A Lego Brickumentary (2014)

A look at the global culture and appeal of the LEGO building-block toys.

Directors:

Kief Davidson, Daniel Junge

Writers:

Daniel Junge, Davis Coombe

Stars:

Jason Bateman, Jamie Berard, Bryan Bonahoom

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jason Bateman	...	Narrator (voice)
Jamie Berard	...	Himself
Bryan Bonahoom	...	Himself
Alice Finch	...	Herself
Bret Harris	...	Himself
Dwight Howard	...	Himself
Cody Hughes	...	Himself
G.W. Krauss	...	Himself
Dan Legoff	...	Himself
David Pagano	...	Himself
Nathan Sawaya	...	Himself
Jeff Viens	...	Himself
Brian Whitaker	...	Himself

Storyline

Of all the toys arising from the 20th century, there has never been one like Lego bricks. This film covers the history of this product of Denmark and how it arose from a toy company with an owning family that refused to let either hard times or multiple fiery disasters get them down. Furthermore, we also explore the various aficionados of the product like the collectors, hobbyists, artists, architects, engineers, scientists and doctors who have found uses for this classic construction toy that go far beyond children's playtime.

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Plot Keywords:

toy | lego | denmark | artist | toy company | 

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Taglines:

If you thought you knew the world of Lego, YOU DON'T KNOW BRICK!

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Denmark USA

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

31 July 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beyond the Brick: A Lego Brickumentary

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$43,285, 2 August 2015

Gross USA:

$101,531

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$101,531

Company Credits

Production Co:

Global Emerging Markets (GEM), HeLo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

While the documentary suggests the young filmmakers making the BrickFilm "Melting Point" were editing the final parts of the film when the documentary was released, this was unfortunately not quite the case. In fact, the director was near radio silent on the film's progress until 2017-- a good four years after they announced the film on Kickstarter-- releasing a short BrickFilm explaining what happen to the film: it was too ambitious of a project and he would rather stay creative by becoming a writer. Since then, he has not made any more BrickFilms, however his book remains available on Amazon. He has gone on record saying he will release the scenes he already had filmed, most of which have still yet to be released. Additionally he offered refunds to anyone who contributed on the Kickstarter who requested one. It is unclear whether refunds were successful or not.

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Connections

References The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

User Reviews

LEGO builds better brains by being bold and beautiful

LEGOs are a whole thing nowadays. Well, if I'm being honest, and I like to be honest, it's been a thing for quite a while now. There are annual conventions. There are subcultures devoted to building from a kit or building freeform fun or to particular collectible sets. It's a toy that's as attractive to adults as it is to kids, and it doesn't show signs of slowing down.

Now, when I was growing up, there weren't very many LEGO sets. The space one was considered a Big Deal around my house. The LEGO guy had an astronaut helmet! And there were all kinds of pieces you could use to build a wacky spaceship, directions be darned. In fact, I don't remember ever following directions for a LEGO set. We'd just pick up pieces and see what happened. Nowadays, though, there are thousands of themed sets, from Harry Potter and Star Wars to the old classics like pirate ships or the aforementioned astronauts. And with the huge success of The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie, and the LEGO Ninjago Movie, it's hard to see the product's popularly dwindling anytime soon.

This documentary touches on everything LEGO, from its old-timey beginnings as an amusing pastime for the kiddies to the marketing behemoth it's become. We learn how LEGOs are used in a New Jersey school to help autistic children communicate. We learn that people have used LEGOs to make actual, usable, real life things like houses and cars. We learn that LEGO can even be used as an art medium. We learn, too, that the LEGO company itself evolved from being a typical create-from-within corporation to one that gladly welcomes the ideas and visions of its customers, even holding contests to get new ideas for LEGO products.

This Brickumentary is a fine film. There are plenty of human-interest stories, as one might expect, and more than one will jerk at the ol' heart strings. And, as noted above, there are also several real-world applications on display. When's the last time you saw a toy being used by adults to produce practical results? Probably half past never! Sure, it's a huge commercial. There aren't many warts on display, no disfigured minifigs. But that's okay – the universal appeal of the toy made me happy to learn more about it. If you're looking for a tell-all, keep walking. But if not… this film fits like, uh, two interlocking bricks, or something.