Review: It’s Pony “Scarecrow; Poneapples”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

“Scarecrow”

Annie (Jessica DiCicco, also heard as Lynn and Lucy Loud in The Loud House) is setting up an epic Halloween party at her family’s apartment, but Pony (voiced by Josh Zuckerman, or as 90210 fans know him, Max Miller) is spooked by the decorations, and disturbed by the holiday’s general premise, preferring instead to “extend the hoof of friendship to everyone.” But are there limits to friendliness? When city crows infest the pumpkin patch on the balcony after Pony bats the scarecrow into a nearby convertible, the two best friends find out.

“Poneapples”

A mixup with apple washing while Pony and Annie are reviewing their card collection results in Pony’s saliva-covered “Poneapples” becoming popular at the family farm stand. Annie intends to ‘fess up immediately, but her Dad starts sharing the profits with her so she can buy more Hero Horse cards. Soon, the two besties are running an elicit apple empire that ends up roping in their friend, Gerry (who also voices Charles Smith in Red Dead Redemption II) so they can keep up the facade. They finally complete the collection and are about to shut down the ruse when unfortunately a health inspector (Kimberly Brooks, also known as Bumblebee on DC Super Hero Girls) pays the family’s farm stand a visit.

Our take

I’d mostly passed over It’s Pony (the trailers just didn’t appeal to me that much) but if there’s any time to check out a new ‘toon, it’s during a Halloween special! Unfortunately my first impression was mostly correct, and this is a show that I’d feel comfortable skipping. To be clear, it’s not BAD, it just isn’t that funny and leans a bit too much into the twee aesthetic for my taste. I can see this show being a great pick for younger kids (who tend to watch the same show on loop) because the voices are calming and the humor is wacky, but beyond having it on in the background, it’s meh in my opinion.

Two jokes that did make me crack a smile were the crows loving “Buddies” (the in-universe equivalent of “Friends”) and Annie summarizing the situation with Gerry with the line, “Well, now you own a park and are an accomplice in a web of lies.”

Urban farming seems to be having a moment in cartoons, with Big City Greens providing the Disney Channel equivalent of this “growing things in the city”, but the former feels more genuine and realistic in comparison to the “farmpartment” setup that Annie and Pony live in. There’s minimal chaos that comes from the farming itself, and, at least in these episodes, zero mention of any financial struggle, so it seems like a quirky choice made by parents who make a comfortable living selling their apartment grown produce. Maybe that’s not the case in other episodes, but I’m unlikely to find out.

The cast is fantastic, with India de Beaufort lending a light British accent to Annie’s Mom, while Abraham Benrubi gives her burly Dad a calm demeanor with a balanced tenor. But unfortunately, the writing falls flat, and while I might not change channels next time it’s on, I probably won’t be seeking this one out again.