Jump to content

What if Bionicle was Bought Out?


Recommended Posts

Obviously Bionicle was cancelled, not actually bought out...

 

BUT! Just like Star Wars, what do you think would/could happen with Bionicle if a company like Disney were to buy the rights to the name and story line of Bionicle?

 

Think it would go good or bad?

Think they would let Lego be part of the design process/toy marketing? Or just completely own it and release their own action figures?

Think we'd get continuations of the old story (G1) or an entirely new story?

Think we'd have the whole works like cinematic movies and video games?

 

I wanna hear what ya'll think would happen if Disney took over Bionicle (or at least just from a story line perspective, worked on it).

  • Upvote 1

evergrey_l01.gif


Other great bands:


Iron Maiden    Journey    Mercenary    The Unguided    Trivium


Boston    Stratovarius    Symphony X    Epica

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always thought Bionicle (G1, that is) had a lot of potential to break away from the toys into a wider franchise, if it were free of Lego's needs (I don't mean that as a bad thing, I just mean that Lego has a specific set of uses for any of their themes and IPs, and ultimately Bionicle will only serve those aims while under Lego's ownership). I think it has the same potential as franchises like Transformers, though obviously that would also possibly mean taking a hit to its integrity...also like Transformers (looking at you, Bayverse).

 

A while ago, I gave a bit of thought to what might have happened if Bionicle's comic rights had stayed with DC, and honestly came to the conclusion that a comic continuity is probably the best place for Bionicle outside of realm of toys. It's a very visually vibrant saga, and with a few alterations, a G1-retold comic series could actually be something pretty stunning. Just look at what BOOM! Studios is currently doing with Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers; the source material is arguably clunkier than Bionicle, but the comic series has been growing deeper and becoming more thoughtful whilst remaining faithful to the spirit, tone, and characters established in the show. Off the back of this, I feel like in terms of story alone, it wouldn't be too hard to take the same approach to a Bionicle series.

 

But, in my limited opinion (because I only have a limited understanding of what Lego's motivations might be, and what would be involved in selling the rights, etc) I think it's unlikely that we will see anything of Bionicle for a while. G2 was a failure (in my opinion, its marketing and story were so poorly thought out that it almost, almost deserved to fail) and I think it's unlikely that Lego would take a risk on the franchise for a while. After all, toy stores are going to remember not selling Bionicles, and won't want to stock them. In turn, I think comic publishers would be hesitant to buy something that's sort of tainted like Bionicle is now (financially).

 

Just my two cents. I could be wrong, but as far as Bionicle's story/engagement potential goes, I think I'm right. I've probably said all this in a really hamfisted way, too, so sorry about that.

  • Upvote 4

Making brickfilms since 2007.

Check out my latest animations:

,
, and Avengers Tower!

The first episode of Nuva,

Magnetic Mania, is now live! Check it out!

burning_logo.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If any company like Disney or Warner Bros had interest in the property for media reasons, why would they go to the expense of buying the entire IP rather than just licensing the media rights? For that matter, why would LEGO have any more interest in selling the entire property than just licensing it out? The only reason I could see this happening is if a media company wanted to be able to license the toy rights out to a company other than LEGO, and I can't imagine any incentive LEGO would have to enable that.

 

I think it's a highly exaggerated scenario to imagine any major company even WANTING the rights to Bionicle enough to put in a substantial bid. If a company like Disney wanted to make Bionicle shows or movies, there's no reason to think they wouldn't have put in a bid for the TV or movie rights already during or prior to G2. Licenses for a property like this generally don't end up in the hands of small studios when much bigger studios that already have a working relationship with the IP owner have a vested interest in acquiring them.

 

Also, the Star Wars situation was vastly different in that Disney acquired the entire company (Lucasfilm) that owned the Star Wars IP. It wasn't a case of Lucasfilm selectively selling one of their brands to a company that had no specific loyalties to their business interests, it was a case of George Lucas selling 100% of a company that he was the owner of in exchange for shares in Disney.

Edited by Aanchir
  • Upvote 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If any company like Disney or Warner Bros had interest in the property for media reasons, why would they go to the expense of buying the entire IP rather than just licensing the media rights? For that matter, why would LEGO have any more interest in selling the entire property than just licensing it out? The only reason I could see this happening is if a media company wanted to be able to license the toy rights out to a company other than LEGO, and I can't imagine any incentive LEGO would have to enable that.

 

I think it's a highly exaggerated scenario to imagine any major company even WANTING the rights to Bionicle enough to put in a substantial bid. If a company like Disney wanted to make Bionicle shows or movies, there's no reason to think they wouldn't have put in a bid for the TV or movie rights already during or prior to G2. Licenses for a property like this generally don't end up in the hands of small studios when much bigger studios that already have a working relationship with the IP owner have a vested interest in acquiring them.

 

Also, the Star Wars situation was vastly different in that Disney acquired the entire company (Lucasfilm) that owned the Star Wars IP. It wasn't a case of Lucasfilm selectively selling one of their brands to a company that had no specific loyalties to their business interests, it was a case of George Lucas selling 100% of a company that he was the owner of in exchange for shares in Disney.

