Last week LEGO gave me a chance to ask Simon Lucas, Senior Design Director at the LEGO Group, a few questions about the new kid on the block and today I received their reply. Of course one of my questions was: Is Monkie Kid going to replace Ninjago?
His answer:
Seen from a Chinese cultural perspective, LEGO NINJAGO and LEGO Monkie Kid are two clearly differentiated stories/themes. Whereas LEGO NINJAGO was a new story entirely invented by the LEGO Group, LEGO Monkie Kid is rooted in a well-known and loved legend which provides it with a different appeal to LEGO NINJAGO.
We’re extremely excited to be developing new themes inspired by Chinese culture. China is a strategic growth market for the LEGO Group and the launch of Monkie Kid represents a major milestone in our efforts to bring the power of play to many more children in China.
Whilst LEGO Monkie Kid is our first LEGO IP universe based on a Chinese legend and has been developed with close input from Chinese kids and parents, it will be available globally on LEGO.com and LEGO branded retail stores all around the world
Simon Lucas, Senior Design Director at the LEGO Group
That is not a “yes”. But here are a few of my takeaways from their crafted answer:
To LEGO, the clearly Asian inspired LEGO NINJAGO theme is different from Chinese centric the LEGO Monkie Kid theme. This is because the Monkie Kid is the spearhead in LEGO’s efforts to penetrate the China market.
In other words, look at LEGO Monkie Kid as a tool. A means to an end for LEGO’s conquest to get a bigger piece of the world’s consumer pie. LEGO NINJAGO, on the other hand, is the more global theme with a more global audience
Sure LEGO Monkie Kid is available globally, however, from what I have seen, collectors are just going to grab the Monkey King Warrior Mech 80012, and kids still love the more varied and vibrant LEGO NINJAGO.
Here LEGO is also saying that there will also be more Chinese specific themes made to conquer the China market.
We will have to keep our eyes on the bargain bins to see if LEGO’s plans work out. Personally, I prefer LEGO to be generally universal. Culture-specific sets to me are meant for special editions.
If you have not seen the show, Monkie Kid is done in a hand-drawn animation style instead of LEGO’s usual 3D animation. The result is odd as the animation straddles both cartoon logic and LEGO sensibilities and looking like neither.
So, why go with the traditional 2D animation style?
His answer:
We have previously brought other LEGO themes like LEGO Ninjago and LEGO Nexo Knights to life in a 3D animated style.
For LEGO Monkie Kid we really wanted the show to be action-packed and look visually different to our other themes. We partnered with Flying Bark Studios who made a short 20-second test animation for us that showed Monkie Kid battling the Demon Bull King.
As soon as we saw how dynamic and exciting that test was, we knew that 2D was the way to go. It’s incredible to witness the hand-drawn animation process where every frame is carefully and painstakingly drawn.
I have also personally grown up watching 2D animated shows and it’s so great to see Monkie Kid brought to life in this way.
Simon Lucas, Senior Design Director at the LEGO Group
Since the characters and the world of LEGO Monkie Kid looks relatively different from the actual sets LEGO produced.
I had to ask: Which came first, the design or the animation art style?
His answer:
The LEGO characters and LEGO models came first. We wanted to take inspiration from the original legend and then design our characters in a completely new way as LEGO Minifigures.
Later we partnered with Flying Bark animation studios who have further brought this exciting new chapter of the story to life in a brand new animated series. We collaborate very closely with Flying Bark on a daily basis – it’s so great to see our new heroes come to life on the screen as well as in great LEGO sets.
Simon Lucas, Senior Design Director at the LEGO Group
I have to admit, Flying Bark animation studios did a great job with the animation, so much so that the big fights in the LEGO Monkie Kid Mini Movie, with the moon-sized power blasts and world-sized craters, reminds me a lot of Dragon Ball (another Journey to the West inspired IP). Also, MK (the main protagonist, not Mortal Kombat) has Gohan Hair.
So, what would you say to those who would compare Monkie Kid to Dragon Ball? They both share the same inspiration.
His Answer:
What is so great about the stories from Journey to the West and The Monkey King is that they have been interpreted in so many incredibly creative ways over the years.
After travelling around China, I soon discovered just how relevant the characters and stories are to all generations. When creating LEGO Monkie Kid, we wanted to do something very different to others so we set ourselves the challenge of telling the next chapter of the story – I think that’s what really sets us apart from other themes that have also taken inspiration from the original legend.
Simon Lucas, Senior Design Director at the LEGO Group
Fair enough. But, Journey to The West has a limited set of characters. How does LEGO plan to expand the Monkie Kid line?
His answer:
The original legend of The Monkey King and Journey to the West has so many incredible chapters and characters for us to re-imagine in LEGO.
I can’t comment on future LEGO developments at this time but I’m excited to continue to explore and take inspiration from this amazing story. LEGO Monkie Kid is a long-term investment, and we will continue to launch new and exciting sets.
Simon Lucas, Senior Design Director at the LEGO Group
I don’t know. There are only 5 good guys in the story and according to Wikipedia, the other 34 are bad guys.
Anyway, my last question had to be asked. You see, the human characters in Monkie Kid are all Chinese. It stands to reason as it is made for the China market. However, since they are all Minifigures LEGO choose to keep their original Minifigure colour, yellow
So, now that we have more context from the Mini Movie, is it more or less awkward that all the human characters are yellow?
His answer:
The traditional yellow colour of the LEGO Minifigure was chosen based on focus group feedback in the early and mid-1970s saying this was the preferred colour.
Although Minifigures have since become increasingly diverse, we chose to go with the traditional yellow ones for the characters in the Mini Movie and animated tv series, to really give them a LEGO look and feel.
Simon Lucas, Senior Design Director at the LEGO Group
In a world that celebrates and embraces diversity, LEGO Monkie Kid is lacking (unless you count the non-human characters). And if they can give the Monkey King in LEGO Monkie Kid a natural skin tone, why not everyone as well.
Let’s see if LEGO Monkie Kid gets a second wave of sets after this one. I really like the bad guy sets in this wave, and I look forward to a better, perhaps a Big Figure version of the Demon Bull King.
Azizul Rahman Ismail 