Tag Archives: Animation

What a looney way to catch a road-runner

Builder Greenarj presents us with a LEGO scene in which we can observe the Eternalii Famishiis in his native habitat. Wile E. Coyote possesses great determination to catch the uncatchable Tastyus Supersonicus, aka Road-runner. Wile E. Coyote also possesses a longtime subscription to Acme products, the latest of which is the rocket here. There’s a high chance this could go south for Coyote, yet he seems unfazed by the possibility. Nonetheless, Greenarj has wisely provided a medical kit–just in case! The build makes good use of rail plates for the rocket’s mobile launcher. The shaping of the rocky outcropping looks like it was taken right out of the old cartoons. And no small feat is the lettering of “ACME” on the open crate full of tools and dynamite. Even now, I can hear the “meep meep” of Road-runner, beckoning Wile E. Coyote onward to–KABOOM!

Wile E. Coyote

Did you know Geri changed the game?

Modeling characters with realistic textures and movements was a difficult task for the animators at Pixar back in the nineties. While making their first short film in 8 years, Geri’s Game, the company utilized a method to make more lifelike skin and even developed a dynamic cloth simulator to emulate clothing better. Not only did it push Pixar technologically, but it also started a tradition of shorts before feature films that continues today. Builder Deo embraced a more blocky form and used their LEGO to create his own Geri, a version with a life all its own. This wonderful idea includes the chairs, table, chess set, and (not pictured) the prized dentures.

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You have my sword. And you have my bow. And my... laser gun? [Video]

Ever wonder what you would pack for a trip across Middle-Earth? Tune in and find out in this hilarious new LEGO Lord of the Rings stop-motion animation by BrotherhoodWorkshop. Make sure to grab some popcorn while watching this incredible parody of the iconic scene from The Two Towers!

We arrive at Edoras with Gandalf the White, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli and it looks like the kingdom of Rohan has seen some better days. To top it off, the Three Hunters are having trouble bringing their weapons into the Golden Hall… but not to worry, Gandalf knows exactly how to play by the rules.

Watch “Take the Wizard’s Staff!!!” below.

Treasure of the Snake Queen

Not to make this all about me, but I’m an artist who enjoys illustrating book covers. My work is heavily influenced by old pulps, spy novels, game manuals, serial horrors, children’s mysteries such as Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and anything involving elements of danger, intrigue, lush colors, and provocative titles. The point to telling you this is with a spooky castle, and a dense forest, this LEGO creation immediately resonated with me. The title, “Treasure of the Snake Queen” evoked a sense of danger and exotic adventure. Already this was something I was excited to write about. You can imagine my delight when I then learned that this piece was built by our own Brothers Brick contributor Flynn DeMarco and his partner Richard Board. Together they comprise a cohesive building team who goes by the name of Tricky Bricks.

See more of this massive model, including a video of it in action!

Shotaro Kaneda’s Bike from Akira [Instructions]

The 1988 sci-fi Japanese animated film Akira gave life to one of the most iconic bikes that remains entrenched in pop-culture 30 years later. Making an appearance again in the recent movie Ready Player One by Steven Spielberg only further reinforces that legacy. We have Jerry Builds Bricks to thank for sharing a quick build of this amazing bike. There’s no better way to honour this favourite by building your very own miniature version of it.

Click to see the video for the build

Worlds collide in this clever theme park mashup [Video]

If there really was a theme park with cloned dinosaurs, who do you think would own and operate it? Considering Walt Disney Parks is the world’s largest theme park company and Disney has a history of purchasing competitors, it’s not a huge stretch to imagine a T-Rex sporting Mickey Mouse ears. Paul Hollingsworth and his team at Digital Wizards Studios explore this hypothetical scenario in their clever brickfilm, Jurassic Disney World.

Paul and team have done a great job integrating official sets such as Cinderella’s Castle and the Jurassic World gyrospheres with custom builds like Jurassic Park jeeps and a bubblegum tank for Minnie Mouse. Every scene is densely packed with clever gags, impressive animation, and easter eggs (such as a brief cameo by a mutant dinosaur from the short-lived Dino Attack theme). Be sure to watch it twice to appreciate the finer details.

