Also in Cartoon Brew...

  • Behind-the-Scenes
    of College Humor’s
    “Paperman

    Paperman-Threesome

  • Animated Fragments
    #22

    animatedfragments22

  • “Batman Hates
    Bronies” by James
    Lee

    BatmanHates_Promo_100912
  • http://hobsonproductions.blogspot.com/ Kevin

    Pretty good animation and voice acting.

    I would find it funny if MLP makes a cameo in Toy Story 4 or one of their shorts.

  • Bud

    That’s almost funny. But it’s better written/produced than the show it’s parodying. The final gag saved it.

  • Toast

    I’m pretty curious about how the ponies themselves would react to their er…ah… that kind of fanbase. Now I know, and I feel sorry for the ponies. Hehe, the video even got the animation right.

    Although, I don’t know what’s scarier, that type of fan featured in the video or the talkative type fan that nitpick-rages over episodes that don’t leave them satisfied. I really want to stay out of their way and let them enjoy their thing, but watching a grown man screaming at inconsistencies in a kids’ show just blew my mind.

  • Dave

    Yeah, that’s pretty much what I expect from the life of a brony.

  • Tak

    I hate that stuff like this warrants a persons time.
    Both to create, and to watch.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/Tigercat919?feature=mhee Michael F.

    That made me laugh but at I same time I’m afraid of what’s gonna happen here. Good luck, Jerry!

  • http://highlyrecommended.blogspot.com Satorical

    RUN!!

  • Scarabim

    Bud, I wonder if you’ve actually SEEN the show it’s parodying. It’s fairly obvious you haven’t.

    As a parody, it’s not bad. It stereotypes the adult fans of the show more than it caricatures them, which is its main failing. But the production quality is surprisingly good. I got a laugh out of it. I’m not a “brony”, but I am a fan of the My Little Pony show, just like I’m a fan of Spongebob Squarepants, Phineas and Ferb, Disney animated films, many varieties of anime and Studio Ghibli. Good cartoons are good cartoons. I don’t write any show off automatically just because it’s supposed to be aimed at a specific age group.

  • Albert

    I mean really? Isn’t it bad enough he is a grown man playing with toys, but girls toys? At least be half a man and play with Thundercats or He-man or something

    • Scarabim

      Yeah. MANLY toys. :P

      See, that’s the gender stereotyping the adult fandom of the Pony show happily defies. Who cares if it’s “girls’ toys” or a girl’s show? Did you never watch/read the Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland because the main protagonists are girls? (By the way, the term “bronies” also applies to adult female fans of the show, and there are apparently quite a lot of them too).

      Sadly, for many males, the fear of being emasculated by what they watch and read runs deep. That’s why J.K. Rowling used her first-and-middle-name initials in her signature when writing the Harry Potter books, because she feared that boys may not read the books if they knew the author was female. And it’s also the reason the main character in her books is male. And unfortunately her fears were likely well-founded. Seriously, does anyone believe that the Potter books would have been as successful had the main character’s first name been Harriet?

      The adult male fandom for the Pony show is, in my opinion, more than a fad. It’s a kind of revolution. Yeah, there are some questionable types in that fandom, but those types exist in EVERY fandom. By and large the brony phenomenon is very positive, at least from what I’ve seen. Frankly, I think it’s kinda awesome. But I will admit that it’s so unusual that it was bound to be parodied by somebody sooner or later. But big deal. EVERYTHING is ripe for parody. I hope the “bronies” who see this parody will understand that and get a laugh from it too.

    • tee hee

      Yeah.
      Play with the toys that have the nice strong muscles and big long swords. Those are toys for real men.

      • Joe

        As opposed to what? Adult men projecting themselves as girlie ponies? We can go round and round with this.

      • Contrariwise

        When you start to call grown men buying pink plastic pony toys for children a “revolution”, it is safe to say you are, in fact, one of these bronies..

      • Cath

        If I’m not mistaken, I think “tee hee” was being sarcastic…

  • http://popyea.deviantart.com/ nick

    lol, this is going to hit a nerve here for sure.

  • JR

    Very amusing parody of a very strange cultural phenomenon

    Whenever bronies come up, I have to link to the Bronie Sociological Anaylysis Flowchart (http://broniepologist.deviantart.com/art/Bronie-Sociological-Analysis-Flowchart-267486038) which may be the single craziest thing that’s ever been posted on the internet.

