Rainbow Dash – Loyalty

- and Twilight Sparkle; her magic and their mutual friendship harness the power of the Elements of Harmony, before which bad guys Discord, Nightmare Moon or Queen Chrysalis eventually fall.

Honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity and loyalty: there are far worse values to live by.

Back to de Lancie: “The next weekend I was in Calgary and the same thing happened, and I’m beginning to get a sense of who the [brony] community is.”

It was a shooting-fish-in-a-barrel, snide Fox News (“who’s done more to destroy truth in America than any single institution”) report on the January BroNYCon that raised de Lancie’s ire. “And it pissed me off. I called Mike and said ‘dammit, let’s do this documentary.’

“The world needs more of you,” he tells the cheering crowd “This group and more groups like you have got to be better than what we have now.” For starters (and without endorsing anyone in particular) he urges the bronies to vote in November.

I’m impressed by de Lancie’s genuine passion. He’s been dealing with fanboys and girls for years; there’s absolutely no need for him to suck up to this crowd, to pretend to believe what they believe.

Can bronies really change the world? Can the fans of a cartoon show, no matter how committed accomplish what a generation, during what seemed a time of unlimited possibilities, fail to do? As someone who back in the day believed that greed and cruelty would disappear in the face of peace, love and understanding, I can’t help but be more than a little skeptical; it didn’t work then; can it work now? Can I be a brony without believing in the world-changing power of the Elements of Harmony, if I just love the show and the amazing home-made creativity it’s sparked?

It’s too hot on this first day of July to linger on such weighty subjects. Right now I’m enjoying the impromptu production number taking place on the steps of the Meadowlands Exposition Center. A crowd of bronies are singing and dancing Pinkie Pie’s “Smile” song – and they’re doing a pretty good job of it:

My name is Pinkie Pie, 
And I am here to say,
I’m gonna make you smile, and I will brighten up your day!
It doesn’t matter now,
If you are sad or blue.
Cause cheering up, my friend, is just what Pinkie’s here to do!

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Joe Strike is a regular contributor to AWN. He has written about animation, sci-fi and fantasy entertainment for the New York Daily News, Newsday and the New York Press. Joe has scripted the Nick Jr. series Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and taught Mass Communications at New York's St. John's University. He is currently hosting “Interview with an Animator” [animator.interviews.com], a series of audience-attended conversations with noted figures in the animation community at a variety of New York City venues, including the Paley Center for the Media, The Society of Illustrators and the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. Joe can be reached via joe@joestrike.com.