly diagnosable conditions interacting and making her seem more disabled than she is. It introduces a complexity in her personality that must be carefully managed. For example, giving instructions. She would be better with a structured list rather than a simple verbal overview of the task. I bet she has a concrete random learning style underlying many of her abilities that must be adapted to by those who work with her.
Perfectly explained everything, well done, man. I'm from Russia, and for some reason we have a myth that all this mess and scandal around Derpy were built solely because of her squint, allegedly insulting children with similar features, but it turns out that in fact the claims were deeper.
She is and will always be Sweet kind Derpy Hooves. I said it back then and I'll say it now "I would marry that pony" She reminded me of a girl I had a crush on when in High School with eyes similar to her and a very like minded attitude. Sadly I was too shy to ask her out and I missed out on that possibly as her family had moved during the summer...💔
As some who is autistic and is around a few of my family that also have it. I thought it was incredible to see how much derpy was appreciated while she was just being her adorable clumsy self. It broke my heart seeing Hasbro so call "fix" her behavior. Which just her personality and how she acts. It really didn't matter what her name is. It matters that she can be herself in any shape or form. Yes derpy fits her very well and and so does the other names in some way or another. Derpy is always going to be the name I stick with. As it the first nod to the fandom and I just loved the name!
I remember when the censorship on Derpy began and I was pretty saddened by it, since Derpy was my favorite and how she acted was relatable to me. Then my aunt (who used to despise everything I enjoyed/hated me in general) would tell me how wrong it was to like her character so I felt like shit afterwards.
I think this Derpy controversy was a big problem for Hasbro because they don't want some character to show up as disabled. That is what I saw with characters like Derpy and Scootaloo. Another problem is that Hasbro has been doing changes to their shows. That is what I noticed during the final episode of MLP: FIM. In one scene, all of Equestria started to show up to help the Mane Six but I did notice that the CMC aren't there. That was a very big disappointment. If Hasbro didn't make changes to their shows, there would have been character developments for future episodes.
I have disability's and I loved Derpy to me I found it offensive to remove her because "inperfect" or "Not right" but I was never the few who sent the angry emails. I was upset. but comapny's can do whatever. to me she's still Derpy. and nothing about her needed to change. after all she was originaly an error in background that got noticed and got populator to become a characterr in a few episodes.. nothing more or less.
I've always thought of derpy as a clumsy character,also I didn't know all of this even happened,holy shit hasbro calm down,there was no need to change her at all
I've been a brony since 2011. I remember seeing the episode air live and having her name said. I and many others flipped out so hard X3 And I remember when they censored it and we protested hard. Though sadly now her name is canonically "Muffins"
Derpy has hydrocephalus That's why she has bubbles as a cutie mark, it's why she gets worse as time goes on,and it's why when she fixes her eyes her condition returns. Her eyes were crooked because of the pressure against her nerves and skull from the inside. Hydrocephalus is bubbles of water in your brain. Something that the pony doctors weren't ever able to diagnose. That's the best most fitting thing I found. Poor pony was great and talented while younger. That was before the bubbles in her brain started getting big enough to cause problems. Those bubbles were a warning,a diagnosis trying to communicate what was wrong with her. And the g5 ponies would probably be able to fix it with their more advanced medicine
Great video. Tbh I understand why Hasbro decided to just change her, they are a company after all, so any controversy that could negatively affect their public reputation or profits would want to be avoided in their eyes. Derpy is and always was harmless though.
I’m autistic (+ADHD) and Derpy was a personal favorite of mine, alongside Pinkie Pie. I never felt offended by her, in fact I actually felt pretty bummed out when people thought she should be removed (thankfully she wasn’t!)
I was still fairly new to the fandom during this controversy, having never seen the show, but getting video recommendations in my youtube, just short no-context clips, and I watched those. This eventually lead me to seeing a clip of the Bronystate chat reaction and everyone so excited that the name Derpy became canon and it really amazed me that the fandom was so influential for the series. The Derpy controversy actually helped in getting me to watch the series and I really enjoyed it.
As someone on the spectrum, i would like to say that growing up, Derpy was my favorite character, and she's still one of my favorites though i'm not super active in the fandom. I really like her and was never offended by her at all.
She just kind of seemed like a lovable, if goofy, Pegasus who had a little trouble in society but everyone was like "yeah that's just who she is". Heck, leaving her as is would've allowed kids (and adults) who might have similar issues feel like they have someone to represent themselves, even if it's as a side character. Hell... Scootaloo is a disabled pony- a Pegasus who has stunted wings/can't fly. No one really calls attention to it in the show as a bad thing unless flight is needed for that scene, and even then they make up for it. In some sense her scooter can be a short hand mobility aid as she's able to get about with it by buzzing her wings.
what upsets me is that them changing her made it feel like she was a problem and needed to be how everyone wanted her to be and not herself. something i feel i go through with my ADHD.
There is also case where explaining that Hasbro production team didn't know Derpy's gender in the episode why the original version sounds more boyish. Also for a off topic some countries dubbed Spitfire as male in early episodes where she appeared because Hasbro not telling it.
To tell you the truth I do call "Derpy" by the name the show officially gave her from after the episode Slice of Life which is Muffins, well because of the opening line she gave in that episode. Plus I absolutely love the voice Tabitha St. Germain gave her, make her sound cute and lovable. My favorite Muffins "Derpy" Hooves moment has to be the post office scene with Rarity in Best Gift Ever
A slightly different perspective. I have had lazy eye my whole life. Its nevet going to go away. But, it was nice seeing derpy! I also never had a super high voice either. I might not have been super young, but seeing a character with lazy eye was incredible! Because it wasn't an animation error or anything, she purposefully had a messed up eye, just like i did. It was heartbreaking when they changed her. But luckily it wasnt forever
I think she's both, but not to a degree where it's offensive -w- Some people react waaaaay too fast and harsh without thinking first and it ends up as them thinking it's offensive or downright something else Besides adding those who do have disabilities or some sorta special personality stuff kinda adds a tad bit realism and can make the show either That much more fun or worse depending on how that stuff is used and interpreted I have ADHD an I friggen love derpy for who she is in the show BTW I'm turning 24 on the 30th. I've had alot of experience watching shows that add things like these, especially kids ones. Amd one thing points out, calling someone derpy and yet people taking it the wrong way can be a problem. But let's face it, there are shows that do actual bad when it comes to representing things like this controversy Remember people, think before you act, otherwise there are people that make assumptions that bring the wrong type of consequences -w-
I find that very often the ppl getting offended by something aren’t/don’t have what that thing was about. And that people who do aren’t offended by it. And often this stuff blows out of proportions bc we have to not offend anyone but the people who it was originally about are never asked and it never ends up being a good situation.
