Okay, if you’ve been around the interwebs, I’m sure you’ve noticed the influx of fans, obsessing over the show ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’. Well, it’s a decent show and occasionally pretty damn funny. It’s enjoyable, and I understand completely why it’s so popular. It’s well written, rather aware of it’s “overly sweet” nature, and compensates by essentially having every main character be utterly insane. I suspect, with shows like this, Transformers: Prime and Dan Vs., that if the Hub network can get some better cable package distributions, they could seriously give Cartoon Network a true run for their money. Because right now, the Hub is like how Cartoon Network used to be, when it was fun and energetic, and not shoving utter garbage like Flapjack, Chowder and that… that… ABOMINATION of a show, Mad. (Seriously, CN’s Mad cartoon is the worst thing I’ve seen on television. I would rather watch a day-long marathon of the Post-Eric Foreman ‘That 70s Show’ than sit through one 15 minute episode of Mad.)
But that aside, as far as ponies go, I understand the show’s popularity. I like it. I even have myself an Applejack toy. It’s on my television, next to my Silver Age Supergirl figure and my Shadowgirl statuette. But I don’t go around, proudly declaring myself a damn brony, like I’m in a parade. “Ooooh, look at me! I watch a cartoon show meant for girls! I’m so ironic! You watch it too? Welcome to the herd! Brohoof!”
*deep sigh* (Okay girls, I’m talking to the guys here.)
Look, I feel the need to inform that this is not new grounds that’s being broken… This isn’t even re-paving an old road. Guys have been watching cartoons meant for girls for years. Back In the 80’s when I was a kid, we watched stuff like ‘She-Ra’ and ‘Jem and the Holograms’. In the 90’s, boys watched Sailor Moon and Powerpuff Girls. But we didn’t go around broadcasting it, and it wasn’t out of fear of ridicule. But out of the simple fact that we ALL watched them. No boy was ashamed to admit it, because we all knew we did. We just didn’t CARE. It’s like Rescue Rangers… We all thought Gadget was hot, but we just didn’t talk about it, because, golly, it was an unspoken truth. We were more afraid that our friends would find out that we liked a lame show more than we were if they found out we liked a girl’s show. As a kid, I was more scared someone would find out I liked ‘Silverhawks’ or ‘C.O.P.S.’ more than I was with She-Ra. Even though I’m in my 30s now, I still hold a bit of humiliation that I seen every episode of Smurfs, including the time travel season… But no one I know holds any embarrassment and ever did for ‘Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs’.
Now no one’s saying you shouldn’t have pride in a show you like. You want to like the ponies? That’s cool and you should. It’s a good show, and it’s deserving of it’s priase. (I mean, it’s not like I’ve ever been all that quiet about my love of shape-shifting robots, right?) It’s always been okay to like girls cartoons. Just like it’s always been okay for girls to like boy shows and toys. Thundercats was meant for boys, but a lot of girls watched it. Hell, it’s even okay to like a show meant for little kids. I’m rather fond of the Little Einsteins. But my question I need to ask the really vocal bronies is this: Are you just trying to be shockingly ironic? Or are you trying to spread the word about how good of a show it is?
If it’s the former, then you’re about as cutting edge as Hannah Montana.
If it’s the latter, then be a fan… But have dignity and remember moderation. Because when you’re really obnoxious, you end up looking like crazed fanboys, and you run the risk of ‘hype backlash’ where someone hears about it so much, that you actually do the exact opposite of what you were trying to do. If it’s truly any good, and if they respect your opinion, a little will go a long way.
Otherwise, you’re just being a dink.
I happen to have liked Silverhawks. I’m also conflicted about it not being on Netflix. ON the one hand, I want to see it again, on the other, I fear that when I do see it, I’m going to become deeply aware of just how terrible it really was.
So are you contemplating doing a post on Series Reboots? I can’t get HUB, so I haven’t seen much of Transformers Prime, new GI Joe, or any Ponies, but I have been watching Voltron Force and the new Thundercats premiere and I’d love to see your take on the whole thing.
Silverhawks was never as big as Thundercats, and there was a bit of derision when it came to that show. Truth be told, it holds up pretty decently, as long as you expect there will be some nostalgia decay going on. (I think it holds up better than Thundercats.)
