Why I think MLP FiM got so popular (As well as what you think made it

[Sakaki Yuya 7]

Meme fuel. That's exactly what i think made MLP attract fans. And maybe Pinkie Pie too. Anyone else agree?

[Scootalove 10,692]

I think the characters and the episodes attracted the fans, the memes were just something that we made for comedy.

[Thespian 78]

From what I heard, it was 4chan that made it so popular. Whether it was all a joke at first or what, eventually people actually began to like it, and thus the memes like you said were born. Then came the artwork, the music, the fanfiction, and then finally the conventions. Once mainstream society began to notice it the haters were born and they spread its message to a whole new group of people who had never seen it. Then companies like hottopic and others began making more and more merchandise. Now the fandom is at its biggest and people are slowly beginning to be more accepting of it.

[BastementSparkle 20,335]

I thought it was the smooth animation, well-developed characters, decent sense of humor, fun and catchy music, and simple but pleasant artstyle. Combined with the fact that it was so unexpected that an Mlp cartoon could be this good.

 

 Maybe I'm wrong though.

Edited April 22, 2014 by BasementPony

[Nuke87654 1,849]

-Lauren Faust being attached to the show attracted alot of attention, most notably from 4chan.

 

-The simple but cute animation also attracted many fans from animes.

 

-As Basementpony pointed out, Catchy music and allowing remixes of them attracted musicians into the fandom too.

 

-The whole 'us against the world mentality' also kept bronies within the fandom when it attracted hate filled attention.

 

-The amount of freedom Hasbro has allowed artists to enjoy compared to other companies has also attracted alot of artists into the community.

 

-Unlike a certain company towards a certain fandom (poor Young Justice fans, can't believe Cartoon Network did that to them), Hasbro seriously targeted the Brony fandom and made some MLP merchandise to the older fans of the show. They even sell MLP beer mugs! https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xCoJzfQyiXQ/UprXITTlqCI/AAAAAAABnbs/isSj2317jkM/s1600/2.jpg.

and allow artists from the community to put their artwork and design for sell such as We Love Fine.

 

-Which in turn attracted more attention from people as they started to enjoy the creative output of this fandom (I've read this fandom in two years has out putted more fan art content than Star Trek, DC, Marvel, and Star Wars fandoms combined.)

 

-Being one of the few genuinely good cartoons airing is also a plus.

 

-The attention the DHX staff has given to the fandom also helped as well.

 

-The light hearted innocent humor, stories, and occasional adventure stories has helped attract slice of life fans.

 

-The mane 6 themselves being one of the better made cast of characters in a cartoon in recent memory has especially allowed the fandom and others to grow attached to the show.

 

-Finally, the internet and allowing users to maintain coherent relationships with each other without directly interacting with them also has helped the many introvert fans of the show.

 

That's my two cents at least on this matter.

Edited April 22, 2014 by Nuke87654

[dekutree64 713]

Another factor is that despite being targeted toward kids and cute looking in general, the main characters are actually adults, which makes it more relatable to the older crowd, without alienating the kids either.

 

Also, Hasbro's leniency toward youtube is a huge part of the show's popularity. No way it would have taken off if only people in certain countries with top of the line cable TV could watch it.

[man dude man 555]

Netflix + Netflix Documentary, majorly spiked mainstream media interest, with people seeing a documentary about grown men taking a liking to MLP, and then having the option to watch the actual show following it, probably drew in newcomers of their own kind like myself. I listen to proud trolls points, but all that they did was get some viral on forum sites, and in troll caves like 4chan, the next step was putting it at the finger tips of everypony. I wasnt even aware it was a 4chan rager until after i finsihed watching all the EPs on Netflix, the documentary, and finished watching the show on the web on dubbed scene. It was later after I joined the forums that people had shown me the ironic sarcastic troll obsession that so many trolls pride themselves in, but in reality I would say make up less than 30% of the overrall actual fandom at this point.

Edited April 22, 2014 by Starlight Glisten

[Singe 2,111]

FIM is like watching some of those family shows from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.