SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: TARA STRONG

 

TARA STRONG

(February 12, 1973- )

 

Notable Roles: Hello Kitty, Patty Putty, Carly Cuts, Still Jill, Young Celeste, Hip Koopa, Hop Koopa, Yumi Francois, Agent Heather, Paige Guthrie, Skids, Illyana Rasputin, Kyle Griffin, Spot, Two-Tone, Vendela, Batgril/Barbara Gordon, Dil Pickles, Timmy McNulty, Teddy McNulty, Shareena, Tara Byron, Tutu, Nice Cindy, Ingrid Third, Traplev, Ariella Third, Bubbles, Bebe Proud, Cece Proud, Puff, Blink/Clarice Ferguson, Vicky Vale, Raven/Rachel Roth, Omi, Mercy Graves, Supergirl/Kara Danvers, Timmy Turner, Ben Tennyson, Toot Braunstein, Princess Clara, Maguro, Marrow/Sarah, X-23/Laura Kinney, Sierra McCool, Sky Blossoms, Sari Sumdac, Slipstream, Strika, Invisible Woman/Susan Richards, Daizy, Billy Batson, Mary Marvel/Mary Batson, Huntress/Helena Bertinelli, Ilana, Rogue, Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, American Dream/Shannon Carter, H.E.R.B.I.E., Harley Quinn/Harleen Quinzel, Iolande, Cheetah/Barbara Ann Minerva, Princess Selfrespectra, Stella’s Guardian of Sirenix, Twilight Sparkle, Penny Gadget, Black Cat/Felicia Hardy, Jessica Jones, Spider-Woman/Mary Jane Watson, Thundra, Lois Lane, Rocket J. Squirrel, Typhoid Mary/Mary Walker, Nova Prime, Terra/Tara Markov, Unikitty, Tiggy Sullivan, Miss Minutes

 

 

Born and credited as Tara Charendoff until her marriage, Strong became interested in acting at age 4 when she volunteered to perform in a school production. She worked with the Yiddish Theater and Toronto Jewish Theater and was featured in a recording of “Lay Down Your Arms” with the Habonim Youth Choir, singing the song in both English and Hebrew. Her professional debut was at the age of 13 when she starred as Gracie in Limelight Theater’s production of The Music Man. Along with a guest-spot on the show T. and T., she landed her first animated lead role in Hello Kitty’s Furry Tale Theater. By the time she moved to Los Angeles, she had already amassed an impressive resume; a trend that would continue well into her career. Largely, her work has been in animation, but Strong has made frequent on-camera appearances, most recently in 2021 as Tiggy Sullivan on Pretty Hard Cases, as well as done video games, such as playing the protagonist of Lollipop Chainsaw, Juliette. Often, Strong gets called on to play young boy characters like 10-year-old Ben Tennyson in the Ben 10 franchise, Dil Pickles in the Rugrats franchise (excluding the Paramount+ reboot) or Timmy Turner in The Fairly Oddparents.  She inherited the role as the regular voice of DC Comics’ Harley Quinn from Arleen Sorkin (in addition to already playing Batgirl), and became part of the phenomenon that was My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as lead character Twilight Sparkle. She often uses her fame and social media presence to promote animal rescue groups, raise money for charities, decry bullying and promote Veganism. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for numerous awards including Action on Film International Film Festival, Annie Awards, Behind the Voice Actors Awards, Daytime Emmy Awards, Kids’ Choice Awards, NAVGTR Awards, Online Film & Television Association, Spike Video Game Awards, a Hollywood Gold Award, and an Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Award; winning several of them.

 

 

Saturday Credits:
Hello Kitty’s Furry Tale Theater
Care Bears
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
Piggsburg Pigs!
The Raccoons
Beetlejuice
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures
Little Shop
Wish Kid
Super Mario World
X-Men: The Animated Series
Tales from the Cryptkeeper
Gadget Boy and Heather
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat
Gadget Boy’s Adventures in History
101 Dalmatians: The Series
The New Batman Adventures
Recess
Detention
Pepper Ann
Teacher’s Pet
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
The Zeta Project
The Weekenders
Ozzy & Drix
Lloyd in Space
Fillmore!
What’s New, Scooby-Doo?
Duck Dodgers
Xiaolin Showdown
Lilo & Stitch: The Series
Ben 10
Legion of Super Heroes
The Penguins of Madagascar
Sushi Pack
All Grown Up!
Transformers: Animated
Wolverine and the X-Men
Pound Puppies (2010)
Green Lantern: The Animated Series
DC Nation: Super Best Friends Forever
DC Nation: New Teen Titans
DC Nation: Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld
Winx Club
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Young Justice
Ben 10: Omniverse
Beware the Batman
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
Teen Titans Go!
DC Nation: Shazam!
Xiaolin Chronicles
Bunsen is a Beast
Justice League Action
Ben 10 (2016)
DC Super Hero Girls (2019)
My Little Pony: Pony Life

ANDREA ARRUTI DEAD AT 21

You can read the full story here.

