The Brick Connection – A novice Lego fan explores the great brick world of LEGO

Hello my LEGO friends!

Are you looking for something really romantic to do this weekend for Valentine’s Day?

May I suggest a romantic evening snuggled up on the couch with the one you love to watch a movie?

Not just any movie…A LEGO Brickumentary!!

Oh is that not romantic enough for you?!

Personally I am looking forward to a Valentine’s Day snuggled up on the couch with me, myself, and I, stuffing my face (with food) while watching the mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead. But I do highly recommend a viewing of A LEGO Brickumentary if you get the chance.

I watched it specifically to write a review for this blog, but I would have been happy to do it for pure entertainment purposes.

The Danish-American documentary film was originally released in 2014 at the Tribeca Film Festival, but it wasn’t released officially in the U.S. until July 2015. I’m not really sure how many theaters it was actually released in, but most people I’m sure viewed it through streaming services like I did. It’s free on Amazon Prime if you have an account.

I couldn’t find any information on how involved TLG was with the production of this documentary. Obviously they gave permission to film at their offices in multiple parts of the world. But are they secretly the brains behind what some people are calling a 90-minute commercial for LEGO? I don’t know. But even if this is basically a long commercial for LEGO, it’s better than any commercial I saw during the Super Bowl this past Sunday.

My light recap and detailed review:

The Brickumentary covers the beginnings of the LEGO Company, including a shocking number of burned down warehouses/factories. (Seriously, how could that have happened so many times?!) From there it just gives you the basics of LEGO’s growth. The real story in this film is to see the many different ways that this toy line has made an impact on people’s lives. You may think you know all the ways that LEGO has left its mark, but you would be wrong.

As the film’s tagline says, “If you thought you knew the world of Lego, YOU DON'T KNOW BRICK!”

The film is narrated by an adorable and funny LEGO minifigure, voiced by Jason Bateman. This was a really nice way to have the documentary flow from one topic to the next.

And those topics take you from outer space, to LEGO headquarters in Billund, Denmark, to BrickCon in Seattle, to Times Square in New York City, and to many more places. According to the film, a half billion people have grown up playing with LEGO bricks, so there are plenty of LEGO stories to cover.

Along with being entertaining, this film was also very informative (but in a fun way).

Things I learned:

• LEGO bricks made in 1955 can be used with LEGO bricks made today.
• More than 100,000 pieces are made per minute
• The difference between a LEGO designer and a LEGO Master Builder. Designers make the sets, master builders make stuff like this:

• Master builders built The LEGO Movie set for the live action scenes
• The term 1x5 is code for “hot girl” at a LEGO convention. (LEGO doesn’t make 1x5 pieces so it’s considered unusual, like a hot girl at a LEGO convention apparently. I’m going to pretend any woman at a LEGO convention would be considered a 1x5, otherwise that term is demeaning and sexist.)
• There are like a bajillion ways to put together 6 regular 2x4 bricks, or more accurately, 950 million ways.
• people can make programmable robots using LEGO Mindstorms

Other things you will learn:

• How LEGO went from almost constant success to nearly going out of business in 2003 due to sheer arrogance. And how listening to their fans made them successful again and will make them successful for years to come.
• The interesting backstory to the LEGO Architecture theme
• How a LEGO fan became a top LEGO designer
• How this massive X-wing was made (42 times the size of the original set)

So there’s definitely a lot of really interesting stories and general information that even some diehard fans of LEGO might not know.

Another great part of this film was seeing all the different sorts of people who have a passion for LEGO. Despite what some stereotypes might have you believe, LEGO is not just for little boys or grown-up nerds who live in their mother’s basement.

Sure, people who have a passion for LEGO are nerds, but so are people who love football and baseball, or people who love Star Trek and Harry Potter. Everyone’s a nerd for something, but LEGO’s nerds really span a variety of occupations and locations.

The LEGO fandom includes people like NBA All-Star Dwight Howard, Grammy-Nominated Singer-Songwriter Ed Sheeran, and the co-creator of South Park. All are featured in the film. It also includes blue collar workers, white collar workers, boys and girls, moms and dads. Like the different combinations of LEGO bricks, the LEGO fandom’s reach is almost infinite.

And the uses of LEGO are also vast.

There is LEGO Art and LEGO animation (AKA brickfilms).

And then there are the less obvious uses: a therapeutic device for autistic children and a visualization tool for scientists and engineers. Yes, even NASA has used LEGO to help design and motivate their exploration of space.

I won’t go into detail on any of these topics because they are all covered in the film and worth seeing for yourself.

But wow, is it just amazing to see how much plastic construction toys have influenced, inspired, and educated people of all ages from all walks of life. I found myself smiling often while watching this documentary and I think any LEGO fan watching would do the same.

It also really makes you want to play with LEGO.

Now does this mean I have been brainwashed by the almighty LEGO? Was this film made solely to trick me into buying more LEGO?

No, LEGO was already awesome and enticing to purchase and this film just proved in multiple and in somewhat surprising ways why this toy brand is top notch and unlike any other.

So ignore the negative nelly that summed up their review of the film with this statement: "Here's a documentary so insidious, so comprehensively scrubbed clean, that it argues for the therapeutic powers of consumerism."

(Methinks, someone has stepped on some LEGO with their bare feet...or deserves to.)

A LEGO Brickumentary is a fun, informative, and inspiring film that will only make you love LEGO more.

Just when you didn’t think it was possible.

And that’s my review! Let me know in the comments if any of you have seen the film or plan on seeing it.

But please don’t make it a Valentine’s Day activity for you and your significant other. You should watch The Walking Dead though. What’s more romantic than watching people get eaten alive by zombies?

Until next time…where can I buy zombie-shaped chocolates?

*Compliments, general feedback, and constructive criticism are welcome. Any haters that are gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate can go step on some Lego with their bare feet.*