 

I agree, but that's quite the lengthy (and unnecessary) response to hypothetical scenario that's just for fun. :P

 

I mean, it definitely could provide a serious breath of fresh air if the new owner chose to utilize the property in a way that took advantage of G1's potential to a greater degree than TLG did. However, I frankly believe that the folks who created Bionicle are probably going to be better at that than any others.

 

What would likely happen is that the new owners would lack the funds possessed by TLG, the most powerful toy company in the world, and thus the property would be treated with less care than it has ever been treated in the past. I could definitely be wrong about that, but it seems to be the most realistic scenario.

 

EDIT: I went ahead and read your question in greater detail, so I'll jump in and clarify a few more thoughts:

  • I don't think that it would go particularly well from the perspective of older, dedicated fans (i.e., every single person who is currently a member here) but I can definitely see the potential for it to succeed as far as revenue and widespread popularity goes on a mass scale. When you get down to it, BIONICLE just had a good story.
  • I feel like you're implicating that said company would lack all rights to the content and branding, as TLG would likely proceed with the idea of licensing the theme if they were to have any hope of retaining creative control and they weren't financially desperate. Thus, I do suspect that they would maintain significant creative control; probably all when toys were concerned.
  • I can pretty much guarantee that we would not receive any sort of continuation or elaboration on anything specific in G1. For the record, there are plenty of folks who probably would love that, but I can totally empathize with you if you're not one of them.
  • Would "we" get the full works? Nah, nothing would be geared toward us; anything that did get released on that sort of level would likely have seen massive overhauls from the G1 days.
Edited by Azani
  • Upvote 1

Find (digital) me under the name Azani on YouTube, Eurobricks, Discord, the BioMedia Project and the TTV Message Boards.

 

Please check out Project AFTERMAN on Tumblr and Facebook; I'm proud to have worked as their PR Manager and as a writer.

 

AAZZ.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Call me a heretic, but I'd love to see Bionicle revived as an action MOBA with a serial being published alongside it. I'd be tickled if Turtle Rock got their hands on it, but I don't know of any other developers I trust with the franchise.

  • Upvote 1

Rule #1: Always listen to Kek.

Rule #2: If you break rule #1, kindly don't.

Rule #3: EVERYBODY TYPE IN THE CHAT "AVAK IS A STUPID TRIGGER"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Call me a heretic, but I'd love to see Bionicle revived as an action MOBA with a serial being published alongside it. I'd be tickled if Turtle Rock got their hands on it, but I don't know of any other developers I trust with the franchise.

 

Or if it was published as a video game, why not just have the developer put a boat load of effort into making a fantastic campaign mode? (And have a serial made to give more backstory/world building to the franchise).

 

In that particular scenario, I wouldn't necessarily have a specific company/publisher in mind to work on it, but as far as teams/crews are concerned, I'd want some of the people involved to be the ones who worked on CoD: Black Ops 3 (regardless of CoD as a whole, I think that Black Ops 3 story is awesome).

evergrey_l01.gif


Other great bands:


Iron Maiden    Journey    Mercenary    The Unguided    Trivium


Boston    Stratovarius    Symphony X    Epica

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Call me a heretic, but I'd love to see Bionicle revived as an action MOBA with a serial being published alongside it. I'd be tickled if Turtle Rock got their hands on it, but I don't know of any other developers I trust with the franchise.

Looks up what a MOBA is.

 

I could get behind that; you know, the greatest potential issue with that is losing out on some world expansion and character development as a result of a lack of focus on side characters and minor locations. As Ive always considered it, one of G1's strengths was that it jumped from timeframe to timeframe and ventured across a number of varied lands, allowing us to meet the locals and their culture and adding to the feel of an old-fashioned epic à la Lord of the Rings.

 

As a note, I get that many people probably aren't extra passionate about those parts of G1, so that might be something to take into consideration. All the same, the fandom is big enough that I suspect that many folks feel the same way. :P

Edited by Azani

Find (digital) me under the name Azani on YouTube, Eurobricks, Discord, the BioMedia Project and the TTV Message Boards.

 

Please check out Project AFTERMAN on Tumblr and Facebook; I'm proud to have worked as their PR Manager and as a writer.

 

AAZZ.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is highly unlikely (I don't believe LEGO has ever sold any of its IPs), but the underlying question, would BIONICLE be a more coherent story if it wasn't restricted by having to sell toys, is yes. I forget where or when, but I believe Greg Farshtey once commented that he was contractually obligated in one of the 2006 Legends books to include 56 characters or something like that, since there were sets of all of them.

  • Upvote 1

"You are an absolute in these uncertain times. Your past is forgotten, and your
future is an empty book. You must find your own destiny, my brave adventurer.
"
-- Turaga Nokama

nichijou2.jpg

Click here to visit my library!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mata-Nui, no.