    Also, :bronysay: (http://bronysay.tumblr.com/).

    • Isaac

      That flowchart pretty much says “bronies are pathetic individuals who use the show as a crutch.”

  • Mapache

    BRONIES EXIST.

    WE GOT IT.

    (a year ago)

    Was that really the whole point of writing, producing and editing this short film? Because that’s the only message I got form it.

    • Collin

      The point? Bring traffic to the site and make people laugh.
      This is not some expose of the Bronie culture.

  • Dan Kyder

    What a missed opportunity to do something actually clever about the creepy bronies

    Har har, the same nerd jokes that can be applied to absolutely any internet subculture. Totally haven’t heard all these before for Sonic, Halo, Robin Hood ect

  • Randy

    I dunno….I thought it was pretty damn funny! Being a Star Trek fan for decades I’ve met “fans” at conventions who are just like the guy parodied in this video.
    Different genre, same goofball mania over something you’re not supposed to like, according to everyone else, because you’re too old, the wrong sex, race, etc.
    I liked it!

  • Confusion

    I feel rather innocent for not getting the flashlight gag…

    • Chris Sobieniak

      I do too, and I have one next to my bed. :)

      • T. Reynolds

        Because it is a FlEshlight

      • Confusion

        *Googles it*

        …good God :/

  • Lindsay

    What I don’t like about this parody is that its humor is pretty lazy. It essentially takes the generic creepy nerd stereotype that exists in every fandom and slaps ponies onto it. How would this short be any different if the subject was anime, or MMO, or card games, etc?

    Overall it’s a pretty pointless parody because it’s material that we’ve seen dozens of times before. Haha – loser nerds! Oh, that is rich! I don’t mind seeing parodies of subcultures as long as they’re done well. Make the extra effort to research the specific traits and fandom issues of bronies, then spin it in a manner that would amuse an “outsider,” yet be a more accurate portrayal for those who are familiar.

    As it is, this isn’t satire. It’s a collection of lazy potshots, and not witty in the least.

  • Claudia

    So this is “Double Standard: The Comedy Sketch”? Because if the peripherial demographic of the show were mostly adult women instead of adult men, nobody would say anything, and don’t pretend it’s not true.

    But I understand why people are bafled by the notion that certain men don’t feel their masculinity threatened by admiting to like a show whose pallet color is mostly pink.

    • michael

      surely you jest.

      i’m down to rip on adult fans of anything created for children regardless of gender. the humiliation that ought to be inherent to this kind of fandom has less to do with a male/female dichotomy than it does with one of adult/child. i love animation as a medium, and when the brew posted the first episode of mlpfm, i admit i was caught off guard when i ended up watching the whole episode. but geeking out passionately about a program developed for children, especially one that exists as part of a larger merchandising scheme, is and should be embarrassing.

      what i’m getting at is that the masculinity of bronies is seriously compromised by more than just the fact that the heroes of mlpfm are female.

      • Claudia

        Most works of fiction are part ot a larger merchandising scheme, even the good ones like Pixar films, yet somehow a show like Phineas and Ferb, that is aimed at children but also has a large adult peripherial demographic, doesn’t get the same flak as the fandom of MLP FIM.

  • MG

    If all parody were this well done, it would no longer be considered the lowest form of writing.

    • Funkybat

      Also, if the animation of parodies as closely matched the quality of the subjects being parodied as this does, that would be good as well.

  • http://downindeep13.blogspot.com JerRocks2day

    Hah. That was pretty funny. I never really watched the show on a regular basis, but that parody seems spot on. This actually reminds me of the Powerpuff Girls episode where Lenny Baxter obsesses over capturing the Powerpuff Girls just so he can keep them with his collection of PPG merch.

    • http://animationisart.com Philip Wesley

      Considering that a few of the people on MLP:FIM worked on that episode of PPG. It’s kind of weirdly ironic.

      Eh, College Humor is kind of a site for sadly pathetic “bros,” so I kind of wonder who this is really aimed at. Weird. Most of the MLP:FIM community can be pretty strange though. I mean, we’ve all seen “APPLE.MOV” right?

