VOICEOVER: My Little Pony...
From its early days as a mere children's toyline
to the modern blockbuster films and events.
The Franchise has been ever-growing as a part of modern culture.
The show in recent iterations has garnered quite the following.
And one that has no shortage of creativity
and inspiration.
These are the bronies...
and these, are their inner workings...
*Introduction Song*
My name is Tullis Lewis-McCord
and in the fandom I am known as "ClickToTry"
or ClickToTry Animating or ClickToTry Gaming
or just ClickToTry
Jolly in Background: "You have lots of different names"
*Click Laughs* Yes...
Hello I am Steffan Gwynn
I am also known as FD-Daylight in the Brony Fandom
My name is Kiera Carrington
But...
The Pony Fandom knows me as Midnight Dance.
I started... uhhh...
I started in the MLP Fandom about...
5 years ago...
when a friend of mine went "Hey check out this cool new show"...
"I know it's, you know"
"I know it's for babies but it's actually got a nice storyline."
so I had a look at it on Netflix
and I thought to myself that it was pretty good
I quite liked the -- I started... Season 2 episode 3?
Uhh I don't know what the episode was about
Since then I've moved on to...
animating on YouTube, on Source Filmmaker
I've moved onto...
trying to uh...
watch as much as I could
I can or could...
cause at the moment it's quite difficult with college and work and all that jazz...
STEFFAN: Well I got involved in the fandom...
by finding some like, parody videos
of this kinda thing...
like YouTube Poops, some really random...
videos online
um I saw this oh I'm aware of My Little Pony
it's like that old, you know pony show
So I... I
saw the parody videos and saw that there was a recent one
and I thought like "Ey, I like cartoons"
"um I liked stuff like Power Puff Girls, that was pretty entertaining"
so I decided to, uh you know, check it out!
cause I've always liked kids cartoons.
and all that so...
I checked out My Little Pony...
I checked it out and I was pretty invested very quickly
TULLIS: I think My Little Pony has sort of uh...
...pushed me into the "Hey, you can be less socially awkward...
now that you have something that loads of people like".
And then when I started liking My Little Pony, I thought
"Oh no, is anyone else going to like this?"
So I started asking around; turns out a few people did.
Others were a bit less uh...
...welcome to the idea.
I had one person in college when I told him I was a brony just go
"Ughh, not you again. Not a brony..."
*scoffs*
and they said it was basically the same as me
like, they came up told they were bronies, confident as could be
They still talked...
...but he's more distant because of the fact that he's a brony
which seems to be a bit alarming.
*music*
The animation I started because I wanted to...
...show off my mind and my ideas.
But, being my ideas
and liking how flawless it looked
and then actually trying to make them was just kind of a bit...
*inhales*
Got off to a rocky start, I'd say.
But, as time went on, I went "No, I've got to learn this"
"I've got to understand how it worked"
Because I've been given this opportunity to be a part of a...
...big fandom, and also being given the opportunity to be part
of a movie that I had no idea what was going on
'cause I had only watched the first and second one.
I had absolutely no idea what was going on
apart from the fact that it was jokes and fun times.
STEFFAN: Since using SFM, er, Source Filmmaker,
it's been quite a
creative, like you know, creative outlet of mine.
I've, uh - It gives you a lot of resources and all that.
And, um, it has given me a chance to, like,
do stuff on YouTube.
I've, um, thought
you know, if I could do some animations, I could show you some animations.
A lot of them are still poorly made; I think a few of them are still on my channel to this day.
Er, so I practiced on the app
then later on saw people use this program as well to animate, um, ponies.
And I thought "Alright, let's try and change this up."
And then of course, meeting these people
I've developed friends that are, um,
y'know, have honestly helped me with my confidence.
Like, getting to meet new people in the fandom and such
KIERA: It's definitely helped me be more social.
To be honest, I was kind of a bit of a...
...introvert, not much of a social butterfly
until I started actually listening to
whenever Twilight says "Dear Princess Celestia"
I started listening to what she was saying and I'm like...
"Maybe I can benefit from this"
*music*
All I can really say is that My Little Pony helped me open up.
I went from being Fluttershy times a thousand, to be being...
Pinkie Pie with a little pinch of Fluttershy
*music*
TULLIS: I'd say...
It's helped me reach out to more people than I could've saw of.
Because before, I was very...
secluded in my own space
I had this time in secondary school where...
...I spent the last two terms of secondary school...
...literally just in one room
Just, sitting down and doing my exams and not going for lessons
'cause I was so afraid.
And then...
My Little Pony came around.
And I started to understand that because people liked it
so I'm sort of going back to lessons in college.
There was a phase in college where...
I didn't go for another term because I was
scared about what I was going to be doing there...
...and how people would react to the fact that I'm a brony.
KIERA: I didn't really say
to anyone that I was a pegasister
since I was in mainstream school and they're usually all...
...gossip, and mock, and ridicule.
And I thought...
If I walked in with a My Little Pony bag, or
draw down some colourful Technicolour ponies, they'd be like
*scoffing* "Oh my God, you're into a little kids' show? Nope..."
"Freak!"
And I'm like...
"I don't need that!"
"I don't need you to be my Diamond Tiara, no thank you."
*Laughs*
And I sometimes felt like
"Oh my god, I'm like an outcast!"
And then I watched episodes of something similar to that
and I'm like *claps hand once*
"That could solve the problem!"
I was like, "I'm not the only one out there, other people with this spectrum.
And, uh, they're pretty good friends!
STEFFAN: With the negative aspects of the Brony fandom, there are...
-again, like I said, with the uniqueness, people aren't a fan of
new things in this world; Changes are a frightening thing to humankind.
And obviously,
um, when a new thing comes around, it's kind of scary
so of course, with the negative aspects people have, um...
bronies and pegasisters... y'know *UNINTELLIGIBLE*
um, bronies, have
been bullied, kind of by just liking a cartoon ...
...show about pastel coloured horses.
Which, um, with that description is actually quite funny,
Um, but of course, people get bullied by this kind of thing and
I don't really see why you need to get bullied for something that you like.
*Upbeat music*
FEMALE VOICE: What's the best aspects?
Um...
To be honest, it's the massive, like,
age group difference as well 'cause
you've got the younger lot...
you've got parents with kids especially when you go to cons
meeting, um, parents who are completely new to this Internet presence.
And then, of course, you've got the older bronies who
no one -- still, no one can really explain it. *laughs*
But they are the coolest guys I've ever met
and they're so open about everything.
KIERA: It'd definitely help you reach out
to other bronies and pegasisters about this thing
And you just..
...feel great, you feel welcome like you're at a second home.
TULLIS: A lot of people enjoy it with you.
You've got a lot of people that are, um...
...in your area and you may not think it, but
you may have some --
-- you're going to have loads of people that enjoy the same fandom with you.
And you meet people through that -- you go to
meets that you find online...
I actually did for a while until work came up and I had to stop that.
STEFFAN: I think conventions do a good thing with bringing people together
and embracing what they like, 'cause honestly...
...if you like something, you should embrace it all you want, honestly...
That's -- just liking your interests.
*outro music*