So much happened in the fandom. It's wild that I was there for so much of it, and enough time has now passed that when I watch things like this, i'm reminded of it and go "Oh man, I remember this". The fandom will always love Derpy though
i think i heard once that the voice actor for the original Derpy voice thought she was supposed to be voicing a male pony, explaining the odd sounding voice. This was years ago though, so i can't confirm on how legit this is or not though.
That's so amazing how much thought and care was put into even just that super small moment in an episode of My Little Pony. I don't think the change was neccessary, but I think it's good that they put so much thought and care into the decisions and asked someone who was close to a mentally disabled person.
I'm glad they changed the voice, I prefer the higher pitch (and perhaps that would have naturally come about with more appearances just like any show's cast that runs long enough), but the loss of the name in the show is disappointing. It was purely done out of good faith, a nice shoutout to the fans, and because of this controversy, she was forced further into the background for a couple Seasons. Obviously she works best as a background easter egg, but even those moments were less frequent for awhile. Thankfully though, her legacy persisted. Maybe she'll even be referenced in G5 with a stained glass window or there'll be a descendant or even just a spiritual successor that can derp it up in the background and the fan theories can run wild.
I didn't know this was a thing until now. Kinda one of those things that once you see it, you can't unsee it. I liked her as she was. I've been mentally disabled all my life, adhd/Aspergers. I think this 'fix' is a result of the 'offended by everything' culture that has become so pervasive over the last decade. The fact that a small number of whiners can cause such a significant change is disgusting.
I wanna add something!! In season 6 episode 23 (i think) 17:46 we saw kid derpy in a hospital with her eyes covered in bandage, i think that's what made her eyes look like that.
I only saw Derpy as being walleyed because I'd seen other fans using that term. Which is actually the wrong term. She's actually got an acute case of Strabismus which is a form of lazy eye. A condition that brings it's own set of issues. She may be nearsighted, see double, and or have blurry vision. Farsighted is also a possibility. However, given her apparent clumsiness while flying or gets in a hurry, I'm leaning towards the first two. All that damage she did to the Ponyville Courthouse could be because she hadn't been fully aware of what her actions were causing because of her vision issues. As for the possibility of autism, her behavior in subsequent episodes have portrayed her as not being all that different than most typical ponies. It is a cartoon after all, where behavior that in real life would be over the top is seen as fairly normal. If we did an in-depth analysis of all the characters based on real world norms we'd find all manner of issues. Rarity's fainting couch? No, but Derpy/Ditzy/Muffins got all the attention because she had a visual imperfection people could fixate on.
I always thought derpy meant that the character was crossed-eyed and cute. I would hear people use it in a sentence like, "Awe, they're so derpy!?" So I always thought it was a positive descriptor. I never saw it as something offensive. The word ditzy on the other hand, I have always thought meant dizzy and stupid. People would use it in a sentence like, "Oh don't mind them, they are just ditzy". I saw the word ditzy as a negative descriptor. So by changing her name from Derpy to Ditzy, it actually made the character more offensive to me.
I have a friend with autism been friends with her since high school i remember all the times i got in trouble by punching someone in the face because they called her retarded. Was always a violent guy when she is insulted for her autism. Never seen mlp just saw derpy hooves pics on the internet and derpy reminded me of her. adorable and clumsy but always had a heart of gold. I remember buying her a derpy plushie and she loved it. She still had it today every time i visit her house its in their living room. Ps: ever since that day j gave her that plush she has been a fan of the show im glad derpy managed to brighten up her life
I can really relate to derpy. She's one of my favorite characters, and I can relate to her, because I have Asperger's / autism. And much like derpy, I don't really know I do anything wrong until someone tells me later. I might be high functioning for autistic, but I don't notice mistakes until someone calls me out on them. And on a personal level, Derpy is one of the best ponies, next to trixie, my other personality because of my spectrum. But overall, I think they could have treated Derpy Hooves better. She was a character that got sidelined, because they didn't want to get into trouble, when they could have explored a character much more. But I always have love for derpy. After all she's one of the more relatable ponies that actually can be tied to real life.
I came later into the Fandom and I never saw Derpy as an insult. It is just a cute name for someone who is clumsy, or maybe disabled, but not an insult. If people see it as an insult, that this is their opinionen. To me Derpy is just a normal word. At the end, it is important how you pronounce it, do you just use it as a name, or are you speaking it in a way that is obviously meant to hurt someone.
It felt a little ridiculous especially since when Hasbro "corrected" Derpy it just ended up backfiring and causing more needless controversy But Derpy will always have a special place in my heart, in fact during highschool, I was tasked with designing and making a paper bag/package for art class, and I went with a muffin bag with Derpy drawn on it
I have ADHD, and while it’s not the same, I feel like Derpy is definitely neurodivergent AND clumsy. She’s very cute, and I’ve loved her ever since she was shown. I don’t take offense to her, and I don’t think other people (from what I’ve seen in the comments) do either.
I hate when people just react at the smallest things but do not remember that they did mistakes in their life. Im a MLP fan and I was never insulted or offended by the name "Derpy". Some people do not realise that the words they say to the other people are just.. hurting to the people. Guys if you see this message, promise me, dont let anyone offend you in any way and Derpy, I always admired you because your funny and just unique. Peace!
I’m autistic (with also ADHD and dyslexia) and honestly (also personally) never had an issue with Derpy because when the show came out I was around 9 and at that time I didn’t think much of the issue of her. However I can totally understand where people might have an issue with her and I’m not gonna bash anyone who did but for me personally I never had issue with her.
As someone who is autistic, Derpy was never offensive to me in any way whatsoever. She was cute and lovable in every way. But the fact that hasbro tried to fix derpy was SO not cool. It reminds me of a quote from “No Way Home” where lizard says “when you try to fix people, There’re always consequences.” I think this quote shows because hasbro tried to fix derpy, only negative consequences came about.
like some of the other people in the comments, i am autistic. MLP FiM has been a special interest of mine since i was a child, and i remember being such a huge fan of derpy when i was young. i had merch, i watched fan animation and drew fanart, the whole shabang. I always felt like i related to her and had a connection to her character. she's probably my favorite still to this day, and her design is so adorable and charming
i love derpy! The show has way to many characters that are depicted as "perfect" and may even include a.. rather large collection of smart ones! Almost every show directed towards kids has a "nonperfect" or "disabled/mentally disabled" character. I think we need more representation of derpy! It shows kids that even if your not perfect your still loved alot!
