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WIRRAL LIFE CATCH UP WITH LEGOMASTERS
MATTHEW ASHTON
Matthew Ashton, Vice President of Design at the LEGO Group first
appeared in ‘Wirral Life’ last October when he was featured on our
front cover, with nearly a year gone-by we thought it was time to catch-
up with him to find out exactly what he has been up to since we last
spoke.
So Matthew, how has your last year been?
Busier than ever, I probably said the same thing last time we spoke,
imagining things maybe about to slow down a bit, but they haven’t at
all! I am still based in Denmark and everything is as hectic as ever at
LEGO HQ, things never stop in the land of little yellow plastic people!
My team have been working super hard on the sequel to the LEGO Movie
(aptly named ‘The LEGO Movie 2. The Second Part’) and I have also had
to find the time in my schedule to film Season 2 of Channel 4’s ‘LEGO
MASTERS’!
Gosh, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate!
Yes, I guess I do, but I shouldn’t complain, it is all incredibly exciting.
When I was a kid I dreamt of being a toy designer when I grew up, so
having that wish come true is already pretty unbelievable but being able
to work on some movies and appear on a TV show is like the cherry on an
already pretty tasty cake!
So lets talk LEGO Movie 2 first, what can we expect?
Well, we are bringing our beloved blocky heroes back, so the adorable
Emmet (Chris Pratt) and strong-willed Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks)
will be joined by the rest of the gang; Batman (Will Arnett), MetalBeard
(Nick Offerman), Benny (Charlie Day) and Unikitty (Alison Brie) will be
whisked off on another epic adventure. If you have seen the first LEGO
Movie, you will remember it ends in the real-world family’s basement,
where the little boy, Finn, who has been playing out the whole adventure
is told that he is going to have to let his little sister, Bea, down into the
basement to play with the LEGO too, and with this comes the alien
invasion from Planet DULPLO! This is the exact point where Movie 2
then kicks off and the battle ensues before skipping forwards 5 years when
all of Emmet’s friends (including the love of his life Lucy aka Wyldstyle)
are abducted! It’s now time for the permanently-perky Emmet to toughen
up, build his own rocket and blast off to rescue his friends!
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So will there be new characters and settings too?
Yes, definitely! This is a essentially a space-voyage adventure, so we will
take the audience to a far off galaxy with lots of new worlds to explore,
and we will also introduce some brand new characters… I’m not going
to say too much as I don’t want to spoil it but we have the hilarious
Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip) voicing the ruler of the Systar System ‘Queen
Watevra Wa’Nabi’, Stephanie Beatrix (Brooklyn 99) as ‘General Mayhem’
along with a few cameo appearances.
So what kind of involvement do you have with the Movie development?
I’m one of the Executive Producers on the movie, so I work along with
the directors, art department and animation team, on the overall look
of the movie but also co-ordinating our toy line with our LEGO team
in Denmark. We review all the scripts and animatics (animated story
boards), determine what we think has the best toy potential and then co-
design those specific models with the studio. This is quite a tricky process
as we are all spread across the world, we are based in Denmark, while
direction and story development comes out of L.A and then all the art
and animation is done in Vancouver, so it takes a lot of co-ordinating,
late night calls and trips backwards and forwards. Despite it being a lot
of hard work, its really rewarding to see something you have designed
together appear on the big screen, and on the shelves of a toy store and
knowing that both of these things will hopefully bring a lot of fun and joy
to kid’s lives.
So the trailer came out a couple of months ago, does that mean that the
movie is finished?
No, we still have a few more months working on the Movie, so we are
refining the animation, special effects, sound and music right up until
Christmas, and then all of the translations for the different countries will
be finalised so it will be ready to hit cinemas from the 8th of February
next year!
So on top of that you have also been filming LEGO MASTERS season
2 for Channel 4!
Yes, just had to squeeze that little project in on top of the day job!