LEGO NINJAGO has done what few original concepts manage and stuck around for an entire decade – the incredible action-adventure theme is celebrating 10 years on the shelves. To celebrate this occasion, Blocks magazine is going behind-the-scenes with the creatives who made it the success story that it is and sharing never-before-seen development art.
NINJAGO all started with a first year of products, including spinners as well as traditional LEGO sets, before an animated special came along. ‘We were always told, “okay, it’s just going to be a special”,’ Executive Producer Dan Hageman (half of the Hageman brothers) tells Blocks in Issue 75’s special feature. ‘Then we were told, “okay, it’s just going to be 13 episodes”. If you look at the pace, we always gave it everything we had.’
That special spawned an entire television series that has continued year in year out, as the adventures of the ninja crew have included fighting undead skeletons, dealing with snake civil wars, understanding ghostly realms, heading inside a video game and visiting all sorts of other far-flung lands. By tying the animated episodes in closely with the sets, the storytelling has been deeper than anything the LEGO Group has done before.
In the exclusive feature, the Hagemans are joined by other creative talents including the LEGO Group’s Tommy Andreasen, Michael Svane Knap and Simon Lucas to reveal just what has gone into making NINJAGO a success over 10 years. From the very beginning, when the team worked on what would become the spinners, to how the theme is revisiting its past today with NINJAGO Legacy… this is the full, in-depth story of the most successful modern LEGO theme.
This celebration of the LEGO NINJAGO 10th anniversary is in Blocks magazine Issue 75 – available to order and in stock right now.
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