It’s time for the children to compete in LEGO Masters Jr., a new take on the competitive LEGO building television show. Episode 1 sees the new teams of children building Disney locations with help from their celebrity buddies.
In the first episode of LEGO Masters Jr., five teams of children are joined by celebrity helpers to see who can build the most imaginative, magical land inspired by LEGO Disney minifigures. Builders put together brick worlds inspired by Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Frozen, Toy Story, Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid.
Before this review continues, it’s time to declare an interest – Will Tachick, of team Will and Crosby, is a contributor to Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine for fans. If you want to be inspired by him every month, then check out our great value subscription packages and see the awesome Quick Builds that he creates – with full instructions so you can build them at home!
It’s amazing how well cast this show is. The producers have found a really sweet bunch of children to compete, all of whom are immediately charming and draw you into the competition.
Boone Langston has been a memorable fixture on the US edition of LEGO Masters since he memorably came second on the first season of the show – since then he has joined the LEGO design team and it’s great to see him joining the always poised Amy Corbett as a Brickmaster. The two of them do a great job of providing genuine feedback to the children, which cannot be an easy task!
Kelly Osbourne brings a nice energy to the format and seems like a good fit for the show – Will Arnett is tremendous fun but never felt like he was truly leaning into his considerable comedic strengths on LEGO Masters.
Big kudos goes to the celebrity helpers, who are incredibly patient at being told what to do by the young builders – it’s really fun to see how some of them are left to their own devices to figure the System out, whilst in other teams the children guide their adults by showing them tips and tricks. It’s a nice mix of personalities among Ravi Patel, Andy Richter, Jordin Sparks, Alison Sweeney and Porsha Williams.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
What’s really apparent in the first episode is that everyone is getting accustomed to the time pressure. When building for fun, there is plenty of time to fiddle around and get things perfect – as past LEGO Masters contestants have explained though, that is not the case when you have such a tight deadline.
Despite that, all of the children do a genuinely impressive job, especially when it comes to the size of some of the builds, and it will be fascinating to see what they come up with as the weeks progress and they get into the swing of the time constraint.
Vincent and Hudson convincingly convey Neverland from Peter Pan by including all of the key features of the island, but it is a surprise when they end up winning the first challenge as the build doesn’t look quite as polished as some of the other models.
Ajay and Zak get harsh comments from the Brickmasters, who critique their large grey pillars, but don’t give them enough credit for how well they capture household items in a way that looks really authentic to Andy’s room from Toy Story.
It also feels like Max and Zoe deserve more praise for the sheer scale of their Arendelle from Frozen, even if aspects are a bit blocky. They certainly know how to deliver a centrepiece, with a tremendous rotating snowflake overlooking everything.
Stelle and Chelle do well with The Little Mermaid and you can see some real potential within the build, so they are likely a team to watch over the coming weeks.
Finally, Will and Crosby craft a really fun Toontown, incorporating a Disney float and making good use of other minifigures beyond their Mickey and Minnie to capture the vibe of the location. Andy Richter’s competitive comments add some nice fun to the proceedings, as he sparks some trash talk from the adults, who are less polite than their smaller colleagues.
This is a really sweet take on LEGO Masters – it will be really tough next week seeing any of these children sent home. What’s really great though is them having an opportunity to be celebrated for genuine talent; LEGO fans will know how tough it is to achieve what they have in this episode and it’s fantastic that they can enjoy this spotlight.
LEGO Masters Jr. airs every Monday on Fox, then is available from Tuesday on Hulu.
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