I honestly felt like there wasn't any real intent to make Derpy a portrayal of any direct mental disability, though admittedly she does share some behavior patterns with those common to ADHD, particularly the impulsivity (her jumping on the cloud, even though one would presume all pegasi have at least some awareness that this can cause lightning). But a lot of her character felt like it was more informed by her probable vision problems than anything, as one might expect that to lead to her clumsiness if her lazy eye has caused her to perhaps have double vision, or have issues with depth perception. She's a little awkward, but she's a sweet, friendly character who does silly, impulsive things, and maybe (can't remember now if this is in fact shown on-screen, or if it's fanon) is a little bit clumsy, particularly if she gets ahead of herself, but she's out to do good by other ponies, and has a playful, almost childlike delight in things. I don't see any of that as bad or problematic. However, I feel like changing it in such an aggressive way _is,_ because it both draws attention to the character's prior behavior/presentation for anyone who saw the unedited version and the edited one, making it clear that in Hasbro's minds, it was in fact problematic. Clearly, this version of the character _must_ be bad, if they felt the need to erase this from the continuity. And therefore, for those who looked on her as representation, is this not also inadvertently saying to them "If you're like this, you're problematic"? Also, I feel like the idea that her name was always supposed to be Ditzy Doo, but for that one episode it was changed to Derpy as a "tip of the hat to the fans" is arguably the worst thing to hear. If the character has been given a canonical name, use it. Don't go trying to play some weird "oh, we're using the fanon name for this character to make the fans feel included!", without establishing the character with their canonical name first. Literally the only reference I can remember to a "Ditzy Doo" was the thing in _Winter Wrap-Up,_ about her heading north to get the southern birds...no visuals, just a brief mention of her name and a heavy-handed implication that she was basically stupid, in a way that the "Derpy" we see isn't. And that's a thing that really divides the two for me..."derpy" as a term implies a sort of awkward, clumsy vibe, usually with a sort of cheerful affability that the character did in fact seem to embody in _Last Roundup._ Meanwhile, "ditzy" implies more outright stupidity/airheadedness, and actually feels more insulting.
As though many fans wouldn't be offended by Derpy's name I understand Hasbro for changing it anyway just in case if anyone thought it to be offensive. It is still disappointing to see the new changes to Derpy as fans (such as myself) love Derpy's original character.
Regardless if she was disabled or not, they main issue that people had was that she was being actively excluded for who she was. For either: 1. Being disabled If she was actually disabled then people got mad because there's apparently a sign right outside of Equestria that reads "No Retards Allowed!" And if they where or knew someone who was poorly treated with a condition then that's stung a lot. 2. Being Different If she was simply different then people got mad because she was being singled out for being different or "off". And same as above, if you or a someone you knew was being mistreated for being different then that is someone you would indeed take issue with.
I've once watched all 9 seasons of MLP nonstop and never thought that there were people who thought of Derpy as mentally disabled (until i started exploring the fandom), i just smiled whenever she appears. She is cute!
derpy will always be derpy hooves to me. if its about kindness and tolerance and all that then wouldnt changeing her have defeated that point in the 1st place? i mean everyone accepted regardless of flaws.
You forgot to mention Yamino, which if I remember correctly, that user was one of the main people responsible for the backlash the episode received. Nice video regardless!
Quick Question:
Would you guys like me to make videos delving into fandom topics like this more? Or should I only do in-universe analysis videos like my theory videos?
For me, YES! I would like to know more thing people didn't knew about the fandom
Just switch each videos. Fandom topic, then in-universe analysis then fandom topic then repeat.
Yes!
You should do both! Fandom and in-universe stuff are really interesting
Both. Both is good
She can be both disabled and derpy. People can be both or either. That's okay as long as she is treated with kindness in the show.
Yep.
Would have loved for them to adress that yes, she's rather dumb but that's ok. Hell, the scene discused here shows that even though people would know they still allow her to try to help out with what she was capable of doing.
I know a guy who worked for my father when he was still in school in, literally translated, "especially/specially low education".
Nice guy, hard worker.
But if in the morning you gave him 3 things to do he would have forgotten the other 2 2 hours later after he finished his first task. So basically you always needed somebody with him.
But hey, he's not going to be a doctor but with his attitude he'll be alright in the world.
Hit the nail on the head! It’s all about how we teach the kids.
Heck when I saw her I didn't even think she was disabled, I just saw her as clumsy and I thought she was funny. I think people nowadays actively look for things to be offended by.
Yep
I thought it meant cute and goofy..
idk if this has interest but I'm autistic and when I was younger I loved Derpy because she acted a lot like I did. 90% of the time, i really didn't know what went wrong until someone told me very firmly (and usually several times) that that thing was causing the problems. I hate the erasure of characters like this but I'm glad in more recent years people like derpy more and more
I'm also autistic as well although I'm the higher side of the spectrum.
I merely like derpys silly attitude and it was rather a joy to see her at times. I'm sure the comics don't really count but I like how Luna take a likening to derpy in one as it was pretty obvious that she'd been through somethings. It's nice that this Pegasus get some love every now and then.
I have autism to. I love Derpy hooves ❤️
Im pretty high functioningautistic too (I think most of us fans are) and I loved her. Still do.
@@NathanielPiscian im also on the spectrum (higher functioning) and ive always loved derpy shes a preshus wholesome little muffin that needs to be protected
@blightswife3062
You must be new to the Derpy love train. Because if you're seeing the amount of love she's getting now, ooooh do I have about seven years worth of content to show you.
Don't you just hate it when people speak for a group who was never offended in the first place, honestly just thinking that they would get offended by a cartoon pony is more offensive than the character itself.
Exactly
And when the group *is* rightfully offended by something, they tell the group to be quiet or "it's just a show"
I know it’s so stupid
On a side note I love your name I am a Cirno fan as well
Yeah, like Hollywood and "ney! We changed a white man for a black girl, because we think you will like it and if you don't like you're a racist!".
Random adults be like: OMG THAT ANIMATED HORSE HAS CROSSED EYES SHE MUST BE RETARDED THATS SO OFFENSIVE WAH WAH WAH
Kids with disabilities: hah hah cute klutsy pony ❤️
Actually… we DID speak up! “d*rpy” is literally derogatory not only for autistics but also for those with other disabilities as well, especially in the context it is used where she is portrayed as a unintelligent or “goofy” light. I agree yeah, her design is cute originally, but this poor representation altogether has no place in media nowadays, especially in kids’ shows.
