Ashleigh Ball is known best for voicing both Applejack and Rainbow Dash in the TV series “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic”. She is also narrating and starring in the similar themed documentary “A Brony Tale”, which focuses on the male fan-base surrounding the TV series “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Ashleigh about the documentary and the new season of “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic”
Mike Gencarelli: Being the voice of both voice Applejack and Rainbow Dash; give us your reaction on this enormous fandom surrounding “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic”?
Ashleigh Ball: It is something that I would have never anticipated. There is no way to prepare yourself for something like this. It is very cool to get recognition for doing voice work. It is also very cool that it is a totally unexpected group of people. So it is all weird and wonderful and I love it.
MG: How did you meet up with Brent Hodge to narrate and star in “A Brony Tale”?
AB: Brent and I have known each other for a while now going back to 2008/2009. We met through music. He used to work at CBC Radio 3 and did some interviews with my band Hey Ocean! and we got to know each other that way. We became close and he was always willing to help out with the band. So we were out to dinner one day and we had this discussion about Bronies. I told him he should come to BronyCon with me and start filming this because it would make a really cool documentary. So he agreed and followed me around and got a taste of the Brony life.
MG: Was BronyCon your first interactions with Bronies?
AB: My first interaction was actually caught on film. You can find it on YouTube. Brent also put the clip of me in the film as well. It was at a concert that I played in Vancouver. I was playing a show with my band and afterwards a group of guys came to the merchandise booth and asked me to sign their ponies. They were Bronies and they came all the way from Seattle. So that was the first time I met a Brony in person…and definitely not the last time!
MG: Do you think that this film will have an impact for these fans?
AB: Yeah. I think it is a great introduction into the world of Bronies. It explains who they are and what they stand for. It is way more of a community than the actual series. It is a good for someone who is not familiar with Bronies and think it is weird or perverted. It definitely clears up the whole Brony mystique.
MG: How did the film get support from Morgan Spurlock?
AB: Yeah, it was pretty crazy. Brent worked for a company in San Francisco and was at a Super Bowl party and Morgan was there. They told them about he was doing a documentary about Bronies. Morgan loved the idea, watched the film and called the next day and wanted to be involved. He is really excited about the film and the subject matter. I got to meet him in NY and he is a very cool guy.
MG: Season four of “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” just ended but I am sure that fans are looking forward to season five already; any news from that?
AB: Yeah, we are in the process right now of recording season five. It is great. I can’t tell much about the episodes, but it is going to be very great. Lots of cool music and plot twist. Yeah, it is going to be great. It has such great writing and it is a wonderful show to be a part of.
Unfortunately, the same promises about “Yeah, it’s going to be great” were said before S03, Equestria Girls, S04 and Equestria Girls 2, and they proved to be anything but “great”.
I want to believe you, I really want to, but after 2 years of constant backstabbing, hollow promises, Hasbro meddling and the staff literally supplicating for one more chance after other, I simply cannot believe any “it’s going to be great” statements anymore no matter who is saying them.
It didn’t had to end like this.
(Freddo) “after 2 years of constant backstabbing, hollow promises, Hasbro meddling”
You could just change that to “Hasbro meddling, Hasbro meddling, and Hasbro meddling.” The voice acting is as good as ever and the animation has been improving. Sometimes the writing is a little hit and miss, but I think the main thing that is missing since the first two seasons is Lauren Faust.
Anyway, I am sure Pony is a lot of fun to work on. Do you really expect someone tied up by an NDA to say “Could have been better.” There are certainly still good moments in pony, and if you can’t find them just go read fanfiction (filter by rating to find the good stuff).
I couldn’t disagree more, Freddo. Seasons 3 and 4 were fantastic! I’m not really a huge fan of Equestria Girls but it doesn’t really bother me much since it’s just a spin-off.
Bring on Season 5 MLP Staff! Can’t wait!
@Freddo There is a very, very large number of people who don’t agree with your assessment of recent episodes. And EQ Girls 2 isn’t even out yet.
Maybe it’s over for YOU, but for the rest of us… the ever-growing audience… we’re loving it.
To the rest of the folks reading this: Freddo and RDIBP don’t speak for any of the rest of the show’s fans. Please, please don’t judge us by their fashionable cynicism.
See, this is exactly what I was talking about.
I express an opinion about the constant decline of the series I once loved so much, and I am imediately attacked and asked to leave. The only correct answer is “Yay I want more more!” and there’s absolutely no respect for anyone disagreeing with this old, scratched record of “It will be good, good… please understand!”
I’m sorry, but fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on myself.
Freddo… who told you to leave?
I personally think that Season 4 was the best season, and I eagerly anticipate Season 5. I don’t think Equestria Girls is up to par with the quality of FiM, but at the same time, I don’t mind it because it’s just a little spin-off we’re getting during the show’s off-seasons.
Notice, though, that I said “personally”. I’m not attacking you or saying the only correct answer is “Yay I want more!” I’m just saying a lot of the fandom (more than likely the majority of the fandom) still really enjoy Friendship is Magic and like to support it.
To the My Little Pony Staff, I wish you the best of wishes in the future and you have my support.
Being a bit of a drama queen aren’t you Freddo? He (Rainbow Dash is best pony) was just expressing his opinion and certainly not attacking you, or telling you to leave.
