High-Speed Pursuits and Playground Classics

Some early storyboards of LEGO City No Limits were a bit rough on my part—like the messy dodgeball episode which I supervised through the boarding process and turned out great in the end—with storyboard artists Rebecca Hughes and Prawta Annez holding down the PanelForge fort. But the police chase episode was a breeze to board—super fun! I loved when Ben and I used the cops as stepping stones from Duke DeTain's car. Come to think of it, I might have a few more Duke jokes from other episodes saved somewhere. Will have to dig them out! 

Astro-antics

Sharing some stellar space escapades from LEGO City No Limits! Supervising the storyboards and experimenting with wild ideas for the space episodes was a total blast. Huge shoutout to Ben Steer and the writing team for their comedy superpowers, and to the crew at Blue Zoo Animation Studio for animation that rivals the theatrical films!

Heart-Stopping Highs

Here are my quick sketch boards over the 3D models. We had a tight deadline, so I kept my brush strokes thicker so I could cover more ground quickly. After chatting with the director, we locked a rough animatic that week so the storyboard crew—Prawta Annez and Rebecca Hughes—could build the sequence in PanelForge and add extra humor and action—sometimes revising whole action sequences with the support of a pre-vis team. Since everything was done in-house, we could change the story on the fly—mostly just Ben and me trading funny gags for different endings, like Jason stumbling on Duke DeTain's missing doughnut.

The Best of Both Worlds

Blue Zoo and Lego wanted to use a hybrid pipeline, taking cues from hits like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Mitchells vs. the Machines. The 3D-meets-2D style is executed brilliantly, though a few 2D transitions felt slightly shoehorned to maintain the aesthetic. Thankfully, it successfully avoids the visual fatigue common with this technique. While it occasionally feels more like a trendy stylistic flex than an organic storytelling choice, the hybrid aesthetic is a triumph and a testament to Blue Zoo’s commitment to premium animation. Also, gotta love that beard!