As an autistic person, i’m not offended by Derpy. She’s very cute.
As a fellow autistic person Derpy is one of my favorites. I love her so much! Even have her funko pop. Honestly I want more Derpy merch but I don´t know where to get it.
same here i saw not a thing wrong with derpy
Same here!
Same
Im autistic and shes beautiful
Me ether i think shes adorable i also dont like that non disabled people tend to be the ones who get offended on behalf of the disbaled comunity
As a nd person with autism and adhd, I've always loved Derpy. I had a plush of her growing up, and have never found her offensive. If anything, I always thought that "Ditzy" would be more offensive than "Derpy", but I never thought on it too much! I just loved Derpy haha
Yeah, definitely! I'm Autistic, and she's one of my favorite characters of the show! I just love her so much! She character is honestly so fun to watch, and I love how she's characterized throughout the show (other than the name change)
Sameeeeeeee!
I also have adhd and autism but I was sadly too embarrassed to get derpys plush since I'm a guy but I did beat safijiva solo in monster hunter world iceborn
@@singledinner6945Don’t be embarrassed. I have seen people do things that are actually embarrassing in public. If you want to buy a Derpy plushie or anything else like that then by all means don’t let anyone stop you or make you feel uncomfortable for doing so. Besides most people don’t give a care what you’re buying when shopping and for all they know you’re buying for someone else. Buy whatever makes you happy as long as you aren’t bothering anyone else. To heck with what anyone thinks if it brings you happiness.
@@princesspikachu3915 thank you once I save up enough I'll buy one with no regrets
As an autistic man, I get the concern around Derpy and not wanting to accidentally seem ableist bc it admittedly is kinda easy to accidentally be ableist, in regards to autistic folks especially. But I think Hasbro handled it in a way that wasn't the best, especially changing her voice because it gives off the implication that you can "sound disabled" which just feels weird to me.
I find it really interesting that some fans go really in depth in MLP characters and episodes. Personally, I saw that episode where Derpy made a bigger appearance and thought nothing of it. Derpy to me is just a super cute, and relatable character to me!
slice of life episode which is shown at 7:32
Amy really tackled that email well. And the fact you cut out like literally half of it and it still sounded surfaced and respectable shows how much not only she but the staff cared
yeah, she was really fair on all sides in her email, which is awesome.
and dw, I think I cut out only redundant/irrelevant bits of it.
I'm always amazed at how big and diverse in content mlp fandom was in 2011-2013
Yea
Also🥉
Ikr
I’m autistic and I NEVER felt offended by Derpy, I always loved her sweet derp-eyed expression and was sad to see her sidelined ... and renamed (seriously ‘Muffin’?)
Team Derpy Hooves for Life 💙🐱💙
Yeeeeeeee same
I honestly like the name Muffin
@@Alisonsgachaverse Same but i still think Derpy is better
@@PrashanthSaidu yeah i think they had to change it cos of copyright
I thought she was adorable before I even found out I was autistic
as an autistic person derpy is definitely at least on the spectrum, theres a reason why disabled people flocked to her (and still love her, after all these years im finally getting a derpy build a bear for christmas and shes going to be the main star of my collection) but you can tell all the backlash came from neurotypicals, derpy is not a fucking offensive term and claiming it is because you saw someone say it means "retarded" is stupid its like saying "gay" is a slur because some people use it as an insult.
its very giving neurotypicals trying to mean well but instead treating us like children.
very, very well said.
Yeppp
“D*rpy” is quite literally derogatory in this context, PLEASE do your research !!! It is not exclusively offensiv
@@itsjackiehereBlud can't spell offensive and use a made up pronoun
@@itsjackieheredo you ever shut up? Derpy is not offensive in this case, I’ve said this before I’ll say it again, DERPY ISNT SOMETHING TO GET OFFENDED BY! She’s a LOVABLE character, the reason she’s named derpy is because of her derp eye, her derp eye was AN ERROR, A DERP.
One detail I always liked when it came to Derpy is that the town residents never got annoyed with her if she accidentally messed something up. Like, ever. At least from what I can remember. Like yeah, I think sometimes someone would show a bit of aggravation but it was never at her specifically or in bad blood or taste. If anything, I remember the town getting more annoyed at the ponies who DID snap at her. One scene I remember very clearly (least I think I'm remembering it clearly, it's been a while) was in Best Gift Ever where Rarity's delivery wasn't delivered to the right address or such other and she was frustrated with the situation. She snapped at Derpy's, with no disrespect whatsoever, slower uptake to trying to solve her problem behind the counter because she was in a rush. The line behind her actively scowled at Rarity for that small outburst and she reeled it back. So I like the small detail or idea that the town collectively knows Derpy is trying her best despite her condition and is being patient with her and is actually protective of her over others who take it a little too far, intentional or not.
I thought that was always a nice little detail. Subtle positivity like that is what I really appreciated seeing, it was nice that everyone was so supportive of her and knows she's trying her best.
What episode is that? I wanna look back on it.
@@ZeFanatic14 Best Gift Ever. its not an episode, but its a movie. they sadly took it off Netflix, but u can look elsewhere :)
I honestly agree 👍
derby is disabled, I think we can say that now, and we lover her as she is. we can say she has movement impairment, like a lot of real people do, but she still contributes what she can to her community and people accept her as she is, even when mistakes are made, because everyone makes mistakes.
She is a good role modal for disabled fans, kids and adults alike. And the fact everyone is still kind and tolerant around her is good for people to learn to.
mmuffffin
It's really funny seeing this as somebody who was there to watch it happen. There's so much that happened in the fandom that newcomers wouldn't be aware of. Those 10 years were a wild ride.
Which was the bigger shitstorm? Derpygate or Twilight getting wings?
@@anonamouse5917 twilight getting wings and Equestria girls was such a massive meltdown that looking back is funny cause EQG imo ended up becoming really good and heck better than the later season's of MLP
@@anonamouse5917 definitely Twi getting wings. I think the entire fandom expected that to be a series-ending thing. If she gets wings, what else is there left to do? It was around the time that we didn't know how long the show would last and I remember my friends and I going absolutely insane realizing that ending it was a real possibility. And we took it out on a cartoon pair of wings of what was honestly a pretty decent episode.
@@ImmaLittlePip It's funny now, but the show staff had to put up with shit that was waaaaay above their pay grade.
@@codex_jinora I thought for sure the series was done after season 3.