She provided the Mexican dubs for Diamond Tiara, Fleur De Verre and Cloudchaser in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic; Flora in Pokémon: Black and White; Frankie Greene in Transformers: Rescue Bots; Pip in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal; Sid Chang in The Loud House; Elise in Pokémon XY; Shasa Guten in Beyblade Burst: Evolution; and Makini in The Lion Guard.

REVIEW: MY LITTLE PONY: THE MOVIE

Director: Jayson Thiessen

Writers: Meghan McCarthy, Rita Hsiao, Michael Vogel

Starring: Tara Strong, Tabitha St. Germain, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Cathy Weseluck, Emily Blunt, Michael Pena, Liev Schreiber, Taye Diggs, Zoe Saldana, Kristin Chenoweth, Uzo Aduba, Sia

            My Little Pony: The Movie comes at an interesting time in the franchise. When Lauren Faust was tasked with brining the 80s toy franchise to the fledgling The Hub network, neither she nor the people involved realized the phenomenon they were creating. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was not only a hit with both boys and girls, but it found an unexpected fanbase amongst adult men, now known as Bronies.

The Mane 6 (Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy) and Spike.

            Friendship is Magic followed magic student Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong) and her pet dragon, Spike (Cathy Weseluck), as they were sent to the small town of Ponyville in Equestria by her mentor, Princess Celestia (Nicole Oliver). There, she was tasked to learn about friendship and did so by becoming friends with fashionista Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain), apple farmer Applejack (Ashleigh Ball), extreme flyer Rainbow Dash (also Ball), high-energy party planner Pinkie Pie (Andrea Libman), and animal lover Fluttershy (also Libman). Their friendship was the key to saving Equestria numerous times, eventually leading to Twilight becoming a princess herself. The show is in the middle of its seventh season, and some of the bloom has fallen off the rose as is expected with an aging franchise. Friendship is still popular, but not as much as it once was.

You know it's big budget because there's shading and light effects.

            The Movie was announced back in 2014 and became the second feature to be produced through Hasbro’s AllSpark Pictures (after the abysmal Jem and the Holograms) alongside DHX Media, with Lionsgate releasing. Series director Jayson Thiessen left the show to focus on directing the film, and showrunner Meghan McCarthy wrote the screenplay with Rita Hsiao and Michael Vogel. The forces of the Storm King (Liev Schreiber) invade Canterlot during Twilight’s first Friendship Festival, sending the Mane 6 and Spike to new parts of Equestria to find help and rescue Princesses Celestia, Luna (St. Germain) and Cadence (Britt McKillip) from capture. Series composer Daniel Ingram also provided the music. Although other Friendship-related productions have seen theatrical releases before airing on TV, this is the first to be made exclusively for theaters.

An image depicting a new undersea kingdom.

            The production took great pains to ensure that the movie wasn’t just viewed as an extended episode of the show (something that sunk the box office of many other show-to-film efforts, particularly from DiC Entertainment). As such, the movie features slightly tweaked character and set models to add a sense of roundness and weight. At times, they almost resemble a cross between the models from the show and the artwork of Jay Fogsit, one of the contributing artists to IDW Publications’ ongoing My Little Pony comics. For longtime fans of the show, this adjustment could be a bit jarring, but as the movie goes on you become more accustomed to the new look. That’s helped by the overall familiarity of the production which left it feeling close enough to the show, from everything that transpired on screen to the opening notes of Ingram’s enjoyable score. And there’s plenty of eye candy as many residents and visitors to Ponyville make cameos throughout the opening sequence.

The Storm King and Tempest.

            The movie continues the ongoing themes of season seven of introducing new locations and characters. Unfortunately, this is where it stumbles a bit. Not much screen time is given to these new characters to adequately develop them or their relationships. The most developed is Tempest (Emily Blunt), who receives a flashback to explain her lack of a horn and why she’s helping Storm King conquer the ponies. The Storm King himself, however, only appears twice and is far less imposing a threat than any that have come before him on the show.

New friends, including a con artist, pirates and an undersea pony.

