One of the recently released sets for The LEGO Movie 2 is the #70820 LEGO Movie 2 Movie Maker. This is the third LEGO Movie Maker set, after the #853650 LEGO Batman Movie Maker, and the #853702 LEGO Ninjago Movie Maker. All three of the sets feature a brick-built movie stage, a double-sided cardboard backdrop with alternate scenes, a brick-built camera stand for your smartphone, minifigs, and various action props. They are great starter sets if you would like to practice brickfilming and stop-motion animation. 🙂
The first two LEGO Movie Maker sets were $19.99 each with a simple, barebones setup. The newly released #70820 LEGO Movie 2 Movie Maker is a more substantial kit for $49.99. It includes quite a few minifigs, brickbuilt characters, props, a frame for the backdrop, and more. The backdrop features an image of Apocalypseburg on one side, and the Systar System on the other side.
The frame for the stage was added to the #70820 LEGO Movie 2 Movie Maker set not just to hold the backdrop, but to work as a support for the sliding, adjustable arms at the top of the frame. These movable arms can hold and animate props, characters, and accessory elements. The slider on the left doesn’t seem to be as useful for brickfilming as it wiggles too much, but the slider on the right is pretty useful.
There are also built-in sliders for the stage’s platform to move characters around. These are quite useful and work well for brickfilming and stop-motion animation. The stage also has three attachment points for the camera stand for different angles and camera panning movements. The camera stand can swivel, and you can adjust the angle of the camera as well.
Minifigs include Emmet, Lucy, and Rex, plus a Sweet Mayhem mini-doll. (Emmet and Lucy come with two extra heads for additional facial expressions). There are also five brick-built characters from the movie; Warrior Kitty, Star, Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (in pile-of-bricks form), an alien invader figure, and a raptor figure. The minifigs, brickbuilt characters, and vehicles can be moved around with transparent sticks.
Props include a mini version of Emmet’s Escape Buggy, Rex’s Rexplorer, and Sweet Mayhem’s Systar Starship. You can even combine Emmet’s Escape Buggy with Warrior Kitty to create an Escape Buggy and Ultrakatty combi model.
Although you can use your own editing software for your LEGO movies, the #70820 LEGO Movie 2 Movie Maker set can be combined with the LEGO Movie Maker 2 Movie Maker App to record, edit, and share your movie. You can even add sounds and visual effects to your live video footage. The app is meant for kids, so it’s simple and safe to use (recommended for kids from 8 years and up) with no third-party advertising. It can be downloaded free at Google Play, or the App Store. Please note that the app is only available for phones.
To encourage kids to try out the #70820 LEGO Movie 2 Movie Maker set and the LEGO Movie Maker 2 Movie Maker App, LEGO is currently running a contest where kids can enter their own dance video using the Movie Maker set and app. The contest runs until March 7th, with very generous weekly prizes. The winners will be revealed on March 22nd. You can enter more than one video, and your video could even be featured in Emmet’s big music video at the end of the contest. You can learn more about the contest in the video below, as well as the contest’s website: EMMET MOVIE MAKER CHALLENGE
If you would like to play around with brickfilming and stop-motion animation, but don’t have the #70820 LEGO Movie 2 Movie Maker set, you can get it – along with other awesome sets related to the movie – at The LEGO Movie 2 section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? Have you tried out the #70820 LEGO Movie 2 Movie Maker set and the LEGO Movie Maker 2 Movie Maker App yet? How do you like them? Are you planning to enter the Movie Maker challenge? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
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That’s cool. I like how the new movie maker comes with a frame so you can attach stuff. The app is cool too, but I wonder how long it will be supported. Who is entering the contest?
LEGO apps don’t get support for very long. If you want to get seriously into brickfilming, it’s best to use your own software. But for fun, the LEGO app is okay.
It could be a cool starter kit. My kids are just now starting to get interested in stop motion animation. The newest one seems the best because of the frame and sliding action. That’s always the hardest, sliding the minifigs smoothly as you film
Did anyone try the app yet? I prefer to use a generic stop motion app, but I was wondering how good is their own app.
The app is pretty basic. Fun for kids and beginner animators. That’s pretty much it.
Hi guys, Here’s a video I put together building and reviewing the Movie Maker 2 set. I didn’t use the app the edit this video because I found it pretty limiting but I guess it’s functional for a beginner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRuEiA8Dqdo
Thanks for sharing your review! 🙂