| Flim and Flam (Flim Skim and Flam) | |
|---|---|
| Kind | Unicorn Human (EG) |
| Sex | Male |
| Occupation | Traveling salesponies Employees at Gladmane's resort S.M.I.L.E. agents (formerly) |
| Other links | |
| More info | |
|---|---|
| Eyes | Moderate pistachio (series) Brilliant amber (art print) |
| Mane | ¤ Moderate red with white stripes |
| Coat | Pale, light grayish olive |
| Magic aura | Moderate green |
| Nicknames | Farnum and Failey, Fi and Fa (The Periodic Table of My Little Pony) |
| Relatives | Each other (twin brothers) |
Cutie mark (Flim)
| |
| Voice | As Flim: Sam Vincent (English)[1] Dirk Petrick (German) Simone D'Andrea (Italian) Wataru Takagi (Japanese) Kim Myeong-jun(Korean) Tomasz Steciuk (Polish)[2] Evgeniy Waltz (Russian) Antonio Ortiz (Latin American Spanish) Niklas Gabrielsson (Swedish) As Flam: Scott McNeil (English)[1] Dirk Stollberg (German) Simone D'Andrea (Italian) Yōhei Tadano (Japanese) Hyeon Gyeong-su (Korean) Wojciech Paszkowski (Polish)[2] Wendell Bezerra (Brazilian Portuguese) Nikita Prozorovsky (Russian) Beto Castillo (Latin American Spanish) |
Flim and Flam, collectively known as the Flim Flam Brothers, are twin salespony unicorn brothers who first appear as antagonists in The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 and return or are mentioned in later episodes, animated shorts, IDW comics, and chapter books. Flim is called Flim Skim in some merchandise.
Development
Their names are a play on a flimflam, a confidence trick or a scam. "Skim" has various definitions and meanings.
In The Elements of Harmony guidebook, show writer M. A. Larson states, "I particularly enjoyed writing Flim and Flam. They are villains, but they are designed to be charming and disorienting. They speak very quickly. They finish each other's sentences. They're in constant motion. Everything they do is designed to dazzle and confuse people, so they can shake your hand while they're stealing your wallet. You can see their charm in action when the song ends and Apple Bloom is 100 percent ready to take their deal. This is the reaction the brothers are used to. In the midst of the song, one of the brothers confuses Applejack enough that she agrees to give them some apples for their demonstration. And when you're writing characters like that, their energy and optimism infuses the actual writing. I wrote that episode very quickly because their dialogue flew through my head as fast as it appears on-screen."
On Twitter in mid-December 2015, IDW comics writer Jeremy Whitley was asked, "Was there meant to be more done with Flim, Flam, Iron Will, and Lightning Dust that got cut? They just kinda...disappeared.", and replied, "I'd actually like to do a ff[sic] with LD and IW. I stand by Flim and Flam as unrepentant opportunists".[3]
Depiction in the series
The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000
"He's Flim!" "He's Flam!" ""We're the world-famous Flim Flam Brothers!""
Flim and Flam first appear in the season two episode The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 on their cider-making contraption of the same name and introduce themselves through song and dance. With Ponyville's citizens faced with the dilemma of a limited quantity of manually pressed cider, they turn to Flim and Flam and their automated cider production. The brothers attempt to broker a deal with the Apple family to allow themselves business in Ponyville, calling for a 75-25 split in profits in their favor. When the Apples deny the offer, Flim declares that he and his brother will drive Sweet Apple Acres out of business.
The brothers return the next day and provoke the family into a cider-making competition to garner the rest of the town's favor, declaring that whoever produces the most barrels will be the winner. The Apple family uses manual labor to contend with the brothers, but Flim and Flam's technology overpowers them. Applejack's friends offer their help to the Apple family, which the brothers permit, calling the Apples' tactics a lost cause. The additional help allows the family to produce barrels much faster and endanger the brothers' lead. In a panic, the brothers enhance their machine's suction and turn off its quality control setting, causing it to suck up whole trees, and pulping and mixing the apples with rocks and branches.
At the end of the competition, Flim and Flam have produced the most barrels and are declared the winners. However, their tactics have caused their cider to taste horrible, and all the ponies refuse to drink it. Realizing nobody in Ponyville wants to buy their product, Flim and Flam decide to try the next town over and beat a hasty retreat.
Leap of Faith
The Flim Flam Brothers marketing their "Miracle Curative Tonic".