No joke I really thought she was just a sweet pony with a lazy eye. 😊
Same here, I didn't think of her as disabled at all, I just saw her as a cute clutz
Same when I was a kid
Derpy never really offended me as a kid, I'm autistic and adhd, and I was always obsessed with finding her in every background.
That's just your ADHD showing, ya love to see it lol.
@@Eldoofus Yes lmfao
Those that say "X is offensive" on behalf of someone else, are usually just a-holes. I preferred it when people like us were called slow, because I sure am, slow to learn new things, slow to do things unless under pressure, slow to figure things out, but slow does not mean stupid, no matter what the normies say.
We all did. What was you favorite moment?
Mine is the post office scene in Best Gift Ever
Same
Looking back at the series as a whole, I feel like Derpy has her issues that need working out, but both the fandom and the writers realized she wasn't maliciously *stupid* like Patrick or Ed.
And I like how, over time, the fandom collectively turned this character into one of the sweetest, most well-meaning ponies in the show, and it feels like the writers in turn did their best to turn Derpy into something of a love letter back to the fans who voiced their support for keeping her just the way she was.
Well to be fair, Ed from Ed, Edd and Eddy, is supposed to be a parody of Curly from The Three Stooges. So he wasn't written with the intent to specifically be offensive. He was the show's parallel to that character, since it was going for a modern day Three Stooges feel.
when i was like 9 i was obsessed with Derpy, had her as my phone wallpaper and everything, she was my favorite. it never occurred to me she might be offensive, i just thought her name came from the rage comics at the time (like how they'd use "derping around" instead of swearing) i just thought it was a silly nonsense word
it pretty much IS a nonsense word. people just looked too much into things that weren’t there.
'it's a offensive very very a offensive and you are racist sexist and alebist'- some guy on the internet probably
@@EffMinusEXACTLY. No-slur discord servers let us say it, Roblox kinda lets you say it aswell-
The Derpy "Controversy" reminds me of that one scene from Wreck it Ralph where he is talking to King Candy, Ralph says "The gamers could love her".
If it weren’t for Derpy, Twilight would’ve been turned to stone in the movie
EXACTLY BRO!!!!!
I didn’t know that good job derp
#JusticeForDerpy
Frrrr
Boy 2010s internet culture and memes were such a different time weren't they
Take me back :(
that’s why I’m tryna do the next best thing by attempting to bring it back!
@@EffMinus hehe cant wait!
I do miss le derping around on the internet without so much negativity everywhere
Censoring her actually made fans so angry. And when she didn’t appear in Season 3, most of the fandom threatened to boycott the show if she didn’t come back and if they ever changed her again. At least that’s what I heard.
That's more/less what happened. But then the Twilicorn controversy happened in Season 3 and people kind of stopped talking about Derpy for awhile. Which is understandable, given they just made such a radical change to the status quo. There was an episode way later in Season 8 that they did as a way to protest all of the censorship that happened over the course of the show's run, because Derpy is not the only time this happened. This happened with several characters, up to and including Tirek.
But anyway, the episode was called Sounds of Silence, and it was basically the show's way of telling all the parents that wanted to censor characters to go to hell. It was glorious, and it had one of the best songs in the entire series in it.
Hasbro missed a huge opportunity to expand on Derpy and her Asperger's, her visual motor impairment and her concrete random learning style and show that while she has issues, they can be adapted to and worked with to help her be accepted and achieve a happy life and fulfilling work.
That was the real tragedy. For fear of insulting people with disabilities, they instead chose to pretend they don't exist at all. Great...
@@CordialH Corporate Ostrichism. Stick you head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist and purge it from the show.
Person with asperger's here. I never seen anything wrong about Derpy! She's actually my favorite!! I can totally see myself in Derpy! She's clumsy yet she tries her best even when things go wrong yet she keeps smiling. She's also friends with the Doctor, a reference to one of my favorite shows "Doctor Who!"
I find it odd that this event doesn’t seem like it was that long ago. I guess when you start watching MLP in your 30’s 14 years doesn’t feel like a long time. It probably feels like a lifetime ago for teenagers that watched back then.
i see you're a real OG brony lol
@@EffMinus I started watching pony in June of 2011 after reading the grimdark fanfic Cupcakes. I just had to know what the show was like if people were writing horror fics based on it. I watched all of season 1 in about a week. I was already posting comments on EQD and finding fandom music on UA-cam. I remember teaching myself to draw ponies that summer and I began submitting art to the drawfriend on EQD.
14 years? But it was only a few years ag-no... oh, no....
It becomes really complicated when it comes to correcting content that could be seen as offensive by some people, but inoffensive to others. As an individual creator I wouldn't have changed it, but Hasbro is a company first, and they want to avoid any controversy that could be stemmed from it. Only they made the wrong decision...until they finally gave Derpy her proper characterization, and allowed her to be called Derpy in some cases, like in the A Day In the Life of Equestria manga.
Honestly you really can’t please everyone it’s either you’ll love it or you’ll hate it if only a minor amount of people hate it and a majority love it then just leave it the way it is because they really don’t understand the real meaning behind certain things they just look at it and assume it’s designed to be offensive then yell at the creators over it
Idk if this is just me but I personally see the word "derpy" as a word of endearment. Saying derpy for me is saying "you're goofy/clumsy but I love you anyway" I've never heard someone call someone or something derpy out of a place of malice.
Yeah, very much this. Everyone I've ever known that used "derpy" as a term was using it in an endearing way...a sort of "goofy, maybe a little clumsy or flaky, but affable and friendly" descriptor. Like, it's a word we've used before to describe a member of our friend group who's exactly that: a big, happy-go-lucky, sometimes awkward goofball whom we all love.
@@Mokiefraggle exactly! Happy to see people agree.
Fr, I always thought of derpy as somebody who is kind of goofy or imperfect but incredibly lovable anyways
Right? I associate the word derpy with, like, a clumsy puppy at the worst
Either way, no matter what, she's sweet , caring, funny, and pretty adorable.
She's one of the best background ponys of My Little Pony.
Well Derpy is clumsy but remember she wasn't always. This is due to her eye condition that overtime has permantly made her crosseyed. We see in the Parental Glidence photos of a filly Dashie on the podium over the course of several years. In the first photo we see Derpy with normal eyes and she got gold. Doing better than Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Lightning Dust, and Spitfire. But over the next several years her eyes get more crosseyed and her flying got worse.
