This month's Broadway Cinematheque"BC Sunday" art house series trains a spotlight on animated features, showcasing four movies that the venue believes have high creative and artistic value. Already shown was the well-received Wrinkles by Spanish director Ignacio Ferreras, and coming up are winner of the Cesar best animated film Ernest & Celestine (March 22) and Foosball by Oscar-winning foreign film director Juna José Campanella (March 29).
And there is The Lego Movie. An odd choice that sticks out like a sore thumb in this line-up, you may think, especially it was actually released as a blockbuster last year and has a star-studded (voice) cast that includes Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell and Liam Neeson. But acccording to the Broadway Cinematheque, it was one of the most criticially acclaimed animations from 2014 "and it surprised many critics with its high production value and its fresh take on the super hero genre … turning it on its head".
The Lego Movie, however, missed out on a best animated feature nomination at the Oscars last month. Phil Lord, the film's co-director, wittily reacted to the snub by making an Oscar out of yellow Lego bricks and posting an image of it on Twitter. The image was retweeted thousands of times.
The team behind The Lego Movie remained in good humour on Oscar night, and handed out Lego Oscars to guests — including a delighted looking Oprah Winfrey — while Tegan and Sara and The Lonely Island performed the film's Academy Award-nominated original song, Everything is Awesome.
An international hit that has amassed US$468 million at the worldwide box office, this US-Australian-Danish co-production tells a story that can be enjoyed by young and old, and appreciated on many levels.
Much of the animation for The Lego Movie is computer generated but made to look like stop-motion animation, and it purposely highlights the limitations Lego pieces have. This way, Lord and co-director Christopher Miller are reminding viewers of their own experiences playing with the plastic toys.