Has Warner Brothers mastered the art of alchemy?

On February 7^th Warner Brothers is slated to release its new spin on movies with its “The Legos Movie”. The first of its kind to be changed from a toy to a full-fledged Hollywood production, one has to wonder are we witnessing the future of a brand new marketing strategy?

Warner Brothers coupled with an Australian based animation company teamed up back in 2009 to bring the first “Brick Imation” movie. Originally inspired from cult YouTube videos of stop and go animation, “The Lego Movie” features an all-star cast and a blank check for movie production. Actors include Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Morgan freeman, Liam Neeson, and many more.

With such a power house squad of voices and a blank check for production where will the world of animated films go next? Lego, which at the moment is a private held company from the Netherlands, stands as the first company to really use movies to their advantage. Product placement is far but rare on the silver screen. However to use ones brand as a focal point seems to make possibilities endless.

When thinking back on movies which try to capture the essence of toys or comics many come to mind. The world changing “Pokemon” series sprung a craze which any millennial to this day is more than familiar with. However this idea that a tangible product which allows children to relive every second of their favorite movie seems like the Holy Grail of young cinema attractions.

As a passionate movie goer nothing interests me more than the ever changing movie paradigms of the silver screen. As the movie has not been released I personally cannot give the review, however Scott Mendelson a contributor for Forbes had this to say about the film. “The film goes in some wonderfully unexpected directions and takes real storytelling risks. I cannot say how everyone will respond to its narrative left turns and unexpected poignancy, but they elevate to the film far above a glorified toy commercial. The Lego Movie may in fact be brilliant”.

Between Legos record breaking Christmas sales and a full blown Hollywood hit, its hard to believe that other major toy company’s don’t “pick up the blocks” to build their own movie/toy empires.

Works Cited

1.  "'Lego: The Piece of Resistance' Moves up to February 7, 2014 | Collider | Page 205471". Collider. Retrieved April 7, 2013. 
2.  "The Lego Movie (U)". Warner Bros. British Board of Film Classification. January 17, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014. 
3.  "'Lego Movie' Can Save Warner Bros. Animation". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-02-05. 
4. ^ Horrorella (October 31, 2013). "New Trailer Has Arrived for 'The Lego Movie'!". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved November 1, 2013. 
5.  ThE_JacO (November 1, 2013). "'The Lego Movie' Official Main Trailer". CG Society. Retrieved November 1, 2013. "Nope, that comment is a misquote of what Chris and Phil said. They said there is a live action part, not a stop motion one. The journalist assumed photographic stop motion. Every single pixel of that trailer is CG."