  • Matt Sullivan

    If this were any GOOD I’d have no problem laughing. ( I like MLP: FIM, but even I can appreciate the humor of a mostly male adult audience ) This is pretty weak stuff if you ask me and it relies on pathetic pandering to the lowest common denomenator. Smacks of that pseudo John K internet style of “ironic” humor aka BAD ANIMATION.

    For those of you who think these people are nothing but creepy pedophiles, I’d encourage you to check out any of the modern MLP fansites. I could only DREAM of creating a show with this kind of current fan support/output/enthusiasm. So what if its grown adults? Who’s it hurting?

    For that matter, show me another show on the air right now with this level of quality/popularity.

    • http://sprybug.freehostingcloud.com Chris Spry

      Wait, you’re not saying that the animation was bad are you? I animated on some of this, and I was really proud how it came out, especially that first scene I did when they are in the box talking to each other. I tried to animate it like the show there. They were able to move around because he wasn’t looking at them. It was one of the few scenes I got to do with them moving for that reason. Most of the time I was only able to focus on their expressions and heads because he was interacting with them most of the time. I couldn’t have them move otherwise. BTW, I noticed a mistake in that first scene when it first came out. Somehow my eye blinks and expressions got messed up in post and I passed along the note to Mike who got it fixed and posted the fixes today.

  • Marc Baker

    Thanks for the shout out, Jerry. It’s very gratifying to have my name mentioned for posting A video on The Brew’s Facebook page. Now, I’m not an avid toy collector anymore, nor am I in ‘My Little Pony’s target audience, but I was pleasantly surprised with ‘Friendship Is Magic’. Lauren Faust did an impressive job injecting some of her husband’s ‘Powerpuff’ wit, and charm to balance out the sugary sweetness. Which explains why it’s won over people who normally would scoff at pastel colored ponies. Plus, it’s approach with Flash animation is done quite well. Rest assured, I’m nothing like the ‘Lenny Baxter’ type collector in that video. Overall, it’s A much better ‘Pony’ spoof than ‘Mad’s ‘My Little War Horse’. Though I also recommend the ‘Pony’ spoofs at ‘Hot Digity Deamon.Com. Those are hysterical, and have A John Krisfalusi look to it’s animation.

  • Old Man Father Time

    I agree with Matt. The show has garnered what may well be the most open and largest online fanbase I have ever seen in my life (though my memory pre-12-years-old is kind of hazy). As such, I am afraid to watch this video. I am.

  • CTM

    It’s just the same “LOL nerd” stuff that’s been done a billion times already by every Comic Book Guy knock off on Earth. That combined with the subtlety of a sledge hammer make for one awful parody.

  • Randy

    Lindsay:
    Um, I think they did exactly what you said they DIDN’T do…and rather well, too.
    And sadly, I think the video rings true.
    So what if it’s “potshots”…..isn’t that what all stereotyping is??? And spoofs? They’re usually pretty broad.
    Chill…..it’s funny.

  • Marvin Acme

    If there’s one thing I’ve learned about furries, otaku, and bronies and other bottom-rung internet-dwelling geeks, it’s that despite the fact that they’re into the silliest and most childish of things, they have absolutely no sense of humor about themselves whatsoever.

    The video was funny, but I think it strikes a little too close to home for certain people.

    • Funkybat

      In my opinion, the ability to laugh at oneself about things like this is an invaluable life skill.

      I used to be just as heavily into the Disney Afternoon and WB TV animated shows as “Bronies” seem to be into MLP. I share “Marvin Acme’s” view that a lot of people who are really invested in things like this are not going to be able to laugh at themselves, or admit that some of the parody rings true. Some of the complaints here ring of “he doth protest too much.”

      I found that for me, an ability to be self-deprecating and look at myself objectively made life easier. These quirks became both amusing, and not as much of a “big deal” in the grand scheme of things. It didn’t diminish my love for the shows and characters, but it helped me put my fandom into perspective relative to the larger culture.

    • Steve Gattuso

      Just note that “bottom-rung internet-dwelling geeks” can easily apply to animation fandom in general, bubbe. And in all such groups, the much higher percentages of fans to freaks is usually offset by the most adamant members being the loudest. Yes, this will tweak the noses of those wound too tight, and they can use the reality check. But as is usual of the “LOL INTERNET” crowd, they can’t take criticism of their world any better.

