The Lego Movie is Awesome

Hey guys, I enjoyed The Lego Movie this past weekend for plenty of reasons. I hope you found many as well.

Because I work at Legoland California, I was familiar with the sets and movie characters before knowing the story. I had wondered if the movie would feel weird from my familiarity with Lego pieces and working in a Lego gift shop. This question would apply even more to Lego fans though. Instead of feeling weird, I laughed even more from recognizing Lego pieces, their multiple uses, and their limitations. If you are a Mystery Minifigures collector, then you will enjoy appearances from different series.

If you have a chance to visit Legoland California, then check out the special exhibit called The Lego Movie Experience with Lego model scenes from the movie including the dad's workspace. The opening was Feb. 20, but the exhibit is available for a year. The location is next to Studio Store on the left side of the park.

The Lego Movie Experience at Legoland California

The Lego Movie had some humor similar to Muppet humor. It is not so much the literal vs. figurative meaning of words. I have not been able to label it yet. I do not want to list examples of this humor either so you can enjoy the moment. I also cracked-up over the sound effects and use of Lego pieces for special effects such as explosions.

An explosion example of a special effect with Lego pieces.

Those of you who have read my other blog posts know I love Meta and dystopias. Well, The Lego Movie has both aspects! :D

Two of my favorite characters are Metalbeard and Benny the 80s spaceman. Since I saw the Lego set Metalbeard's Duel, I thought Metalbeard looked cool with his many unique pieces. My friends and coworkers know very well that I like puns and cheesy corny jokes. Yesterday at work, I kept pointing out the chest pun in Metalbeard. He is great to watch and hear on the screen.

Metalbeard

I wish this "Spaceship!" tee had Benny's whole body.

My family knows I am drawn to funny-voiced characters such as King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph and Shrek the Final Chapter. This fact is one reason why spaceman Benny is a favorite character of mine. Thanks voice actor Charlie Day! ;)

The main reason I like Benny has to do with his attempts to build a spaceship. I will keep an eye out for a good shirt with Benny. By the way, he is based off of the Lego figure Blue Classic Spaceman.
Rumpelstiltskin in

There are more things I enjoyed and laughed over, but one last aspect I'll say is that the story's messages are awesome. :) I recommend watching it. If you have already, who was your favorite character?

Lego TMNT

TMNT Lego figures are coming out in January! Here is a video with a sneak peek of the Lego sets and details on designing them.

Part 1: The figures

Part 2: The environments

(I laughed at the exploding wall)

Like any other fan, I want to get at least the turtle and Shredder figures. I enjoyed hearing about the design process. What do you think?

Cowabunga!

Along with Halloween, October is National Pizza Month.  So how about looking at some big fans of pizza, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT).

"Vote Pizza Party" classic 80s tee for $20

Hello, Raphael.

Nickelodeon promoted the more recent series with this chalk illusion in London. I am sure that everyone wishes the drawing was a permanent mural.

"Ancient Ninja Xenomorphs"

More and more TMNT printed tees are coming out probably because of Micheal Bay's TMNT film reboot.

However, On the UK website The Guardian, I read that the 2013 film pushed back to 2014 because of the fans' voiced disapproval of the mutant turtles portrayed as aliens. The Guardian believes the production may be dropped altogether.

An artist, Billy Allison, did a great depiction of the ninjas like Ridley Scott's Alien.  I linked the tee's title to prints and device covers, but he has the design available as a tee too.




Here's two tees that take after the turtles' names: Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello.

"Renaissance Ninjas" tee for $22.50

"Heroes in an Art Shell" tee currently sold out.

"Ninja Rhapsody" print for $15

Did you know that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a comic before a TV show? How about that all four wore red?

Artist Hillary White knew. Her design on the right is no longer available at RiptApparel, but you can still get a $15 print. It is a mash-up of one of Queen's album covers.

Even when dressed the same, Raphael stands out.

Original TV show in the 80s

There are more TMNT tees, but don't forget to celebrate National Pizza Month.

I have always wondered if banana toppings tasted good.  Do you remember what other toppings these turtles tried?

I did not find a tee or print of this one,
but it is still worth sharing.

Back into the Labyrinth

I heard the Rammstein song "Die Sonne" earlier today and found myself thinking of the 80's movie Labyrinth later on. A humorous fanart idea even popped in my head. I listened to the song again just now and I remembered this fan-made music video (Spoliers! The video follows the whole movie):

The timing of the music and movement is awesome.

Labyrinth is one of my top movies. Then The Fall became my new Labyrinth. However, after today and a few tee designs,  I find myself diving back to Labyrinth. I hope I can make the fanart idea into a shirt as well.

Here's the trailers for both mentioned movies:

Labyrinth (1986)

The Fall (2008)

Shirt for Labyrinth Fans-Hurry!

One of my lifelong favorite movies is Jim Hension's Labyrinth from the 80's with David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly (There's only 3 other actors. The rest are puppets and animals). =)

For you Labyrinth fans, I wanted to share this Art Nouveau-styled $10 tee shirt I found at TeeFury.com

Click HERE for the link.

There's a one-day countdown maybe from expected popularity so buy it now! I have already ordered mine. =)