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Released by: MVD Visual
Released on: December 17th, 2013.
Director: Laurent Malaquais
Cast: Various
Year: 2012
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The Movie:
There's a lot of grownup folk who love My Little Pony. You'd think that a lot of this would stem from nostalgia, that these would be people who grew up in the eighties and who got into the toy line when it first launched way back when but it really seems to have come to a boil when producer Lauren Faust revamped the line in 2010. It was then that My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic was born and the series, unlike the original eighties incarnation, was created in such a way that it should appeal to boys and girls alike, if not adults specifically.
Documentarian Laurent Malaquais obviously say enough interest in the strange adult subculture that enveloped the revamp to warrant making a movie about it, and that brings us to Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans Of My Little Pony. It stems back to voice actor John de Lancie, however, as he spearheaded this after coming to the realization that a lot of people who were commenting about his work on the series (he did the voice of the villain, Discord) were adults. Throw in a wildly successful kickstarter campaign and the full support of Faust herself and, voila! So is the movie any good? What if you have zero interest in little cartoon ponies and could care less about their feel good, positive messaging?
Well, if you have an interest in how and why subcultures and certain segments of fandom exist, then yes it is. As we soldier forth we meet different fans from all over the world, not just North America but Europe and even the Middle East representing a decent cross section of folks, some in their teens, most in their twenties and a few closer to middle age than that. Interviews shot at various Brony Conventions around the world allow them to explain why they're into this and what they get out of this. Interviews with psychologists lend some insight into the appeal and a segment that focuses on a young man with Asperger's named Daniel shows us the positives that his family has seen come out of his obsession with My Little Pony. The documentary also discusses some of the negative preconceptions that come from affiliation to the scene, the most obvious and commonly sighted one being that any grown man into My Little Pony is a homosexual or has something 'wrong' with him sexually. This is obviously not the case here, and the documentary really does a good job of showcasing how the appeal spreads across male and female spectrums of varying degrees of masculine and feminine personalities.
We get some interesting convention footage and some interviews with members of the series' creative team as well, just to round things out, but the focus is more on the personalities, differing as they are, of the various fans interviewed here. The documentary wisely plays everything straight, never treating its subjects with ridicule or disdain and as such, it's all the better for it. This won't change your mind about the merits of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, nor does it really even try, but it does offer a look into an admittedly bizarre but admittedly intriguing subculture.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Bronies was shot at various locations under differing conditions so some fluctuations in picture quality are to be expected but overall the anamorphic transfer, which is framed at 1.78.1 widescreen, looks fine. The movie was shot on digital video so the image stays clean and obviously there are no print damage issues. Colors look nice, detail is pretty crisp and while there are some minor source related digital compression issues, all in all the movie looks as good as you could expect a documentary made like this and on a modest budget to look. Perfection? Nope, but more than watchable.
Also completely fine is the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track that does a really good job keeping the dialogue crisp and well balanced. There are no issues with any hiss or distortion to note and all in all, things sound just fine. It's not an overly fancy mix but then, it doesn't need to be.
Outside of menus and chapter selection we get a selection of deleted/extended scenes that run just over fifteen minutes and which explore a few Brony conventions and contain some interesting footage of convention goers doing their thing.
The Final Word:
Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans Of My Little Pony does a fine job of shedding some light on a subculture many of us will be quick to dismiss or laugh at by explaining what this fandom is all about and more importantly why people are drawn to it in the first place. It probably won't convert those who aren't already into the scene themselves, but it makes for interesting viewing nevertheless.
