50 Fun Facts About The Lego Movie

What is Emmet's job in Bricksburg at the start of The Lego Movie?

Construction worker Emmet is so ordinary that he starts each day by reading a manual of instructions on how to fit in, have everybody like him and always be happy.

Who provides the voice of Emmet in The Lego Movie?

Chris Pratt was still best known as hapless Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation when he voiced Emmet; Guardians of the Galaxy made him a movie star later the same year.

Which everyday object is the Kragle, the superweapon in The Lego Movie?

A tube of Krazy Glue with some of the letters worn off its label, which is why the minifigures, who treat human objects as relics, read what is left as 'Kragle'.

Who voices Lord Business, the villain of The Lego Movie?

Will Ferrell also appears in live action as the Man Upstairs, a dad who insists his Lego collection 'isn't a toy' and whose rules his son has turned into the villain.

Which actor voices Batman in The Lego Movie and its spin-offs?

Will Arnett plays Batman as a brooding amateur rocker who blasts his own heavy-metal track about being an orphan, which Wyldstyle admiringly calls 'real music'.

What does Wyldstyle reveal her real name to be in The Lego Movie?

Lucy admits the name to Emmet mid-mission; the sequel digs up more of her past, including brightly coloured hair and a place in the band that recorded 'Everything Is Awesome'.

Which actor voices Vitruvius, the blind wizard in The Lego Movie who admits he made up the prophecy?

Morgan Freeman's wizard dies mid-confession, then drifts back as a ghost to finish the sentence: he invented the prophecy because anyone who believes in it can be special.

Which action star voices Bad Cop, Lord Business's two-faced enforcer in The Lego Movie?

Liam Neeson voices both faces of the swivelling head, snarling Bad Cop and chirpy Good Cop, until Lord Business wipes the kind one off with nail-polish remover.

Which Lego Movie character went on to star in a Cartoon Network series of their own?

Unikitty got her own show, Unikitty!; in the film she insists on pushing every unhappy thought 'down deep inside', until the final battle sets her rage loose.

Which deliberate flaw is built into Benny, the 1980-something space guy in The Lego Movie?

A broken helmet chin strap: the thin plastic strap on real 1980s Lego space helmets snapped so easily that the filmmakers gave Benny the same crack.

Nick Offerman voices which pirate Master Builder in The Lego Movie?

MetalBeard escaped an earlier raid on Lord Business's tower with only his head and organs, so he rebuilt the rest of himself from scrap and swore revenge.

Which basketball legend appears as a Lego version of himself among the Master Builders in The Lego Movie?

Shaquille O'Neal voices himself as one of the '2002 NBA All-Stars'; when the robots attack he shouts 'It's game time!' and hurls a basketball that does no damage at all.

Which actor voices Superman in The Lego Movie?

Channing Tatum's Superman spends the film dodging Jonah Hill's needy Green Lantern, even claiming he has to go back to Krypton: a reunion of the two stars of 21 Jump Street.

What is the name of the hit sitcom that everyone in Bricksburg watches in The Lego Movie?

Where Are My Pants? has exactly one joke, a man asking his wife that question; late in the sequel, Finn's dad shouts the same line from off-screen.

Which mocked invention of Emmet's keeps his friends afloat when their escape craft falls apart in The Lego Movie?

A double-decker couch, 'a bunk bed, but as a couch', which Wyldstyle calls the dumbest thing she has ever heard, is the one part of the group's submarine that holds together.

On which day does Lord Business plan to freeze the world with the Kragle in The Lego Movie?

Taco Tuesday is sold to Bricksburg as free tacos for every rule-following citizen; it is really the day he fires the TAKOS, a spraying machine whose S, he notes, is silent.

Who wrote and directed The Lego Movie?

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, hired after Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, left partway through to shoot 22 Jump Street, so a co-director ran the animation in Australia.

Which Australian studio animated The Lego Movie and its follow-ups?

The animation was made to look like stop motion, with rigs limited to the joints real minifigures have.

The Lego Movie's working title in 2012 was 'Lego:' followed by which phrase?

The Piece of Resistance was dropped from the title but kept in the story, as the prophesied relic that fuses itself to Emmet's back and won't come off.

Which Lego line's aliens invade at the end of The Lego Movie, once Finn's little sister is allowed to play?

Duplo, Lego's chunky bricks for toddlers, lands as a trio of aliens announcing 'We are here to destroy you'; by the sequel their raids have flattened Bricksburg.

Which name is shared by two Master Builders in The Lego Movie, a Renaissance artist and a Ninja Turtle?

Michelangelo is called twice in a row in the wizard's roll call of Master Builders, a list that runs from Milhouse to Cleopatra: once for the turtle and once for the sculptor.

Which duo performs The Lego Movie's theme song, 'Everything Is Awesome', with The Lonely Island?

Tegan and Sara sing the single; inside the film the song is a workday anthem that the film's composer said was 'supposed to be like mind control', a mindless mantra to get people working.

Which rock musician turned film composer wrote the score for The Lego Movie?

Mark Mothersbaugh used analog synths from his Devo days and newer circuit-bent gear, then recorded an orchestral score as well, partly because the directors 'like to change things at the last moment'.

Which Lego Movie realm is introduced as having no rules, no government and no bedtimes?

Cloud Cuckoo Land is the Master Builders' secret meeting place, but a tracker stuck to Emmet's ankle leads Bad Cop straight there, and the land of no rules is wrecked.

On its release in 2014, The Lego Movie had the second-biggest February opening on record, behind which film?

The Passion of the Christ had opened to $83.8 million in February 2004; Warner Bros. chose the quiet month on purpose, and its distribution chief admitted 'we took a risk in February'.

The Lego Movie earned its only Oscar nomination in which category?

