Where Did They Go Right?

[SBaby 660]

Well, it's that time again. Season 2 has come to a close, and as we await the next Season, now seems like a good time to go back and reflect a bit on how this whole crazy thing started, and how far we've come since the beginning.

 

Most of us know by now the factors that were involved in making FiM popular. But when you really think about it, the popularity was unlikely at best (unplanned would probably be a better word to describe it). I mean, this is My Little Pony we're talking about. A show that Hasbro created to appeal to little girls. And when you think about it, FiM did succeed in getting through to its target demographic. I know alot of people that have kids who watch the show, and they love it for various reasons.

 

That brings me to what I think the theme of this topic is going to be. This show was intended for young kids, mainly girls. Yet it garnered a pretty big fanbase in only two years, many of them, adult males. The Bronies, as the fanbase calls itself.

 

So here's the question that I'm going to ask on this topic. We've got a franchise that is historically the wrong genre, the wrong target demographic, and the wrong atmosphere. So, where did it go right? What was it for you?

 

For me, it was a mix of things, from forum posts about the show, to youtube members suddenly having pony avatars, to the Nostalgia Critic saying something about the show. Then I finally watched it and was hooked on it ever since.

 

So, what made it click? What made you realize this show was different? In other words, where did they go right?

[Why-Gnome-Ear-Fifty 400]

Ummm....I tend to like unpopular things. Especially when there's a passionate fanbase about it that's almost as crazy as me! (No offense to any of you. ) So MLP fit perfectly. At least that's my side of the story....

[CapnKrunk 307]

Its the effort they put into the show and the characters personalities.

[caesar15 231]

Its lauren faust

[Mephala 2,633]

Its lauren faust

 

Yeah, but let's not forget the AMAZING writers and AMAZING animators. It's not all Lauren

[Champion RD92 8,658]

I think what made me love the show so much was the personalities of the characters and the amazing visual style.

[Yellow Diamond 7,569]

Lauren is worthy of praise, but she hasn't crafted everything we've seen thus far. A lot of the other staff members were responsible for the second season's success.

 

Put succinctly, smart writing, compelling characters, strong animation, and wonderful musical numbers have really helped My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic take off. Bronies, I think, are to be commended as well; we might have started off as something of an ironic fanbase (i.e., we like the show because it is intended for little girls), yet we consistently grew and expected higher quality. Studio B definitely hears us---as has Hasbro, surprisingly, I think---and that has allowed them to keep pace with the fandom to prevent the show from being, well, a one-trick pony.

[chef sanders 101]

A whole slew of factors. Before I watched the show itself, I watched some fan animations and read some fanfics. I was really astonished that such a show can make people write emotionally provoking material like "My Little Dashie." The final nail came from a youtube video titled "I, Brony" that convinced me to give the show a chance. I rolled the dice and I don't regret it.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

Very likable and lovable characters, entertaining writing that appeals to both children and adults, and the beautiful visuals of both the characters and the environments they're in, not to mention the top notch animation.

[QueenChrysalis 176]

its had a very touching ending and a darker glow to it that makes you think what this was for little girls phhhhhh ya right

[weegeez 150]

admittingly, i wouldnt be watching this show if they still made shows like this, but since good cartoons have diminished almost completly, i had to turn to something i never thought i would,ponies, and boy is it amazing, its up there with my favorite cartoons of all time (Dexter's lab,hey arnold, the first 3 seasons of spongebob,)

[Batbrony 16,055]

One word: EFFORT

 

The second I started watching this show, that's the first thing that I saw. Honest to gosh, legitimate effort!!! And not that that's the only element that's gone into making this show a success; but it may be the most crucial and fundamental element. The first and most important sign for me of a high quality show, or any media related product/franchise for that matter, is seeing effort from the makers, and let tell ya, I just knew the second I started watching the first episode that Lauren Faust, the animators, writers, and voice actors/actresses were giving a 110% effort and loving every minute of it. So when it comes down to it, know matter how much I love the humor, writing, characters, or animation, the first and foremost thing that I love and always have loved about the show, the foundation for me of its success, is the effort that's gone into making it.

