How many Lego pieces did it take to make The Lego Movie? As it turns out, the film’s creators, directing and writing duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, didn’t just rely on actual Legos for the film; as the New York Times pointed out, just the number of bricks required for the task alone would’ve already cost millions of dollars. According to Warner Bros. Pictures, there are a total of 3,863,484 unique Lego bricks seen in the movie. But if you were to recreate the entire film only using Legos, you’d need 15,080,330, the studio said. With a unique blend of CG animation and actual Lego sets, the final look of The Lego Movie has a surprising visual depth; it almost appears as if someone painstakingly animated each and every movement through stop-motion. That’s because the animators went to great lengths to ensure that they included aspects of real Lego pieces when creating their characters. In the video above, which was edited using footage provided by the studio, several animators of the film describe the intricate process of bringing virtual Lego bricks and scenes to life.
“We tried to be quite authentic with the actual Lego product itself,” said CG supervisor Damien Gray. “There’s a lot of detail put into the sticker work, the decal work, the mold lines, chips, chunks, scratches — we tried to incorporate a lot of that.” In order to achieve that “played-with” look for Emmet and the other 182 unique minifigures that appear in the film, animators observed the physical models under microscopes to get every detail right. In addition to scrutinizing the appearance of the Lego bricks themselves, Lord and Miller also took into account other factors they wanted to mimic from stop-motion videos. “If you were animating this in real life, there would be all of these dust particles, and there is a bit of actual dandruff,” Miller told the Times. “We did a little test of how much was too much.” So what else from the film resembles real life? Take a look at this blooper reel in which the Legos (or is it their voiceover actors?) have a little too much fun:
Sure, Lego megafans are pumped about based on "" — like the new . But there are also tons of existing, even vintage, Lego figurines and "worlds" that whiz by in the film that are getting everyone excited."For the fans there will be a lot of scanning to find sets and characters," said Joe Meno, editor of BrickJournal Magazine and co-author of "The Cult of Lego." "The humor of the minifigures trying to do things limited by their articulation (or lack thereof) was perfect for the movie," he told Yahoo Movies.[Related: Instant Commentary: 'The Lego Movie' Directors on Creating a 'Rave Party for Children']Awesome fact: Every scene in "The Lego Movie" can be recreated using real Lego bricks. But with so many of 'em (more than 15 million, according to Lego) you could spend a lifetime on the endeavor. And for those keeping score at home, there are 183 unique minifigs in the animated feature."The movie's fast pace pretty much guarantees that it will take a few showings to see everything," Meno points out.
All of that means Lego aficionados have an excuse to come back for many more helpings of the ginormous plethora of Lego parts depicted onscreen.Here are 19 "Lego Movie" easter eggs to keep your eyes peeled for when you go back to see it again and again:The current roster of "Master Builders" that appear in the animated flick include...1. DC Superheroes Batman, Superman, Wonder Women, Green Lantern, Flash, and their roster of super vehicles like the Batwing, Tumbler, and Invisible Jet shouldn't be missed.2. The Mermaid (not to be confused with the all-new Queen of the Mermaids) is one of a series of collectible minifigures that appear in the film.3. "Ninjago's" Green Ninja, the most powerful of the ninjas from the Cartoon Network series and sets, appears.4. Benny "1980-something" Space Guy shows his helmeted mug, crack and all. "He's a very over-the-top representative of the Lego classic space line that was released in the '80s," said Meno of the vintage figurine. Benny had thin plastic chin straps that often broke.
And filmmakers played upon the decades-old toy defect in the film. "Benny's cracked helmet was a nice detail," he added. (A Lego rep tells Yahoo Movies that newer molds have strenghtened the plastic, virtually elimininating the cracking now.) 5. Keep an eye out for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Michaelangelo (and his real-world counterpart). The "TMNT" is a current toy franchise.[Related: 'The Lego Movie' Stars Reveal Just How Many Lego They Were Paid]6. The 2002 NBA All-Stars, including Shaq (yes, that's his voice) and a couple of more generic NBA ballers, appear.7. Octan is the fictional gasoline brand used in Lego sets and it's safe to say, the company has a pretty major role in the movie.8. There are plenty of Lego construction sets, including Lego Technic construction vehicles and Lego City construction equipment, cars, buildings, and garbage trucks."What I found really impressive was how the builders spotted parts in the movie," Meno said. "The parts were highlighted and recognized by Lego part number — just like a fan would."
9. This shark (pictured being thrown) has appeared in several Lego City sets.[Related: Mondo Pieces Together an Awesome New Poster for 'The Lego Movie']10. Even more collectible minifigures show up in the movie, including but not limited to, Clown, Yeti, Crash Test Dummy, Mime, and Lizard Man. (Of course, "The Lego Movie" is adding to this set with a whole new line of film-specific minifigs, including William Shakespeare and the aforementioned Abraham Lincoln.)11. Lego Monsters, including, Vampire, Ghost, Mummy, Witch (all among Master Builders) appear, too.12. Old man wizards Dumbledore and Gandalf rep the "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" sets, respectively. (You can spot them running around in the background below.)13. Middle Zealand is a mashup of Lego Kingdoms with "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" sets. (Gandalf is seen below with the newly created wise man, Vitruvius, from "The Lego Movie" video game, which allows you to play 90 different characters in the faithfully recreated storyline of the movie), but the red dragon in the film is not the long-awaited Smaug (fans are expecting him to be unveiled at next week's Toy Fair in New York).
14. "Star Wars" — the most popular of all the licensed Lego sets and considered the franchise that helped save Lego from bankruptcy in the '90s — makes a memorable cameo in "The Lego Movie." Look for the Millennium Falcon, in both the normal toy size and the miniature form. And yes, the voice of mini-Lando really is Billy Dee Williams.15. Speed Racer, who starred in a discontinued toy line based on the ill-fated film remake, was also among the initial wave of thwarted Master Builders.16. The Old West, which has experienced a lot of Lego iterations over the years with various themed sets, is just as prickly as ever in the film.17. Pirate's Cove includes figures and constructions from the discontinued Lego Pirates series that has had many incarnations over the years but makes its big-screen comeback via the new Metalbeard, one of the main heroes created from various parts.18. You can see Lego's Bionicle (biological-chronicle) toys among the most prominent of the "sets we pretend never existed" that Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) rattles off quickly when discussing the greater Lego universe.19.