She may have a Physical Disability that prevents her from seeing and flying normally like any other Pegasi. But that doesn't stop her from living a normal life in Ponyville. Derpy works at the Post Office and delivers the mail everyday and occasionally helps Doctor Hooves in his workshop. This is why we love Derpy Hooves as a character.
Even if Derpy was portrayed as "stupid" for comedy, I don't see what the problem would be when even more popular stupid characters exist like Patrick or Goofy.
the thing about goofy. they would sometimes make him super dumb and once in awhile just normal. that's also a reason with those animation spoofs of him finally snapping one day. because disney are just that bad with him.
Thanks to this video, I’m gonna start naming my friends who are also bronies, “brownies”.
Jokes aside, great video as always, I’ve always projected myself onto derpy, and she’s been a favorite character of mine.
sounds good, brownie!
you too, fellow brownie!
I don't really care if you think Derpy is disabled or not, but I guarantee all the children see is a character they might like, and possibly relate to being "fixed", and that will just make the kids that think she is relatable think they are broken or incorrect like her.
I think Derpy has a visual motor impairment that is interacting with Asperger's. It not a mental impairment its two different and recognizable and clearly diagnosable conditions interacting and making her seem more disabled than she is. It introduces a complexity in her personality that must be carefully managed. For example, giving instructions. She would be better with a structured list rather than a simple verbal overview of the task. I bet she has a concrete random learning style underlying many of her abilities that must be adapted to by those who work with her.
Perfectly explained everything, well done, man. I'm from Russia, and for some reason we have a myth that all this mess and scandal around Derpy were built solely because of her squint, allegedly insulting children with similar features, but it turns out that in fact the claims were deeper.
As an autistic person with a bad lazy eye and horrible depth perception, I absolutely love Derpy ! She’s my favorite pony
i have goofy ahh crossed eyes, and i always thought she was cute and had my "momma she looks like me" moment when seeing her for the first time.
As someone with exotropia, who had to deal with a strong speech impediment. I absolutely adore Derpy.
Derpy will always have a special place in my heart❤
She is and will always be Sweet kind Derpy Hooves. I said it back then and I'll say it now
"I would marry that pony" She reminded me of a girl I had a crush on when in High School with eyes similar to her and a very like minded attitude. Sadly I was too shy to ask her out and I missed out on that possibly as her family had moved during the summer...💔
As some who is autistic and is around a few of my family that also have it. I thought it was incredible to see how much derpy was appreciated while she was just being her adorable clumsy self. It broke my heart seeing Hasbro so call "fix" her behavior. Which just her personality and how she acts. It really didn't matter what her name is. It matters that she can be herself in any shape or form. Yes derpy fits her very well and and so does the other names in some way or another. Derpy is always going to be the name I stick with. As it the first nod to the fandom and I just loved the name!
I remember when the censorship on Derpy began and I was pretty saddened by it, since Derpy was my favorite and how she acted was relatable to me. Then my aunt (who used to despise everything I enjoyed/hated me in general) would tell me how wrong it was to like her character so I felt like shit afterwards.
I loved her voice in the 100th episode.
It seems like Tabitha forgot that canon voice in subsequent episodes.
I think this Derpy controversy was a big problem for Hasbro because they don't want some character to show up as disabled. That is what I saw with characters like Derpy and Scootaloo. Another problem is that Hasbro has been doing changes to their shows. That is what I noticed during the final episode of MLP: FIM. In one scene, all of Equestria started to show up to help the Mane Six but I did notice that the CMC aren't there. That was a very big disappointment. If Hasbro didn't make changes to their shows, there would have been character developments for future episodes.
I have disability's and I loved Derpy to me I found it offensive to remove her because "inperfect" or "Not right" but I was never the few who sent the angry emails. I was upset. but comapny's can do whatever. to me she's still Derpy. and nothing about her needed to change. after all she was originaly an error in background that got noticed and got populator to become a characterr in a few episodes.. nothing more or less.
I love Derpy Hooves she's so Cute and Adorable and I love her
As an Autistic person Derpy was always my favorite character cuz it made me feel like "wow even ponies can be like me!"
She always and has been my favorite background pony
I've always thought of derpy as a clumsy character,also I didn't know all of this even happened,holy shit hasbro calm down,there was no need to change her at all
It’s amazing that we’re still talking about our beloved Derpy Hooves!
I've been a brony since 2011. I remember seeing the episode air live and having her name said. I and many others flipped out so hard X3 And I remember when they censored it and we protested hard. Though sadly now her name is canonically "Muffins"
Muffins is a cute name but I still hate it
Derpy will be canon in my eyes
Derpy has hydrocephalus
That's why she has bubbles as a cutie mark, it's why she gets worse as time goes on,and it's why when she fixes her eyes her condition returns.
Her eyes were crooked because of the pressure against her nerves and skull from the inside.
Hydrocephalus is bubbles of water in your brain. Something that the pony doctors weren't ever able to diagnose.
That's the best most fitting thing I found. Poor pony was great and talented while younger. That was before the bubbles in her brain started getting big enough to cause problems.
Those bubbles were a warning,a diagnosis trying to communicate what was wrong with her. And the g5 ponies would probably be able to fix it with their more advanced medicine
Great video. Tbh I understand why Hasbro decided to just change her, they are a company after all, so any controversy that could negatively affect their public reputation or profits would want to be avoided in their eyes. Derpy is and always was harmless though.
I’m autistic (+ADHD) and Derpy was a personal favorite of mine, alongside Pinkie Pie. I never felt offended by her, in fact I actually felt pretty bummed out when people thought she should be removed (thankfully she wasn’t!)
Same
Great Video, I'm loving your content, hope you make more of these with diving into each interesting MLP Character
🥈
I was still fairly new to the fandom during this controversy, having never seen the show, but getting video recommendations in my youtube, just short no-context clips, and I watched those. This eventually lead me to seeing a clip of the Bronystate chat reaction and everyone so excited that the name Derpy became canon and it really amazed me that the fandom was so influential for the series. The Derpy controversy actually helped in getting me to watch the series and I really enjoyed it.
As someone on the spectrum, i would like to say that growing up, Derpy was my favorite character, and she's still one of my favorites though i'm not super active in the fandom. I really like her and was never offended by her at all.
She just kind of seemed like a lovable, if goofy, Pegasus who had a little trouble in society but everyone was like "yeah that's just who she is". Heck, leaving her as is would've allowed kids (and adults) who might have similar issues feel like they have someone to represent themselves, even if it's as a side character.