 

I could see LEGO working with Warner Brothers to create a TV show or movie series - or even adding a re-booted version of BIONICLE to the Dimensions game - but LEGO isn't the type to sell IP's. When they can sell a product without the licensing, I imagine they'd want to take advantage of that.

 

But please, Mata-Nui no. Never sell it to someone like Disney. They would ruin it. They only way that could ever happen would be if Disney bought LEGO outright - which is incredibly unlikely, as LEGO is sort of a family business.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Call me a heretic, but I'd love to see Bionicle revived as an action MOBA with a serial being published alongside it.

AAAAAAAUGH NO NO SWEET MATA NUI NO

 

...ahem.

 

I'd be fine with a combat platformer like Freedom Planet.  A parkour game like Mirror's Edge.  A hack-and-slash like Nier Automata.  Open-world, survival, strategy, RPG, tower defense, flight sim on a Gukko bird, anything besides a MOBA.

 

My experience with MOBAs is that they have forgettable characters, no story whatsoever.  The developers always want to drain your money by getting you to buy worthless 'collectible' skins and junk.  The 'players' don't want to play the game at all, they just want said skins and junk.  And if by chance you do get some people that are actually interested in the game, they're cutthroat hyper-competitive, trying to be 'professional' but they don't care about having fun.

 

Please, for the love of Mata Nui, do not take my beloved Bionicle and turn it into MOBA garbage.

 

...but other than choice of genre, I'm completely behind taking Bionicle and turning into a game franchise.

  • Upvote 3

Avatar by Nicholas Anderson (NickonAquaMagna)

My blog: The Jaga's Nest

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Call me a heretic, but I'd love to see Bionicle revived as an action MOBA with a serial being published alongside it. I'd be tickled if Turtle Rock got their hands on it, but I don't know of any other developers I trust with the franchise.

 

Or if it was published as a video game, why not just have the developer put a boat load of effort into making a fantastic campaign mode? (And have a serial made to give more backstory/world building to the franchise).

 

In that particular scenario, I wouldn't necessarily have a specific company/publisher in mind to work on it, but as far as teams/crews are concerned, I'd want some of the people involved to be the ones who worked on CoD: Black Ops 3 (regardless of CoD as a whole, I think that Black Ops 3 story is awesome).

 

I can see that working out.

 

 

 

Call me a heretic, but I'd love to see Bionicle revived as an action MOBA with a serial being published alongside it. I'd be tickled if Turtle Rock got their hands on it, but I don't know of any other developers I trust with the franchise.

Looks up what a MOBA is.

 

I could get behind that; you know, the greatest potential issue with that is losing out on some world expansion and character development as a result of a lack of focus on side characters and minor locations. As Ive always considered it, one of G1's strengths was that it jumped from timeframe to timeframe and ventured across a number of varied lands, allowing us to meet the locals and their culture and adding to the feel of an old-fashioned epic à la Lord of the Rings.

 

As a note, I get that many people probably aren't extra passionate about those parts of G1, so that might be something to take into consideration. All the same, the fandom is big enough that I suspect that many folks feel the same way. :P

 

Well, the world expansion could easily be fleshed out through the addition of more characters that elaborate on just what's in the world. With new releases comes more lore; and as far as character development goes, that's what the serial is for. Not saying it's the best option, but one that could potentially work out.

 

 

 

Call me a heretic, but I'd love to see Bionicle revived as an action MOBA with a serial being published alongside it.

AAAAAAAUGH NO NO SWEET MATA NUI NO

 

...ahem.

 

I'd be fine with a combat platformer like Freedom Planet.  A parkour game like Mirror's Edge.  A hack-and-slash like Nier Automata.  Open-world, survival, strategy, RPG, tower defense, flight sim on a Gukko bird, anything besides a MOBA.

 

My experience with MOBAs is that they have forgettable characters, no story whatsoever.

 

Good writing is the solution to this. Most MOBA's don't actually have good character development, this is true; but that's because they're not written well, and little dialogue between them is available. But in the case of a game like Evolve, which isn't a MOBA per se but has a similar structure of character roster, we're given opportunities to hear the characters interact with one another in-game. The characters are well-developed and memorable as a result. A MOBA with some prep time before a match in which the characters have a conversation, or even a game structure in which there's idle moments when they can just start talking, is what allows for this. Even if such is not possible, an official serial still allows for a chance to get a sense of what the characters are really like.

 

 

 

Call me a heretic, but I'd love to see Bionicle revived as an action MOBA with a serial being published alongside it.

The developers always want to drain your money by getting you to buy worthless 'collectible' skins and junk.  The 'players' don't want to play the game at all, they just want said skins and junk.  And if by chance you do get some people that are actually interested in the game, they're cutthroat hyper-competitive, trying to be 'professional' but they don't care about having fun.

 

Please, for the love of Mata Nui, do not take my beloved Bionicle and turn it into MOBA garbage.

 

...but other than choice of genre, I'm completely behind taking Bionicle and turning into a game franchise.

