>>31176453Every part still has to be edited frame-by-frame, by hand, as the character moves. To some extent you can distort a single symbol -- in this case, a pussy -- but that only goes so far. Do it too much, and it starts looking like bad Flash. Hou have to draw multiple symbols at different angles.
You can tell where the DHX animators cheat with distortion (shape tweens and such) and where they don't. They distort the ponies' hair for its bounce. They seem to distort haunches and cutie marks in walk cycles. But, they know when they can get away with it. When they can't, they draw a new symbol. They're the best Flash animators I've ever seen.
That kind of stuff is why MLP:FiM doesn't usually look like Flash.