‘The LEGO Ninjago Movie’ Featurette: It’s Like ‘Power Rangers’ With LEGOs And Improvisation
Though there doesn’t seem to be as much pomp and circumstance surroundingThe LEGO Ninjago Movieas there wasThe LEGO Movieand the spin-offThe LEGO Batman Movie, the more I see of the latest expansion of the LEGO cinematic universe, the more excited I get to see it.
The LEGO Ninjago Movietakes a cue from the LEGO building brick set of the same name, which has already spawned an animated series. But this feature adaptation has no narrative ties to the animated series, which means audiences of all ages can go into the movie without having to know anything except that this is another clever LEGO movie with a fantastic voice cast behind it.The LEGO Ninjago Moviefeaturette that was just released online goes behind the scenes with the cast, reveals new footage and shows a surprising amount of improvisation for an animated movie.
The LEGO Ninjago Movie features the voices ofDave Francoas Lloyd, the Green ninja and leader of the crew of Spinjitzu warriors who each have their own special ability. The team includesMichael Peñaas Kai,Fred Armisenas Cole,Kumail Nanjianias Jay,Abbi Jacobsonas Nya andZach Woodsas the robot Zane, and they’re all features in this featurette along withJustin Therouxas the villain Garmadon (who also happens to by Lloyd’s father) andJackie Chanas his nemesis Master Wu.
It’s surprising to see two things in this behind the scenes featurette. First of all, usually animated movies have the actors record all their lines separately, by themselves in a recording booth, and the dialogue only comes together in the final edit of the movie. But forThe LEGO Ninjago Movie, there were some recording sessions featuring all the primary cast members together. Even more surprising is the amount of improvisation allowed during these recording sessions. Since the animation of the mouths on the LEGO characters is far more simple to change throughout production, that likely allows for more freedom in the dialogue.
The LEGO Ninjago Movieis co-directed byCharlie Bean, Paul FisherandBob Loganwith a screenplay that the latter directors wrote withWilliam Wheeler & Tom WheelerandJared Stern & John Wittington.The LEGO MoviedirectorsPhil Lord&Chris Millerproduced the film with franchise producersRoy Lee, Chris McKayandDan Lin, along withMaryann Garger.
If you’d like to see more fromThe LEGO Ninjago Movie, check out themost recent trailer over here.
In this big-screen NINJAGO adventure, the battle for NINJAGO City calls to action young Master Builder Lloyd, aka the Green Ninja, along with his friends, who are all secret ninja warriors. Led by Master Wu, as wise-cracking as he is wise, they must defeat evil warlord Garmadon, The Worst Guy Ever, who also happens to be Lloyd’s dad. Pitting mech against mech and father against son, the epic showdown will test this fierce but undisciplined team of modern-day ninjas who must learn to check their egos and pull together to unleash their inner power of Spinjitzu.
