For over 90 years, the Lego Group has reigned supreme in child’s play, from the traditional bricks to a major movie franchise and acclaimed series such as Ninjago.
Now the Danish toy company is back with another blockbuster series in which children’s dreams — and nightmares! — come to brick-errific life in a 10-part animated adventure.
Written, illustrated and produced by the Lego Group’s concept developer Tommy Andreasen, LEGO DREAMZzz follows Brooklyn-based siblings Mateo and Izzie, who use the power of imagination to venture into the Dream World.
Here, Tommy talks us through the building blocks of the all-new theme…
LEGO DREAMZzz release date
The 10-part series is available from Monday, May 15 2023, on Netflix, ITVX, Prime Video and YouTube.
Ten more episodes are available in August, along with extra content on Lego’s YouTube channel and the accompanying brand-new product range.
LEGO DREAMZzz plot
The action follows brother and sister Mateo and Izzie, who discover they have special abilities when they awaken in the Dream World and sign up to an organization called the Night Bureau, a secret agency that acts as a guardian between the Dream and Waking Worlds, and tries to stop nightmares slipping through.
With help from their friends, Cooper, Logan and Z-Blob, can the siblings defeat the evil Nightmare King, who preys on bad dreams to build his army?
“These are normal kids by day; they have their friends, fallouts and passions. But by night, they are Dream World heroes,” says Tommy. “They each have creative strengths, but also weaknesses. Mateo loves to draw, yet he’s not very confident. Izzie is bubbly and impulsive, whereas Logan is the athlete. But they take on empowering missions together.”
LEGO DREAMZzz: Inspiration
The show was inspired by the limitless creativity of children’s dreams, and how the role of those dreams help them to process complex emotions. More than 30,000 children from around the world were involved in the creative process of the show, which took several years.
“The theme is something we all have in common because everyone dreams,” says Tommy. “Plus, dreams can be abstract, wild, wonderful and scary, so it’s fertile ground for the type of creativity that Lego provides. We got dream experts on board, too, as telling a story like this comes with a great responsibility. Kids are so impressionable and we couldn’t make it too scary!
“We never do anything without asking kids because they're basically our employers,” Tommy smiles. “It’s been a huge process, varying from gauging children’s thoughts on our illustrations and asking what inspires them, to simply getting the bricks into their hands through home testing. There were cinema screen tests, too. Interestingly, they couldn't shut up about it. They were full of ideas!”
LEGO DREAMZzz: Building blocks
A new Lego product range that ties into the series is due in the summer and will allow fans to build sets such as the Nightmare Shark Ship and Izzie and Bunchu the Bunny. The range offers something different, too, as 80 percent of a build follows instructions, while the final 20 percent is left up to the builder for a ‘choose your own adventure’ theme.
“You're encouraged to pick your path and hopefully that's just the first spark that inspires you,” says Tommy. “It’s something we call ‘guided creativity’.”
LEGO DREAMZzz: Creating a legacy
Tommy hopes that watching Mateo, Izzie and friends dealing with nightmares could inspire young viewers to tackle some of their own worries.
“We’ve explored many themes over the years, including ninjas, knights, ghost hunters and more, but these are real kids dealing with real issues,” says Tommy. “I hope this series inspires fruitful conversations with parents because if children could learn to deal with bad things in a healthy way, whether that's nightmares or something in the real world, that’s the ultimate goal.”
LEGO DREAMZzz: Trailer
Get a glimpse of what Mateo, Izzie and friends are facing in the Dream World by watching the trailer here:
LEGO DREAMZzz is available from May 15 on Netflix, ITVX, Prime Video and YouTube.