 

Microtransactions aren't an inherently bad thing. In fact, making money solely on cosmetics is a good business model because nobody's forced to pay into anything that would affect gameplay. I've got no experience with players who don't want to play the game and only care about earning cosmetics; the only problem with MOBA communities that I've ever gotten is they tend to be primarily comprised of ragers, trolls, and/or genuine idiots. With a dedicated story to go along with the game that anyone, even non-players, can follow, people who want to consume Bionicle media without getting involved with the feeders and wannabe pros have something to get involved in and talk about. The actual multiplayer competition is only there for the sake of franchise sustainability.

  • Upvote 1

Rule #1: Always listen to Kek.

Rule #2: If you break rule #1, kindly don't.

Rule #3: EVERYBODY TYPE IN THE CHAT "AVAK IS A STUPID TRIGGER"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bionicle, from the get-go, had a freakishly epic aim and its authors had serious ambition. It was compared to the Iliad directly in the 2003 style guide discs. Its almost a shame that it was confined to a toy series, when it could have been an amazing standalone novel series, comic series, or even film series. If the rights to it were bought, my biggest fear is that the story would be dumbed down to make telling it easier. Its probably best that it stays with lego until one of us has a film career big enough to turn it into a movie with integrity to its original story :P

  • Upvote 1

Knock Knock

 

Who's there

 

Hoff

 

Hoff who

 

Yes

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bionicle gets bought out by Marvel and used as disposable mass robot enemies for the next few movies. 

 

But seriously, Bionicle in its own was a monumental achievement of story, world building, and characters. Other generations may come and take up the mantle but the likes of Greg and Faber were extremely passionate and talented about everything, don't think we'd see it done as well ever again. 

 

Bionicle could totally work as a current day MMO or something directed at kids. Think Maplestory but mixed with MNOG

  • Upvote 1

audio_narration_project_banner_wide.jpg

 

Bionicle: ANP aims to create narrated versions of all the Bionicle books, with voice actors for each character, and music taken from various media to enhance the story. Check here if you're interested in voicing a character, and here for the chapters that've already been released!

Formerly: Tahu Nuva 3.0

Looking for a Bionicle Beanie. Black one with the symbol on it. Contact me if you are willing to sell

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its almost a shame that it was confined to a toy series, when it could have been an amazing standalone novel series, comic series, or even film series.

I'm grateful that it WAS a toy series, as I seriously doubt it would ever have been as popular or successful as it was if it weren't. If the story of Bionicle made it engaging, it was the toys that made it marketable. There's a reason you rarely see ginormous science-fantasy epics gain mass pop culture appeal when they don't have some merchandise-driven angle. Closest I can think of in recent history are Avatar: The Last Airbender and Steven Universe, which have/had pretty limited toylines. But series like that are few and far between, and both those examples still focus on colorful, kid-targeted cartoon storytelling rather than any kind of pretentious adult-targeted literary or cinematic aspirations. I don't think it's those series' relative LACK of toys that made them what they were.

Edited by Aanchir
Link to comment
Share on other sites

People have built themselves such a stubborn caricature of Disney (and especially the new Star Wars movies) in their minds that it's clear there is no rational discussion to be had.

 

The hate against Disney is so immense but as it was clear with the post on the facebook group no one seems to have a very clear argument as to why. Sure, there are singular reasons one could bring up, but the failure to do so simply shows that people are content to participate in the internet hate machine. Grasping to have an opinion by latching on to any singular nitpick or idea still doesn't make it an educated or worthwhile opinion. People aren't interested in discussion it seems. Maybe who can blame them, life is hard enough just trying to survive.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Discounting the obvious exceptions, the buying out of properties (regardless of the property, or who is buying) almost always leads to the ization of said property, or at least some kind of reimagining which is wholly different from what the original creators had in mind. I don't see any reason for Bionicle to be bought by anyone or sold by Lego, as someone has already brought up. 

If we're talking about licensing, I'd love to see the property picked up by AAA video game developers instead of the go-to answers of movie studios or comic publishers. We never really got the video game Bionicle truly deserved, and the way I see it, a full-fledged Bionicle RPG produced by a AAA studio could have traction in the gaming community simply on the virtue of being a really good science-fantasy RPG without necessarily relying on existing Bionicle fans. The lore is pretty original as far as games go and fits the RPG model perfectly. 

 

 

People have built themselves such a stubborn caricature of Disney (and especially the new Star Wars movies) in their minds that it's clear there is no rational discussion to be had.

 

The hate against Disney is so immense but as it was clear with the post on the facebook group no one seems to have a very clear argument as to why. Sure, there are singular reasons one could bring up, but the failure to do so simply shows that people are content to participate in the internet hate machine. Grasping to have an opinion by latching on to any singular nitpick or idea still doesn't make it an educated or worthwhile opinion. People aren't interested in discussion it seems. Maybe who can blame them, life is hard enough just trying to survive.

