5 Screenwriting Lessons – The Lego Movie

Who Wrote it?

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller wrote the script, inspired by the Lego Toy Line. They also came up with the story with assistance from Dan and Kevin Hageman.

What’s It About?

The Lego Movie is set in Bricksburg, a town in the Lego Universe, where everyone and everything is made of Lego. Emmet Brickowski (Voiced by Chris Pratt) is an entirely ordinary Lego figure who takes great pride in being like everybody else. However, when he meets a mysterious Lego woman called WyldStyle, he ends up in possession of the “Piece of Resistance”. According to a mysterious prophecy made by the blind Vitruvius (Voiced by Morgan Freeman), this is the key to defeating the evil Lord Business (Voiced by Will Ferell), who plans to use a weapon called “the Kragle” to destroy the Lego Universe. Emmet is trained as a “Masterbuilder” and has to find and unleash his inner creativity in order to defeat Lord Business. In order to do this, he has to make his way across the Lego universe, meeting a variety of colourful characters ranging from Batman to a cyborg pirate.

How Long is It?

The Lego Movie is 100 minutes long, including credits.

5 Screenwriting Lessons – The Lego Movie

(The Following May Contain Spoilers)

Insecurities Make A Character Great – Insecurities and flaws are played for both comedy and drama in the Lego Movie. One character with a notable and amusing flaw is Princess UniKitty, the ruler of Cloud Cuckooland, which is full of sunshine and rainbows.  The character is as cute, perky and relentlessly upbeat as her name implies, but when she gets angry, she can become incredibly destructive. This trait is set up on her introduction, but it is not fully unleashed until the climax. This ensures that when Princess UniKitty finally snaps, it is not only funny, but it fits the character.

However, a number of flaws are played entirely seriously. WyldStyle has chosen her rebellious identity because she feels insecure and lacks self-esteem. This is foreshadowed in a simple but effective manner with her refusal to discuss her name. Conversely, Emmet is confident that everyone loves him, until President Business’ henchman Bad Cop shows him a video that proves how anonymous he is. In both cases, the flaws can be easily understood, and they make the characters more relatable.

Build Worlds – The reason why the Lego brand is so iconic is because it encourages users to build a wide variety of exciting and creative worlds. However, one of the most successful and longest-running Lego sets is Lego City, which depicts an ordinary modern town. In spite of its simplicity, it is appealing because of the fact that people can relate to it. The Lego movie capitalises on this, as Bricksburg retains the big buildings and crowded roads of our modern world, but introduce a number of fantastic elements that can only be seen in a fantasy universe. This juxtaposition of the banal and the unusual makes the Lego Universe unique and fits its emphasis on creativity.

Outside of Bricksburg, the movie places its emphasis on showing strange and unique locations. These include the Wild West, Cloud Cuckooland and the Underwater world. Depictions of the various lands showcase them in a simple manner that borders on stereotype. The Wild West is full of cowboys and horses. The Medieval World, Middle Zealand, is full of knights and dragons, but also contains most of the negative aspects of life in the Middle Ages. Because these lands are only featured briefly, the stereotypes do not become overused and the worlds remain interesting and enjoyable as a result.

The Mundane Can Inspire Anything – The most valuable power that a Lego character can have is the ability to be a “Masterbuilder”. This means that they have an encyclopaedic knowledge of every item in the Lego universe, and can transform every item they see into something different according to their need. This leads to a variety of quirky and creative ideas, such as Emmet using his head to replace a car’s axle, and Batman turning a police cruiser into a baby carriage. This incongruity makes the situations both unique and humorous.

The Lego Movie’s main messages, that you should be yourself and be creative, do not just apply to the unusual use of Lego Bricks. Ordinary objects that we take for granted are depicted as strange and threatening in the Lego World. The mysterious “Kragle” is actually a tube of Krazy Glue, and Lord Business also uses Chewing Gum and staplers as weapons. By taking something ordinary and making it part of this extraordinary universe, the writers aim to show that the only thing limiting the Lego Universe is the imagination of the people using the toys.

There Must Be Some Dramatic Depth – In spite of the fact that the characters are made of Lego, they are generally treated as real people with real insecurities. We can all relate to Emmet and Wyldstyle, and even in the cases of comedic characters such as Bad Cop and Princess UniKitty, their internal dilemmas are interesting and easy to understand. This emphasis on character ensures that when something bad happens, such as Cloud Cuckooland being destroyed and Vitruvius being killed, it has as much of an impact on the viewer as it does on the protagonists. This emotional investment ensures that the audience can root for a happy ending.

The Lego Movie’s main talking point is probably its third act, in which it is revealed that the events of the film so far have been the result of a child playing with his various Lego sets. The characters all reflect his flaws and beliefs, and his strict father is the inspiration for the character of Lord Business. The climax in the Lego world corresponds with the parent and son arguing over how the Lego should be used, and their eventual reconciliation leads to a happy ending.  In spite of the fact that they only appear in the third act, they are both realistic and convincing characters because the nature of their strained, but ultimately close, relationship is probably familiar to a large number of viewers.

Don’t Allow Jokes To Drag – Several of the funniest jokes in the Lego Movie are based on long lists. An example of these is a mention of the various areas of the Lego Universe which incorporates failed lines such as the Speed Racer range. This provides a clever and amusing Meta joke that will appeals to hardcore Lego fans whilst fitting the tone of the movie perfectly. Another case in which long lists provide the opportunity for humour is when Emmett lists Lord Business’ various interests, and soon realises that someone who owns history books and surveillance cameras is not a trustworthy ruler. Here, the use of a list allows for comedic escalation, as the examples given start out as mundane and prove to be serious. In both cases, listing generates an effective set-up which encourages the Off-the-wall humour embodied by the later examples.

However, some of the jokes last too long, and as a result, an idea that may have seemed amusing for a few seconds becomes tedious very quickly. A notable example of this is the opening, where Emmet narrates his every move from when he wakes up to when he heads for work. Whilst this exposition makes sense in the light of the Third-act reveal that the action is being narrated, it lasts a bit too long. A scene in which Emmettpauses for far too long on a single syllable when he sees WyldStyle’s face for the first time is also stretched until it stops being funny. The best jokes are often the most concise, so writers need to be careful to control how long a joke lasts.

Verdict

The Lego Movie is a good example of an enjoyable family animation. Its strongest feature is its creativity, which is apparent throughout and applied to both the Lego Universe itself, and the people and objects that it is composed of. The characters are memorable and well-developed, and it succeeds in being dramatic and moving without losing focus on its comedic nature. Whilst the jokes are hit-and-miss, there are enough funny ones for the film to succeed as a comedy. Overall, it’s a unique and entertaining movie with a worthwhile message that all screenwriters should take to heart.