Now onto the subject at hand I think DHX are doing an amazing job at working with what they’re given considering the circumstances. They aren’t given total freedom to make what they want as it’s all ultimately up to Hasbro for the final say. They wanted them to do EQG, make Twilight a princess, and yes even a second EQG of all things. But with the amazing VAs, animators, script writers, etc, DHX try to make it the best it can be with what they’re given. And I highly respect them for that.
Freddo, I agree with you that the show has not been what it was in season 1. There is an absence of some creative vision that Lauren brought with her and I can feel you wanting a return to that time. I certainly would like that too. I agree that Equestria Girls may be causing the main show to decline in quality because of the time needed to work hard on EG. I also think that season 3 is the worst season yet because of the sudden ascension of Twilight that made no sense other than “new toy”. There is an arm of this fandom that has no respect for differing opinions and I’m sorry you encountered one of them. Those people are jerks.
Season 4 got me feeling better about the show with a season-long story, lots of new songs, and (in my opinion) one of the best episodes of the show in a while: “Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3”. I still have hope for the show because I can see the staff still cares. I don’t ask for anything to specifically happen in the show because my interests likely do not match with the audience the studio and Hasbro want to reach. There are ups and downs everywhere on this show.
I respect your opinion on the state of the show and I am genuinely curious about what specifically has made you not like it. If you want to discuss that outside of this comments section for an interview irrelevant to the existing comments, you can find me @InmanAlex.
The series deteriorating as a whole as soon Faust and Renzetti left, actually.
During S01 we got great character chemistry and interaction, good adventure episodes mixed with the normal ones, an unique, cozy medieval-like world and a beliveable ruler with an aura of mistery around her.
Then the characters became flat idiots to make the new scripts work, the adventure completely vanished, the unique world became more and more human-like, the ponies went almost bipedal, Celestia became completely useless and the staff kept making hollow promises or using excuses to shift the blame on Hasbro, etc. And while I agree that S04 had a few good episodes, these were the exception instead of the norm as it used to be.
You can’t keep saying “Its good” when it isn’t anymore and expect everyone to keep believing you forever, especially when members of thestaff have been claiming that criticism = trolling and therefore, it doesn’t count.
If Hasbro is asking the staff to say nice things to create hype, at least they should voice it as a personal opinion such as “I think the fans will like what we have prepared for them” instead of making a closed statement of “It’s great” that first fills you with hope and then with hatred once you watch it and realize it wasn’t.
Or if they really want to say “It’s great”, at least take some risks and add “And if after watching it you don’t think it’s great, then I will do _ as punishment!” which is the fair thing to do wnen you ask people to take a risk and believe your hype.
Once Equestria Academy (A parasite series that nobody asked for) gets an official announcement, I bet it will be hyped up with “It’s great, great” claims as well, just like they did with Equestria Girls.
Or at the very end, if the staff already knows what’s up for season 05 and can tell it will never live up to S01 and 02’s standards, they could openly admit it so people like me could give up on the series, move on and stop bothering the staff.
Honesty makes for a win-win situation for everyone.
I think you’re taking this show a bit too seriously, Freddo.
I highly disagree with you, I thought Season 4 was even better than season 1. I have no reason to believe Season 5 is going to be bad. I’m not really a huge fan of Equestria Girls, but I don’t mind it because it’s just a spin-off. Your claims on broken promises, the characters becoming stupid, etc., in my eyes baseless, but it’s your opinion and I can respect another man’s opinion.
If you don’t like the show anymore you’re free to leave. Nobody is forcing you to stay and watch. But a lot of us still really enjoy the show.
Well, after today’s Q&A session at San Diego Comic Con, I can say that “it is great” sounds like something mandated by Hasbro.
– Meghan trolling people with her “special” sense of humor and what she -thinks- is a clever way to insult people by giving dumb replies to serious questions.
– The panel blatantly ignoring several questions.
– Lots of overly vague replies to give an answer but at the same time not answering anything.
– Everything sounded like premade answers.
– Equestria Girls announced as the best thing ever, and conveniently forgetting that the fandom’s current division is owed to that franchise’s existence.
– No explanations about why Hasbro still refuses to make a pony movie after almost 3 years.
In other words, zero sincerity. They are the best, they have never made any mistakes, and 101% of the fandom absolutely loves everything they do.
So no, I have no reasons to trust anything the staff, voice actors or execs say anymore, especially if they claim that whatever they have in store is “great”
How they could ever get this distant and disconnected from the fandom that used to love them so much?
I really want to, but after 2 years of constant backstabbing, hollow promises, Hasbro meddling and the staff literally supplicating for one more chance after other
@Caerdwyn
Same goes for you, you don’t speak for the entire fandom and your opinion shouldn’t be taken as the “truth”.
It works both ways, not just yours.
@Ivan
“If you don’t like it then GTFO” is extremely rude and only shows how you have no argument to counter Freddo’s.
I can’t help but notice that every time somebody expresses a negative opinion against current FiM, people pops out from nowhere to immediately attack, insult and order them to leave, and every time somebody expresses WHY he’s displeased with current FiM, the habitual answer is “Well “I” like it so you are wrong!”
At the end, all what youy guys do is increase the negativity and prove that current FiM cannot resist any kind of criticism- in fact, criticism is always ignored on the spot.
Bad series, bad staff, bad supporters.