I dislike the idea of Disney buying out Bionicle, or any property, really, but not because of some groupthink bandwagon nonsense. I dislike the very concept of near-monopolies and Disney is too big a corporate miasma already without being fed even more. I don't hate Disney itself, nor the content it produces, however I feel that diversity on a corporate level is necessary for a healthy industry. Disney is alright, Disney absorbing more IP is not.

 

:kakama:

  • Upvote 1

:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

:smilepohatunu: :smilehuki:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chances are it would not be good at all. The current TV and film climate demand comedy for children's entertainment. That's what the studios want. Due to that climate a bionicle film or TV series would likely be very similar to journey to one (if not even more watered down). The world building aspect and the action would likely be pushed to the side in order to have comedic writing based on characters. What makes this even worse is that bionicle characters usually aren't that comedic in personality. So the characters would have to be drastically different in order to fill the demand for comedy. This could be seen in journey to one where the characters made jokes like the TMNT with their personality traits occasionally shoe horned in in order to give some distinction. The only way this could work is if bionicle was adapted into a video game. But Lego stopped dealing with third parties outside of TT games a long time ago. So if this were to somehow happen today it's unlikely to end well.

  • Upvote 1

It's time to move on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chances are it would not be good at all. The current TV and film climate demand comedy for children's entertainment. That's what the studios want. Due to that climate a bionicle film or TV series would likely be very similar to journey to one (if not even more watered down). The world building aspect and the action would likely be pushed to the side in order to have comedic writing based on characters. What makes this even worse is that bionicle characters usually aren't that comedic in personality. So the characters would have to be drastically different in order to fill the demand for comedy. This could be seen in journey to one where the characters made jokes like the TMNT with their personality traits occasionally shoe horned in in order to give some distinction. The only way this could work is if bionicle was adapted into a video game. But Lego stopped dealing with third parties outside of TT games a long time ago. So if this were to somehow happen today it's unlikely to end well.

 

I would argue that there is a heck of a lot of great entertainment for children these days that manages to expertly blend action, comedy, and genuine, heartfelt emotion—look at the Lego Movie and its sequels/spinoffs, or TV shows like Steven Universe. Arguably, of the three aspects I mentioned, Bionicle G1 was good on action but had a significant deficit in regards to both of the latter two elements while Bionicle G2 was middling in regard to both of the first two aspects while possibly being even more lacking in regard to the third than G1 had been.

 

Ultimately if there's any barrier to Bionicle coming back, it being owned by Lego isn't one of them and neither is some perceived deficiency in the current state of children's entertainment. I would actually greatly appreciate a Bionicle revival that skewed lighter and softer and focused less on edgy action and more on authentic interpersonal relationships between its main heroes and with other characters.

Edited by Lyichir
  • Upvote 2

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

Aanchir's and Meiko's brother

Link to comment
Share on other sites

*snip*

I dislike the idea of Disney buying out Bionicle, or any property, really, but not because of some groupthink bandwagon nonsense. I dislike the very concept of near-monopolies and Disney is too big a corporate miasma already without being fed even more. I don't hate Disney itself, nor the content it produces, however I feel that diversity on a corporate level is necessary for a healthy industry. Disney is alright, Disney absorbing more IP is not.

 

:kakama:

 

Alright, I can understand that. I don't like large corporations either. Once one body gains power compound interest kicks in and lets one get more than any singular element can handle. I find it strange though that people are looking at any singular IP that Disney either buys or gets the license to as another step towards a monopoly. Disney doesn't have and never has had a complete monopoly over stories because there are still tons of other film and media companies out there producing tons of other stories that make money and have followings. I guess my main issue is treating any singular exchange as the coming of doom when it's the system itself that has allowed such things and is fundamentally broken. Pointing fingers at Disney feels like finding a scape goat when in the least Disney is at least in face less malicious than some of its competition. Or maybe not, I can't honestly pretend I'm some sort of expert on this.

 

Though I do appreciate your comment, it feels anomalous. I don't mean to make it sound like people are a hive mind but there is a tendency to make assumptions and participate in popular ideas less for their actual meaning and more for the sake of the feeling of belonging. It's true whether one chooses to believe in it or not. It's not meant to be elitist, I just point it out because recognition of an issue is the beginning of anything. Everyone and everything is on some level a part of it, and I'm not discluding myself. Whether it's the unimportant hypothetical of Disney buying/licensing Bionicle or any larger thing, it's there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I cant imagine that, I cant see any other company buying out bionicle because I don't think that lego would sell it because it is so well loved, any other company would just turn it into one big marketing ploy

                                           S    Q       U    I       D     M     A     S     T     E    R

                                                          

check out my imgur gallery for bionicle photography: https://mahatparthiban.imgur.com/all/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like your idea, dude. Bionicle could be improved by Disney if that happened. Or, it would go to Warner Bros. :) Either, our dear and beloved Bionicle is kind of washed up due to the cancellation of G2. All of this should go to Hero Factory and perhaps other constraction themes as well. 

