Yes, it's true, Hollywood is once again looking to the Toy Department to find inspiration for its next "block"-buster. I found the article on Variety.com yesterday, and could hardly believe my eyes. The toy that defined my childhood will most likely become the basis of a new movie backed by Warner Brothers. According to the article, the movie will be part live action, part animation.
Dan and Kevin Hageman are writing the script. The brothers are pretty new to the writing scene, (at least as far as getting scripts made) IMDB lists all projects as in development. There's no word on a director yet, but Variety says Dan Lin, who is Executive Producer of Guy Ritchie's new Sherlock Homes movie starring Robert Downey Jr. is also producing the Lego-flick. The plot of the film is being kept under wraps for now.(Read the Variety Article)
Hollywood has had some pretty good luck with toy based movies lately. GI Joe is doing well at the box office, and both Transformers movies have also made big bucks. For the studios and the toy companies it's the perfect chance to sell some merchandise to a new generation of kids.
When I was growing up, Legos had to be my favorite toy. When I played by myself I would create entire worlds and storylines. There would be a character based on myself, and usually a girl who I would rescue from the bad guys. The bad guys were one of my favorite creations. My friends and I made what we called the "blockheads." Remember the mean characters on Gumby? Well, if you take a regular Lego brick and stick it on the neck of a Lego body, you can creat all different sorts of Lego species. Usually things would escalate to all out war until I had to start rebuilding all over again. Legos allowed me and my friends to be creative, you could create a world where you could be anything you wanted.
Today, things are a little less imaginitive. Legos have already gone into the cross-marketing game. You can buy sets that are based on Star Wars, Batman, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter - just to name a few. As kids, we played Star Wars Legos long before the actual sets were created. Stick a black knight helmet or maybe a space helmet on a Lego space-man and you've got your Darth Vader. Yoda and Chewey were a little harder, but the cool thing about Legos is you could also bring other toys into that world.
Besides Legos based on pop-culture, there are even extremely popular video games where you can play as Lego characters. That's another idea that seems a I just don't get. I guess I understand playing Star Wars Legos, but why would you want to play a video game like that? Why not just play a Star Wars video game? I suppose if the game is fun, the game is fun. I'm still trying to beat Super Mario Bros. for NES, so I'm not one to talk about gaming.
I always had a little bit of "Lego-envy" against the kids who had the sets I wasn't lucky enough to get. Particularly the Lego Pirate Ships. I was a big fan of the pirate sets because they had some of the most interesting characters. I'd combine Space Legos with Pirate Legos to make SPACE PIRATES! Nowadays, there are a ton of different characters to pick from. I've noticed that not all Lego men have that same smile on their yellow faces. Some of them look downright angry and mean!
Plus, Legos are no longer one race, you can now find minority Lego people. This way kids can reenact the confrontation between Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and Sgt James Crowley, and then hold a Lego Beer Summit at the Lego White House.
Some people who were fans of GI Joe and Transformers were disappointed with the movie version of the favorite toys. You can't always feel like a kid again when you see movies like that. Remember, they're intended for a new audience. So maybe your kids will enjoy playing with GI Joes and you can remind them that "knowing is half the battle." Even though Legos are more commercial than they were for previous generations, at least this movie could encourage kids to be creative. I already bought a big bag of Duplos for my unborn son at a rummage sale.
There is definitely evidence that kids are still coming up with their own ideas with Legos. A recent fad on the internet is what's sometimes referred to as "Brick Films." It's stop-motion animation using Legos. Here is one of my favorties, it's also one of the wierdest.
THE ANGRY PROPHET
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