The ponies’ quest has them encountering and befriending a variety of new species and characters, but these friendships all form awfully fast and get no time to develop organically. We get a brief glimpse into their world and a little backstory through exposition, but not much else. Even the instances of allegiance changing can’t be explained adequately beyond “because the script said so”. Perhaps there were just too many to juggle in the movie’s short running time, or maybe they dedicated too much time to ensure there was a song number in every new scene. These characters do get a bit of fleshing out, but that’s only assuming you’ve read the IDW prequel comics. Some of that material would have been beneficial here.

Celebrity cameo: Sia as Songbird Serenade.

            Overall, the movie felt like an extension of the show, which was thanks to a lot of the same people working behind and “in front” of the camera. Fans of Friendship is Magic will enjoy the movie on that basis alone. There were also quite a few jokes and sight gags that will get a laugh (oh that Pinkie Pie…). The story was fine, even though it wasn’t anything remarkably new or wildly different, and the music was varied and fun. The new characters were really shortchanged in the long run. They served little purpose beyond advancing the Mane 6 to the next part of their journey and weren’t thoroughly developed. Friendship is Magic has done many instances of friendship building and credible threats to Equestria that far surpass what was presented in the movie. These things just weren’t given enough time to gestate on screen so that they’d feel real.

RATING: 3 out of 5 hooves. A nice, if flawed, addition to the My Little Pony canon. Fans of the show and kids will most likely like it, although newcomers and general audiences may fail to find what made the show so magical in the first place.

REVIEW: MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #34

Warning: may contain spoilers.

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #34

Release Date: September 16, 2015

Writer: Jeremy Whitley

Art: Andy Price

Colors: Heather Breckel

Letters: Neil Uyetake

Editor: Bobby Curnow

Covers: Andy Price (regular), Sara Richard (subscription), Stewart McKenny (incentive), Tony Fleecs (Hot Topic & Salt Lake Con)

A shrouded pony gathers up some of the Mane Six’s foes—The Flim Flam brothers, Iron Will, Lightning Dust and Queen Chrysalis—in order to attack and disrupt the Crystal Empire’s Crystal Faire. But that turns out to be a diversion for a misguided mission to bring back one of the Ponies’ greatest foes.

GRADE: A. Jeremy Whitley follows-up his story from FIENDship Is Magic #1 with this two-parter. While much can’t be said about the actual story itself without giving away the entire point of it, the lead-up was well done by recruiting some familiar faces to distract the Mane Six. The only negative is that Chrysalis, who has been depicted as a major threat, seemed very de-powered in this appearance. Whitley is joined by Andy Price on art for this installment, who continues to pepper the action and backgrounds with fun little visual gags.

This issue came with 5 covers, seen below. What did you think of this issue? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page.

REVIEW: MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #33

Warning: may contain spoilers.

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #33

Release Date: August 19, 2015

Writer: Thom Zahler

Art: Tony Fleecs

Colors: Heather Breckel

Letters: Neil Uyetake

Editors: Bobby Curnow

Covers: Tony Fleecs (regular), Andy Price (subscription), Thom Zahler (incentive), Amy Mebberson (Hot Topic)

Twilight Sparkle uses the spell that created Flutterbat to turn them all into vampire ponies in control of their actions. As they take the battle to the living apples, Fluttershy combats herself for dominance of her body and to help her friends. The plan seems to work, until the apples all form up onto Bad Apple to become a giant Spike.

GRADE: A. A fun conclusion to the story begun last issue. Thom Zahler made excellent use of Fluttershy’s transformation as a driving force in the plot and answered what the others would look like as one in the process. Although, probably the best use of that particular devise was Andy Price’s cover, which depicts the Mane Six as various vampires throughout pop culture. With the excellent artwork of Tony Fleecs and Heather Breckel to back it up, the only negative of the story is that the ending was pretty much telegraphed upon the introduction of Good Apple last issue. But, it was still a fun, enjoyable romp, and one of the best Ponies stories in the comic since its inception.

This issue came with 4 covers, seen below. What did you think of this issue? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page.

REVIEW: MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDS FOREVER #19

Warning: may contain spoilers.

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDS FOREVER #19

Release Date: August 5, 2015

Writer: Christina Rice

Art: Brenda Hickey

Colors: Heather Breckel

Letters: Neil Uyetake

Editors: Bobby Curnow

Covers: Amy Mebberson (regular), Brenda Hickey (subscription)

After an unintentional coordination between one of Rarity’s dresses and the Cakes’ cake at a wedding, Rarity decides to start a business with the Cakes to become a one-stop wedding shop. The plan seems like a good one, until Rarity becomes a control freak and begins to overshadow the Cakes’ expertise, leading to a disaster in front of a journalist checking out their business.