However, I'm not sure if Bionicle being brought out could happen. I mean, When Lego makes an original thing, this thing stays within Lego. I would also go with at least having The Lego Movie Cinematic Universe make The Lego Movies for Bionicle. 

 

Why do people dislike the idea of Disney buying Bionicle? True that when Disney bought Star Wars, it made some things non-canon, but the reason why that happened is because that it wants a sequel trilogy starting from The Force Awakens. The non-canon stuff never happened in these new movies, and if the movies are based on them, new fans would get confused. I find it kind of reasonable because I see that Disney wants the sequel trilogy to look more connected to the original trilogy. 

Disney also bought Marvel, but it never changed anything in there on the other hand. 

 

As of now, Bionicle G1 has an unresolved cliffhanger, so if Disney could buy Bionicle, it could somehow make a movie or TV show where a prologue would say where the story had left out and make a good ending to the story. Or, Disney would reboot the franchise into G3, and this reboot would have positive reviews like G1 and be much better than G2. The live-action Spider-Man movies had the same issues as Bionicle, as they both: 

1. Their G1's are pretty long and had positive reviews during their runs. 

2. The G1's' latest installments got mixed reviews, and this kind of caused them to end. 

3. The G2's are reboots who were successful at the start. 

4. When the G2's progressed, their second installments got mixed reviews, while the first installments got positive reviews, and then the G2's got cancelled after two years of running. The future plans to continue them were cancelled, too. These are quite traumatic. :( (See the comparisons here: http://www.bzpower.c...vies-are-alike/ ).

 

Look at Spider-Man: Homecoming this year. It's a start of the series of Spider-Man G3 movies. It got successful when Marvel got the movie rights to Spider-Man (though they share them with Sony) while being owned by Disney. If Bionicle would get owned by Disney, its G3 would be successful like Spider-Man. 

 

I think Warner Bros. would do the same thing with Bionicle, too. :)

 

However, again, I don't think buying out Bionicle or other Lego themes would be something that Lego would do. Letting The Lego Movie Cinematic Universe do the movies for them is something that Lego would do.

Edited by Lenny7092
  • Upvote 2

I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

As of now, Bionicle G1 has an unresolved cliffhanger, so if Disney could buy Bionicle, it could somehow make a movie or TV show where a prologue would say where the story had left out and make a good ending to the story. 

 

If they were to do the continuation route, I think it'd be best if the story started at the end of 2008. I think creatively, an exterior company could summarize the original 8 years (or heck, re-release/redistribute the original books) and take the story in a different direction. Now, I know this isn't like Star Wars in the sense that all 10 of the original years are canon, but if it was acquired under a new company, that new management would have total say in what's still canon and what isn't.

 

Ideally though, it'd be interesting to see how a different vision changed that era of the original story. 2009 is where I stopped following the story all together and I honestly think that had the story stayed on the original planet (or whatever) as the past 8 years, it could've been less chaotic to follow.

 

 

But on the reboot side of things, I do see what you mean about the Spiderman and Marvel type movies. I think dedicating a cinematic trilogy or at least a stand-alone story (with good world-building) could launch it onto a larger platform.

evergrey_l01.gif


Other great bands:


Iron Maiden    Journey    Mercenary    The Unguided    Trivium


Boston    Stratovarius    Symphony X    Epica

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bionicle gen2 came in a time where reboots are dumbed down for little kids.

 

 

The mistake that lego did that they didn't advertise the series, if disney bought Bionicle they would totally ruin it and the movies would be disney channel exclusive.

JTO episode 3-4 wasn't that bad actually but it felt rushed

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

 

 

the movies would be disney channel exclusive.

How is that any different to JtO being Netflix exclusive though?

Well, you don't have to pay for Disney Channel while you do in Netflix. I like Umarakthebest 's idea.

From my experience you actually do have to pay for Disney Channel, since it's a cable TV network and some basic cable packages don't even include it (let alone spin-off networks like Disney XD, where most of their more action-oriented programming airs). There are a lot of families these days that don't even bother with cable TV and just get an internet hookup and Netflix subscription. Cable TV was certainly the norm for a lot of us who grew up on G1 Bionicle, but that's starting to change, and companies are trying more and more to adapt to those changes.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bionicle gen2 came in a time where reboots are dumbed down for little kids.

 

 

The mistake that lego did that they didn't advertise the series, if disney bought Bionicle they would totally ruin it and the movies would be disney channel exclusive.

JTO episode 3-4 wasn't that bad actually but it felt rushed

JTO had some good ideas, but on the whole I found its rushed pacing and inconsistent character focus made it almost unwatchable. I could see BIONICLE being executed far better as a Disney Channel Original Movie in the vein of Descendants, which was a surprisingly effective translation of Disney Renaissance films for modern children, in terms of both storytelling and the values they taught.

