Alpha Team: Mission Deep Jungle

Alpha Team: Mission Deep Jungle is Mustache Maniacs Film Co.'s first installment in its Alpha Team series of films. It takes place ten years after the official LEGO Alpha Team story line and is the fourth film in Project U.

Alpha Team: Mission Deep Jungle
Hero	Dash Justice
Villain	Ogel
Format	Stop-Motion Animation
Tagline	"After Ten Years, They're Back!"

Film Details

• Release Date: December 25, 2015
• Running Time: 37 min.
• MPAA Rating: PG-13
• Director: Andrew Bermudez
• Producer: Andrew Bermudez
• Writer: Andrew Bermudez

Plot Summary

"Stop it! Stop it! You're ruining everything!" -Theodore Taylor, Mustache Maniacs Film Co. is Coming to LEGO Dimensions! Spoiler warning! This section contains details that reveal crucial plot points. If you do not want to find out what happens, skip to the next section.

The movie opens at the end of the official LEGO Alpha Team story line, where Zed and Ogel face off in Antarctica. As the rest of the team races off to the mobile command center, Radia catches a glimpse of the battle, but is stopped by Arrow, who turns out to be a double agent working for Ogel. As Zed decimates the Scorpion Orb Launcher, a figure on a distant cliff shoots Arrow through the chest and runs off. Radia, trying to wrap her mind around what happened, is told by Zed that Ogel is dead. leaving Radia in even more shock.

Ten years later, Dash and the other agents return to their island headquarters, where he congratulates them on a job well done on their mission in France. Charge, who has the team's mail, finds a DVD resume that Flex inserts into the team's Blu-Ray player. They listen to Steve Kenlow's self-pitch, but before anyone can react, Cam rushes in with another DVD. This one is from U.N. delegate Henry Cainman, who insists that his daughter Whitney is lost with her boyfriend in the Amazon Rainforest. After running over the details, Dash requests that Cam, Radia, Crunch, Charge, and Flex come along.

In the rainforest, they scour the floor for any sign of the lost couple, but before they get far, the team is ambushed by a horde of bandits led by Mr. Cunningham. They take the team prisoner and take them back to their camp. In the meantime, Zed and Diamond Tooth get ready to leave Alpha Team HQ to inquire further into Steve.

Mr. Cunningham interrogates Dash on why Alpha Team is in the area, then accuses him of lying at every turn. With Mr. Cunningham's words, the team finds out that the couple are not in the area and that some workers were seen developing the jungle. Cunningham leaves the team chained up, but Flex reveals that the structure is so poorly built, they can easily escape. They all break free, but the commotion alerts the bandits. Dogs are released, and their attack causes the stilted hut to come crashing to the ground. However, Flex, who has already fired his rope at another stilted hut, causes it to crash to the ground. In the ensuing chaos, the bandits and team shoot at each other as Cam gets to the ATV. As the team escapes, the entire camp is reduced to splinters and Mr. Cunningham breaks his leg.

Meanwhile, Zed and Diamond Tooth discover that Whitney is in France and try to alert the rest of the team. Out of range for the on-board radio, Zed changes course and flies to South America.

The next day, Alpha Team encounters a patch of sand that Cam and Charge disregard. However, Flex insists that it's quicksand, which Cam quickly proves is right. Flex uses his rope to get Cam out, but this motion causes Cam's knee to fall into pain. Radia soothes the pain, then the team heads on.

However, they are stopped again by a paved road. They all hide as a truck approaches, and Cam fires a tracker beacon onto the supply truck. Charge, wanting to charge in, rolls underneath the truck and rides to its destination. Arriving at a jungle fortress, Charge sneaks out and rushes inside, finding himself in a movie studio. Looking around, he finds a script and a costume of Henry Cainman. Only then does he realize that the distress call was a trap. Back in the jungle, the rest of the team is captured by Ogel's drones.

Once in their cell, Ogel reveals himself to the team, showing that he survived Zed's missile, but lost his arm because of it. Taking Dash away, Ogel proceeds to tell him his evil plan: by faking the distress call, Ogel was able to capture Alpha Team so that they do not interfere with his plan to use a radar dish to emit the power of his orbs and take over the world. In the meantime, Charge finds the other agents and they escape their cell, grabbing new weapons on the way out.

Alone, Dash frees himself from the chair he's tied to and looks around for a way out. All he sees is the radar dish, smashes the window, and jumps out of the tower, grabbing the dish's stem. Dash orders the other agents to destroy the orbs. In the meantime, Ogel alerts the drones of the team's escape.

