The PUBLISHERS of the show bowed down to pressure from iTunes when someone convinced iTunes that "Derpy" was a derogatory term. Since iTunes hosts the shows for internet sales, they didn't have much choice.

Then they edited the episode to change her name and and voice. Not too happy with that.

Which episode was this? I've only seen through season 2.

Neither am The Werefrog.

it's like that episode of South Park in which Timmy joins The Lords of the Underworld. All the adults were protesting the band because it was just using the mentally disabled kid, but Timmy made the music good. He was that thing the band was missing. They kept telling the kids who liked it they should feel bad because they were making Timmy feel bad. Stan responds, "He looks pretty happy to me."

Also, there is no term for retarded, mentally disabled, special education, etc. people that isn't derogatory, or that won't be considered derogatory within 4 years. As such, Derpy Hooves is a perfectly good name. She deserves to be a part of the show as she was designed by the fandom.

Itunes has a lot at stake. Even the implied threat of bad publicity will make a huge impact on sales. So they are erring on the side of vanilla caution. A background character on a kid's cartoon isn't worth it. And Bronies have a reputation of rolling over and taking it (love and tolerance). So there won't be any financial backlash for yielding to Itunes. There are two versions of that episode, one with Derpy and the other sanitized through Itunes. The fans have both and get some sort of hipster cred for having seen both.

Season 2 is all there is, as far as I know. I can't recall the episode name (and i'm not in the mood to hit wikipedia at the moment), but it's the episode where Applejack takes off for some rodeo and doesn't come back because she didn't win. Had a great I love Lucy bit in it.

Derpy had a named speaking role in the intro segment, and it pissed some people off because they considered it ableist (the word 'Derpy' is apparently a derogatory term for retarded people, and she had a thick voice that could be considered vaguely reminiscent of some handicap or other, I can't remember which), so it got edited to Ditzy instead of Derpy (insulting term for airheaded women! Much better!) and they fixed the eyes and voice.

It was mildly annoying, kicked up a brief shitstorm that was even more annoying, and has since been mostly put to bed, as far as I can tell.

My Little Pony, a Nostalgic Perspective

The Werefrog love this video on ponies.

Also, proof that clydesdale ponies are men.

The Last Roundup.



Hasbro & The Hub made that call after they got emails complaining about how the name Derpy and her portrayal was offensive to them. iTunes didn't have anything to with the decision making process here. At least I haven't found anything to indicated they did.
No clue how many complaints were send, but the person credited for writing the episode - Amy Keating Rogers - has come forward and said she got about 10 complaints.

Personally, I am kinda suprised someone got worked up over Derpy and - as far as I know - noone complained about Zecora.

What's wrong with Zecora?

Absolutely nothing. She's a perfectly fine cartoon character, just like Derpy.