Best Original Song, for 'Everything Is Awesome'; on the night, host Neil Patrick Harris joked that the animated-feature award would be 'a great time to distract' the film's directors.

Which US president is among the Master Builders in The Lego Movie, flying a rocket-powered armchair?

Abraham Lincoln quits the Master Builders' meeting with the line 'A house divided against itself... would be better than this' and blasts off in his chair.

In The Lego Batman Movie, Batman's password for the Batcave insults which Marvel superhero?

Iron Man is the target: the password is 'Iron Man sucks', one armoured billionaire sniping at another and DC taking a swipe at its great rival, Marvel.

What is the name of Lord Business's scheming brother, the villain of Legoland's The Lego Movie 4D attraction?

Risky Business, voiced by Patton Oswalt, lures the heroes to Brick World, a knock-off Legoland, and tries to hypnotise them into starring in his live show.

Lego Batman director Chris McKay earlier directed which TV comedy?

Robot Chicken acts out its sketches with toys, Lego included, which McKay said made him 'a natural fit' when the first Lego film needed someone to run its animation.

Who voices the Joker in The Lego Batman Movie?

Zach Galifianakis plays the Joker as a jilted partner: he hatches his whole scheme because Batman won't admit that the Joker is his greatest enemy.

Which actor voices Dick Grayson, the orphan Bruce Wayne absent-mindedly adopts in The Lego Batman Movie?

Michael Cera's Dick Grayson gets a new dad only because Bruce is too busy gazing at Barbara Gordon to hear what he is agreeing to.

Where does the Joker recruit his army of villains from in The Lego Batman Movie?

The Phantom Zone, Superman's prison dimension, lets the Joker sign up villains from other franchises altogether, among them Sauron, Voldemort, King Kong and the Daleks.

Which Tom Cruise film is Batman seen watching, and laughing at, in The Lego Batman Movie?

Jerry Maguire has Batman howling at 'You complete me', the very line the Joker says to Batman in The Dark Knight.

Which pop diva voices Mayor McCaskill in The Lego Batman Movie?

Mariah Carey was first reported, in 2015, to be voicing Commissioner Gordon; she turned out to be Gotham's mayor, and the commissioner went to Héctor Elizondo.

Which martial-arts star has a live-action role as relic-shop owner Mr. Liu in The Lego Ninjago Movie?

Jackie Chan also voices Master Wu, and he and his stunt team staged the film's fights for real so that the animators could copy every move.

In The Lego Ninjago Movie, the 'Ultimate Weapon' turns out to be what?

A laser pointer: firing it summons Meowthra, a real cat that chases the dot through Ninjago City and swats the ninja's mechs to pieces.

Which of the four Lego Movie franchise films earned the least at the worldwide box office?

The Lego Ninjago Movie made about $124 million, a quarter of the first film's total; it was the second spin-off of 2017, a glut later blamed for dragging down The Lego Movie 2 as well.

Mike Mitchell took over The Lego Movie 2 in 2017, months after directing which 2016 animated hit?

Trolls had opened in November 2016; three months later Mitchell replaced Rob Schrab, who reportedly left over creative differences, and made the Lego sequel a musical as well.

In The Lego Movie 2, what is the ruined Bricksburg called five years after the first film?

Apocalypseburg has made everyone grim and battle-hardened except Emmet, who cheerfully builds a pretty little house there and is told it will only invite another attack.

Which comedian voices the shape-shifting Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi in The Lego Movie 2?

Tiffany Haddish's queen is named for a slurred 'whatever I want to be'; her true shape turns out to be the brick heart Emmet once offered the invaders as a peace gift.

Who does the rugged adventurer Rex Dangervest turn out to be in The Lego Movie 2?

Emmet's future self: stranded under a dryer and forgotten by his friends, he grew bitter, took a tougher name and built a time machine to make sure they suffer too.

In The Lego Movie 2, 'Armamageddon' sounds like 'our mama gets in': where does she order the toys sent?

Into a storage bin, dreaded by the minifigures as the Bin of Storajj; they get out only when Finn and Bianca make peace and start playing together.

Who plays Finn and Bianca's mother in The Lego Movie 2?

Maya Rudolph gives Mom a face at last, after a first film in which she was only a voice calling the family to dinner, and insists she is 'not the bad guy', just 'an amusing side character'.

Which action star turns up as a Lego version of himself in The Lego Movie 2?

Bruce Willis voices himself in a running Die Hard joke: twice, characters crawling through the vents find him already in there, like John McClane.

Which Lego Movie 2 track, built on one endlessly repeated line, was the sequel's answer to 'Everything Is Awesome'?

Catchy Song is used as a weapon in the film: when Wyldstyle refuses to cheer up, her captors play it at her because it is 'sure to get stuck' in her head, and she breaks out to escape it.

Which US Supreme Court justice appears as a minifigure in The Lego Movie 2?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave the filmmakers permission to use her likeness, gavel and robes included, but recorded no dialogue for the cameo.

Which studio picked up the Lego film rights in 2020, after The Lego Movie 2 underperformed for Warner Bros.?

Universal Pictures' deal killed the planned Lego Batman sequel: Batman belongs to Warner Bros., so the new rights holder could not use him.

The 2021 Lego set 'Everyone Is Awesome', named after The Lego Movie's song, was the first dedicated to which group?

LGBT people: designer Matthew Ashton built the rainbow model for his own desk after moving offices, and it drew so much attention from colleagues that Lego put it on sale.

Whose Batsuit did Lego Batman's voice actor wear to perform 'Everything Is Awesome' live on television in 2015?

Val Kilmer's suit from Batman Forever was the real one, as one of the film's directors tweeted mid-show while the actor growled Batman's heavy-metal song.