New Disney and LEGO partnership

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Kram Nebuer
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New Disney and LEGO partnership

Post by Kram Nebuer »

Considering there's only one Lego topic on UD (and it's for Harry Potter Legos interestingly enough), I'm not sure how exciting this news is, but it was certainly exciting for me! I was rebuilding my old Star Wars Legos this evening and it got me thinking about other brands and franchises Lego has partnered with. Naturally, the first to come to mind for me was Disney. I remembered around 2001 or 2002, Lego actually had some Disney Lego sets with Mickey Mouse. The complete line is seen here:
http://guide.lugnet.com/set/?qc=lego/playtheme

I was a subscriber to the Lego Club magazine and catalogs and remember seeing this and the whole series in the catalog. I was SUPER EXCITED to see Disney themed Legos as I've always been a fan of both Disney and Lego. Unfortunately, Lego decided to make their Mickey Legos for the little kid age group using mostly large sized regular Lego bricks and simple model design (sets between the giant Duplo brick sets and the normal Lego System sets). I was really tempted to buy them just to have Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto figures to play with my other Legos, haha.

No new sets were offered after that initial wave and it seemed like Disney's partnership with Lego had ended despite the opening of the Lego Imagination Centers in both Disney World and Disneyland. In recent years, there have been Disney MegaBloks sets (Lego's rival company) with Disney Princess, Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean, MIckey Mouse Clubhouse, and Disney/Pixar's Cars. (http://www.megabrands.com/Shop/Brands/)


I have a few older MegaBlok's sets (Space aliens and Western) and I enjoyed them for the great detail they put in each set, though this is mostly in reliance to specialty pieces and stickers. I prefer Lego overall because the quality just seems to be so much better in their sets. Lego bricks stick together better as MegaBloks were always prone to falling apart if you handled it too much after and during building. Also, I feel more thought and creativity is put into Lego sets since they rely on their basic catalog of bricks and pieces and don't give-in to making specialty bricks too often and when they do, it's kind of necessary (e.g. C3PO's head, Batman's headgear, Harry Potter's hair, etc.). Also MegaBlok's seem a lot more kid oriented and less appealing to all ages as opposed to Lego sets. I'm revisiting my Lego's moreso than my MegaBloks, since the emphasis and building and creativity is more prevalent in the former.

Anyhow my reminiscing with my old Legos led to some Google searches and this very long post is leading up to the SUPER EXCITING (and a bit old) news that Disney has once again partnered with Lego for a new series of sets!!!!!!!!!!! Basically there will be three Disney franchise Lego sets:

Toy Story 1 - 3 (Lego Duplo and Lego System!!!)
Cars (Lego Duplo)
Prince of Persia (Lego System)
Animation World Network wrote:Disney and LEGO Group Announce Strategic Licensing Relationship

February 16, 2009


The LEGO Group and Disney Consumer Products have announced a multi-year licensing agreement that gives the world's premiere construction toy brand access to an extensive portfolio of renowned Disney and Disney Pixar properties. LEGO and LEGO DUPLO products are currently in development for three franchises -- Disney Pixar's Toy Story and Cars, and Prince of Persia -- all scheduled to launch in 2010.

Children's imaginations will go "To infinity and beyond" when, beginning in 2010, they will be able to re-create the adventures of Buzz Lightyear and Woody with LEGO toys inspired by the TOY STORY franchise. TOY STORY-themed construction sets will be available on both LEGO DUPLO and LEGO System platforms, building the adventure and fun for children ages 2-12. LEGO System products based on TOY STORY and TOY STORY 2 will launch in January 2010, to be followed in May by construction sets based on the new animated feature, TOY STORY 3, scheduled to hit theaters in Disney Digital 3D June 2010. Toy Story-themed LEGO DUPLO products launch in June 2010.

Lightning McQueen will rev his engine at the starting line of a DUPLO portfolio that will have young builders creating and exploring the high-octane world of the CARS franchise. The CARS-themed LEGO DUPLO line will feature iconic scenes from Radiator Springs and the Piston Cup Championship raceway and will feature favorite Cars characters like McQueen, Mater and Sally. CARS-themed LEGO DUPLO products are scheduled to launch in June 2010.