      As for the actual video, eh. I’ve seen better and I’ve seen worse. As has been said, too much of the humor relies on Mad Lib gags, and the animation is serviceable but hardly spectacular. 5/10

    • ReginaldZ

      Yeah. I can’t imagine why anyone would not laugh hysterically at being characterized as “bottom rung geek.” My goodness, the comedy just oozes from that comment.

  • http://www.juanalfonsos.blogspot.com juan alfonso

    Genndy Tartanovski did it better in the “Collector” episode of “Powerpuff Girls”

  • AJ

    This video has a few similarities with toy story two. living toy’s for a start then theres the overly childish collecter Al. The not very relevant phone conversation mirrors Al’s. College humor must like toy story.

    My opinion it isn’t illegal to collect toys, they have something to focus their minds on that isn’t a detriment to society. Actually come to think of it Isn’t it a bit of a double standard for US to insult THEM? After all we like old cartoons and society has changed since the golden era the cartoons that were intended for everybody are now childrens entertainment.

    • http://www.projectdestinystudios.com/ Hoagiebot

      I have to agree with your sentiments, AJ. Being a guy, when I was growing up I pretty much had to hide my love of cartoons and animation from my peers and even many of my family members for much of my life. Sure, my liking cartoons seemed to be acceptable to everyone when I was a little kid, but by the time I hit Junior High if you liked any cartoon, with maybe the sole exception of “Beavis and Butthead” because that was on MTV and was “cool,” you pretty much got ridiculed for it at school because Disney cartoons were viewed as being “baby stuff.”

      The problem was that I didn’t stop liking animation in Junior High. In fact, around that time I started appreciating it even more. It got to the point where I started squirreling away my family’s VHS copies of Disney animated films so that I could watch them late at night in secret alone in my room. The reason why I had to do this was because I had siblings, and they would have tore me a new one if they found out that I was still watching “The Rescuers Down Under” and “101 Dalmatians” during that time period as well. My having to hide my love of cartoons continued well into high school, where I had to hide from my classmates the fact that I was watching anime (back during the days where the only anime that you could easily find was the 6 or so VHS tapes of it that Blockbuster had available to rent, before it became “cool”).

      Even now, outside of fannish-type conventions I rarely tell people how I enjoy collecting animation production artwork or draw animation as a hobby myself because many people would view an adult man having such “childish” interests such as collecting animation cels of “Duchess” from “The Aristocats” or “Toucan Sam” from cereal commercials or drawing cartoon animals himself as being an indicator that I am somehow a horrible maladjusted loser of society, like the “Brony” stereotype presented in the video.

      So my hiding the fact that I now enjoy watching “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” from most of the people that I know these days is just par for the course. It’s just an extension of what I have always had to do. As a result, I just don’t understand why liking MLP:FiM gets such a bad rap with some of the commenters around here. Is it because MLP:FiM has a pink logo that makes it somehow so much more beneath every other current animated series on TV? How many of you people here went to go see “Winnie the Pooh” when it hit theaters last summer? Sure, you can try to rationalize that seeing “Winnie the Pooh” in theaters is different by saying that it was a Disney animated feature and that it was “art,” but the fact of the matter is that unless you were a parent that was shuttling small children into the multiplex to see it with you that many people would still view you as being a little “off” for wanting to see a “children’s film” even though you weren’t a child.

      So just take a moment and think twice before you go and put down the fans of this animated series or that animated series, as we all live in glass houses here, and it could be something that you love that ends up getting roasted by the community at large next.

  • Claudia

    Sorry for double posting, but I wanted to share what MLP FIM creator and former show runner, Lauren Faust, thinks about bronies and their manchildren attitude:

    “Honestly?? I feel that people who call them that are ignorant a-holes. That’s how I feel. I didn’t create this show for little girls, I created it for little girls and their parents — including male parents. It only stands to reason that adult animation fans without children may like it, too. The belief that boys shouldn’t be interested in girl things is the main reason there’s hardly anything decent for girls in animation — or almost any media, for that matter. It’s a backwards, sexist, outdated attitude.”