"You are an absolute in these uncertain times. Your past is forgotten, and your
future is an empty book. You must find your own destiny, my brave adventurer.
"
-- Turaga Nokama

nichijou2.jpg

Click here to visit my library!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's hard to mess up Bionicle more than Lego themselves did with G2. Taking Disney as an example, I'm quite happy with what they've done with Marvel and Star Wars. In Marvel's case, they've made some good, mediocre and bad movies. The bad movies are usually not insultingly bad, the mediocre are usually just bland and the good usually take superhero movies places they could never have hoped to achieve before (save for the Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, and even then the last one can't compare to the first two).

 

For Star Wars, I think The Force Awakens is a genuinely good movie bogged down by the fact that it borrows too much plotwise from A New Hope. This is what keeps me from saying that it's a great movie since it's directed very well and the characters are very well realized. They're not KOTOR 2 levels of deep but they're just about if not as good as the OT characters. I've heard people say they respect the prequels more than the sequels because they at least did something different. I can respect that position but I wholeheartedly disagree. The similarities between TFA and ANH are indisputable but there's enough to differentiate them as movies for me that I can accept it. Not to mention that I can't base the entire sequel trilogy off of TFA, if The Last Jedi and Star Wars XI are bad then I'll lump the sequel trilogy under lost potential. I can't really see how they could be worse than the prequels (particularly Attack of the Clones; I can actually cut a tiny bit of slack for Phantom Menace because even though I dislike it, I can see some things that I could like in it had it not been a Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith isn't as bad as Attack of the Clones and I know a lot of people find this one ok. I find it just as insufferable as the rest but it's not as bad as AotC.)

 

As for Rogue One, it has a spectacular ending but a really lackluster beginning and middle. Ultimately, I'd say the problems lie with the directing (mostly the character directing, the shot composition itself is alright) and the pacing of the first 2/3 of the movie. The leads are rather uninteresting, which is a big problem. I think overall Rogue One is an alright movie leaning on good. Starts off alright but never really takes off, meanders in the middle but ultimately sticks the landing. I don't think it's insultingly bad, just mediocre barely scraping a pass by.

 

To me, one of the most interesting things about Bionicle is the fact that it had a very elaborate story that didn't actually have much to do with the toys and in spite of not having the worldwide recognition that something with such extensive lore usually has (like Star Wars). That combined with action figure-building toys (a mashup of my two favorite type of toys done in a very satisfactory way) meant Bionicle appealed to me in the ways most important to me. Now that I'm older, I still enjoy the toys (even if some were not designed well) and still enjoy reading the lore, even if a lot of it is not written well. That said, I don't know if I'd enjoy that if I wasn't so invested in it as a kid. I can't imagine anyone but Lego doing as good a job on the toys, though I can imagine someone else doing a better job on the story. Unless Lego was involved with the toys, I can't really see it having the appeal it did for me unless the story was truly spectacular. In my opinion, Bionicle would be best suited for a sci-fi novel series that starts off as fairly basic sci-fi fare with its unique setting/premise as a hook and with hints at underlying secrets being the incentive to keep reading. As the series keeps progressing, it'd start to subvert the tropes it set in place while slowly working up to the giant robot reveal. I'd have this reveal not really lead to anything more to contrast the relatively high-stakes sci-fi action with the reveal that all the inhabitants are merely pieces in a machine far greater than them of which the purpose is mere curiosity. It could lead to some interesting musings on the characters' behalf and I'd use it as a commentary on the structure of your basic pulp sci-fi, kinda like how Rick and Morty uses high sci-fi concepts as mere throwaways for gags or as pieces of more creative ideas.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

While Disney owns many high budget shows. Bionicle on their hands could be interessting

For sure!

 

While people may think that Disney is becoming a monopoly within the entertainment industry (actually, where is the lie?!), the fact that they consistently deliver quality entertainment 7 to 9 times out of 10 is amazing. They've established that they have the guts and the means and the desire to deliver the best they possibly can on any endeavor/project they have.

 

I would want to see a dedicated/developed story done for the sake of making a good story and having a quality show/movie series. AND THEN having toys to sell based off of the story, not the other way around! (To be fair, Lego is a toy company, so their main goal is selling the toys and not the shows).

evergrey_l01.gif


Other great bands:


Iron Maiden    Journey    Mercenary    The Unguided    Trivium


Boston    Stratovarius    Symphony X    Epica

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Honestly the only company that I expect that will realistically buy Bionicle, would be Dreamworks, and their reputation isn’t the best.

"Realistically", no company will buy Bionicle, because it's not for sale and Lego has very little to gain by ever selling it (particularly since the biggest interest would probably be from competing toy companies).

 

But for what it's worth Dreamworks has worked on some decent film and TV properties, including well-regarded Netflix series like Voltron: Legendary Defender and Trollhunters. I could think of worse companies to be in charge of Bionicle media in the future.

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

Aanchir's and Meiko's brother

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously Bionicle was cancelled, not actually bought out...

 

BUT! Just like Star Wars, what do you think would/could happen with Bionicle if a company like Disney were to buy the rights to the name and story line of Bionicle?

 

Think it would go good or bad?

Think they would let Lego be part of the design process/toy marketing? Or just completely own it and release their own action figures?

