‘The Lego Movie Sequel’ to Tackle ‘Really Profound’ Gender Issues With Toys

At the end of “The Lego Movie,” Emmet Brickowski and his friends got an unexpected visit from Planet Duplo, and in the upcoming sequel, that gag will be turned into an exploration of how toys are marketed differently to boys and girls.

In an interview with Collider, producers Dan Lin and Chris McKay discussed the story of “The Lego Movie Sequel,” which is getting a script rewrite from the first movie’s directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller. They said that the film will pick up right where the last left off, with real world protagonist Finn now having to share Emmet’s world with his little sister and her Duplo toys.

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“What’s different and similar about gender, when a boy plays vs. how a girl plays? What kinds of stories are there?” said McKay. “It’s going to be like the first ‘Lego Movie’ was, where it’s about something else that’s really profound. I’m really excited about where the movie is gonna go because it’s about these things that are actual notions that people have that might even be unconscious biases, where people don’t even realize that that’s the way they’re looking at the world.”

“Every one of our movies, so far, have been told from the point of view of one kid’s imagination,” Lin added. “The LEGO Movie 2 will be the first one told through two kids’ imaginations – Finn and his sister. It’s going to be really interesting juxtaposing those two different visions.”

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The influence of gender in toys has made headlines in recent years. In 2015, an 8-year-old girl sent in a handwritten letter to Hasbro asking why Rey was not included as a player token in a “Star Wars” Monopoly game, triggering a viral “Where’s Rey?” campaign that pressured the toy company into including the heroine from “The Force Awakens” in future versions of the game.

The year before, Lego was hit with a similar campaign when a girl wrote a letter complaining about how the company made more “boy people” than “Lego girls.”

“All the girls did was sit at home, go to the beach, and shop, and they had no jobs,” the girl’s letter read. “But the boys went on adventures, worked, saved people, and had jobs, even swam with sharks.”

“The Lego Movie Sequel” will be released February 8, 2019.