A LEGO Brickumentary

1

Space.

Humankind has been gazing

into its infinite vastness for millennia.

Here we are pushing the boundaries

of our knowledge,

venturing out into...

What? What are LEGO minifigures

doing out here?

What the heck are toys

doing in outer space?

To answer that,

first we have to start our story

back on good old planet Earth.

Here in the U.S.'s Pacific Northwest,

a boy named Thorin makes last-minute

preparations on his battle scene.

In the Netherlands, Rosa

is building a car in her living room.

In Shanghai, China, Yuhang celebrates

his birthday with a new LEGO set.

And in Denver, Colorado,

Eben, like so many around the world

is sprawled on his living room floor

playing with LEGO bricks.

This is what we expect, right?

After all, around half a billion people

grew up with LEGO bricks.

There are over 100 LEGO pieces

for every person on the planet.

But this story... but...

Can you hear me out there?

There. That's better.

What? What's wrong?

Why are you looking

at me like that? Oh, oh.

There. How's that?

Now, I know. I know.

You recognize me, right?

Featureless yet functional hands.

Interchangeable hair.

Perfect golden, uh, tan, I guess?

But this story's not about me.

Well, not entirely.

This story is about

a simple toy that became,

well, more than a toy.

And how its unique properties

ushered in a new era of creativity,

not just for kids,

but for a whole generation.

This is about more than the brick.

This is beyond the...

No, hang on a second.

Beyond the brick! A LEGO Brickumentary!

Ooh, look at that. That's awesome.

At the annual Toy Fair in New York City

the world's toy manufacturers

gather to show off

what they hope will be

big products for kids.

LEGO is, let's face it,

undoubtedly the greatest

success story of the toy industry.

They have become

the number two toy company

with simply one category of toy,

and that's construction.

And that's up against giants

like Mattel and Hasbro.

Mattel has Hot Wheels. They have Barbie.

Hasbro has GI Joe.

And they've got other lines.

And LEGO just has LEGO.

When other toy companies look at LEGO,

they look at them as a powerhouse.

When you look

at a four billion dollar brand

and that's going to continue to grow

this year, it's amazing what they've done.

It's become a monster brand

of the toy business.

So how did the LEGO company

become so huge?

I can explain that, but I think I better

park this thing first.

Recognize this baby?

Yeah, good old number 497.

Galaxy Explorer.

It had these cool yellow-tinted windows,

all these 2x2 computer bricks,

and, uh, these things.

It's just a small part

of the LEGO brand's fascinating history.

Let's take a moment for a little primer

on how the toy began.

Oh, no, wait a second.

There we go. Much better.

Many people know Denmark as the home

of ready-to-assemble furniture.

Sadly those people are wrong

because that's Sweden.

Denmark is home

to Hans Christian Andersen,

delicious pastries,

and the birthplace of,

you guessed it, LEGO bricks.

Back in 1916, a Danish man

by the name of Ole Kirk Christiansen

lived in the quaint little town

of Billund Denmark.

A carpenter by trade, he started a small

wood shop which burned to the ground.

Not a great start but Ole would not

be dissuaded so he built another one.

In the new factory

he was inspired to build toys.

By the 1930s, Ole was known

for his pull toys made from birch wood.

Trucks, trains, and of course ducks.

It was around this time that Ole

came up with the name LEGO.

It comes from the Danish phrase

leg godt, meaning "play well."

Then the factory burned down again.

But with Ole's perseverance,

it was rebuilt again,

this time mostly for making wooden toys,

until a fateful day in 1947

when Ole was visiting a toy fair.

He came across a new contraption,

a plastic molding machine.

Ole brought the first one

back to Denmark,

though not everyone was impressed.

At first, Ole used

his hand-powered molding machine

to make simple plastic toys.

But then his son Godtfred

had a brilliant idea.

I remember my father, for him,

the system was very, very important,

to turn the bricks

into a system of play.

The brick in itself is, of course,

a simple structure.

But with the number of bricks,

you have endless possibilities.

The idea stuck,

and the LEGO system of play was born

and continues to this day.

In fact, bricks made in 1955

still work with bricks you can buy today.

The bricks were great for stacking,

but still had room for improvement.

The Christiansen solution

was clutch power.

What is clutch power?

Clutch power is the result

of the patented studs and tubes design

that holds the bricks together.

And allows them to...

...whew...

come apart.

Then in 1960,

the factory burned down again.

Yeesh. What are they building

these factories out of, anyway?

But Ole went back to work,

and despite those pesky fires,

his company continued to grow.

This magic formula

of an ever-expanding system

with its locking bricks made LEGO toys

something that appealed

to kids everywhere.

What started as a Danish endeavor

became a global phenomenon.

Helping with this expansion

of the company

was oldest grandson Kjeld

who you met before.

You might recognize him

from some of the earliest boxes.

Cute kid.

Personally I feel Kjeld's

greatest contribution to LEGO history

was his role in the development

of LEGO minifigures, or minifigs.

Hey, guys, still no arms, huh?

They obviously improved

on that design over the years.

But what really catapulted the company

into greater success

were the new theme sets,

like Castle and Space.

And later, licensed themes

like Star Wars.

Hey! And Harry Potter.

Whoa, whoa.

Whoa! Yikes!

Today the LEGO company makes

more than 100,000 pieces a minute,

and has become one of the biggest

toy companies in the world.

But not without first experiencing

some serious challenges

in having to redefine itself

along the way.

But we'll get into that later.

And just think, all this from a humble

carpenter in Billund, Denmark.

Ooh, sorry.

No clutch power, I guess.

Billund is still the heart

of the LEGO company

and LEGO minifigures

are still made here.

Handsome little devils, aren't they?

Okay that shot kinda freaks me out.

Billund is also home

to the LEGO design team.

Here, inside the design room,

the LEGO sets of tomorrow

are being dreamed up today by designers.

Everybody I meet says

that I have one

of the coolest jobs in the world.

It's fantastic to be able

to create with these bricks.

We have our desks full

of LEGO all the time.

It's like being a child

for the rest of my life.

For many the only limitation of building

with LEGO bricks is your imagination.

But for the designers

at the LEGO company

it's a much more regimented process.

We're always working within

a system based on

these LEGO bricks here.

There's not an infinite

amount of possibility.

The constraints becomes

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