Intense fandom is quite a thing to behold, particularly for those that aren’t involved in it. Whether it’s Star Wars, comic books, baseball cards, quilting, stamps -- or in the case of A Brony Tale , My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic -- fanaticism can seem odd and sometimes creepy. Brent Hodge’s documentary on adult male My Little Pony fandom tackles those notions head on and the film winds up being much more than an exploration of one sect of fandom, but a universal portrayal of what fandom -- of anything -- can be at its best.

Ashleigh Ball in A Brony Tale

Hodge’s film follows friend and voice actor Ashleigh Ball, the voice of My Little Pony characters Applejack and Rainbow Dash, as she tries to navigate the waters of Bronies when she’s invited to Bronycon in NYC. This is a unique insight right off the bat, the experience of someone who sort of fell into massive fan-centric celebrity by way of doing voice work for a show that became a phenomenon. We get to see the effect the Bronies have had on her career, including increasing the success of her band, with Bronies turning out in droves to see them play.While Ball’s journey is the sort of inside track that makes A Brony Tale stand out from other documentaries on the subject, Hodge finds an eclectic and often moving group of fans to represent the different walks of Brony life. From shy high school outsiders to United States military to DJs to fitness gurus to musicians to psychologists, the movie leaves no stone unturned when it comes to depicting the kind of people that identify themselves as a Brony.Appropriately, Hodge is able to dispel the most problematic misconception about being a hardcore fan of the show; that it makes one creepy or strange to be a grown man who's in to a show intended to sell toys to little girls. The first Brony we meet is a Harley riding, beer drinking “manly man” that loves My Little Pony. It not only immediately addresses the foremost question that those outside of the fandom will have, but also reveals that the documentary is about more than just My Little Pony fandom; it’s really about challenging gender roles and the expectations of society that come along with them.As one of the military guys puts it -- with My Little Pony characters sewed into his gear -- “The definition of a man is a human male with X and Y chromosomes. That’s it.” The movie skirts really digging into this larger issue for the most part, focusing on how it relates to My Little Pony fandom itself, but it does leave the viewer to consider the implications of challenging gender roles in a larger context.The one thing the movie lacks is insight from the creatives behind the show itself, but makes up for it to some degree with input from professional psychologists that are actively studying the Brony fandom. These interview segments offer some interesting, if baseline, scientific facts for what the movie is exploring. More importantly, this helps relate it to other fandoms. And overall, that’s the message Hodge tries to put across: how fandom can act as a family for those that oftentimes don’t fit in any place else. A Brony Tale presents an overwhelmingly positive message, just like the show that inspired it. It shows the comradery of these fans, the community they’ve built, and how they affect and inspire one another.While the movie’s primary narrative focuses on Ball, one interviewee -- an endearing Army vet named Bryan recently back from Iraq -- is just as engaging. He tells us about his renewed passion for art that came via My Little Pony and that his goal is to give a piece of his art to the voice actor behind Princess Celestia, Nicole Oliver. We see this happen at Bronycon, where the two share a nice moment, but we never get any sort of follow-up commentary from the man. It's disappointing, only because Bryan had a really touching journey that was put aside in favor of Ball showing off the gifts she received from fans at the convention.