“It’s not selling out, it’s co-branding!” exclaims Homer Simpsons at the beginning of this Sunday’s episode of “The Simpsons.”
For the milestone 550th episode, the cartoon family has been captured in Lego bricks, including all the sets, vehicles and characters, who are now turned into the toy line’s iconic minifigures.
Of course, Lego just recently released the mammoth 2,523 piece set of “The Simpsons House,” making this episode a little bit of a commercial. But much like “The Lego Movie,” this episode is more than just an advertisement for toys.
“Brick Like Me” centers on a brick-world Homer having a vision of a world not made of bricks. It thematically borrows some elements — ones about family and child raising — from the film, but it’s acknowledged, so I’ll let that slide.
Many of the jokes play on the blocky, building and rebuilding nature of Lego, and they work for the most part. I couldn’t help but chuckle when Homer, describing Maggie, says, “They’re so cute when they’re Duplo.”
“The Simpsons” has played around with animation before, dabbling in CGI, stop-motion and claymation, and this entry into Lego animation is great. Now I have to try and justify spending $200 on the Lego Simpsons house.