Hell... Scootaloo is a disabled pony- a Pegasus who has stunted wings/can't fly. No one really calls attention to it in the show as a bad thing unless flight is needed for that scene, and even then they make up for it. In some sense her scooter can be a short hand mobility aid as she's able to get about with it by buzzing her wings.
I love when derpy was being voiced by Tabitha st. Germain it made her sound more adorable and cute!
what upsets me is that them changing her made it feel like she was a problem and needed to be how everyone wanted her to be and not herself. something i feel i go through with my ADHD.
There is also case where explaining that Hasbro production team didn't know Derpy's gender in the episode why the original version sounds more boyish.
Also for a off topic some countries dubbed Spitfire as male in early episodes where she appeared because Hasbro not telling it.
Still can’t believe this happened but a character like Patrick Star can be untouchable and loved for like 20 years when he’s even worse
To tell you the truth I do call "Derpy" by the name the show officially gave her from after the episode Slice of Life which is Muffins, well because of the opening line she gave in that episode. Plus I absolutely love the voice Tabitha St. Germain gave her, make her sound cute and lovable.
My favorite Muffins "Derpy" Hooves moment has to be the post office scene with Rarity in Best Gift Ever
A slightly different perspective. I have had lazy eye my whole life. Its nevet going to go away. But, it was nice seeing derpy! I also never had a super high voice either. I might not have been super young, but seeing a character with lazy eye was incredible! Because it wasn't an animation error or anything, she purposefully had a messed up eye, just like i did. It was heartbreaking when they changed her. But luckily it wasnt forever
I think she's both, but not to a degree where it's offensive -w-
Some people react waaaaay too fast and harsh without thinking first and it ends up as them thinking it's offensive or downright something else
Besides adding those who do have disabilities or some sorta special personality stuff kinda adds a tad bit realism and can make the show either That much more fun or worse depending on how that stuff is used and interpreted
I have ADHD an I friggen love derpy for who she is in the show BTW I'm turning 24 on the 30th. I've had alot of experience watching shows that add things like these, especially kids ones. Amd one thing points out, calling someone derpy and yet people taking it the wrong way can be a problem. But let's face it, there are shows that do actual bad when it comes to representing things like this controversy
Remember people, think before you act, otherwise there are people that make assumptions that bring the wrong type of consequences -w-
Frankly as someone who is disabled when I first saw derpy I didn't think she was disabled I just thought she was an oddball character
I find that very often the ppl getting offended by something aren’t/don’t have what that thing was about. And that people who do aren’t offended by it. And often this stuff blows out of proportions bc we have to not offend anyone but the people who it was originally about are never asked and it never ends up being a good situation.
So much happened in the fandom. It's wild that I was there for so much of it, and enough time has now passed that when I watch things like this, i'm reminded of it and go "Oh man, I remember this". The fandom will always love Derpy though
Derpy is just a very *very* clumsy and cute. Nothing else.
i think i heard once that the voice actor for the original Derpy voice thought she was supposed to be voicing a male pony, explaining the odd sounding voice.
This was years ago though, so i can't confirm on how legit this is or not though.
That's so amazing how much thought and care was put into even just that super small moment in an episode of My Little Pony. I don't think the change was neccessary, but I think it's good that they put so much thought and care into the decisions and asked someone who was close to a mentally disabled person.
I Was diagnosed with Autism In 2019, and I love Derpy for who she is.
I'm glad they changed the voice, I prefer the higher pitch (and perhaps that would have naturally come about with more appearances just like any show's cast that runs long enough), but the loss of the name in the show is disappointing. It was purely done out of good faith, a nice shoutout to the fans, and because of this controversy, she was forced further into the background for a couple Seasons. Obviously she works best as a background easter egg, but even those moments were less frequent for awhile. Thankfully though, her legacy persisted. Maybe she'll even be referenced in G5 with a stained glass window or there'll be a descendant or even just a spiritual successor that can derp it up in the background and the fan theories can run wild.
I didn't know this was a thing until now. Kinda one of those things that once you see it, you can't unsee it. I liked her as she was. I've been mentally disabled all my life, adhd/Aspergers. I think this 'fix' is a result of the 'offended by everything' culture that has become so pervasive over the last decade. The fact that a small number of whiners can cause such a significant change is disgusting.
Derpy is adorable and most of love her just the way she is!
I wanna add something!! In season 6 episode 23 (i think) 17:46 we saw kid derpy in a hospital with her eyes covered in bandage, i think that's what made her eyes look like that.
I only saw Derpy as being walleyed because I'd seen other fans using that term. Which is actually the wrong term. She's actually got an acute case of Strabismus which is a form of lazy eye. A condition that brings it's own set of issues. She may be nearsighted, see double, and or have blurry vision. Farsighted is also a possibility. However, given her apparent clumsiness while flying or gets in a hurry, I'm leaning towards the first two. All that damage she did to the Ponyville Courthouse could be because she hadn't been fully aware of what her actions were causing because of her vision issues. As for the possibility of autism, her behavior in subsequent episodes have portrayed her as not being all that different than most typical ponies. It is a cartoon after all, where behavior that in real life would be over the top is seen as fairly normal. If we did an in-depth analysis of all the characters based on real world norms we'd find all manner of issues. Rarity's fainting couch? No, but Derpy/Ditzy/Muffins got all the attention because she had a visual imperfection people could fixate on.
I always thought derpy meant that the character was crossed-eyed and cute. I would hear people use it in a sentence like, "Awe, they're so derpy!?" So I always thought it was a positive descriptor. I never saw it as something offensive. The word ditzy on the other hand, I have always thought meant dizzy and stupid. People would use it in a sentence like, "Oh don't mind them, they are just ditzy". I saw the word ditzy as a negative descriptor. So by changing her name from Derpy to Ditzy, it actually made the character more offensive to me.
I have a friend with autism been friends with her since high school i remember all the times i got in trouble by punching someone in the face because they called her retarded. Was always a violent guy when she is insulted for her autism. Never seen mlp just saw derpy hooves pics on the internet and derpy reminded me of her. adorable and clumsy but always had a heart of gold. I remember buying her a derpy plushie and she loved it. She still had it today every time i visit her house its in their living room.
Ps: ever since that day j gave her that plush she has been a fan of the show im glad derpy managed to brighten up her life
Doesn't matter if people get mad about the changes cause in the end the fandom will always call her derpy anyway.