The brothers return in the season four episode Leap of Faith, this time selling a product called the "Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic", using a musical number to hype it as a panacea able to cure any ailment and injury, and even restore youth, among other outrageous claims. The tonic appears to work on a crutch-wielding volunteer in the audience, who casts off his crutches after drinking it; and later on Granny Smith, who overcomes her crippling fear of swimming.
Suspicious of Flim and Flam, Applejack visits the brothers' tent that night and discovers that the volunteer pony, Silver Shill, is part of the brothers' act to promote the tonic. When confronted by Applejack, the two partially admit that their tonic is a useless mixture of apple juice and beet leaves. However, they point out that Granny Smith's blissful ignorance of the tonic's true nature is allowing her to relive her youth as an aquapony, and guile Applejack into silence by suggesting that she would be denying her grandmother that happiness if the truth is revealed.
The next day, Flim and Flam sell their entire stock of tonic to Granny Smith for her to perform at the Ponyville Swim Meet, while Applejack unwittingly approves of its apparent beneficial effects, boosting their credibility. They set up shop at the swimming competition, promoting Silver Shill to help sell their tonic. However, Applejack realizes the bad example her dishonesty is setting for others and, after stopping Granny Smith from performing a dangerous high diving stunt, reveals that the tonic is fake. The brothers try to save face by endorsing the tonic's placebo effects, but Silver Shill, inspired by Applejack's honesty, intervenes and further confirms the brothers' schemes. Defeated again, Flim and Flam hastily flee Ponyville before anyone notices their absence.
The brothers appear in a flashback from this episode in Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1.
The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2
In one of the altered versions of the timeline, Flim and Flam change Equestria for their liking.
Viva Las Pegasus
In the season six episode Viva Las Pegasus, Flim and Flam appear in Las Pegasus "working in a resort called" Gladmane's.[4]
Depiction in Rainbow Rocks
Animated shorts
The human counterparts of Flim and Flam appear in the short A Case for the Bass, where they run a pawn shop called "The Flim Flam Brothers' Everything-Under-The-Sun Emporium". The brothers try to swindle Applejack when she comes to retrieve her bass guitar that Granny Smith had accidentally sold them at a garage sale for two dollars. When Applejack proves her ownership of the bass, the two compromise her into working as their costumed spokesperson to pay off the instrument.
Depiction in comics
Flim and Flam in Friendship is Magic Issue #10.
Flim and Flam are mentioned in IDW comics' My Little Pony Micro-Series Issue #3, having swindled characters Flax Seed and Wheat Grass into surrendering the land their spa is built on.
They also appear in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issue #10, selling parasprite repellent.
Flim and Flam appear again in My Little Pony Micro-Series Issue #10, shown to have swindled Flax Seed and Wheat Grass out of their cart and another pony out of her sheep's wool. Princess Luna has Flim and Flam return the goods to all the ponies they had conned.
On Friendship is Magic Issue #18 page 12, alternate versions of Flim and Flam appear in a stained glass window labeled "Fairness". They are depicted wearing robes with a judge's gavel and the scales of justice.
In Friends Forever Issue #9, Flim and Flam have a heated falling-out due to their fighting over a mare in Dodge Junction. At Apple Con 45, they promote their products separately. Granny Smith, initially suspicious of the brothers' motives, helps them reconcile because to her there's nothing more important or valuable than family.
In Friendship is Magic Issue #34, Flim and Flam are recruited by Radiant Hope to orchestrate an attack on the Crystal Empire, using their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 as a Trojan horse to smuggle changelings in. Over the course of the following issues, they are captured by the Mane Six and freed by King Sombra. By Issue #36, they begin to have second thoughts about their role in the invasion.
Merchandise
Flim Skim and Flam mini-figure toys and collector cards are included in the eighth wave of mystery packs,[5] which feature the brothers on their packaging;[6] the Flim Skim toy was displayed at the 2013 New York Toy Fair.[7] According to Flim Skim's collector card, "FLIM SKIM of the Flim Flam Brothers loves to sing!" And according to Flam's collector card, "FLAM of the Flim Flam Brothers loves apple cider!"
In the Friendship is Magic Collection of toy sets, a mini-figure toy of Flam is packaged in one of six Story Packs,[8] and a mini-figure toy of Flim is packaged with the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.[9]
Other depictions
Chapter books
In Fluttershy and the Fine Furry Friends Fair Flim and Flam run the "Farnum and Failey's Top Hat Bunny Cabaret".