Think we'd get continuations of the old story (G1) or an entirely new story?

Think we'd have the whole works like cinematic movies and video games?

 

I wanna hear what ya'll think would happen if Disney took over Bionicle (or at least just from a story line perspective, worked on it).

This has always been my dream as a wannabe filmmaker . Wait for Lego to forget about the product, buy it, give fans the continuation they deserve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Obviously Bionicle was cancelled, not actually bought out...

 

BUT! Just like Star Wars, what do you think would/could happen with Bionicle if a company like Disney were to buy the rights to the name and story line of Bionicle?

 

Think it would go good or bad?

Think they would let Lego be part of the design process/toy marketing? Or just completely own it and release their own action figures?

Think we'd get continuations of the old story (G1) or an entirely new story?

Think we'd have the whole works like cinematic movies and video games?

 

I wanna hear what ya'll think would happen if Disney took over Bionicle (or at least just from a story line perspective, worked on it).

This has always been my dream as a wannabe filmmaker . Wait for Lego to forget about the product, buy it, give fans the continuation they deserve.

 

I

Any thoughts on how much you'd be willing to pay?

 

I'd say that it's pretty safe to assume that the rights to the entirety of the "BIONICLE" franchise will be valued at millions of dollars in any reasonable period of time.

 

-Azani

Edited by Azani

Find (digital) me under the name Azani on YouTube, Eurobricks, Discord, the BioMedia Project and the TTV Message Boards.

 

Please check out Project AFTERMAN on Tumblr and Facebook; I'm proud to have worked as their PR Manager and as a writer.

 

AAZZ.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

 

Obviously Bionicle was cancelled, not actually bought out...

 

BUT! Just like Star Wars, what do you think would/could happen with Bionicle if a company like Disney were to buy the rights to the name and story line of Bionicle?

 

Think it would go good or bad?

Think they would let Lego be part of the design process/toy marketing? Or just completely own it and release their own action figures?

Think we'd get continuations of the old story (G1) or an entirely new story?

Think we'd have the whole works like cinematic movies and video games?

 

I wanna hear what ya'll think would happen if Disney took over Bionicle (or at least just from a story line perspective, worked on it).

This has always been my dream as a wannabe filmmaker . Wait for Lego to forget about the product, buy it, give fans the continuation they deserve.

I

Any thoughts on how much you'd be willing to pay?

 

I'd say that it's pretty safe to assume that the rights to the entirety of the "BIONICLE" franchise will be valued at millions of dollars in any reasonable period of time.

 

-Azani

Yes, I guess it would cost a pretty peny, this it's why it's a dream. But hey, if a make any money off the first couple of films I know where it's going. Maybe I could even make a deal with lego so that I get the story rights and they can produce some toy's to go with the film.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

 

Obviously Bionicle was cancelled, not actually bought out...

 

BUT! Just like Star Wars, what do you think would/could happen with Bionicle if a company like Disney were to buy the rights to the name and story line of Bionicle?

 

Think it would go good or bad?

Think they would let Lego be part of the design process/toy marketing? Or just completely own it and release their own action figures?

Think we'd get continuations of the old story (G1) or an entirely new story?

Think we'd have the whole works like cinematic movies and video games?

 

I wanna hear what ya'll think would happen if Disney took over Bionicle (or at least just from a story line perspective, worked on it).

This has always been my dream as a wannabe filmmaker . Wait for Lego to forget about the product, buy it, give fans the continuation they deserve.

 

I

Any thoughts on how much you'd be willing to pay?

 

I'd say that it's pretty safe to assume that the rights to the entirety of the "BIONICLE" franchise will be valued at millions of dollars in any reasonable period of time.

 

-Azani

 

Yes, I guess it would cost a pretty peny, this it's why it's a dream. But hey, if a make any money off the first couple of films I know where it's going. Maybe I could even make a deal with lego so that I get the story rights and they can produce some toy's to go with the film.

 

 

I could definitely see hat, especially if you end up doing so during a time when TLG is actively looking to branch out in a clear way from their tried and true ways of doing business. They've done it before; I'm pretty certain that they'll do it again. I hope that I didn't give you the impression that I didn't think that it was anywhere near the realm of plausibility; I have a pretty serious set of expectations on how the franchise will be handled in my lifetime, so I'm pretty sure that we haven't heard the last of it. :P

 

That said, it may be a few years - heck, even decades until we hear from G1 again in any significant capacity. What you'd need to do is dependent on how explicitly interested TLG is in licensing, if they are at all; however, you'd probably be giving yourself the best shot if you wrote a script as a freelancer, sent it to a studio, and let the experts take care of the legal work. That said, they studio would have to circumvent all that after deciding that they really like your script. Best of luck, man.

 

-Azani

Find (digital) me under the name Azani on YouTube, Eurobricks, Discord, the BioMedia Project and the TTV Message Boards.

 

Please check out Project AFTERMAN on Tumblr and Facebook; I'm proud to have worked as their PR Manager and as a writer.

 

AAZZ.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...