A line of LEGO System construction toys based on Walt Disney Pictures' and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, directed by Mike Newell and scheduled to release in May 2010 is also in development. The film, based on the best-selling video game franchise of the same name, stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina and Gemma Arterton in an epic tale of Prince Dastan's struggle to stop an evil ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. PRINCE OF PERSIA-themed LEGO products are scheduled to launch in April 2010.
http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top ... m_no=26457

I'm wondering how the Lego Duplo Cars sets will compare/compete with the already established MegaBloks sets:
Cars MegaBloks: http://www.megabrands.com/Shop/Brands/Disney_Cars/
Lego Duplo: http://duplo.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx

Here's another article with a Lego model of Buzz Lightyear:
http://www.getthebigpicture.net/blog/20 ... -lego.html


The Star Wars and Harry Potter Lego sets have been really popular, creative, satisfying and faithful to their original sources. I have high hopes for these new Lego sets and I'm definitely going to get a Toy Story Lego setwhen they come out!! I'm hoping that these sets sell well so that more Disney movies and hopefully Disney theme park sets are developed!!

Speaking of Disney Lego theme park sets, has anyone seen the fakey Disney Legos at the Disney Theme parks? They are really more adorable than cool and they look like they came 20 years too late for theme park merchandise. I took lots of pictures from our last trip to WDW. I will post them later. Also, they cost a ridiculous $25 a box and it's really not comparable at all to $25 Lego sets. The Jungle Cruise set came with flat cardboard animals!
Last edited by Kram Nebuer on Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by pap64 »

Hopefully, this means we can get Lego videogames based on the Disney Movies. Lego Lion King? Lego Cinderella? Lego Tarzan? The mind boggles with the possibilities!
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Post by Escapay »

I WANT A LEGO ROCKETEER!!!

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Post by Super Aurora »

Escapay wrote:I WANT A LEGO ROCKETEER!!!

albert
YES.

Although that probably won't happen due to legal reason with the original comic.
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Post by goofystitch »

Kram Nebuer wrote:
Speaking of Disney Lego theme park sets, has anyone seen the fakey Disney Legos at the Disney Theme parks? They are really more adorable than cool and they look like they came 20 years too late for theme park merchandise.
Yes. I first saw them on disneyshopping.com, but I finally found them in a store last week, at Once Upon A Toy. So far, it is the only place I've found them. They are pretty cool, especially the Jungle Cruise one. But they certainly are tiny and aimed at little kids.

I wish Disney and Lego would work on a park icon series. In particular, the three different castles (yes, I said three). One for Disneyland/Hong Kong Disneyland, one for Magic Kingdom/Tokyo Disneyland, and one for Disneyland Paris. A mountains series would be awesome as well.
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Post by DaveWadding »

Lego Kingdom Hearts.
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Post by ajmrowland »

^Yeah, And Lego Wall-E.

P.S. I just checked Amazon for Lego Harry Potter sets, and they're excrutiatingly overpriced. I could get a collectible movie prop replica for as much, or less, than the price of any of those sets.
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Post by BrandonH »

ajmrowland wrote:^Yeah, And Lego Wall-E.

P.S. I just checked Amazon for Lego Harry Potter sets, and they're excrutiatingly overpriced. I could get a collectible movie prop replica for as much, or less, than the price of any of those sets.
Amazon is about the worst place to shop for LEGOs. LEGO's own website has the actual list prices and occasional sales. Target will sometimes have good clearance prices, and eBay always has some good deals floating around. The license fee does make sets like Harry Potter and Star Wars more expensive, but they usually are not much more than $0.10/brick.