In Lyra and Bon Bon and the Mares from S.M.I.L.E., it is mentioned that Flim and Flam were briefly S.M.I.L.E. agents, but because they kept erasing each other's memories with their Reflection Deflections, they were dismissed from the agency.
HubNetwork.com description
Flim and his mustachioed brother Flam ride into town on their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. Doing a song and dance, these fast-talking salesponies challenge the Apple family to a cider-making contest. They win, but when everypony wises up to these Unicorns' wily ways -- the cider tastes awful! -- Flim and Flam hightail it out of town… perhaps to return again one day.
My Little Pony mobile game description
- Flim:
- The brother of fellow salespony Flam, Flim sings and dances his way into Ponyville and attempts to sell low-quality cider, among other things!
- Flam:
- A traveling salespony, Flam has a mustache and can be found running the Balloon Pop Stand with his brother Flim.
According to the mobile game, Flim and Flam live in the cider machine. A promotional image posted by the official Facebook page of the game on May 27, 2014[10] uses fanart of the two Flim Flam Brothers,[11] an edited version of the Flim part of which is to be used in the game itself.[12]
The Elements of Harmony guidebook
The FLIM FLAM BROTHERS are a pair of salespony tricksters who travel from town to town, using song and dance to trick ponies into buying their wares. But it's all just a sham—the Unicorn duo are often run right out of town when their faulty products and shady tricks are revealed!
Quotes
- "Don't worry, everypony, there are plenty of apples in Equestria. We'll find some others and make more cider than all of Ponyville can drink!"
- — Flim, The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000
- "With our machine, we can make enough cider in one hour to satisfy this entire town!"
- — Flam, The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000
- "Congratulations, Granny Smith! You just made the purchase of a lifetime!"
- — Flim talking to Granny Smith, Leap of Faith
- "Hypothetically..."
- — Flam, Leap of Faith
- "Theoretically..."
- — Flim, Leap of Faith
- "Buy it now while supplies last."
- — Flam, Leap of Faith
- "That could mean anything."
- — Flam, A Case for the Bass
- "Flim Flam's Miracle Curative Tonic! Buy it now, while supplies last."
- — Enterplay collectible card game α #155 U card of Flim
Gallery
See also
- The Flim Flam Brothers (song)
- Flam on the Collectible Card Game Wiki
- Flim on the Collectible Card Game Wiki
- Flim and Flam on the Fan Wiki
- Flim on the My Little Pony Gameloft Wiki
- Flam on the My Little Pony Gameloft Wiki
- Pony with a similar name to Flim Skim: Mocha Macchiato Caffe Latte Skim.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jayson Thiessen on Twitter (2012-01-29). Retrieved on 2012 January 29.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tomasz Steciuk thanks Wojciech Paszkowski for duet in a song (Polish) (2013-01-29). Retrieved on 2013 November 11.
- ↑ Jeremy Whitley (2015-12-17). Jeremy Whitley on Twitter: "@Godzillawolf1 I'd actually like to do a ff with LD and IW. I stand by Flim and Flam as unrepentant opportunists". Twitter. Retrieved on 2015 December 25.
- ↑ Jared Albert (2016-08-08). Discovery Family Channel SEPTEMBER 2016 PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS. Discovery Family. Retrieved on 2016 August 8.
- ↑ My Little Pony Crystal Blindbags. Tesco direct. Retrieved on 2013 March 4.
- ↑ Look what I found.. :P. Aquatic Neon (2013-03-03). Retrieved on 2013 March 4.
- ↑ Toy Fair 2013 Hasbro My Little Pony 055(1). Flickr (2013-02-09). Retrieved on 2013 March 4.
- ↑ TB27i.5cpXXXXcmXXXXXXXXXXXX-52061440.jpg (2015-04-25). Retrieved on 2015 April 30.
- ↑ Ilona (2015-02-12). Images found of the Friendship is Magic Collection. All About MLP Merch. Retrieved on 2015 February 12.
- ↑ Timeline Photos - My Little Pony Game. Facebook (2014-05-27). Retrieved on 2014 May 27.
- ↑ Flim FLam Brothers revector. DeviantArt (2012-02-19). Retrieved on 2014 May 27.
- ↑ Timeline Photos - My Little Pony Game. Facebook (2014-06-02). Retrieved on 2014 June 3.
