The cult classic film is beloved by many fans, so there were plenty of quintessential details that the LEGO Ideas team wanted to reference in 21363 The Goonies.
With 21363 The Goonies coming from LEGO Ideas on November 1, the talented designers behind the set have been sharing some of the new model’s secrets. It will be available from LEGO.com and if your order it early you can get 40773 The Walshes’ Attic as a free bonus set.
There are many moments in The Goonies that are memorable to fans, whether it’s that you can’t hug a photograph or Mikey’s rousing speech about it being “our time”. As a 1980s flick, from the clothing, through the music, to the brand of chocolate chip ice cream, it feels perfectly of its time. That’s partly why the cult classic was a huge influence for the Russo brothers when they devised Stranger Things, as they considered how to create a modern story with a 1980s movie feel.
All of these references and details needed to be included in 21363 The Goonies and there was very little the team had to cut. “We’ve done a lot of Spielberg movies now,” says LEGO Ideas Creative Lead Jordan Scott. “With things like Indiana Jones, it’s about the story and the adventure he goes on, so the model is about the action. Same with Jurassic Park, it’s the T. Rex and the park gates. It’s those scenes that are iconic.
“What made The Goonies special is that adventure and all those different scenes – there’s not one that stands out above the rest. We needed to make sure that was captured in the set. It’s about adapting the iconic scenes into the most recognisable model and fortunately with this one, there was already a beautiful boat with the adventure on the inside, so it just made sense for it to be designed as a grand adventure.”
Rather than having to take things out, there was more of a focus on adding things to help play out the adventure. “We have some new parts for the extra minifigures. We’ve done Sloth before back in LEGO Dimensions, but we did the minifigure slightly differently,” explains Jordan, referring to 71267 The Goonies Level Pack, which added extra gameplay for fans of the film. “So we wanted to do something new with this one where he has the pirate hat, because that’s when he’s a hero and saves the day. So that’s a new piece. Then for Mama Fratelli, she has a very specific kind of beret, so we also made that and hopefully it will be used for other characters because it’s such a fun little hat.
“We were also fortunate for Sloth that Warner Bros. also own the rights to Superman and they clarified that it was fine for Sloth to wear the logo on his shirt. One-Eyed Willy was a later addition for the treasure room and he’s got a new torso that looks really good. We couldn’t cut anyone because they’re all essential to the story, so we’re glad we got this huge lineup.”
Yet while this full cast of characters will appeal to devoted fans of The Goonies, the team also hope it might inspire new adventure-seekers.
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“Even if you don’t really know the story, it comes alive through the model. You can see it by playing with the model,” says LEGO Senior Model Designer Marina Stampoli. She bonded with fan designer, Vaggelis Ntezes, over their shared love of the film and it made choosing some special Easter eggs very easy. “We have Vaggelis’ picture on the TV because Sloth is watching an old pirate movie. So we made Vaggelis be one of the pirates. Then the wanted poster has his birthday.
“And because Vaggelis and I are both Greek, we included some blue and white bricks throughout the build to represent the Greek flag. Vaggelis really likes the ship wheel element, so we included that for him too.”
LEGO Ideas sets often reference each other as well, though this time it was through a helpful coincidence. “Coincidentally, this set was being developed at the same time as [21360] Willy Wonka, so the brown bow elements on the hull are used for the chocolate waterfall in that model,” says Jordan. “So it made sense to use it here again for the ship. Sometimes we make colour changes that work across models and that was a helpful win for us because it made it easier to use this piece.”
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