A Lego Brickumentary

LEGOs are an iconic building/construction toy.  In the 1930s, Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen started manufacturing wooden toys.  He founded The Lego Group (taken from the phrase leg godt, which means "play well") and started manufacturing plastic toys in 1947.  Two years later they started making the iconic building block.  By the mid 1950s, Christiansen's son Gottfried Christiansen started to sell the toy internationally as a creative toy, and the late 1970s saw the introduction of the yellow figurines.

Since then, Legos have become more than just a toy for children.  They have a dedicated fanbase (called A.F.O.L.s or Adult Fans of Legos) and have inspired creativity across the globe.  They are also used by doctors, professors, and scientists, and even NASA uses them.


Like most children, I grew up playing with Legos.  I loved creating the designs on the boxes, but even more than that, I loved all of the things I could make with the pieces.  Around the same time as the release of The Lego Movie, this documentary was made.  It provides a history of the toy, along with the varied ways it has affected the world around it (or is affected by the world).

LEGOs are not just for children.  Although they were initially designed as a child's toy, there is a dedicated adult fanbases (A.F.O.L.s or Adult Fans of Legos).  Their passion has led to Lego conventions around the world, including Brick Co in Seattle, WA.  These conventions allow A.F.O.L.s to show their creative designs and compete for prizes.  The innovations of these A.F.O.L.s have lead to new branches of the Lego company (architecture models, a competition to have Lego produce their designs, etc).

Legos are also being used in other areas, which the film explores.  A doctor is successfully using Legos as an autism therapy.  They are also used in a collegiate mathematics course, and by NASA scientists.  And an artist is using Legos as his medium of choice.  It is a perfect model for stop-motion animated films.  The documentary also briefly talks about the (then) upcoming Lego Movie, and how the live-action Lego sets were created by Lego master builders (employed by the Lego Group).

It is especially interesting if you don't know much about Legos, hardcore fans may already know much of the information.

A Lego Brickumentary (2014) 93 minutes
Director: Kief Davidson & Daniel Junge
Starring: Jason Bateman as Narrator