I think when writers are allowed to put effort into writing, and not try to dumb it down to some sort of halfassed level (as many cartoons these days are,) then you get the...pardon the pun...magic that happens here, where a cartoon, despite having a limited intended audience, has great mass appeal.
Granted, the very BASIC plotlines, when you strip everything away, are typical of the genre, (some little moral learnt/thrown in at the end,) and the characters all are built upon basic archetypes of the "girl's show" genre - country/southern girl, ditz, shy, rich/glamour/vain, tomboy, book-smart, but when you throw all the little details in there, give it good characterization...well, that's what makes it good.
and, y'know what? Nightmare Moon/Luna, despite being defeated and dissappearing after only two eps, is friggin' bad ass. I wish she became a recurring villain, I really do. She's well developed, has her reasons for doing what she did, and they're good enough for this canon to really make her believable.
Now, I should add - the producer of this show, Lauren Faust also worked on The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, both of which I also find as excellent shows.
The video guy is hilarious...
