Less Bricks More Limbs, or, Ong's Tiny Lego Hat

August 25, 2022 6:17 AM

In the first half of the 2000's, LEGO created two experimental toy lines. One saved it. That was Bionicle. The other almost bankrupted it. That was Galidor. (Documentary video, 26m39s) And here's the complete experimental 26-episode TV series from the creator of Alex Mack.

The show's 20th anniversary has recently been celebrated by lead actor Matthew Ewald and, via a rare nod, LEGO itself.

posted by BiggerJ (4 comments total)

Huh, I was completely unaware of this line of toys. The seemingly odd choice of "Bluetooth" as a surname for the protagonist (remember, this was developed in 2001 when the technology was not nearly as ubiquitous as it is today) has strong regional associations for the area surrounding Billund, Lego's headquarters. King Harald Blåtand (Bluetooth) brought Christianity to Denmark and is interred in a Viking burial mound a short bike ride away from Ole Kirk Christiansen's workshop. The bluetooth logo we all have glowing on the notification bar of our smartphones is based on a runic inscription of his initials.
posted by St. Oops at 12:18 PM on August 25, 2022 [12 favorites]

The online component was ambitious for the early '00s, when dial up was still common. Today, LEGO has popular sets that work with mobile apps, and TV tie ins, so they found a way to make some aspects of the Galidor mess work.

Reminds me how the Sega Dreamcast was a flop around the same time, but had online play a generation before any other video game console.
posted by riruro at 7:35 AM on August 26, 2022 [2 favorites]

Fascinating story. You can see how many decisions made sense at the time, notably under the Power Rangers' influence.

The ARG aspect was neat. What a weird link to Ong's Hat. Did someone on the design team quietly pilfer stuff from it?
posted by doctornemo at 9:20 AM on August 26, 2022

doctornemo: It's the Sqrat Problem. The creator of Ong's Hat had unsuccessfully shopped the franchise to multiple producers and networks as a potential TV show, and threatened to sue LEGO when he discovered that Galidor, like Ong's Hat, features a protagonist named Nick from New Jersey, an alternate universe and a spaceship called the Egg. See: this episode of the official LEGO podcast (timestamp 45:26). Alternatively, the transcript (last page of Chapter 5).
posted by BiggerJ at 6:04 PM on August 26, 2022 [1 favorite]