Inside the base, the agents find the orb factory and engage in a shootout with the drones. Flex formulates a plan to destroy the orbs and Charge assumes responsibility of delivering the explosives. Meanwhile, Dash is taunted by Ogel, who explains his backstory. Originally, he was a highly-prestigious scientist who was famed for his experiments, but was then ridiculed for over-reaching with the mind control orb. Stripped of his honors and fame, Ogel vowed one day to exact his revenge, with this being his revenge.

Charge is about to catch a satchel of explosives when someone else grabs them, leaps onto the orb chamber, throws in the satchel, and runs off. Crunch activates the explosives and the base blows up, throwing off Ogel. The agents and Ogel escape the base and head off into the jungle. Back at the airfield, Alpha Team discovers that Steve Kenlow was the mystery helper. His offer to join the team is accepted.

Deep in the jungle, Mr. Cunningham and his bandits wander through the jungle when they stumble upon Baron Typhonus. He heals Mr. Cunningham's leg and tells him to ally with Lord Sinister after pod 5 lands. The baron endows the bandits with Maelstrom power and is sucked into a Maelstrom vortex. Mr. Cunningham's men, now with purpose again, cheer as Alpha Team flies back to base.

Production History

The very first Alpha Team-based films created by Mustache Maniacs Film Co. were made in the pre-formation era of 2002-03, using the Steven Spielberg Movie Maker Set. While numerous, all of these films are now lost.

Despite this, the idea of creating a film based on LEGO's Alpha Team product line was always up as a potential film. In 2009, right before The Adventures of Legoman was released, an idea was put into place that would have had an Alpha Team film released that fall. However, because The Adventures of Legoman bombed and animation studio Brick Tales was shuttered, Alpha Team: The Movie was cancelled. It wouldn't be until 2012 that the theme would be pursued again as source material.

Around this time, Andrew Bermudez was working with College of the Canyons film instructor David Nordstrom to get Gone Ice Fishin' finished. During the class, Andrew also pitched a script that would adapt LEGO's Alpha Team product line for the modern day. David liked the idea and was very instrumental in fine-tuning the early versions of the script, which originally took place six years after Mission Deep Freeze.

The story stayed generally the same throughout production, with only minor changes being made. Originally, the Mission Deep Freeze opening was going to forgo the comic and instead have Dash narrate the events on-screen. But when the producers deemed the narration as killing the ambiance, the opening switched to the comic to indicate a continuation of the last Alpha Team comic from the January 2005 issue of LEGO Magazine. Throughout the script, the duration of different scenes was also altered to create a more even pace.

At one time, more time was going to be spent in Alpha Team HQ, with scenes that take place in the computer room and in the sick bay. A medic-in-training, Infra, was cut out early on as all of the action was moved to the briefing room. When this happened, a move was made to spend more time out in the Amazon rain forest. In the original script, Alpha Team lands and than immediately finds the road that leads to Ogel's base. Since this wasted potential for conflict in the jungle, a new sub-plot involving Mr. Cunningham from LEGO Adventurers was added to not only give hints about the film's plot twist, but also to tie the film into the rest of the cinematic universe.

The script was essentially finished by the end of 2012, but because Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients was in production at the time, this film was set back to 2015 for its release, mainly because that year was the tenth anniversary of the end of the LEGO Alpha Team product line. When Project U was given the green light in early 2013, this film was slightly tweaked and merged into the project as one of the twelve films.

The film was announced on February 21, 2014 at The Second Mustache Maniacs Film Co. Fan Choice Awards along with the rest of Project U. However, since work was still underway to complete Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients, this film started production late that same year, after filming ended for Attack of the Fifty-Foot Hamster.

Most of 2015 was spent filming the movie, but as the schedule began to fall behind, mostly because of Out of His Time and the DVD Archival Project, the release date was pushed from the summer to Christmas Day of 2015. Even then, the film was incomplete when the holidays began, so in an unusual release schedule, part 1 was released before filming had wrapped. Then, as they were completed, more parts would be released. This was finally achieved on April 8, 2016.

Audience Reception

The film was highly praised upon its initial release, with some calling it one of Mustache Maniacs Film Co.'s best films. It maintained a steady viewership from one part to the next, never having any significant drop-off. Director Andrew Bermudez even considers the film to be on par with films like Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo and New Friends ~ An Environmental Fable.

Characters

• Dash Justice (Andrew Adkins)
• Cam Attaway (Elizabeth Scarheart)
• Charge (Steve Hoxie)
• Crunch (Dylan Johnson)
• Radia (Lauren Adkins)
• Flex (Dylan Johnson)
• Diamond Tooth (Daniel Bermudez)
• Gearbox (Al Bermudez)
• Zed (Andrew Bermudez)
• Arrow (David Hoxie)
• Steve Kenlow (J.T. Melia)
• Infra (cut from film)
• Ogel (Dylan Johnson)
• Henry Cainman (Al Bermudez)
• Drone Commander 13666 (Preston Whalen)
• Drone Truck Driver 70813 (Andrew Bermudez)
• Drone Guard 52918 (Andrew Bermudez)
• Mr. Bruce Cunningham (Al Bermudez)
• Gruff Jungle Bandit (Carolyn Pisetti)
• Jungle Bandit Guard (Andrew Adkins)
• Radio Newscaster (Teresa Bermudez)
• Baron Typhonus (Andrew Bermudez)

Locations

The following locations appear in Alpha Team: Mission Deep Jungle.

• Antarctica
• Alpha Team HQ
• Amazon Rainforest
• Bandit Encampment
• Ogel's Jungle Fortress

Credits

• Andrew Bermudez - Writer; Director; Producer; Animator; Voice Actor; Editor
• Teresa Bermudez - Assistant Writer; Adviser; Voice Actor
• Daniel Bermudez - Voice Actor
• Al Bermudez - Voice Actor
• David Nordstrom - Assistant Writer; Adviser
• Andrew Adkins - Voice Actor
• Lauren Adkins - Voice Actor
• Elizabeth Scarheart - Voice Actor
• Dylan Johnson - Voice Actor
• J.T. Melia - Voice Actor
• Preston Whalen - Voice Actor
• Carolyn Pisetti - Voice Actor
• David Hoxie - Voice Actor
• Steve Hoxie - Voice Actor

Tropes

"Stop it! Stop it! You're ruining everything!" -Theodore Taylor, Mustache Maniacs Film Co. is Coming to LEGO Dimensions! Spoiler warning! This section contains details that reveal crucial plot points. If you do not want to find out what happens, skip to the next section.

Alpha Team: Mission Deep Jungle contains examples of the following tropes.

• Air-Vent Passageway: One of these is used by the team to get from their cell to the armory when they escape. Flex even lampshades this after they use it.
• The Amazon: Where most of the film takes place.
• Ambiguously Gay: The official canon states that Cam Attaway is a homosexual, yet this is never explicitly shown anywhere in the film. She is shown to be tough, male interest-leaning, and not afraid to get dirty, but that's as far as the film subtly hints at this character trait.
• Arc Villain: The character of Mr. Bruce Cunningham.
• Awesome Mc Coolname: Dash Justice's name is this by itself. However, the official canon states that, like all Alpha Team agents, this is just a code name that covers up his true identity.
• Big Bad: The character of Ogel.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: All of Ogel's drones are this.
• Call-Back: This film makes references to the energy company Solarum Industries (from Solarum and New Friends ~ An Environmental Fable), Senor Palomar's involvement with the Illuminati (from Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients), and the helpful swinging monkeys (also from Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients).
• Card-Carrying Villain: The character of Ogel, as defined by "control."
• Combat Pragmatist: Ogel gets ready to shoot Dash when his base starts to collapse underneath him.
• Crossover: While loosely fitting the term in respect to the cinematic universe by itself, Mr. Bruce Cunningham (originally from LEGO Adventurers) appears as a minor antagonist, then as a connection to future movies.
• Demolitions Expert: The character of Crunch.
• The Engineer: The character of Cam Attaway.
• Everything's Better With Monkeys: A monkey appears briefly in the film. According to the official canon, it's one of the monkeys that saves Sarah Thunder in Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients.
• Evil Gloating: Ogel does this when he is relishing in the perceived success of his plan.
• Evil is Hammy: Ogel loves to smear it in Alpha Team's face when they seem to fail.
• Evil Laugh: Ogel loves to do this.
• Evil Minions: Ogel's legions of drones.
• Evil Plan: Ogel's plan, once he tricks Alpha Team into falling for his distress call, is to use a satellite dish to remotely take control of every mind in to world, as he explains that delivering his orbs around the world became too much of a hassle.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Ogel's voice, though this is mainly because of the life support systems that cover most of his body.
• Foreshadowing: There are a few instances of foreshadowing in this film, which follow as such.
  • At the end of the film, Baron Typhonus orders Mr. Cunningham to ally with Lord Sam Sinister when the fifth pod lands, setting up the premise of the film Johnny Thunder and the Wonders Beneath the Waves.
  • When Alpha Team reaches Brazil, Crunch hears a news report about the third pod landing at the Houston Space Center. The pods plot thread is one that culminates in Legends of the Universe.
  • It is not revealed who kills Arrow at the end of Mission Deep Freeze, but subtle hints to the sniper's identity in this film are a build-up to the revelation of said identity in Alpha Team: Mission Deep City.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The character of Baron Typhonus, who shows up again in A Future in the Past.
• Humiliation Conga: Mr. Cunningham is humiliated by Alpha Team, who bring his bandits' camp crashing down.
• The Infiltration: Charge does this when he clings to the underside of the supply truck.
• Instant Ice: Just Add Cold!: An Ice Orb that is thrown at the Blizzard Blaster instantly freezes its legs.
• Island Base: Alpha Team HQ.
• Lame Pun Reaction: The drone guard belittles the drone truck driver for the blue bonnet plague quip.
• Mischief Making Monkey: A monkey briefly jumps on Crunch and tackles him before Dash scares it away.
• Mission Briefing: Dash holds this session right before the team heads to Brazil.
• Mooks: Ogel's legions of drones, no matter their rank or position.
• Noisy Nature: Ambient sounds out in the jungle suggest that a plethora of animals are vocalizing at the same time.
• Obviously Evil: Ogel's scheme, technological applications, and even the design choices for his base all scream bad guy.
• Outside-Context Problem: Baron Typhonus, though he only shows up at the very end of the film.
• Plucky Comic Relief: The character of Flex.
• Pun: Drone Truck Driver 70813 tells one to Drone Guard 52918.
• Quicksand Sucks: Cam gets caught in quicksand. However, the extent that she gets stuck is closer to real life than fictional depictions.
• Recruit Teenagers with Attitude: At the end of the film, Alpha Team decides to bring Steve Kenlow onto the team.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: The colors of choice for Ogel.
• The Squad: Alpha Team.
• Supervillain Lair: Ogel's Jungle Fortress is this.
• Take Over the World: Ogel's ultimate plan is this.
• Tracking Device: Cam plants one on the supply truck.
• Underside Ride: Charge does this on the supply truck to get inside Ogel's Jungle Fortress.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left!: Ogel flees in a rocket as his base is collapsing.
• Villainous Breakdown: Ogel has one after he finds out that his orbs have been destroyed.
• Wrench Wench: The character of Cam Attaway.

Hidden Images

• Stagehand Visible: When Alpha Team begins their trek through the jungle, a PA is hiding behind a tree.
• Hidden Character: When the sleeping quarters in the bandit camp topples, the Sleepyhead Collectible Minifigure jumps out and into a tree.
• Stagehand Visible: As Cam fires a tracker beacon onto the Ogel Supply Truck, a studio firefighter creeps behind a tree. Look closely, because he disappears quickly.
• Stagehand Visible: As Ogel talks to the agents in their cell, the boom mic falls into the frame before quickly rising off-screen again.
• Stagehand Visible: Right before the agents escape the base, a cameraman in a camera go-cart can be seem poking through the foliage on the side of the road.
• Stagehand Visible: When Baron Typhonus introduces himself to Mr. Cunningham, a PA can be seen poking out of the foliage right by him.

Trivia

• Part of this film's intent is not only to continue the Alpha Team story, but also conclude Mission Deep Freeze. In LEGO Magazine, the ending was cut off by a short story contest, the winners of which never had their stories showcased.
• The reason why this film takes place in the jungle is because that environment had never been seen in the official Alpha Team story line.
• Just like the Johnny Thunder saga, this film takes a classic LEGO theme and updates it for the modern day.
• Originally, Michael Whalen was going to play Steve Kenlow. However, due to a scheduling complication, J.T. Melia filled the role.

Gallery

Concept Art by Andrew Bermudez

Concept Art by Andrew Bermudez

Concept Art by Andrew Bermudez

Concept Art by Andrew Bermudez

Concept Art by Andrew Bermudez

Concept Art by Andrew Bermudez

Concept Art by Andrew Bermudez

Concept Art by Andrew Bermudez

External Links

• Official Web Page
• Teaser on YouTube
• Trailer on YouTube
• Film on YouTube