Deconstructing LEGO: How a Beloved Toy Sold Out to Cross-Brand Licensing
Released on 10/24/2013
(snippet of keyboard music)
(clacking)
(steam)
Star Wars has done to Lego what Emperor Palpatine
did to Anakin Skywalker.
Let me break it down for you.
Once upon a time, in a previous century,
Legos were the ultimate DIY toy.
An unfettered tool for building and creating.
Now, sure, there were generic spacemen and pirates,
but the focus was on stuff like Technics
and Mindstorms, which expanded the possibility space
of what you could make with Legos.
It used to be about the bricks, man.
But that was before the dark times.
Before the Empire.
(suspenseful music)
See, in 1999, Lego released a line
of Phantom Menace-branded toys.
It was the first time the Lego group licensed
another property, and the franchise clearly
infected Legos with a cross-media marketing virus.
Lego went on to license IP from Spongebob,
to Avatar, to Ben 10, to Lone Ranger,
all with specialized parts that betray the ideal
of infinite interlockability.
And then, well, then it wasn't about
the building toys anymore.
It was
computer games.
In 2005, the Lego Star Wars game came along,
followed by the Lego Harry Potter game,
the Lego Raiders of the Lost Ark game,
Batman, Pirates of the Caribbean,
Lego Marvel, Lord of the Rings.
(frustrated outcry)
And the CG cut-scenes in these games begat
a genre of stand-alone Lego films that are
even more annoying than their original IPs, like Ninjago.
Familiar characters do tongue-in-cheek reenactments
of familiar set pieces, from familiar franchises,
but the action is consequence-free,
because everything's made out of bricks.
And the pirotic elements are toothless
because the rights-holder gets to sign off on it.
The tactile creativity tools have morphed
into a purely virtual mix of CG and IP.
Awesome!
Could you make one of these in orange?
I only work in black.
And sometimes very, very dark gray.
(percussive music)
(record scratch)
What, you think that was funny?
Noooo!
That's the power of the dark side.
(clacking)
(steam)
What is your least favorite co-branded Lego kit?
Let me know in the comments and subscribe
to the Wired channel.
Starring: Chris Baker
Bad Ideas from Hollywood: Punctuation in Titles—Age of the Colon
Why is WWE on SyFy?! Cable Networks Straying from Their Original Missions
TV Networks Are Running Out of Original Ideas
What the Bleep is Bumblebee? Indecisive Autobot Keeps Switching his Vehicular Form
Deconstructing LEGO: How a Beloved Toy Sold Out to Cross-Brand Licensing
The Inauthenticity of CG Blood and the Demise of Karo Syrup and Red Food Coloring
The Implausibility of Thor's Physics-Defying Hammer, Mjölnir
The Unraveling of Secret Societies in Pop Cultural References
The Watered-Down Hunger Games Trilogy
Giving Thanks for TV Shows That End Before Their Time
Can Ben Affleck Successfully Suit Up as the Dark Knight?
Chris Baker Responds to YouTubers About Kick-Ass 2 and the Real-Life Superheroes Trend
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and the Evolution of CG Dragons
Chris Baker’s Favorite Christmas Movie of All Time
Riddick and Hollywood's Failed Attempts at Using POV Cameras
The Big Bang Theory’s Shortcomings and Inaccurate Portrayal of Geek Culture
Will Disney Ruin Star Wars?
The Most Famous Female Comic Book Character is a Franchise Flop
The Unnecessary RoboCop Remake
Late Night with Seth Meyers and Stale After-Hours Talk Shows
How to Improve the Academy Awards
Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Today’s Remakes of Classic Cartoons
The Veronica Mars Movie Project and the Pitfalls of Crowdfunding Films
Fox News’ Abundant & Unnecessary Use of Big-Area Touch Screens
Captain America’s Unrealistic Vibranium Shield
The Problem with Game of Thrones
Hasbro, Your "Magic: The Gathering" Movie Is Murdering My Childhood
How Hollywood Can Get Evil Twins Right
Why Exactly Is Parkour Not a Film Genre Yet?
Networks Somehow Find Another Way to Resurrect Old Shows
The Greatest Fictional Characters Ever All in One Show? Sign Me Up
Why the New Godzilla Movie Won’t Suck
The Madness of the Timeline Mashup in the New X-Men
Why Disney Needs to Make More Movies About Classic Villains
Why Edge of Tomorrow is of the Greatest Movie About Video Games, Ever
Is Darth Disney Destroying Star Wars’ Expanded Universe?
Why Clint Eastwood’s “Jersey Boys” is Destined to Crash & Burn on the Big Screen
Death to the Superhero Comic-Book Movie … But Not All Comic-Book Movies
Why Andy Serkis is the Greatest Actor of His Generation
Give Me a Standalone Comic-Book Movie or Give Me Death
Reboots We Need Way More Than "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
Brett Ratner's Hercules & Pillaging Story Lines for Big-Budget CGI Films