“The Lego Movie” is more than a funny flick involving animated minifigures and building bricks; it’s also an impressive feat of visual effects and CGI. (The New York Times estimates that if the movie were to be shot using only Lego bricks, it would take more than 15 million pieces).
At the recent Academy Awards, “The Lego Movie” theme song, “Everything Is Awesome”—nominated for Best Original Song—was performed live by Tegan and Sara, Questlove, The Lonely Island, and Will Arnett.
Arnett, who voiced Batman in the movie, rocked out in a Caped Crusader costume during the performance.
But what made the spot number even more awesome were the Oscar statuettes made of Lego bricks that were handed out to celebrities in the audience (they looked better than the real Oscar statuette, but those who lost that night would probably beg to differ).
The Lego Oscars were done by Nathan Sawaya, a brick artist whose mind-blowing Lego art has been featured in various exhibits all over theworld.
(READ: Brick Master)
A lot of glue
Inquirer Super asked Nathan about the Lego Oscars experience in an e-mail interview. He said he was approached by “The Lego Movie” team. “They wanted me to do something extra special for the performance; they had seen my earlier version of a Lego Oscar statuette and I was happy to take on the challenge.”
It took time, effort, and a lot of glue. Said Nathan, “Each one is glued together so that the Lego bricks won’t come apart.”
Did Nathan actually bring home an Oscar to study before he built the Lego version? “I looked at a lot of Oscar images,” he said, “but no, I didn’t get an actual Oscar. Yet.”
500 bricks
It takes about 500 Lego bricks to create one Oscar replica; a different trophy might prove to be more challenging to replicate.
“As an artist who builds a lot with Lego,” he pointed out, “I find the biggest challenge in the curves. So the toughest one to build might be an Emmy, or definitely a Golden Globe.”
While fans have been requesting for their own Lego Oscar, Nathan prefers to give everybody the power to “win” one.
“The goal is to make them available on Lego Ideas so that everyone has the ability to get one,” he said.
Did Nathan ever think of giving an “acceptance speech” while surrounded by his Lego Oscars?
“I was just thanking my stars…and my wife…that I found a great life where I get to build with Lego all day,” he said.
He’s currently working on a new exhibition for “The Art of the Brick,” which features over a hundred art sculptures as well as a DC Comics version which will include brick sculptures of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Joker and Harley Quinn.
The Lego Oscars statuette is currently nominated to be released as a set on Lego Ideas. Vote and support the project by logging on to https://ideas.lego.com/projects/96037. See more of Nathan Sawaya’s amazing Lego art at https://brickartist.com. Follow him on Twitter/Instagram: @NathanSawaya
