My Little Bro-nies

Something odd happened the other day.  One of my sons started talking about "My Little Pony".  Now, what I remember of My Little Pony was that it was a collection of cartoons and toys targeted at little girls from the 1980's and 1990's. So, it seemed really odd to me that my son would know about it, let alone be interested in it.

 

I decided to investigate a little more.  He said he liked the show and that boys who like My Little Pony are called "Bronies." OK,. What? I remember that show.  What, if anything, could possibly appeal to him?  Turns out, the My Little Pony franchise was rebooted in 2010.  He had never seen the original show and didn't even know it existed.  It's the 2010 reboot that caught his interest.

This time, things were a bit different. They did a much better job of making shows that would appeal to to a larger audience. The stories are more clever and bring in more action, magic, and conflict than the original. Though, this alone still might not have been enough.  What really brought the show home was a small, cameo character named Dr. Whooves.

For those that don't recognize the caricature, this particular pony has a resemblance to actor David Tennant, who portrayed the tenth incarnation of The Doctor in the British science-fiction TV series Doctor Who. My kids are all huge Dr. Who fans. My son even asked to have his hair cut and dyed like actor David Tennant.  The appearance of this character, who just happens to bear his inspiration from their favorite TV character, was all it took to make them willing to start watching the show.  Once they started watching, the show was entertaining enough to hold their interest so they were hooked.  In fact, my son now says that My Little Pony is his second favorite show. (after Dr. Who)

Of course, bringing two long running Television Icons together, it was only a matter of time till the clever You Tube content came into being which gave the show even more appeal.

The creative My Little Pony reboot folks didn't stop with Dr. Who either.  They also have characters or episodes that mimic Indiana Jones, The Terminator, Q From Star Trek, and Spider Man. If you'd like to get a good idea of what the show is like, this particular clip gets a lot of play in my house. It shows you the quality of the animation and music.

If it had not have been for Dr. Whoove's, maybe I wouldn't have any Bro-Nies in my house.  Though, I really don't mind having a Brony or two, so it's OK.