 

Trot on Lauren, along with everyone else involved with the show!

[Fox 5,330]

BRONIES DOING WORK SINCE1983!

NAW JK MLP-FIM FTW! <3

[Radiance64 7,053]

Hm, that's a tough question, but I guess what the show gets right for me is its feel- the fact that it never manages to get to cutesy or girly despite being about colorful, sentient ponies never ceases to amaze me, and always gets me to come back for more.

[bloodyfox 65]

I started seeing a lot of pony related pictures/posts on funnyjunk about mid 2011. At first I thought it was people trying to be humorous by spamming cartoon ponies all over the site so I never really thought much about and ignored them. By late January to early February of this year, the number of pony related material I came across was astounding! At that time I was still unaware of the brony...phenomenon shall we call it? Eventually I became curious as to why there was so much pony stuff on the internet and started checking out what was going on. I initially thought it was weird for males in general to watch a show for girls(let alone younger girls). I didn't understand their fascination with ponies. I was pretty neutral about it but told myself I would never watch the show. Eventually I decided to see why grown men were enjoying this show. I thought, "I am confident with my manliness. I can watch an episode of MLP and I won't like it because I'm a man"(I had always and still do have an affection for cute things which I never expressed to anyone and always made sure to hide when around other people). So I watched an episode with a family friend's 1 year old daughter whom I was babysitting. I believe it was "The Secret To My Excess". I thought, "For a modern cartoon this isn't bad, but I still don't get why men like it so much." So I watched more episodes and as I watched more, I saw how great the animation and art was compared to its contemporaries and how the scripting seemed to flow naturally and wasn't forced to fit the situation, and I learned more about the characters and their personalities and before I knew it I began to fall in love with the show.

 

TL;DR I bucking love ponies!

[ImAvinOops 83]

I saw a "reaction" video on YouTube. The person showing the video looked really into it. The person who was watching it for the first time was very skeptical at first but by the end of the first two episodes he really liked it.

I thought I should give it a try. Since that say I have never looked back!

[SrFrog 927]

The production values, cuz' you know they could of simply went the cheap way with the development of the show. Instead you got experienced voice actors and development crew that created more than a simple show to sell toys.

[Ron Jeremy 2,032]

The quality of the show itself, while a huge factor, isn't the entire reason the show took off and gained a "extra" fanbase. What did that? Sheer exposure. Videos, avatars, fanart, fanfics, everything pony related started cropping up on the internet, and people kept seeing it. Click a thread, see a Rainbow Dash avatar. Click a video, hear "It needs to be about 20% cooler." and as a result, people started thinking "Well, if it's that popular, I might as well give it a shot, even if I do so ironically" and the herd kept growing. And the presence of such a huge fandom made the concept of watching the show less of a "weird" thing since with the conformist mentality*, more people into something = more acceptable it is to try it.

 

All those things combined eventually leads us today, where we have many-hits-a-day fansites, active brony forums, amazing fan work, and many other things that are credit to fandom floating around the interwebby.

 

tl;dr while the show is amazing, it would have never gotten as far as it did had a chain reaction not been set. What they did right was break the mold when it comes to "little girl's shows" and made something that's actually a good show, assembled talented people to work on it, instead of having cheap outsourced animation and shoddy voice acting, mindlessly pandering to a too-young-to-know-any-better demographic and shoving toy advertisements down their throats.

[Cupcake Ice Cream 436]

Wonderful season...I think she really dug into pony personalities a bit more. It gave us a clearer picture of just who these ponies are. Like Last Roundup gave us a better and more in depth look at AJ and her pride and shortcomings

[Envoy-in-exile 101]

Quality of the show plus the internet popularity I guess, I haven't watched an episode in over a month when I lost my internet connection at home. Maybe I'll do a marathon sometime later to catch up on lost episodes.

[Shadow Stallion 436]

The connections Hasbro made with the bronies(: