When my 17-year-old son told me he loves My Little Pony, I thought he was kidding. Turns out, he wasn’t. In fact, there’s a whole subculture of teenage boys who love the TV show with the sugary-sweet ponies spouting messages of love and tolerance. They’re called “bronies.”
“I find the show hilarious and love being part of the Internet community,” says my son. “The show reminds me of the cartoons from the 90s, when cartoons weren’t just mindless spiel, but talked to kids as if they were adults. They didn’t water things down for them.”
Several My Little Pony fan sites have popped up over the past few years, like Equestria Daily and Ponychan. Then came the fan-made videos, like this one that riffs off the movie [amazon_link id=”B001GZ6QEC” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Dark Knight[/amazon_link].
And this one, based on [amazon_link id=”B001FB55H6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Watchmen[/amazon_link].
But this is a pink-letter day, my friends, because there’s a brand new DVD out today from Shout! Factory called [amazon_link id=”B0063FGF14″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Friendship Express[/amazon_link]. They succeeded in their quest to get “friendship” in the title as much as possible.
If you — or your teenage sons or preschool daughters — haven’t yet experienced the magic of My Little Pony, currently airing on The Hub, now is the perfect time to hop on board that train.
Here’s the story: When Twilight Sparkle gets an incomplete in friendship (sad!), Princess Celestia sends her pupil to Ponyville, where she meets five special ponies who take her on exciting adventures and teach her the most powerful magic of all … the magic of friendship! Annnndddd … friendship! Just had to get that in there ONE MORE TIME.
The DVD includes five episodes, including:
- Friendship Is Magic, Part 1 (Mare In The Moon)
- Friendship Is Magic, Part 2 (Elements Of Harmony)
- Over A Barrel
- Hearth’s Warming Eve
- The Last Roundup
Here’s a few clips to get you jazzed:
The Cherry Picking Line:
Canterlot / Christmas:
Opening Song:
Buffalo Stampede:
And here’s some cool activity sheets!
And a groovy slideshow!
Are you (or your teenage son) a My Little Pony fan? Did you even know of this underground subculture?
Well, this surprised me. I remember My Little Pony from when my boys were little ponies, themselves. Never would have thought that a teenage boy would be enamored of this cartoon. It’s kind of sweet, when you think about it.
It really is sweet! And some of those fan-made videos are hilarious.
hmmmmm….well at the moment my granddaughter loves minnie mouse- not sure if she will take to this ‘pony express’ thingy- but it is worth a try.
This is so fantastic and awesome and fantastically awesome. My 4 year old daughter has a MLPony book that she got from a friend. She LOOOOVES it. I never knew there was a movie or show or whatever. We should get your son and my daughter together to share their common love of MLP’s!
Katherine – I’d love to send this DVD to your daughter! I’ll email you for your address.
I have never heard about this little ponies and I want to see it and prove if it is really nice to watch with the kids…
Wow! I think my daughter had a My LIttle Pony figurine with long hair she used to brush. I had no idea it was such a hot thing these days!
I’d say this is crazy, but among the artsy hipster set in my high school, the Gossip Girl books were all the rage (this was before the show, of course). Our irony culture gone amuck!
You just never know what might catch on! Next thing you know, we’ll see a resurgence of Twilight, only with teen boys. And then the earth will slowly grind to a halt.
Holy guacamole — they’re back? Your earlier commenter is right: It really is kind of sweet when you think about it.
Jane — this is a New York Times or Slate or Salon trend story. I hope you pitch it. People would love to read about “bronies.”
See, this is why I’m so glad you’re here, Joe. With the syndication business, I’m so far removed from pitching stories that I wouldn’t have thought of this. I know Wired did something on it last year, but the trend is still out there, so I’ll put a pitch together. Thank you!
I had no idea that this was a growing fad. But…. it makes me wonder. There were certain shows–usually cartoons–that I happen to remember certain teens watching when they were stoned (not me, of course. Of course, you know, I was a goodie goodie who never once did anything illegal).
Feel like I’m somehow missing out…I’ve never seen this! (Very colorful!)
I fully admit to unironically watching Pokemon and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers with my friends while in high school (and Tiny Toons/DuckTales before that), but no one gave us a cool moniker like “bronies!” Jealous.
Code Lyoko was my cartoon of choice as a grownup, but mostly because I fell madly in love with the theme song.
I haven’t seen it, but it must be something really special for a 17 year old boy to like!
I actually want to prove to myself why your boy really likes this a lot. It seems really nice.
OK. I do find this a little weird, but when I tweeted the link another friend said she had JUST heard about another friend’s son being a major Brony.
Apparently, there’s a lot of them out there! Winnie the Pooh is also big. 🙂
I loved my little pony too when I was a child! And I also love it now!!!!
Your son is awesome. Nuff said. That show is legit…
He IS awesome! And he just graduated from high school today – so proud – sniff…
Heck, I’m a brony and I’m 15 and I love this show! Now if I were to see myself watching this show a year or 2 ago, I would have punched myself in the gut and say I was gay (I’m definitely not gay!). If you really try the show, then you would realize that it can be for all ages. Plus the show has good humor and plenty of jokes that older people would understand and get a good laugh.
Then their is MLP Rule 34 and ……..
If your son can admitting loving it then I suppose as a 20 year old bloke I can too.
While I do enjoy a lot of programmes sometimes nothing beats cartoons such as my little pony for a quick laugh.
I’m part of the “younger bunch” of bronies, meaning I’m a 14 year old girl, and I have many brony friends. Its great that we have a real fandom, cause it makes it easier for guys to admit they like it! I’m really into my little pony, and find it sweet that other teens like it too!
My daughter is 10 years old, & she ADORES MLP! I think the shows are sweet! I know she will love this video!
My son is 10 and he is a (this is a new word for me).. Bronie! He loves it!! Lol Another flash back from the past that he got into was Sherlock Holmes. Our up coming generation is quite the bunch!!
I’m an 18 year old girl and i love my little pony <3