7 Things You May Have Missed in "The Lego Movie"

"The Lego Movie" is a clever and kid-friendly action comedy made with computer animated Lego bricks. Distributed back in 2014 by Warner Brothers, this film made it's way into a film class I'm currently taking and procrastinating writing a paper for. So, using my notes and screenshots from the film, I'm going to guide you through a bunch of things you may have missed from a movie you probably watched two years ago when it came out and never thought about again.


1. Emmet's lack of pupils

         

Actually, you probably totally realized this, but maybe you didn't realize the full extent of it. Besides Vitruvius and Benny the 1980 something spaceman, Emmet is literally the only one without the little white pupils.

Even the animals have pupils

In fact, the only time another character has a lack of pupils similar to Emmet is when the barista is mocking him.

According to the directors/writers, they did this with the purpose of making Emmet a serious "blank slate" so that he really looked like nobody special.

2. Besides Bad Cop, literally ALL of President/Lord Business' minions/employees/yes men are robots. 

Because what will comply easier than something that's programmed to do so?

3. "The Piece of Resistance"

You've probably heard the term "piece of resistance" before. You probably realized it didn't really apply with its actual meaning in this movie, or maybe you didn't realize that at all.

 The term "piece of resistance" is borrowed from the French phrase "pièce de résistance" which refers to a masterpiece or the pinnacle of an artist's or author's career. This gives the term "piece of resistance" in the context of The Lego Movie a double entendre (look, more French). Not only does it mean a literal piece for the purpose of resisting President/Lord Business, but it also was something that Master Builders (the ultimate artists in this universe), like Wyldstyle/Lucy, were trying to find. If they found it, they would become The Special, so finding the Piece of Resistance would be their life's work. However, there could also be a third meaning. In French, "pièce de résistance" literally means "the piece which has staying power" and the piece in the movie is a cap with the power to stop - or "stay" - the Kragle.




4. Vitruvius' costume change

In the very beginning, there's a serious regal Gandalf the White vibe happening with his white robe, bedazzled cloak, silver headband and serious staff. When Wyldstyle/Lucy and Emmet find him in The Old West, he is a very different man. Still blinded by the encounter with Lord Business, he seems to have changed his clothing style a bit as well. Looking more like an old Willy Nelson with his tie-dye shirt, ripped jeans and rubber band (?) headband, he hangs on to very little of his original dignity, including the replacement of his badass staff with a half-eaten sucker on a stick. After he dies, his cloak returns to its closed state and the jeans disappear, but he still has the crap headband and the sucker staff. What's up with that?

5. The Vision

Okay, so if you watch this frame by frame, it becomes a lot creepier than the 20 second sequence really allows (most of it is Emmet or Vitruvius' face, to be fair). So I slowed it down and captured the really quick flashes for your entertainment

The Man Upstairs juxtaposed with the Lego Office Tower

The Office Tower juxtaposed with Emmet's smiling head attached to his legs and his upside down torso over to the right

Why is this seriously so creepy?

6. Cloud Cuckoo Land

As we end up learning, the Lego universe is made entirely up of creations of Finn's father. They're neat, orderly, and completely separate, each with their own rules and strict theme.

So what the hell is up with Cloud Cuckoo Land?

Why does something that has no government, no rules, no limits, no bushy mustaches and no bedtimes exist in a Lego universe created and controlled by a man who we can only imagine would abhor all that Cloud Cuckoo Land Stands for?

Because it was created by Finn.

Remember all those bricks of Finn's that were "over by the Christmas decorations"? If you look closely, you can see bricks that clearly resemble the pastel and fun color scheme of Cloud Cuckoo Land. Plus the box that it's in with the word "CLOUD" is quite the hint. 

And what better place for a kid to imagine than one without bedtimes, babysitters, rules, or negativity when he has a father who clearly initially feels so strongly against Finn using the full scope of his imagination?

7. 8 1/2 Years Later

What I - and apparently many others - initially saw as an overly specific time card used strictly for the purposes of being random and funny, is actually pretty important to the overall story. 

This time card pops up immediately after the opening scene with Lord Business stealing the Kragle and kicking Vitruvius off the cliff. Immediately following this is our introduction to Emmet. Why is this seemingly arbitrary number so important?

Because of this kid.

How old does he look to you? I'm no expert on kid ages, but he looks pretty 8 1/2 if I do say so myself. So what does this mean? Does this mean that his dad quit playing when Finn was born and settled into a life of serious business to support his family and forgot what quality time was? Or maybe he used Lego building as a form of escape after his son was born and wanted to keep the two lives separate? Does Finn feel that his dad's "fun" life ended when he was born and therefore makes up the fact that all this craziness started 8 1/2 years ago?

It doesn't ever go into specifics, but it's pretty clear that it has something to do with the birth of Finn and what he believes is his father's obsession with "business".

I also still have a bunch of unanswered questions:

• Why is Vitruvius playing "Everything is Awesome" when Wyldstyle and Emmet show up in The Old West when as a Master Builder he should be rejecting everything Lord Business stands for - including popular music.
• Why does Emmet say to Lucy the exact thing that Finn says to him in his vision "It's your turn to be the hero"?
• How does Bad Cop fit into Finn's reality?
• Why did Vitruvius even have the Kragle to begin with?
• Why does Bad Cop say "you can't be that stupid" in regards to Emmet saying that President Business is a good guy and Octan is a good company when all the other citizens - as far as the audience knows - feel the same way?
• When Lord Business says "All I'm asking for is total perfection", is this a reflection of how Finn feels his father behaves or expects of him?
• Why IS the office tower so big an scary? Is this how Finn sees his father's office as well?
• Why is there a light/dark side when Emmet initially falls down the hole to where the Piece of Resistance is buried? And why does he teeter towards the light before inevitably falling further down the dark side?

So now you have something else to think about this weekend and really if you haven't seen The Lego Movie - at all or even recently - I highly recommend it because it's so freakin' awesome and clever.

Do you know of any other easter eggs or hidden trivia in The Lego Movie? Let me know in the comments!