An ordinary Lego construction worker, thought to be the prophesied ‘Special’, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the Lego universe into eternal stasis. Writer(s): Dan Hageman (story), Kevin Hageman (story), 4 more credits » Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller Stars: Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Brie , See full cast and crew » Click here to read a PDF version of the full screenplay: The Lego Movie ()If you want to learn how to write screenplays in any genre, you’ve got to be reading movie scripts from animated movies. The development of an animation movie script is similar in some respects to the process of iteration used in software development. It requires especially close collaboration between writers, directors, and animators at every part of the process – a process that can take 3-5 years – and often calls for integrating advanced technology into the writing process. After a lengthy phase of pitching ideas internally, movie scripts get written and rewritten through several processes, which can include: storyboarding, the creation of a story reel, pre-visualization, rough layout, final layout, and preview screenings.
This is in contrast to TV pilot scripts, which are typically written by an individual (or writing team) in a much shorter period of time. This isn’t a list of the “Best Animated Scripts Ever,” though there are some wonderful scripts included, but rather a group of 8 animation movie scripts that showcase different aspects of writing that I think are valuable. At a casual dinner party with Steven Spielberg, Jerry Seinfeld off-handedly said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if they made a movie about bees and called it ‘Bee Movie’?” Spielberg thought it was actually a good idea, called Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks, and quickly made a deal. “I was actually very scared to even take on the idea of writing a movie,” said Seinfeld. When asked if he trusted his co-writers, Seinfeld said, “I did. These guys actually happen to be my friends and I’m at the point where I like being with my friends, and there’s nobody else I really wanted to write with. I just kind of liked the vibe, you know?
It’s more of an atmosphere. Sometimes writing comedy is just hanging around with funny people. Someone could not put one funny line into the script, but them being in the room makes you feel funny and then you think of funny things. I can’t explain it, but this is how it works. Like there are certain people who are not funny at all – as you know (laughing) – and when we would write, if there was a person that would come in the room and it would be like someone just filled the room with water. You know, nobody felt funny any more. We couldn’t think of anything funny so we’d go, ‘You’ve got to get out of here.’” Discuss The Bee Movie Script Chris Melandandri, CEO of Illumination, pitched Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio the idea, “What do you think of the idea of a villain who adopts three little girls?” They were interested and started working on a draft. “We’ll write a draft in two or three months, but then we’re rewriting it for the next 2-3 years.”
Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul initially designed the first movie to stand alone. Daurio said, “When we wrote the first movie, we certainly weren’t thinking about a sequel. But when we started really throwing around the idea of what was next… there’s this family now that is made up of an ex-super villain and three little girls and it’s not going to be easy for them to get along. We said, ‘What’s the next step?’” In this video for HuffPost Live, Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio discuss how Despicable Me 2 was developed, how Paul and Daurio met (a church play), became writing partners, how they’ve made their writing partnership last, and their writing process. “We’ll get together and we outline 30 pages. Then, we’ll figure out what the scenes are then we’ll say, ‘That’s a Cinco scene, that’s a Ken scene and we separate.’ Then we get back together, put them all together and read it together on the computer. Mostly it’s a competition to see if we can make each other laugh.”
In this video interview, Paul and Daurio share lots of helpful pitching advice and stories of their pitching triumphs and challenges. When they were first starting out, they used to sing their pitches. One unimpressed producer commented when they finished their pitch, “Well, that was loud.” Despicable Me 2 was nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, was the third-highest-grossing film of 2013, and broke a record as the most profitable film in the 100-year history of Universal Studios. Discuss The Despicable Me 2 Movie Script Do You Know the #1 Screenwriting Obstacle that is Holding You Back?Almost Every Screenwriter Struggles with 1 of 3 Common Obstacles. Take the Quiz to Find Out Yours.Take 1 Min Quiz18 Ways To Cure Writer’s BlockHow To Speed Up Your Writing By Not WritingThe changes keep on coming for “.” After moving the animated movie to Feb. 8, 2019, Warner Bros. has also hired to rewrite the script. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who directed the first film, penned the original draft.
With the duo currently prepping for the “Star Wars” Han Solo spinoff, the studio opted to get a fresh take on the script. Rob Schrab is directing with Lord and Miller producing along with returning producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee. “The Lego Movie Sequel” is the fourth film in the Warner Bros. franchise, which has two other spinoffs on the horizon: “The Lego Batman Movie” is set for Feb. 10, 2017, and “The Lego Ninjago Movie” is scheduled for Sept. 22, 2017. “The Lego Movie” grossed more than $469 million worldwide. The project is Bob-Waksberg’s first film gig, following TV work on shows like “Adult Hospital” and “Save Me.” He created the Netflix animated comedy “BoJack Horseman.” The show’s third season premieres on July 22. Bob-Waksberg also just sold his short story collection, “Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory: Bang-Your-Knee, Bust-Your-Heart-Open Love Stories,” to Knopf Publishing. He is repped by CAA, lawyer Jeff Endlich and Principato-Young Entertainment.