I can really relate to derpy. She's one of my favorite characters, and I can relate to her, because I have Asperger's / autism. And much like derpy, I don't really know I do anything wrong until someone tells me later. I might be high functioning for autistic, but I don't notice mistakes until someone calls me out on them. And on a personal level, Derpy is one of the best ponies, next to trixie, my other personality because of my spectrum. But overall, I think they could have treated Derpy Hooves better. She was a character that got sidelined, because they didn't want to get into trouble, when they could have explored a character much more. But I always have love for derpy. After all she's one of the more relatable ponies that actually can be tied to real life.
I came later into the Fandom and I never saw Derpy as an insult. It is just a cute name for someone who is clumsy, or maybe disabled, but not an insult.
If people see it as an insult, that this is their opinionen. To me Derpy is just a normal word.
At the end, it is important how you pronounce it, do you just use it as a name, or are you speaking it in a way that is obviously meant to hurt someone.
It felt a little ridiculous especially since when Hasbro "corrected" Derpy it just ended up backfiring and causing more needless controversy
But Derpy will always have a special place in my heart, in fact during highschool, I was tasked with designing and making a paper bag/package for art class, and I went with a muffin bag with Derpy drawn on it
Not in the mlp fandom anymore but i Remember really liking Derpy or Muffins or whatever her name is
I have ADHD, and while it’s not the same, I feel like Derpy is definitely neurodivergent AND clumsy. She’s very cute, and I’ve loved her ever since she was shown. I don’t take offense to her, and I don’t think other people (from what I’ve seen in the comments) do either.
I hate when people just react at the smallest things but do not remember that they did mistakes in their life. Im a MLP fan and I was never insulted or offended by the name "Derpy". Some people do not realise that the words they say to the other people are just.. hurting to the people. Guys if you see this message, promise me, dont let anyone offend you in any way and Derpy, I always admired you because your funny and just unique. Peace!
My cousin is autistic and her sis has ocd but they both love derpy and my grandma even knitted them derpy beanies and they where it all the time!🥰
I’m autistic (with also ADHD and dyslexia) and honestly (also personally) never had an issue with Derpy because when the show came out I was around 9 and at that time I didn’t think much of the issue of her. However I can totally understand where people might have an issue with her and I’m not gonna bash anyone who did but for me personally I never had issue with her.
yeah never saw Derpy as dumb, just as you say clumbsy. a little bubble brained but a kind heart.
Although tbf "Muffins' as a name is cute too
As someone who is autistic, Derpy was never offensive to me in any way whatsoever. She was cute and lovable in every way. But the fact that hasbro tried to fix derpy was SO not cool. It reminds me of a quote from “No Way Home” where lizard says “when you try to fix people, There’re always consequences.” I think this quote shows because hasbro tried to fix derpy, only negative consequences came about.
like some of the other people in the comments, i am autistic. MLP FiM has been a special interest of mine since i was a child, and i remember being such a huge fan of derpy when i was young. i had merch, i watched fan animation and drew fanart, the whole shabang. I always felt like i related to her and had a connection to her character. she's probably my favorite still to this day, and her design is so adorable and charming
i love derpy! The show has way to many characters that are depicted as "perfect" and may even include a.. rather large collection of smart ones! Almost every show directed towards kids has a "nonperfect" or "disabled/mentally disabled" character. I think we need more representation of derpy! It shows kids that even if your not perfect your still loved alot!
I honestly felt like there wasn't any real intent to make Derpy a portrayal of any direct mental disability, though admittedly she does share some behavior patterns with those common to ADHD, particularly the impulsivity (her jumping on the cloud, even though one would presume all pegasi have at least some awareness that this can cause lightning). But a lot of her character felt like it was more informed by her probable vision problems than anything, as one might expect that to lead to her clumsiness if her lazy eye has caused her to perhaps have double vision, or have issues with depth perception. She's a little awkward, but she's a sweet, friendly character who does silly, impulsive things, and maybe (can't remember now if this is in fact shown on-screen, or if it's fanon) is a little bit clumsy, particularly if she gets ahead of herself, but she's out to do good by other ponies, and has a playful, almost childlike delight in things.
I don't see any of that as bad or problematic. However, I feel like changing it in such an aggressive way _is,_ because it both draws attention to the character's prior behavior/presentation for anyone who saw the unedited version and the edited one, making it clear that in Hasbro's minds, it was in fact problematic. Clearly, this version of the character _must_ be bad, if they felt the need to erase this from the continuity. And therefore, for those who looked on her as representation, is this not also inadvertently saying to them "If you're like this, you're problematic"?
Also, I feel like the idea that her name was always supposed to be Ditzy Doo, but for that one episode it was changed to Derpy as a "tip of the hat to the fans" is arguably the worst thing to hear. If the character has been given a canonical name, use it. Don't go trying to play some weird "oh, we're using the fanon name for this character to make the fans feel included!", without establishing the character with their canonical name first. Literally the only reference I can remember to a "Ditzy Doo" was the thing in _Winter Wrap-Up,_ about her heading north to get the southern birds...no visuals, just a brief mention of her name and a heavy-handed implication that she was basically stupid, in a way that the "Derpy" we see isn't. And that's a thing that really divides the two for me..."derpy" as a term implies a sort of awkward, clumsy vibe, usually with a sort of cheerful affability that the character did in fact seem to embody in _Last Roundup._ Meanwhile, "ditzy" implies more outright stupidity/airheadedness, and actually feels more insulting.
As though many fans wouldn't be offended by Derpy's name I understand Hasbro for changing it anyway just in case if anyone thought it to be offensive. It is still disappointing to see the new changes to Derpy as fans (such as myself) love Derpy's original character.
Controversy is always a mess, but I think it all worked out in the end
Regardless if she was disabled or not, they main issue that people had was that she was being actively excluded for who she was. For either:
1. Being disabled
If she was actually disabled then people got mad because there's apparently a sign right outside of Equestria that reads "No Retards Allowed!" And if they where or knew someone who was poorly treated with a condition then that's stung a lot.
2. Being Different
If she was simply different then people got mad because she was being singled out for being different or "off". And same as above, if you or a someone you knew was being mistreated for being different then that is someone you would indeed take issue with.
I've once watched all 9 seasons of MLP nonstop and never thought that there were people who thought of Derpy as mentally disabled (until i started exploring the fandom), i just smiled whenever she appears. She is cute!
I love Derpy soo much. I never wanna see her cry
derpy will always be derpy hooves to me.
if its about kindness and tolerance and all that then wouldnt changeing her have defeated that point in the 1st place?
i mean everyone accepted regardless of flaws.
You forgot to mention Yamino, which if I remember correctly, that user was one of the main people responsible for the backlash the episode received.
Nice video regardless!