As far as reboots go… Voltron Force, I watched one episode. One. I have the opportunity to watch more, I just don’t want to. The original Voltron was lighting that you just cannot recapture. It’s not like Robotech where the mature content was cut to hell, but it was still the same story. (Or at least was until the whole Southern Cross stuff came into play.) It wasn’t even like it’s original shows of Go-Lion and Dairugger… It’s… Voltron. The original Voltron should by al means be considered a horrible show, along with the other attempted localized anime like Tranzor-Z. But it’s insane rewrites and editing created a memorable mindscrew of a show that you just can’t replicate. I understand that there’s some people who are fans of Voltron Force, but I just think it’s missing the point. I think the animation is bad, and the new kids are just about everything I dislike about revisiting old franchises.
Thundercats though, I’ve only seen the first hour long episode, but holy crap I cannot praise it enough. It didn’t disrespect the original, it stayed true to the source materials, and paid the right amount of homages to the past, with catch phrases and animation sequences. If the remainder of the series is even half as good as the first episode is, this series could easily become my favorite cartoon show of all time.
The question re Thundercats that I’m having a hard time answering is, is it a reboot of sorts, or a long-separated sequel? Given the one-to-one correspondence of characters, including the names, on both sides of the war, it seems like they couldn’t decide which to do so they kind of did some of both.
I will say though that it looks like they completely excised the original’s cheese factor. 20 years on I found the original hard to watch, but the new pilot is quite good.
It’s a total reboot, just an intelligently done one.
Hey there, first time posting here so I’ll just say: I love Shadowgirls, keep up the awesome work! Second though, I think you may have grown up somewhere different then myself. While I wasn’t around in the 80′s to see what went down then, I very much remember kids being made fun of or at least questioned in regards to enjoying both Sailor Moon and Power Puff Girls (even though Sailor Moon and PPG were never solely intended for girls). I think my main issue with the article, even though I agree that people can like whatever they want, is that both of the shows you mentioned where rated Y7 in America (featuring some pretty intense violence for kids shows at times), and thus intended by the network for “older” audiences then Pony. The main reason why so many “Bronies” are flabbergasted by their own love of the show isn’t purely because its for girls, but because its a show aimed at 5 year old girls but still manages to be awesome.
Now I totally agree that people intending to present their Brony status as irony need to reevaluate the way they see the world, but I personally identify with Bronies out of the lolz had and a general sense of a friendly community that is united by something fairly innocent compared to the media they usually consume.
This was probably too much of a wall of text, but your article got me thinking. Have a good day!
I pretty much tried to keep my love of Power Rangers secret when I was in elementary school. I didn’t hide it THAT well, though. Fortunately, they brought in a kid that could bypass puberty when he morphed, along with little PR GoKarts, and that’s whenI stopped watching altogether (I think the downhill trek started when Zedd married Rita…he lost all badass-ness).
I have not seen the Pony show. And I have no plans on seeing it, if only to avoid being sucked into the vortex of Magical Pony love that seems to have gripped the internet by the clavical.
YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE, PONIES!
*runs into sunset*
Once I found that the entire series of Power Rangers was on Netflix, I started rewatching them in an attempt to recapture my childhood (or some crap like that), and, holy crap, that first season alone has enough cheese to make a guy (mentally) constipated. Now I know what they mean by “mind-numbing entertainment”. (And yes, I have seen Linkara’s “A History of the Power Rangers” series.)
On the other hand, as a guy, I have never been ashamed to admit that I watched Sailor Moon (IMHO, Sailor Mercury was the hottest. Nerd chicks rule!), though looking back, I realize that, in junior high, when it was airing on Toonami, it was only with the few female friends I had that I knew also watched it. Now, though, it is one of the key universes in the Megacrossover Fanfic I collaborate on (click my name for the website). I’ve even created my own Senshi team, the Kuiper Belt Senshi: Sedna, Eris, Orcus, Ixion, Quaoar, Varuna, Makemake, and Haumea.
I tried to watch MLP but couldn’t get past the writing. After first 15 minutes of the first episode (which was all I watched) I could swear I had diabetes just from listening to it, although I could wholly appreciate the fact that it’s one of the few shows, since Megas XLR, that seems to use Flash right; and from what I’ve seen, has a surprisingly high frame-rate for the type of show it is.
