SECAUCUS, N.J. — Dale Fjordbotten is a proud “My Little Pony” fan, with the shiny blue body suit and yellow lightning bolt, blue wings and blue tail to prove it.
Like many “Bronies” — boys and men who like the cartoon “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”— the 25-year-old college student turned out over the weekend for “BronyCon Summer 2012” at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, which drew 4,000 men, women, boys and girls, many in colorful wigs and costumes.
“I thought about what people would say. ‘It’s creepy. It’s weird. It’s a … show for little girls,’ ” said Fjordbotten, from Staten Island, N.Y. “It’s just a great show … the story line, the plot, the beautiful animation.”
Bronies say they’re a misunderstood lot who’ve gotten a bad rap from the media. They’re all about the show, friendship, love and tolerance, and they have no bad intentions, they say.
“I discovered that there’s nothing to be ashamed of being a Brony,” said 19-year-old James Penna of Mastic in Long Island, N.Y. “People are into what they’re into.”
Outside the convention center, young men danced and sang along with songs from a My Little Pony cartoon that blasted from loud speakers as a video screen on a large truck showed the show’s characters.
Inside, vendors sold stuffed ponies, pony accessories, pony signs, pony hats and just about everything pony imaginable. Stars who do the show’s voices signed autographs and gave speeches.
Hasbro released the first My Little Pony toys in 1983, and they led to television specials, a film and the first TV series from 1986 to 1987.
The brand stuck around through the years. But along came animator Lauren Faust, who was hired by Hasbro and sparked new life to My Little Pony when she created the “Friendship is Magic” series.
Faust had worked on “The Powerpuff Girls” and “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” before dreaming up the land of Equestria, where My Little Pony characters like Twilight Sparkle, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie get into all kinds of adventures.
Faust told The Associated Press at BronyCon on Saturday that she never imagined the show would be such a hit with teenage boys and young men. She said her main target was little girls, but she hoped to draw in moms and perhaps some boys with strong characters and compelling story lines.
“We live in a society where saying that something is for girls is the equivalent to saying that something is stupid, or saying that something isn’t worthwhile,” Faust said.
“I think that’s awful and I think that kind of attitude needs to be changed,” she said. “And these men are doing it. … They’re proud that they’re forward-thinking and modern enough to look past this misogynistic attitude.”
Faust said she, like the Bronies, is disturbed at the negative images some people have about the male fans. “There are a lot of people who when they first hear about men watching a show for little girls, they’re taken to a creepy place,” she said. “They think there’s something wrong with that, something devious about it. I think that’s unfortunate.
“I don’t think you have to have bad intentions to like little girls or to like the things that they like,” Faust said. “And it’s upsetting to me that people jump to those conclusions. I think it’s unfair to men and I think it’s unfair to girls and women.”
To set the record straight about Bronies, Faust, John de Lancie and others are producing a documentary that was filmed over the weekend at BronyCon. De Lancie is the voice of Discord on “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” and is perhaps best known for playing “Q” on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
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