    And I wholeheartedly agree.

  • Keegan

    Are people honestly getting mad about what collegehumor does? Isn’t it a given that they’re purposely offensive? Like what the hell, they can make fun of anything and no one will give it a second thought, but GOD FORBID THEY MESS WITH MY LITTLE PONY!

    • Dan Kyder

      I think you’re missing what going on here

      Most people here seem to be indifferent about the show, arent a Brony, and have no reason to defend its fandom.
      But when such a ripe opportunity for comedy is out there, and the return is some generic LOL NERD commentary instead of something actually relevant, people are wondering what the point was.

      CollegeHumor usually IS funny. Sadly it fell a bit flat this time around

    • Taco Wiz

      No, it’s GOD FORBID THEY MAKE FUN OF MY LITTLE PONY IN AN UNFUNNY WAY THAT COULD BE ABOUT ANY FANDOM IN EXISTENCE IF YOU REPLACE THE VARIABLES.

      • Keegan

        Yeah, MLP is too sacred for this shit. How dare they make a social commentary on the seemingly odd behavior of people who become infatuated with the show.

        Would you rather them replace all mention of MLP with a placebo pill? Or just faceless paperweights that say “fandom”?

  • http://los-utopicos.blogspot.com allari

    Amused! XD

  • Albert

    I think some people are taking this way to personally in some cases.First of all it really wasn’t that funny in the first place. It was extraordinarily creepy. Second of all I really don’t see the need to defend people who play with boys OR girls toys. I am sure most of them don’t care.

    Thirdly just because the person who made the show claims that he made it with little girls and their fathers in mind doesn’t mean it is okay for mature people to be playing with My Little Pony toys.I sat and watched Barney with my little sister everyday but that doesn’t mean I put on Barney pajamas and cuddled a Barney doll at night. Watching a show with your child and playing with toys that aren’t even for people your age by yourself is two different things.Do it if you want but I suggest you don’t go around boasting about it

  • Inkan1969

    I thought it was funny. Some bronies do take the fandom too seriously at times and start flame wars online, though I don’t think this is unique to MLP fandom. I’ll admit that the “what does he want with us?” line was a little harsh. But throwing a fit over this short would just be affirming the jabs. The art and animation is good.

  • http://dailygrail.com/ Red Pill Junkie

    The next parody should be how one poor brony gets abducted by an evil conglomerate of companies, that feel their earnings are being threatened because men are not using their money as maturely as their parents used to –i.e. buying expensive sports cars and motorcycles and fishing boats– We could call it the Manly Monopoly or something.

    So the Manly Monopoly submits our poor brony hero to a horrible brain-washing therapy that would put Stanley Kubrick and the CIA to shame: they bombard him with images of ‘manly’ stuff like cigarettes and shaving cream and old James Bond movies 24/7. They burn his precious toy collection in front of him –even the ones that are kept in their boxes!– They pump his cell with pure air taken near a lake mountain in Canada, and they force him to learn auto mechanics –”REAL men know how to change the oil, beeyatch!”

    And then… Ok guys, you take it from here :)

  • http://www.joestrike.com Joe Strike

    Kinda suspicious how on-model the ponies in the cartoon were drawn… only somebody *really* into MLP:FiM would take such pains to render them correctly. I’d say there’s a serious case of projection going on here; “you ‘bronies’ are sick; me, I just like MLP because, uh, because – [thinks no one is around] ‘oh Pinkie Pie, you arouse me so deeply, oh Pinkie, Pinkie PINKIE!!!’”

  • Ness

    As an adult female who enjoys My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, I have to say that I have seen better parodies on the “Brony” culture than this. The overall joke has been done to death and, honestly? It’s a little bit disappointing to see that even here, where people who are enthusiastic about an artform that is often misinterpreted as one solely for children, are quick to throw rocks down on a subculture that appreciates a cartoon show. It seems to me that in your eyes, a mockery of men who enjoy something outside of their expected gender roles is important enough news to sit right up there in between discussion of The Oscars and A Tribute to African American animators.

    I know it’s a parody- I do have a sense of humor in here. But I’ve seen firsthand how low tolerance for Pony fans is here on the web and i don’t think that kind of behavior needs perpetuating.