And since you mentioned Thundercats, I figured I’d mention that the premiere of the new series was surprisingly good in my opinion. It had enough of the feel of the old show without being just a rehash with a new look. My only complaint was that Snarf doesn’t talk.I have to admit every time I saw Cheetara I couldn’t get the “Gateway Furry” image that was on this site out of my head.
All I’ll say on this subject is this… my cousin introduced me to this because apparently the series has gone down exceptionally well with the LGBT community (something I put down to little more than Rainbow Dash’s hair/mane/whatever you call it) and due to this she basically sat me down and forced me to watch a half-dozen episodes.
And I love it. It basically reminded me of the other “show for girls” I fell for, Lucky Star, albeit pitched generally for a slightly younger audience so no jokes or obsevations about periods, dating, boobs and Japanese ero-games. The self-awareness of it all, also the ability it has to play with its own format and conventions (often picking holes in them as it goes). I so desperately wanted to hate it, just like I used to hate any Disney movie that wasn’t The Black Hole… but couldn’t. Then seeing what the YouTube and the fan community have done with it (the trailers for 300 Ponies, P for Pinketta and Watchponies are something to see if you’ve not seen them before), and the fact this is all embraced by Lauren Faust… it’s just not a combination you see often. Hell, few creators get as close to their audience as you guys do, but to have a sindicated cartoon series take on board the fan community so readily without getting litigious… it’s a rare thing. Laudable.
If that makes me one of these Bronie things, so be it. At least I can watch a dozen episodes of MLP:FIM without wanting to kill myself. Unlike Naruto or Dragonball, which I’m yet to get through an episode of without wanting to drink everything in the cleaning closet.
It’s interesting how the ponies meme is on the rise. Here in Brazil a car ad use them and the song they singed hit the first local Trending Topic, #poneismalditos roughly translated as cursedponies. I guess the old ones found more clever to enter our minds in a extra cute way.
Cartoon Network is coming back. It has Adventure Time, Regular Show and now Thundercats. It also had Symbionic Titan briefly, and that was a great piece of Tartakovsky.
I dunno man… For every good show, they seem to have five pieces of crap.
I’d give’em Adventure Time (nothing spectacular, but a decent enough show when nothing else is on), but I don’t know if they can brag about Regular Show. That’s just…yeeesh.
I think Symbionic Titan wasn’t enough “action” for the audiences. Granted it had the the “teen” aspect that can be quite tiresome (thanks to ABC Family and The CW having a new teen angst drama premiere every month), but there were some very clever subtleties that made it a great watch.
I hope they reassemble the action line-up on Fridays. Thundercats would fit quite nicely with Generator Rex and Young Justice (and Brave and the Bold, but I think that has only one season left).
Ah Silverhawks, that takes me back. But yeah, I know what you mean, but then that’s pretty typical about the way guys go about many things in their life. I’m still not sure what to make of MLP:FiS(which is a humorous acronym in and of itsself), but I agree regarding the Hub. But time will tell which way they go from here, I remember when people said the same thing about CN regarding the WB or FoxKids, then about the Nicktoons, Toon Disney and Boomerang networks.
It’ll be interesting to see if people of the generations that so enjoyed the 80′s, 90′s and early 2000 cartoons take charge in developing programming for a new generation. I think we’re seeing the very cusp of it, but if it will take off though new media distribution formats is yet to be seen. Here’s hoping.
Ok I just have to say it. Pon-Pon the Destroyer is dangerous. That’s weapon grade adorable right there. Fry a whole city with one of those ponies!
Whens the comic start back up again? or again again in this case?
Long time lurker, first time commenter. You know the drill, et cetera, et cetera, yadda yadda yadda, love what you do, ad nauseum.
Back when I had a pair of young nephews to watch over during the daylight hours, I actually got to love some of their shows. Well-done and proper shows, such as Bear And The Big Blue House and the original Blue’s Clues, were a wild and welcome addition to their daytime viewing schedule, if only because it significantly cut down on the inane and insane babble-and-bubble scream screen that they usually wanted to see.