Here's my original take on the Derpy Hooves "removal":
Well, some whiny viewers of MLP apparently must have threatened to take Hasbro to court or something because of the whole thing with Derpy Hooves. So therefore Hasbro decided to go back, ALTER THE ANIMATION, AND RE-DUB THE SCENE, eliminating Derpy's name and crossed eyes. Seriously. The only people they made proud are the anime butchers who work for 4kids...
Not kidding though. They removed Derpy.
From my recollection, Snips and Snails both fulfill more of the archetypes of a mentally handicapped individual. I mean, when your "talent" is being mentally slow, that's actually crossing the very same boundary.
Derpy also serves as an expression of the individual who may be deficient in some areas but is still an endearing, well-liked member of a social community. By making her conform, Hasbro sent a worse message: ableism (the act of discriminating against someone based off of mental capability) is socially acceptable.
I've fought for mental equality on other accounts and pages before. I'll admit, though, I didn't even know what I was talking about. I also couldn't grasp its meaning.
This however, hits home. I can't say for certain what kind of impact it has, but it muddies the waters a bit for my fellow bronies and I.
LINKS:
Comparison of Original and Edited scenes
BaldDumboRat's response
SaberSpark and PaleoSteno's response
