Movies and Animations

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Movies and Animations

The first three BIONICLE movies in a three-disk set
Media
Type Animated media
Years released 2001-2010
2014-2016


There have been several Movies and Animations made to enrich the BIONICLE storyline. These movies include detailed animation for the characters and many locations of the universe. There have been a total of four movies released, along with a number of online animations, and a Netflix-exclusive animated series.

Movies and Television

Movies

Four BIONICLE movies were released:

Additionally, a three-disc DVD box set was released, featuring the first three movies:

  • BIONICLE: The Trilogy (2005)

These movies tell the BIONICLE storyline in a visual aspect. The movies follow the storyline details which are produced in the Books and Comics, and are all canonical, although they all include minor non-canonical elements. Each received its own novelization. The first three movies were produced by Miramax, while the last was animated by Tinseltown Toons. Of the original trilogy, the third had been greenlit with the second following the success of Mask of Light, although unlike the second it was briefly slated for release in theaters and titled BIONICLE: The Feature.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

A movie was planned for the BIONICLE story in 2001, but the project fell through.[7] Two more movies were initially planned, for release in 2010 and 2011, but with the cancellation of the BIONICLE set line, the movies were cancelled as well. A screen treatment for the fifth movie was completed and publicly shared through BZPower, though development of this movie was halted when BIONICLE was cancelled.

Television

In 2016, LEGO partnered with Netflix to produce a Netflix-exclusive series, The Journey to One, to tell the story of the second generation of BIONICLE. The series included four 25-minute episodes and a 12-minute prologue. The episodes were split up into two separate release dates: the prologue and first two episodes were released on March 29, while the last two episodes were released on July 29. The Journey to One was animated by Volta, a Canadian company based in Quebec City.

Online Animations

LEGO.com advertisement for the BIONICLE Webisodes

Online movies or animations have always been a tradition and play a great importance in the BIONICLE storyline. Like the movies, the animations portray the BIONICLE story in a more lively & visual fashion.

The first animations to be produced were the Mata Nui Online Animations from 2002 and early 2003. They were later followed by the Vahki Online Animations of 2004, Toa Hordika and The Mask of Light animations of 2005, and the non-canonical Voya Nui Online Animations of 2006.

There were two short online films, both from the year of 2007. The first was called Barraki: Creeps From the Deep, and the other featured the Toa Mahri and is known as BIONICLE: Toa Mahri. There was also a comical Singing Squid movie in which a squid sang two scales (joined). In 2008, two more shorts of this nature were produced. One was a movie introducing the Phantoka line with the Toa Nuva battling the Makuta. The other was a 4 minute retrospective that covered the storyline up from 2001 to 2008, to provide background info on the Toa Nuva in order to inform newer fans of the franchise.

To tease the reboot of BIONICLE, LEGO released The Legend during New York Comic Con 2014. A series of animations were released periodically throughout 2015. These animations were produced by the Copenhagen based Dum!Dum! and ADVANCE.

Promo Animations

Another tradition of BIONICLE was the use of CGI animations to advertise and promote the sets. Most of these were produced by the animation studio Ghost. These often depict the character as interacting in the world of BIONICLE, using their tools or Collectible elements.

References

  1. LEGO Press Release. February 19, 2003.
  2. Brett Matthews in Variety. November 10, 2005.
  3. Brett Matthews on IGN. June 27, 2006.
  4. Feature Film Announcement. November 13, 2003.
  5. Mirimax Announcement 1. July 11, 2002.
  6. Mirimax Announcement 2. July 27, 2003.
  7. MNOLG Storyboards: Ta-Koro. June 13, 2011.

See also

External links