@Sollace
 
@Joshua  
We didn’t get to see Twilight’s Castle of Friendship in Rainbow Roadtrip. And we even get to see the movie style version of Ponyville in both the movie and in Rainbow Roadtrip.

@Sollace  
I kinda wish we saw it in at least the Rainbow Roadtrip special. It already gave us Ponyville in the movie style, for goodness sake. XD

Man, the movie version looks sooo much better. No more harsh edges!

@Wyvrex21
 
@PonyPon
 
Someone a few posts down (@Background Pony #978F) mentioned that part of it may be that it blends the elements of its design (tree, castle, crystal) more smoothly than the usual version does.
 
Plus, there’s something about the design (it may be the more organic feel rather than the usual blocky and jagged look, or as @Philweasel mentioned the thatched roofs) that makes it stand out less starkly against Ponyville’s usual aesthetic. The current version always looked to me like something from the Crystal Empire that just got plopped in the outskirts of Ponyville – I remember thinking at one point that it might have worked better as an actual masonry castle in an actual tree, looks-wise, in that regard.

@Wyvrex21  
Maybe because there’s a balance between made and grown in the castle’s design, and the new one shifts more towards grown, with it’s more curved edges and smoother, organic-looking crystal structure?

And in the end, this turned out to just be concept art and did not get used in the final movie.
 
Oh well. A pity. I quite liked the alternate design.

I’m happy just for the comparison. Thanks, OP!
 
Maybe Twilight’s house grows along with her friendship… or something

Does anyone else think the movie’s version of Twilight’s castle looks just a bit better than the standard show version? Though I can’t put my finger on exactly WHY or HOW it looks slightly better.

Both look good.

AHHH WHY IS IT SO FAT LOL

meh.

looks way better

the new one is really pretty I will admit it, but i dislike it due to it’s lack of resemblance to the shows castle. Plus the one in the show follows logic a lot better. The trunk looks like it can hold the top of the castle just fine, on the newer design, it looks like the trunk could crack and break at any minute due to all the weight on top.

@SeraphimDawn  
Placeholder for scale

It’s a freaking town on a tree!  
Also, am I seeing two Rainbow Dash looking pegasi on the movie version of the castle?

hmmm, Twilight is half as big as a tree now?

What a balcony, Mark

@Background Pony #978F  
I never said which one i like. I was just making fun of the new one. Honestly im not sure which one i like.

Just a brief note, since no one else has pointed this out in this comment thread and I have no way to confirm it (yet): Apparently the design on the right is an alternate design considered for, but not actually used in, the movie. If anyone who has the book can confirm or deny whether that’s the case, great; as it stands, I should get my copy in the next week or so, and if need be I’ll drop a comment on what I find.
 
@Background Pony #4A3C  
In this very comment thread, before your comment, Starswirl and Spiritus Arcane both expressed a preference for the show design, and the two comments from Philosopher Stone certainly makes it seem like they prefer the show version as well.
 
What’s odd is that for the first comparison image of these two designs (quickly deleted due to too much of the book’s page being used in the image), out of the first dozen or so comments, about half said the new design was worse, while no one wrote that they thought the new version was better.

@ChuymaruZ  
s02 is a little different than s01, cutie marks and names in later seasons are also being retconned, so…
 
Most likely the show will never contradict the movie, but it won’t reference it either. (But I will be glad if I’m wrong and show will indirectly reference the movie in seasons 8-9)

so… it will be like the power rangers movie, everything a little different to the show and thats means non-canon…

@Background Pony #6A64  
Level 2 complainers? I’m stating what I know from experience because I have encountered people like that who just can’t enjoy the show and have to have something to complain about every time.

Well, it sure looks different compared to the show version.

@darknessRising24  
Sadly, there’s always the lvl2 complainers like you, and level 3 complainers like me. Who knows, maybe level 4 complainer will reply to this post.

@Background Pony #BD7E  
Sadly, there’s always the more narrow-minded that side of the fandom, the ones that continuously whine and complain about everything that they hate about the show and not acknowledging any good aspects and openly claiming that the show is “dead in the water”.
 
And then they pretentiously state that apparently everyone’s just going to leave the fandom after the movie… WITHOUT EVEN SEEING THE MOVIE FIRST.
 
This is why people on that side of the fandom are not considered true Bronies, nor do they deserve to refer to themselves as such. They just look for excuses to complain about everything and completely downplay any good aspects of the series as it is now.
 
People of that side of the fandom are basically the shining example of the phrase “unpleasable fandom”, and they’re basically the reason the episode Fame and Misfortune was created in the first place.
 
And the saddest thing is, that side has existed since the Twicorn drama, and it’s proving my theory that people like them simply look for hate lightning rods to strike at just so they’ll have an excuse to complain. Once the movie hype is done they’ll immediately leap onto the next big change to the status quo just so they’ll have something else to complain about.
 
That’s just how that side of the fandom works. And they’ll continue to work that way not realizing just how insignificant to the fandom they have become.