Regarding the LEGO/Disney team-up, I'm not terribly enthused. Where Star Wars has plenty of distinctive vehicles, buildings, and characters to choose from, Disney mostly has great characters. If you're a minifig collector, then you're probably drooling over the announcement, but I can't think of too many things in Disney movies that would make for great LEGO sets. A LEGO WALL*E might be cool.
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Post by SpringHeelJack »

BrandonH wrote:Regarding the LEGO/Disney team-up, I'm not terribly enthused. Where Star Wars has plenty of distinctive vehicles, buildings, and characters to choose from, Disney mostly has great characters. If you're a minifig collector, then you're probably drooling over the announcement, but I can't think of too many things in Disney movies that would make for great LEGO sets. A LEGO WALL*E might be cool.
Really? I think there's a decent amount of interesting settings that could be utilized. Something like "Cinderella" or "Sleeping Beauty" would have a lot of potential, and looking ahead to "The Princess and the Frog", a New Orleans set would look fantastic. Not to mention all the Pixar properties.
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Post by Flanger-Hanger »

BrandonH wrote:Regarding the LEGO/Disney team-up, I'm not terribly enthused. Where Star Wars has plenty of distinctive vehicles, buildings, and characters to choose from, Disney mostly has great characters. If you're a minifig collector, then you're probably drooling over the announcement, but I can't think of too many things in Disney movies that would make for great LEGO sets. A LEGO WALL*E might be cool.
Lol, how narrow minded can you get? Here's just a sampling of what you could do with Disney and Lego:

Cinderella Castle
Sleeping Beauty Castle
The Haunted Mansion (both WDW and DL structures)
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Tomorrowland sets (WDW 1994 New Tomorrowland, 1998, 1967 Disneyland look)
Black Cauldron sets involving The Horned King's castle
Discoveryland
Main Street USA
Swiss Family Treehouse
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian Resorts
Treasure Planet ships
Atlantis vehicles
Rocketeer sets
Dick Tracy
Nightmare Before Christmas sets (Halloween and Christmas Towns
Incredibles sets
Pirates of the Caribbean (ride, movie it's a no brainer)
Tokyo Disney Sea lands
Tarzan's Treehouse
Mcleach's tractor from The Rescuers Down Under
spaceships from Lilo and Stitch
Spaceship Earth and other Epcot pavilions

the list goes on...
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Post by SwordInTheStone777 »

The Jungle Book would be a really cool lego set.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks could be interesting as well as Pete's Dragon even.
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Post by Luke »

I haven't paid much attention to Lego since childhood (aside from editing Aaron's <a href="http://ultimatedisney.com/bionicle3.html"><i>Bionicle 3</i></a> review), but Disney characters could just be the thing to get me interested in them again. Especially rarely-merchandised ones. I'm talking a Dodger keychain. Actually, I have noticed that some of the <i>Star Wars</i> and <i>Indiana Jones</i> stuff is cool, including the video games which I played the demos of.

Thanks for the info, Kram.
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Post by disneyboy20022 »

Is this a VideoGame???


I guess when it comes to Lego Video Games no franchise company is off limits..

oh and btw... speaking of Upcoming Lego and Video Games:

Rock Band Lego video game

Harry Potter yrs 1-4 Lego video game

http://www.gamestop.com/browse/search.a ... allpartial
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Post by PeterPanfan »

^ Nope, just regular old Legos. :P
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Post by disneyboy20022 »

in that case I wouldn't be interested.....I do remember Legos when I was a kid.....I stubbed my toes so much I try to stay away from them unless it is a game or movie even then its iffy...my toes scream in pain when they hear legos
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Post by DisneyJedi »

Flanger-Hanger wrote:
BrandonH wrote:Regarding the LEGO/Disney team-up, I'm not terribly enthused. Where Star Wars has plenty of distinctive vehicles, buildings, and characters to choose from, Disney mostly has great characters. If you're a minifig collector, then you're probably drooling over the announcement, but I can't think of too many things in Disney movies that would make for great LEGO sets. A LEGO WALL*E might be cool.
Lol, how narrow minded can you get? Here's just a sampling of what you could do with Disney and Lego:

Cinderella Castle
Sleeping Beauty Castle
The Haunted Mansion (both WDW and DL structures)
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Tomorrowland sets (WDW 1994 New Tomorrowland, 1998, 1967 Disneyland look)
Black Cauldron sets involving The Horned King's castle
Discoveryland
Main Street USA
Swiss Family Treehouse
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian Resorts
Treasure Planet ships
Atlantis vehicles
Rocketeer sets
Dick Tracy
Nightmare Before Christmas sets (Halloween and Christmas Towns
Incredibles sets
Pirates of the Caribbean (ride, movie it's a no brainer)
Tokyo Disney Sea lands
Tarzan's Treehouse
Mcleach's tractor from The Rescuers Down Under
spaceships from Lilo and Stitch
Spaceship Earth and other Epcot pavilions

the list goes on...
Strange, I daydreamed once about the WDW/DL sets for Disney legos. :lol:
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Post by Kram Nebuer »

You're welcome, Luke, for the old news, haha. Wow! I'm excited to see more UD members excited for this news as well. The old Lego fan in me is certainly reawakening. I think I would want a Lego Monorail, Lego Disney Railroad, and Lego Disneyland Paris castle the most! I have a feeling though that they'll tackle the movies first if the Pixar and Prince of Persia sets succeed.

If you guys want to see some Wall-E Legos now, check out this site!
http://www.mocpages.com/search_RESULTS. ... &personid=
It's full of fan-made Lego creations and most of them are pretty amazing. There was even a Lego Brer Rabbit figure, but he didn't look too convincing. The strangest I saw was a Lego Phineas and Ferb, haha. Perry the Platypus looked pretty cool though.
goofystitch wrote:Kram Nebuer wrote:
Speaking of Disney Lego theme park sets, has anyone seen the fakey Disney Legos at the Disney Theme parks? They are really more adorable than cool and they look like they came 20 years too late for theme park merchandise.
Yes. I first saw them on disneyshopping.com, but I finally found them in a store last week, at Once Upon A Toy. So far, it is the only place I've found them. They are pretty cool, especially the Jungle Cruise one. But they certainly are tiny and aimed at little kids.

I wish Disney and Lego would work on a park icon series. In particular, the three different castles (yes, I said three). One for Disneyland/Hong Kong Disneyland, one for Magic Kingdom/Tokyo Disneyland, and one for Disneyland Paris. A mountains series would be awesome as well.
Yeah, Once Upon a Toy was where I first saw all of them together and I know I saw the Splash Mountain set in the gift shop at the end of Splash Mountain. We're going to Disneyland in the end of July, so I'm thinking of buying one. I just wish they were better made though because they seriously look like something directly from the 80's rather than the more modern theme park toys they have now. I love the Monorail series sets with the mini-mini-figures!
Is this a VideoGame???
I'm guessing the Prince of Persia sets will come along with a Lego Video Game since the movie is based on a video game and nearly all the Lego sets based on movies have become Lego video/computer games (e.g. Star Wards, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Batman...I don't think Spiderman has become a Lego video game yet)
DisneyJedi wrote:Strange, I daydreamed once about the WDW/DL sets for Disney legos. Laughing
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Post by Papa Bear »

I hope they decide to do a "Lego Toy Story Trilogy" Videogame. I did play legos alot as a kid but don't know that I would be interested in them now unless of course they did a Disneyland series that would be cool to get a whole mock Lego Disneyland setup. But my wife and I love the Lego games on the Xbox 360 lots of fun to play Co-op.

I also think they should do Disney Afternoon Lego game with Ducktales, Tale Spin, and Darkwing Duck, not likely but I would love to see it happen.
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Post by disneyboy20022 »

disneyboy20022 wrote:Is this a VideoGame???
Kram Nebuer wrote: ...I don't think Spiderman has become a Lego video game yet)
Don't give Lego Ideas for their video games........ :headshake:

and god help us if Prince of Persia becomes a Lego Video Game...it bad enough Halo is going Lego.......what's next? Final Fantasay Lego Video game or Kingdom Hearts Video Game....(although the kingdom hearts thing I would buy....Im obsessed about Kingdom Hearts franchise...

Also btw a little off topic...

If You have a Nintendo DSI and are outside the usa...and like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, or their apparent adoptive child alien 626 aka Stitch

http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=88691
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