GRADE: A. Rarity is the ultimate obsessive compulsive. She puts as much of herself into anything that she does, sometimes more than she or anyone else really has to give, and Christina Rice captured that perfectly. It made for a fun comparison between the maniacally ambitious Rarity and the pretty laid-back Cakes, and to a fun disastrous cake design. Brenda Hickey’s artwork with Heather Breckel’s coloring brought it all together to really make it feel like an episode of the series.

This issue came with 2 covers, seen below. What did you think of this issue? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page.

REVIEW: MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDS FOREVER #17

Warning: may contain spoilers.

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDS FOREVER #17

Release Date: June 3, 2015

Writer: Ted Anderson

Art: Brenda Hickey

Colors: Heather Breckel

Letters: Neil Uyetake

Editors: Bobby Curnow

Covers: Amy Mebberson (regular), Brenda Hickey (subscription)

Twilight Sparkle has a lot to do and a problem she can’t solve, which drives her close to burning out. She decides to find out how other Ponies handle such a load and settles on observing Big Mac as he handles his chores. Feeling it not enough, Twilight casts a spell to actually enter Big Mac’s mind and see what makes him tick.

GRADE: A. Twilight’s freakouts are an established part of her character, and are used to propel this story forward. What was unique was the larger focus Big Mac received in this tale, as he’s usually an incidental character in a story that focuses on his family or that leads to the farm. Ted Anderson handled all the aspects of Big Mac well, showing how everypony has many different sides to their personalities, even if they don’t always show them in obvious ways, and how those sides can work together to make one function. It was a fun, simple story wonderfully brought to life by Brenda Hickey and Heather Breckel.

This issue came with 2 covers, seen below. What did you think of this issue? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page.

REVIEW: MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #32

Warning: may contain spoilers.

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #32

Release Date: July 22, 2015

Writer: Thom Zahler

Art: Tony Fleecs

Colors: Heather Breckel

Letters: Neil Uyetake

Editors: Bobby Curnow

Covers: Tony Fleecs (regular, Larry’s, Baltimore, Comics World, Convention), Thom Zahler (subscription), Mary Bellamy (incentive), Amy Mebberson (Hot Topic)

Remnants from the battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon had finally made their way to Equestria and brought the apples at Sweet Apple Acres to life. Now, the apples are amassing an army and enslaving ponies to take over the entire world…starting with Ponyville.

GRADE: A+. Since IDW began publishing this series in 2012, this was probably the best issue yet. Thom Zahler takes previously established continuity and uses it to his advantage to craft a story that’s absolutely fun. The villains are so insanely silly, right down to their leader having a mustache. The mane six are perfectly represented, and Pinkie Pie steals the show after her transformation (which was spoiled by one of the variant covers). It was just a fun and funny romp from cover to cover, perfectly brought to life by Tony Fleecs and Heather Breckel.

This issue came with 2 covers, seen below. What did you think of this issue? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page.

REVIEW: MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDS FOREVER #18

Warning: May contain spoilers.

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDS FOREVER #18 

Release date: July 1, 2015

Writer: Christina Rice

Art: Jay Fosgitt

Colors: Heather Breckel

Letters: Neil Yuetake

Editor: Bobby Curnow

Covers: Amy Mebberson (regular), Jay Fosgitt (subscription), Tony Fleecs (Jet Pack), Agnes Garbowska (Books-A-Million)

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are invited to a reunion at flight camp. While Rainbow Dash is excited, Fluttershy's memories of her time there aren't quite as fond. But, instead of sticking by her friend, Rainbow is eager to prove her continued awesomeness to her former camp mates.

GRADE: A. A short and sweet story from Christina Rice about facing your fears and being true to yourself. The story introduces some new characters, specifically Flutershy's chief bully Cirrus Cloud, and gives a bit of an expansion on Fluttershy's past given many moons ago on the show. There were also some callbacks to other episodes via Rainbow Dash's exploits. The middle part, specifically Fluttershy's freak-out, was a bit clunky in its execution and probably would have worked better in animation. Jay Fosgitt's artwork doesn't exactly match the established Pony style, but it does have an air of Chuck Jones about it which gives the book a unique-yet-familiar look when compared to other books in the line.

This issue came with four covers, seen below. What did you think of the issue? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook by clicking the link at the top of the right-hand menu.