Bronycon: Bronies and Q Hit the Meadowlands This Summer
Bronycon is a convention for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fans in New York. It's a semiseasonal convention and the next one, Bronycon Summer, is June 31-July 1. It was going to be held at the Hotel Pennsylvania, which is a nice venue for small conventions. It won't be held there anymore. Instead, Bronycon is going to be held at the freaking Meadowlands. No, it's not a pony-themed play on words. The convention will be held at the Meadowlands Expo Center.
Okay, it's not the Meadowlands Sports Complex/Racetrack/IZOD Center, but it's still a pretty big venue. The good news is this means the show's attendance cap has been increased from 1,500 people to 4,000. The bad news is New York bronies will have to go into New Jersey to attend. It's just a 20 minute bus ride from Port Authority, but still. That's not the only news. Besides show creator Lauren Faust, Bronycon Summer will get another guest: John de Lancie. Even if you're not a brony, you know him as Q from Star Trek. And if you are a brony, you know as Discord he basically played... Q from Star Trek. Either way, he's pretty awesome.
The convention organizer, Purple Tinker (that's her brony name), notes that the convention is five months away, and that there will be other announcements. Possibly more voice actors will come to the convention. Even if you're not a brony, it promises to be great for any sci-fi, cartoon, or animation nerd if any other voice actors attend; Twilight Sparkle was Truffles from Chowder, Applejack was Maki from Black Lagoon, Pinkie Pie was AndrAIa from Reboot, Spike was Chiaotzu from Dragonball Z and Near from Death Note, and Princess Celestia was detective Kelly Blaine from Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. And I know way too much about voice actors. Fun fact: Alison on Eureka was Elisa Maza from Gargoyles. And Kevin Bacon has had no notable roles in animation.
Admission for both days of Bronycon Summer will be $65, and over 600 people have already pre-registered. One more bit of brony news, since I'm laying it all out as the bizarre nerd I am: My Little Pony toys are coming to Happy Meals in March. Keep an eye out, because they and the blind bag figures usually have much better sculpts than the larger ponies you can get at toy stores, which stick more to the older My Little Pony molds and please stop me what am I doing with my life.
These Two Frames Explain Why Bronies Love My Little Pony
You might be sick of the whole brony thing, but there are some good reasons bronies love My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and why it's become so popular among men. I could talk about the excellent writing, the great voice acting, the fantastic animation, or the incredibly talented team doing the show, but these two frames speak for themselves. They're from the episode The Cutie Pox, and once you see them, you'll know why people like me love this cartoon.
Apply to Voice Act in Fan-made My Little Pony Fighter
The existence of a My Little Pony fighting game is headline enough, but this gets better. Using the 2D Fighter Maker development engine, Indie developer Mane6 (via Joystiq) has turned his talents toward creating an (unofficial) My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fighting game, titled MLP: Fighting is Magic. I'm pretty certain this was a logical conclusion for anyone who's seen this show, with it's subtle and unexpected irony and wit. Somehow throwing the MLP characters into sparkly, glittery violence seems appropriate.
If you're truly a dedicated fan looking to make your mark on this thing, or you just think it would be a blast to do some voice acting, then check this out: Mane6 is looking for voice actors. Right now, announcer Mayor Mare is the only role up for casting, but the game is early in development and other options might pop up down the road. Sadly for all the bronies (a term I just learned now), male voices are pretty few in this universe. Maybe Big McIntosh or Chief Thunderhooves will make an appearance later. If so, better get in there before Will does.
Who Are These Cartoons For?
I like cartoons. I'm not too ashamed to admit it. And today I realized that, for some reason beyond my ability to comprehend, cartoon studios and networks want me to like their cartoons. I'm not talking about Adult Swim or prime time fare, I'm talking about the everyday "it's for the kids!" crap you see on Cartoon Network, Nicktoons, Disney XD, and The Hub. The cartoons these networks run every day, during the daytime, targeting kids, are... kind of wrecked. And even the ones that aren't outright wrecked are getting strange audiences.
Cartoon Network has been showing some pretty weird cartoons for some time now, but this recent crop of shows really takes the cake. I'm not talking about Mad, of course, which is just a lazy, pitiful attempt to mix Robot Chicken with TMZ. I'm talking about Adventure Time and Regular Show. Each episode of these shows could be seen as 11 minutes of pure madness that straddles the line of what is acceptable for children and basically defines "getting crap past the radar."


