leggo is one of the most popular toys
ever so it's not a huge shock that the
lego movie was a huge hit when it was
released in 2014 a little surprising
however was just how good it actually
was it's the rare kids movie that adults
can truly enjoy full of subtle jokes and
references targeted specifically at
older viewers here are a few things only
the grown-ups in the theater noticed
legal woes a part of what makes the lego
movie so fun is its authentic eye toward
how real kids play with Lego most kids
probably don't keep all their different
types of Lego separate and the lego
movie fittingly brings together and
mixed set of characters many of them
licensed please calm yourself Green
ninja
Milhouse nice vampire Michael Angelo
Michelangelo and Cleopatra kids don't
know or care much about intellectual
property rights and copyright law but
most adults watching with a critical eye
knew what a legal nightmare it must have
been to get the rights to use so many
different pop cultural entities in one
place code directors and writers Phil
Lord and Christopher Miller have since
confirmed it was a logistical nightmare
and with every major script revision
rights holders had to be approached in
ooh clever casting savvy adults with a
taste for quirky comedies surely spotted
a few clever voice casting decisions in
the lego movie
for example co-directors Lord and Miller
also created MTV's early 2000s cult
classic cartoon Clone High about the
teenage clones of a number of historical
figures Will Forte voiced
teen Lincoln and Clone High and reprises
his role as Lego Lincoln Channing Tatum
and Jonah Hill play Lego Superman and
Lego Green Lantern respectively catch
move don't worry Superman
I'll get you out of here ah oh my gosh
my hands are stuck my legs are stuck as
well as supriya and they had previously
teamed up in a big-screen adaptation of
21 Jump Street also directed by Lord and
Miller books and bricks there are some
relatively obscure literary and
historical references scattered
throughout the lego movie the fantasy
realm is named middle zealand a
combination of middle-earth the setting
of the Lord of the Rings books and New
Zealand where Peter Jackson's Lord of
the Rings movies were filmed
meanwhile clouds
cuckoo-land princess unikitty is bright
and shiny homeland in the sky is a
direct literary reference the idea of an
impossibly perfect city in the clouds of
the same name first shows up all the way
back in 414 BC in the birds a play
written by Greek playwright Aristophanes
and then there's a wide sage Vitruvius
he's named after a first century BC
Roman philosopher best known for writing
a 10 volume series of books about
architecture fitting for a character and
a flick made of bricks honey how did I
meet your mother the most popular TV
show in the lego verse is a dumb one
joke affair called where are my pants
where a pantsless character frequently
wanders aloud about the whereabouts of
his fans honey
where am I hey kids may miss it but
adults recognize it's a jab at sitcom
that's still air long after their once
fresh premises have grown stale sitcoms
like say How I Met Your Mother which
took 8 seasons to introduce the audience
to The Namesake mother and also happened
to feature the Lego movies Phil Lord and
Christopher Miller as writers during his
first season inside jokes there's a
scene where wyldstyle names a bunch of
the realms of the lego universe and each
gets a second or two on screen your home
Richard is one of many realms in the
universe there's also this one Pirate's
Cove a striking Blanding clown town a
bunch of others we don't need to mention
savvy older viewers know why because
they're discontinued or less popular
lego sets such as the controversial for
girls friends line a set based on the
big-screen bomb of Speed Racer the Syfy
Bionicle line which disappeared from
stores in 2010 and the despised fabula
and line from the 1980s mixed signals
it's not every day that a cheery comedy
movie made for kids is also a subversive
satire a critical read of the lego movie
shows that it's quite anti corporate and
anti-capitalist
the villain of the movie is an evil
money and power-hungry tycoon and tyrant
named president business known later as
Lord business
shortly after the lego movies released
in 2014
figures from the political left such as
documentary filmmaker Michael Moore
praised
films anti-business cinema while more
conservative entities such as the fox
news channel decried it you know listen
Hollywood has its own agenda and we're
kind of used to this but it feels it
feels a little bit more threatening when
they start to push this out to our kids
of course can a movie that also serves
as a highly effective feature-length
commercial for a toy line really be that
anti capitalism pure imagination at the
end of the movie it's revealed that the
action up to that point took place
within the imagination of a Lego loving
little boy playing with a massive Lego
collection owned by his father played by
Will Ferrell who also provides the voice
of Lord business so all of that world
building world mixing and searching for
the piece of resistance didn't actually
happen it was all just a figment of the
kid's imagination and a neat little
parable about creativity trust and
believing in yourself but by the time
the sequel teasing ending rolls around
most kids have already forgotten all
that if they got the message in the
first place and from no fair Joe Klein
we are here to destroy you
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