The Official Pony Thread

[Spartan5015]

So i have a quick question to pose to all of you...

WTF IS UP WITH THE BRONIES!?

It seems to me like they became popular almost overnight (as far as I can tell, right after the cartoon came out). And I don't get it... I don't get the allure, nor to I understand why it's gotten so popular.

Can someone please explain this to me? I'm quite confused.

I'm not posting this as a jab to anyone's opinions... I just want to understand why bronies are so popular.

[Suraru]

1. Because people some people were open minded enough to try the show
2. The show ended up actually being cool because of the good writing and lovable characters,
3. People told other people to try the show, most people probably tried it to go with as a "joke" then found out its actually pretty good.
and
4. Collage kids get bored
5. Its nothing like "My Little Pony" were talking about "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"

Due note, you need to watch at least 5 episodes to understand the show.

[BlueLight]

5. Collage kids get bored.

You changed it!

4. Collage kids get bored.

Phfff Any real collage kid worth his salt would know that a line like this is way better.

Code: Select All Code

Ms. Bitters: Zim, the machine says that the only career you are suitable for is-
Zim: Yes, yes! Lord of humans! I will rule you all with an iron fist!
Ms. Bitters: No, Zim. The machine has assigned you a career in fast food preparation.
Zim: Then I will prepare food with my iron fist! Then I will work my way up to ruling you all with my fist! [to Melvin] You! [shakes fist in Melvin's face] Obey the fist!

[Spartan5015]

I'm inclined to agree Bluelight... Invader zim ftw!!

@Suraru - please explain it to me. what makes it so good? I'm looking for specifics here - not just 'people watched the show and they liked it'

[Mr D]

Well I like the show and if you want to know what I like about it than here it is:

Animation - the show is made in Flash and as someone who works with Flash I can appreciate how the animation is done.
Jokes - I honestly get a lot of chuckels from the show. Sometimes becouse the jokes are well done or how bad shit insane the show can get. And I am a big fan of comedy. And this show has a lot of it.
Design - I like the style the characters are drawn and the characters look colorfull. Yes most of them have only like 2 colors if you look at them closely but the design combined with the choice of colors makes them look like more than they really are and that is something. And also their desigh captures very well their personalyties and I find that very impresive.
Story - A lot of animated show have story that just pisses me right off (many many shows). This one somehow does not. And that is a + in my book.
Characters - most of the characters are overaly likeable (even if they are stereotypes).
Community - yes community. As I said before I am a fan of comedy/jokes and the community makes a lot of jokes based on the source material. And that is also something that makes me enjoy the show.
Fluttershy - ......this does not need to be eplained, it's a given
Voice actiong - it's good.

Those are the reasons I enjoy the show. But overaly the show can just make me smile most of the time and that is enough for me.

[Suraru]

Number 2, and I think 5 counts as reasons why its so awesome, but then mr D explains it in better detail.

[trunks2585]

I'm inclined to agree Bluelight... Invader zim ftw!!

@Suraru - please explain it to me. what makes it so good? I'm looking for specifics here - not just 'people watched the show and they liked it'

How about the fact that there's more to this series than what you'd expect. A serious issue in ponyville for example isn't 'someone lost their favorite hairbrush'. It's 'there's a fucking dragon in the mountains that's sleeping, snoring, and polluting our air. Go get him to move." Hell the first two episodes were a 2 parter that revolved around stopping a pissed off Alicorn that had been sealed away IN THE FUCKING MOON FOR 1000 YEARS. And the start of the second season? Stopping the very embodiment of Chaos who had been sealed in stone for even longer.

There's a lot of laid back and lax episodes as well, by far they are the majority, but they aren't mind numbingly girly or childish. And that's the thing to really drive home for getting someone to give the show a chance, it's not what they expect from first hearing about it.

[GoRepeat]

A good example is the Flim Flam Brothers episode. One of the main ponies, Apple Jack, runs a local apple farm with her family. In this episode it is one of their harvest times where they produce cider, however, the problem is presented that they can not produce cider at a rate that would satisfy the demand of the ponies (poor Rainbow Dash). So what happens is that two con artists roll into town declaring that they can produce cider at a faster rate (via old school vaudville musical which in itself was awesome).

In a normal kids show, the moral of an episode like this ends up being that producing more at less quality is worse than producing few at high quality. But in MLP:FiM that isn't the case; in fact, the entire CON that Flim and Flam are running is people making that assumption about their business. In reality, their machine produces 6x the quantity of the farm with the same quality standards. And they offer to split the profits with the Apple's 25/75 (75 them) in order to produce at 6x the normal rate. If you do the math, this actually works out to be a good deal as quality standards don't drop.

Even Twilight, the "smart" pony, doesn't see the real con because everyone assumes it is about quality as is standard for a child's show morality lesson (good 4th wall). The only pony who catches it, Apple Jack, calls the con after the first encounter with Flim and Flam, when she says "You can't sell your product here because it is made from our apples, you have no right to sell it". You see, although they produce 6x faster, Flim and Flam don't actually bring their own supply or ADD anything to the process. That is the con: over the course of the harvest, they would produce the same amount of cider as the Apples because there are a FINITE amount of trees to harvest. They would just do it in 1/6th of the summer instead of the whole summer. Nothing is added, the supply is burned through faster, and they walk away with 75% of the profit.

