Lego Atlantis
Encyclopedia
Lego Atlantis is a product range of the construction toy Lego
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...

, themed around the underwater world of Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....

. The range was announced in 2009, for launch in early 2010. Sets include models of buildable underwater vehicles, as well as 'heroic diver' and 'shark warrior' minifigure
Minifigure
A Lego minifigure is a small plastic articulated figurine available as part of the construction toy Lego, produced by Danish toy manufacturer the Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978, and have become hugely successful, with over 3.7 billion produced, and the figure appearing in a variety...

s. A ride based on the range is currently operating at Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor is a child-oriented theme park in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 1996 on the former Windsor Safari Park as the second Legoland after Legoland Billund in Denmark. The park is located within close distance of Windsor Castle and...

.

Development

The product range underwent extensive development, with the design team using focus groups "mostly comprising boys aged between six and 12, but also child psychologists". Designer William Thorogood commented on these focus groups that "it emerged that there were certain key icons the product simply had to include: propellers, dome cockpits, big lights, helmets, harpoons, torpedo-like weapons, tridents, giant squid and, of course, evil sharks." The focus groups also threw up some surprising views on particular Lego pieces, such as transparent pieces, which the boys in the focus groups determinedly asserted as being "magical". There is also a ride at Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor is a child-oriented theme park in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 1996 on the former Windsor Safari Park as the second Legoland after Legoland Billund in Denmark. The park is located within close distance of Windsor Castle and...

, making it the 3rd ride to be based on a Lego
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...

 theme, preceded by Fire Academy and Laser Raiders..

Story

The Lego Atlantis theme backstory
Back-story
A back-story, background story, or backstory is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start...

 has been described on the Lego website and in the Lego catalogue. The Atlantis Crew are described as a deep sea salvage crew who search the ocean for shipwrecks and treasure. The crew find a clue to the location of the long lost Atlantis city, and then make it their mission to search it out and uncover its mysteries.

Before the Atlantis website was fully launched, a preview page and online game was published. The game involved the user to navigate through a small part of an "ocean" trench where they would come across an abandoned submarine, "the map to atlantis" which allowed the user to download a preview map of Atlantis, and then finally an old journal that explains about an explorer clalled Artimus Rhodes (grandfather to the main character) who journeyed to Atlantis in 1919.

Characters

The sets (along with the official website), introduce two groups of good and evil characters. The first is the Atlantis salvage crew of 'heroic divers', led by Captain Ace Speedman. Also in the crew is marine biologist Dr Jeff Fisher, First Mate Lance Spears, 'Tech Expert' Axel Storm, and apprentice Bobby Buoy. Professor Sam Rhodes is also part of the team, but is described as having 'not initially been part of the crew, so she tricks them into helping look for Atlantis'.

The evil characters are described as 'Atlantis Warriors', and have human-like bodies with the heads of a sea creature. The three warriors are the 'Squid Warrior' (with tentacles as well as a squid-like head), 'Manta Warrior' (with the head of a manta ray
Manta ray
The manta ray is the largest species of the rays. The largest known specimen was more than across, with a weight of about . It ranges throughout waters of the world, typically around coral reefs...

) and 'Shark Warrior'. Finally, there is the Portal Emperor, who resides over the portal to Atlantis.

Sets

There have been 19 sets released within the theme so far, at a range of sizes and price points. The largest, Portal of Atlantis (8078) contains 1007 pieces, and instructions to build a portal to Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....

, as well as six minifigures- three divers, a shark and squid warrior, and the portal emperor. Others include Seabed Scavenger (8059), Typhoon Turbo Sub (8060), Gateway of the Squid (8061), Atlantis Exploration HQ (8077), Shadow Snapper (8079), and Temple of Atlantis (7985).

Other products

As well as the Lego models, a number of other products and merchandise have been created to tie-in with the theme. These include wearable items such as a water gun, 'harpoon blaster', trident and a shield, as well as a collections of minifigure
Minifigure
A Lego minifigure is a small plastic articulated figurine available as part of the construction toy Lego, produced by Danish toy manufacturer the Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978, and have become hugely successful, with over 3.7 billion produced, and the figure appearing in a variety...

 magnets and keyring accessories.

Lego Atlantis: The Movie
Lego Atlantis: The Movie
Lego Atlantis: The Movie is a computer animated comedy film that is based on the toy line of the same name. It is considered a family film besides the crude humor in the film. It premiered in the United States on January 15, 2010 and premiered in Europe on January 25, 2010...

is a brickfilm
Brickfilm
A Brickfilm is a film made using LEGO, or other similar plastic construction toys resembling LEGO toys. They are usually created with stop motion animation, though CGI, traditional animation, and live action films featuring plastic construction toys are also usually considered brickfilms...

 for the LEGO Atlantis theme. The film was first shown on the Internet on Cartoon Network.co.uk on February 15, 2010. It was directed by Mark Baldo, the director of Bionicle: The Legend Reborn
Bionicle: The Legend Reborn
Bionicle: The Legend Reborn, also known as Bionicle 4: The Legend Reborn, is a direct-to-DVD sequel to the 3 previous Bionicle films, based on the Bionicle toys. It was released on September 15, 2009 in the United States and Canada, October 5, 2009 in the United Kingdom and September 2, 2009 in...

and premiered on Cartoon Network US September 18, 2010.
Lego Atlantis: The Series is still an idea, but is still possible to have clips from the show for the UK and the US on August 2011.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK