Ninjago: Visions of Memories is a short animated film created for the Rebrick contest The Greatest Villain of All Time in Ninjago. It features a conflict with Ninjago's past villains and acts as a means for introducing the world of Ninjago into the official cinematic universe.
Plot Summary[]
The film begins with Grand Sensei Dareth fishing off of a pier in the City of Stiix. Catching something, Dareth reels in his line to uncover the Blade of Recollection. Not sure what it is, he messes around with it and unleashes its power, manifesting several past villains from Ninjago's history. The apparitions advance on Dareth, but the six ninjas arrive in time to save him, fighting off the villains. As the apparitions turn into sand, a Nindroid Mechdragon attacks the city, only to be quickly defeated by Sensei Wu. He lands in his dragon and explains that the Blade of Recollection is an ancient artifact that has the power to manifest apparitions of the user's enemies. Taking the Blade of Recollection to a safe location, Sensei Wu hops back on his dragon and files into the sunset.
Production History[]
Initially, Mustache Maniacs Film Co. had no intention of making a film based on LEGO's Ninjago product line, reasoning that any film would probably just retell a story from the theme's TV show. However, that changed on May 16, 2016, when Rebrick launched the contest The Greatest Villain of All Time in Ninjago.
The contest in question challenged participants to make an animation (no more than 1 minute) that showcased Ninjago villains, either original or pre-existing. The animation had to feel similar to the TV show in its look and action, and no gratuitous imagery could be included. The contest was announced to end on August 11, 2016.
Immediately after the contest was announced, work started on brainstorming an idea for what to do. Some of the ideas that were proposed and rejected included the ninjas fighting lava monsters, the Serpentine attacking a wagon, and all of the flying villains having a reunion.
The film was announced on May 22, 2016. However, because filming was on-going for Pharaoh's Quest: The Curse of Amset-Ra at the time, and since director Andrew Bermudez wanted the movie set for the City of Stiix to be the most elaborate yet, production started on June 27, one month after the announcement.
Production wrapped on July 18, 2016, with editing starting immediately after. Once this was completed, the film was released August 5, 2016. However, the film was featured for special advance previews on Rebrick and Facebook on July 24, 2016.
Audience Reception[]
While it did not win any prizes in the contest, the reviews for the film have been overwhelmingly positive. It was mostly acclaimed for its visual effects and atmospheric style that set it apart from Mustache Maniacs Film Co.'s other films. Despite the results from the 2012 LEGO theme survey, Ninjago: Visions of Memories was welcomed wholly by the fan base into the official canon.
On Bricks in Motion, Ninjago: Visions of Memories has a rating of 3/5 (out of 1 rating) as of January 2024.
Characters[]
- Kai (n/a)
- Cole (n/a)
- Jay Walker (n/a)
- Zane (n/a)
- Lloyd Garmadon (n/a)
- Nya (n/a)
- Sensei Wu (Brian Quexyz)
- Dareth (Chad Fischer)
- Postman (cut from film)
- Apparitions (n/a)
Locations[]
- City of Stiix
Credits[]
- Andrew Bermudez - Writer; Director; Animator; Set Builder; Editor
- Teresa Bermudez - Script Editor; Adviser
- Chad Fischer - Voice Actor
- Brian Quexyz - Voice Actor
Tropes[]
Ninjago: Visions of Memories contains examples of the following tropes.
- Action Girl: The character of Nya.
- Amplifier Artifact: The Blade of Recollection, which can take the memories and fears of the user and project them into an army of apparitions.
- Artifact of Doom: The Blade of Recollection, if the user isn't skilled enough mentally to control the apparitions. This is why the apparitions turn on Dareth.
- Continuity Nod: The main antagonists in this film are manifestations of the villains from Ninjago's past.
- Darker and Edgier: This film is the first Mustache Maniacs Film Co. film to take the cinematic universe in a darker direction.
- Dragon Rider: Sensei Wu rides a dragon in this film.
- Elemental Powers: The six ninjas have these, though they are only displayed in a limited capacity.
- Everything's Better with Spinning: Zane performs Spinjitzu to take down some of the apparitions.
- Far East: This film's aesthetic, just like the TV show that this film is based on, is derived from multiple Asian cultures.
- Fishing for Sole: Dareth is fishing when he reels in the Blade of Recollection from the ocean.
- Highly Visible Ninja: All six ninjas are dressed more in relation to their elemental powers than to blend into their surroundings.
- Instant Flight: Just Add Spinning!: Lloyd Garmadon uses Airjitzu to combat one of the apparitions.
- Mecha-Mooks: Some of the apparitions are Nindroids.
- Mooks: All of the film's villains are random henchmen from Ninjago's past, none of which were actual villains in their own right.
- Riding into the Sunset: At the very end of the film, Sensei Wu rides his dragon into the sunset.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Slightly subverted. Each defeated apparition explodes into a cloud of sand.
- Technicolor Ninjas: All six ninjas are dressed in garments colored to correlate to their elemental powers.
Trivia[]
- This is officially Mustache Maniacs Film Co.'s shortest animated film. For the entire company filmography, only The Film That Changes Everything! is shorter.
- Despite featuring all of the ninjas from LEGO's Ninjago theme, none of them actually speak in this film.
- This is Mustache Maniacs Film Co.'s first film to extensively use VFX particle systems. Alpha Team: Mission Deep Jungle only used particle systems in the final scene.
- Originally, Ninjago's postman character was going to appear in the film, but was cut out for creating an unnecessary filler joke.
Gallery[]
