For several years now, the LEGO Ninjago fan community has been voicing their displeasure about how Cartoon Network have been handling the LEGO Ninjago TV show. Members of the community are currently running a petition at Change.org, requesting the transfer of the show over to Netflix or another, more suitable platform. IN the meantime, there is also a discussion about the issue at the LEGO Ambassador Network, which should also help to get the message across. Below is the summary of what this campaign is about, the challenges LEGO Ninjago fans have been facing, and the proposed solution.
Cartoon Network has been handling the LEGO Ninjago TV show quite poorly for several years now. For example the 2019 LEGO Ninjago sets were released in the summer/fall, but the TV show episodes the sets were tied to didn’t air until half a year later. And there is no sign of when the episodes related to the January releases will air, and not to speak of the summer sets that are getting released soon.
Because of delayed and unknown release dates, LEGO Ninjago fans have no choice but to pirate the episodes from other countries where the TV show episodes are released earliest. They upload the videos to YouTube to help out other Ninjago fans, only to be forced to take the videos down by LEGO’s legal department.
This has been an ongoing battle between Ninjago fans, Cartoon Network, and LEGO legal, and it appears that nobody wins under the circumstances. Ninjago fans have to wait an unreasonable amount of time to watch the episodes the new sets are related to, or watch low quality pirated versions online. LEGO can’t advertise the sets in the show, because by the time the episodes air those sets are old and they are a season ahead with new releases. And Cartoon Network doesn’t get the ratings and viewership they would like because most Ninjago fans have already seen the episodes somewhere else. Thus, they think that the show is no longer popular, so they delay the episodes even more. And the cycle continues…
The group of LEGO Ninjago fans who are running the Change.org campaign suggest that Ninjago gets moved over to Netflix. Older episodes are already available for streaming on the platform, so it seems like the LEGO Ninjago team already has an arrangement with the platform. This would allow LEGO to release new TV show seasons to coincide with the release of new wave of sets. This would be a win for both LEGO and LEGO Ninjago fans. If you are interested to sign the campaign, you can do so here: LEGO NINJAGO PETITION
The current wave of sets that are sold at the Online LEGO Shop were released in January, and are related to LEGO Ninjago Masters of Spinjitzu – Season 12: Prime Empire. So far, the episodes only aired in Asia and Australia, with no sign of when or even if they will air the rest of the world. Other sets currently available are under the LEGO Ninjago Legacy collection, which are updated versions of previously released popular sets (mostly vehicles and mechs). In the meantime, sets related to Season 13 are already sold in some countries. You can check out both the currently available sets and the upcoming releases at the LEGO Ninjago section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? Do you still watch the Ninjago TV show? Or did you give up trying to find the episodes? And do you still get the LEGO Ninjago sets even without knowing the story behind them until months later? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! If you like, I can share them with LEGO directly via the LEGO Ambassador Network.
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I still watch Ninjago episodes in fact when the episodes are off the air or supposedly scheduled to be off the air. I wait a while and try and find those episodes on DVD but can’t find them. So I hope these TV networks can get it together because what might happen is that without the episodes people that collect Lego Ninjago sets won’t understand what does each sets and or characters mean in that season. I think Lego will take a hit in the sense that no one’s going to buy Lego Ninjago sets because of lack of episodes from the seasons. Maybe they will or not, but, why risk it.
How much are the sales for the sets dependent on the TV series? Sure, it is a way of marketing them, but I figured the sets would sell reasonably either way…
Ninjago is about the immersive story and the characters. In many ways, the sets are secondary, and they are only selling because kids want to play out what they see in the episodes. Without the story, the ninjago sets are just like all the other fantasy sets. They aren’t that special.
Yes, please!!!! This has been a pet peeve of mine for years! Such a great show. I don’t understand why they’re not making it available.
I don’t understand why CN is doing this. Ninjago is the best or at least one of the best shows on their channel. And they are treating it like crap.
Honest , I didn’t know Ninjago was a television series. Then again, I don’t watch television and don’t have cable; just internet. Just throwing it out there. What does it matter what network it’s on? Any decision to move a show is strictly financial and no consideration is given to the viewers.
It doesn’t matter what network it’s on, as long as people can watch it. What’s the point of making and financing a show when it’s not available for people to watch? At least then release it somewhere else. People are willing to buy it, but they can’t even do that. And they also discontinued the DVDs.
Personally I think Lego shouldn’t have never made it into a cartoon show in the first place, because the Lego sets should stand on their own and become the imagination of whatever the kids make it to be. It kind of defeats the purpose of Lego. Kids should make up their own imagination and create there own story to create their own image of what character should or should not be.
My wife and I are both fans of the show, but b/c of the the scheduling shenanigans over the last few years, we haven’t been able to watch it, and CN does a poor job of promoting it. I buy the sets, regardless, but I can understand how story is important for kids. I watch the show for its own merits, and wish CN were more definitive concerning when they air the episodes, and air them in a timely manner to coincide with the accompanying sets.