Don’t be sheepish [Video]

Sheep by Maxime Marion is a cute brickfilm about being true to yourself instead of following the flock. It is also a joyous celebration of the 1×1 round eye tile and its siblings the eyelash tile and the stink eye tile. Maxime creates a wide variety of emotions and expressions using various combinations of these three simple pieces.

I would argue that these eye tiles are some of the most important parts added to the LEGO palette in the last decade. Just as the introduction of the minifigure led to a major shift in the scale of vehicles and buildings, the introduction of the eye tile has led to a huge increase in character-focused creations, both in official sets and in fan creations. I hope more brickfilmers follow Maxime’s award-winning example and start incorporating brick-built characters into their films. Watch Sheep below.

Ralph’s gone Turbo!

Wreck-It Ralph was one of those movies that did pretty well and I thought was a great story but somehow wasn’t very memorable in the long run, for me at least. Seeing YOS Brick’s build certainly jogged my mind indeed and reignited some of the memories of Ralph going rogue (aka gone Turbo!) and with the new sequel coming up, we get two of the main characters in BrickHeadz form: Vanellope and Ralph. Well, Ralph isn’t strictly a BrickHeadz; he’s more the appropriate extended form, or to coin a new phrase: a Big Brickheadz, perhaps?

Wreck-It Ralph

Build your own Scooby and Shaggy Brickheadz with these fan-made LEGO designs [Instructions]

Two best buddies from the mystery-lovin’ gang in Scooby Doo takes shape in the ever-growing line of custom LEGO Brickheadz figures. Instructions for the duo are provided by Dave from Brick 101 in a video form.

It’s great to see a non-human taking shape as a BrickHeadz character instead of the typical figures we usually get. Scooby Doo is a breath of fresh air indeed and that piece of beard on Shaggy is an absolute delight!

Click here to get the video instructions

Futurama ship is a LEGO colour conundrum

The U.S.S. Planet Express Ship is the delivery vehicle for Planet Express Delivery Service in the animated TV series Futurama. In keeping with the creator’s other animated characters, the space ship has a distinctive ‘Matt Groening overbite’. Aido K has managed to make an instantly recognisable LEGO version of the ship using a mix of System and Duplo parts. The key part that captures the shape of the ship is the large Duplo airplane fuselage, and the builder has managed to add in all the other features using LEGO bricks to make this fantastic creation.

Duplorama

If you know your Duplo parts, then you may be confused about the build above – the upper fuselage part is only available in red.  Aido explains the magical appearance of his ship – the build is actually red with a blue stripe and and blue lights and he altered the colour hues in the photograph to achieve a green and red ship! Thanks to Aido for sending the original image as it is a beautiful build  in red,  let alone after some photo-manipulation to re-colour in green.

A neat historical flick made from the brick: “Chicago Pile-1: A Brick History” [Video]

Recently, Dave Pickett from the YouTube channel Brick 101 created a video for the Argonne National Laboratory called “Chicago Pile-1: A Brick History”. The final product turned out great. Coming in at 2 minutes and 51 seconds, the animation is full of all sorts of thoughtful touches. From the composition of the scenes to the LEGO buildings found within, this is absolutely the work of a maestro.

But how exactly did he make it? David’s behind the scenes video gives some insight.

Watch the behind-the-scenes video and learn more about how LEGO stop-motion movies are made

Fried eggs – the greatest thing since sliced bread

If you’ve ever tried to create stop-motion animation using LEGO bricks before, you’ll know it takes a lot of effort. Before you check out the latest YouTube video by BrickBrosProductions (no relation to The Brothers Brick), take a moment to appreciate that it took three days and 1,500 pictures to film their 2-minute animation!

Inspired by PESfilm’s stop-motion animations, “Lego In Real Life” is a really cool short film about a boy with a LEGO Movie T-Shirt making his breakfast using LEGO-built ingredients, and the result is fantastic. Keep an eye out for the minifig fridge magnet, the bread turning into toast, and my personal favorite, the butter melting into liquid and bubbling in the frying pan.