That is a pretty damn amazing story structure. This is a business model problem that most people simply don't understand and it is a reason why a lot of small businesses fail: they don't understand the difference between set and infinite supply. The Flim Flam brothers make it about QUALITY and SPEED which they can match and surpass the Apple family on; and they misdirect everyone away from the real con: they have no SUPPLY.

They really only lose the bet when the other Mane 6 help out and begin to surpass their production speed. So now the Apples have quality, speed and supply whereas the Flim Flam brothers only have quality and speed. They sacrifice quality to win the race and end up losing the favor of the consumers (go Capitalism). By the end of the episode they have SUPPLY because they won the farm, but no longer have DEMAND because they had to give up their secondary dynamic, quality, in the race after losing their primary, speed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoWMeqc81yY

That is some seriously deep shit for a kids show.

What makes it more funny, is that in a lot of the commentary by people about the episode, they do the math and claim that the episode is stupid because the Apple's would make more money by taking up Flim and Flam's offer. Why is this awesome? BECAUSE THE VIEWERS THEMSELVES ARE FALLING FOR THE IMAGINARY PONY'S CON. Seriously. Think about that for a while. The episode is constructed in such away that even the VIEWERS themselves are conned by the characters. Even Apple Jack missed the point (which is why her statement "I learned nothing" is ironically true: the real lesson is not burning through your supply fast and crashing the market).

[bed_intruder]

It's magic, I don't have to explain shit.

[Zeus Kabob]

Actually, Gorepete, the con artists lost because they made low-quality cider. Their machine was quicker than a family while retaining high quality, but couldn't beat all of the friends who joined in. The moral is pretty standard "if everyone works together, they can do anything!". As this show is titled "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", the moral of friendship being very important is fairly on-cue.

Not meaning to say that I didn't enjoy the hell out of that episode, of course. I'll say that that show is probably the best on television, but I don't like television as a distribution medium, and I don't watch it (aka my opinion on what's the best television show has very little weight).

[jayjaycaps]

A good example is the Flim Flam Brothers episode.i

Best villains so far, if you ask me. They open with a great song, and I've always liked fast talking 1980's salesmen.

That, and Applejack's lesson, or rather lack there of.

[GoRepeat]

They were good, but Discord was still the best. Those episodes were just batshit insane hilarious. When Fluttershy was too passive and accepting to be corrupted and he was just like "screw it" still has yet to be topped.

[Spartan5015]

Haha wow thanks for the replies and the highly specific answers. I may just be too prideful and scared for my reputation to watch the show myself but at least I understand why everyone's going crazy about them... Its not too often a good quality cartoon comes out that adults and children can find entertainment from. A lot of television stations seem to be focused on quantity, and not quality (pun intended) So while I probably wont find the time out of my already busy schedule to watch it, it's refreshing to know that cartoon stations are making truly entertaining shows for all ages that don't try to brainwash the younger generation into the "friendship, sharing, and leading a healthy lifestyle" crap.

[BlueLight]

Cartoon network was the place to watch great stuff when i was kid. They've gone down hill and i skip that channel like the plague now which is kinda harsh since i have no clue what they run anymore.

[GoRepeat]

Cartoon network was the place to watch great stuff when i was kid. They've gone down hill and i skip that channel like the plague now which is kinda harsh since i have no clue what they run anymore.

Lauren Faust, the executive producer (now consulting), was the same writer/producer as the Power Puff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Both of these were also amazing shows from the "good years" of Cartoon Network (Dexter's Lab, et al). Pretty much anything she ties her name to is amazing and loaded with a lot of subtext.

Hell, the final episode of Power Puff Girls was never aired in the US because of how dark and serious the subtext was. Basically the town turns into a cult that worships the villain, he actually dies at the end, and the "moral" that the girls learn is that there is no such thing as pure peace and goodness because it can't exist without evil.

[BlueLight]

The sad fact is that i had a power puff girl coloring book. Looking back on that fact fills me with shame.

I never liked Ed, Edd,and Eddie but i know some people who did so i have to say the fall of CN would have to be the beer gut guy flying the mech cartoon or billy and Mandy . (I think theres 4 years between the two)

I have to say the restart of courage wasn't half bad when i saw it. That about the time i had already given up hope of cartoons.

[GoRepeat]

The sad fact is that i had a power puff girl coloring book. Looking back on that fact fills me with shame.

I never liked Ed, Edd,and Eddie but i know some people who did so i have to say the fall of CN would have to be the beer gut guy flying the mech cartoon or billy and Mandy . (I think theres 4 years between the two)

I have to say the restart of courage wasn't half bad when i saw it. That about the time i had already given up hope of cartoons.

lol why would that fill you with shame? This was the Villains death speech in the last episode:

"As I descend to the Earth, and I view the Universe above me . . . I realize that life evolves, revolves, and . . . dissolves completely around the opposites. Therefore, I conclude, that I cannot exist within my Utopia . . . my . . . " (dies)

He took all the girls powers so they basically talked him into suicide. That show was AMAZING.

You should be proud of your coloring book!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... vlY#t=526s

[BlueLight]

For some reason i need to know what this episode is really about to make rainbow dash cry... GAHH! MUST NOT WATCH!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwyIR598 ... TMAcm2-KZQ

[GoRepeat]

For some reason i need to know what this episode is really about to make rainbow dash cry... GAHH! MUST NOT WATCH!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwyIR598 ... TMAcm2-KZQ

Sonic Rainboom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6eLr-88S8A

[BlueLight]

_{Ya, ya}*deepbreath*_ya