A Brony Tale Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

A Brony Tale Blu-ray Movie Review

"It's Only a TV Show!" Yes, But . . .

Reviewed by Michael Reuben January 23, 2015

Every Star Trek fanatic, ComiCon attendee and other devotee of any fictional world based in fantasy should see A Brony Tale. It's a story about all of us who find solace and satisfaction in imaginary places created by writers, craftspeople and actors who never dream how far their influence may extend. One such actor was Canadian voice artist Ashleigh Ball, an angelic blonde charmer who was hired to play two of the six animated equestrian characters on a Hasbro-sponsored series entitled My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The series premiered in 2010, and it was aimed primarily at an under-twelve demographic, primarily girls. In a remarkable and unexpected turn, however, My Little Pony drew an additional audience: adult males, both young and middle-aged, whose passion for the show rivals that of any Trekkie. Online fan sites have spawned local conventions, followed by BronyCon, held for the first time in New York City in January 2012.

A Brony Tale began as a documentary about Ashleigh Ball's multi-talented career as a voice actor and, wearing her other hat, as a member of the musical group Hey Ocean! But when Ball received an invitation pleading for her presence at the first BronyCon, the documentary's director, Brent Hodge, recognized that a new subject had just presented itself. The brony phenomenon was too interesting and too unusual to overlook. As Ashleigh prepared—"steeled herself" would be more accurate—for her first-ever fan convention, Hodge toured the U.S. and Canada, interviewing bronies, searching for an answer to the question: What attracts grown men to a children's show about a group of cartoon ponies?

"The pervert alarm went off in my head, for sure, when I first heard about it", says Ashleigh Ball, about the brony phenomenon. But as director Hodge quickly discovers, bronies cut across a wide variety of ages, interests and ethnicities, and he doesn't find a pervert among them. He even encounters a "brony family": father, mother and a small daughter, fully equipped with logo clothing, backpacks and lunchbox. Throughout A Brony Tale, Hodge keeps cutting back to Drs. Patrick and Marsha Redden, social psychologists who undertook a study of bronies after discovering that their son had been inspired by My Little Pony to take up drawing again. Their statistics provide A Brony Tale with solid academic support, but the figures would be dry as dust without the film's engaging personalities. Dr. Patrick himself is never more entertaining than when he is sharing pony-shaped cookies with his son.

Another brony whose passion for drawing was refueled by pony fandom is Bryan Mischke, a former National Guardsman who served in Iraq and returned suffering from severe depression and other familiar symptoms of PTSD. The story of Mischke's recovery, which includes his attendance at BronyCon, is one of the most remarkable of the tales captured by Hodge's camera. As Hodges reveals in the extras, the conclusion to Mischke's journey was unscripted and unexpected.

A motorcycle enthusiast, a bodybuilder, a rapping DJ, an enthusiastic high school class, a local gathering of fans on the Santa Monica Pier—these are just some of the other brony encounters from Hodge's travels. Meanwhile, Ashleigh Ball continues recording her scripts and playing with her band as the date for BonyCon approaches. As a kind of intermission, Hodge accompanies Ashleigh on a brief holiday to the rural Canadian island community of Salt Springs (where, as he notes in his brief commentary, Ashleigh's time off resembles a beer commercial).

Despite her trepidation, Ashleigh discovers at BronyCon what many performers in cult series and films have experienced before her: wave after wave of adoration for her work and her willingness to spend time with her fans. She leaves with a new-found appreciation of (and respect for) the impact she has had on people's lives just by doing a job that she loves. As for the secret of the show's appeal to adult men, she is none the wiser. Theories are offered throughout the film, including an elaborate sociological explanation by Dr. Marsha Redden. In the end, though, who can truly explain the appeal of a particular fantasy world to its fans? That's its magic.

A Brony Tale Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Director Hodge shot much of A Brony Tale himself, primarily using a Canon 7D SLR camera. (According to IMDb, some parts were shot with a Sony FS700 camcorder.) Hodge financed the film himself, and he had not expected it to be seen outside of Vancouver's DOXA Documentary Film Festival, but it was quickly picked up by the Tribeca Film Festival, where it was acquired by Morgan Spurlock Presents and Virgil Films. Virgil's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray provides a very good HD image, but the low-budget DV aesthetic is evident in the sometimes grayish blacks, the generally undersaturated colors and the overall brightness. Since this is almost certainly inherent in the source, the Blu-ray mastering should not be blamed. Detail is generally quite good, although finer textures are sometimes washed out by overbrightness. Given the run-and-gun nature of most of the production, Hodge has managed to capture an image of impressive quality. With an average bitrate of 29.40 Mbps, Virgil's Blu-ray arrives without compression or other disc-related artifacts.

A Brony Tale Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Brony Tale has a fine stereo sound track that reproduces the voices of interview subjects clearly, except in a few instances where background noise overwhelms their comments, in which case forced subtitles appear. The musical score is provided by Ashleigh Ball's band, Hey Ocean!, and by associate producer Chris Kelly. The music plays with wide dynamic range and solid bass extension.

A Brony Tale Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Many Voices of Ashleigh Ball (1080p; 1.78:1; 4:35): This is an extended version of the early segment in the film where Ashleigh reviews the history of her characters' voices.



• Ashleigh Ball—"The Day I Lost You" Acoustic Performance (1080p; 1.78:1; 2:33): A solo performance by Ashleigh, who accompanies herself on the ukelele.



• Director's "Speed Through the Secrets" Commentary (1080p; 1.78:1; 4:35): While select scenes play, Hodge rattles off anecdotes and insights about the film.



• Director Brent Hodge and Ashleigh Ball Photo Shoot (1080p; 1.78:1; 0:45): Just as the title describes, concluding with a quick display of posters for the film.



• "Hype" Trailer (1080p; 1.78:1; 1:55): This is a wonderful trailer, but for the film's official trailer, search out its website through Google or IMDb.

A Brony Tale Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As should be obvious by now, I have never seen an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The best recommendation I can offer for A Brony Tale is that it made me want to do so. The enthusiasm of the show's adult fans is honest, sincere and infectious. Something has touched them, and they inspire you to want to know more about it. The documentary itself is fun to watch, not only because Ashleigh Ball is such a winning presence, but also because, let's face it, anyone who frequents a website like this one is a fan of something, which makes all of us bronies of one kind or another.