‘The Simpsons’ Lego Episode A Chip Off The Old Block

The Simpsons are getting the Lego treatment – finally!

Brick Like Me, transports Homer, Marge, Bart and all your favorite Simpsons characters into the Lego-verse for a very special episode of the legendary cartoon. For The Simpsons, who’ve been on TV longer than any other sitcom in history, coming up with innovative ideas for shows can be a daunting task, executive producer Al Jean admits. That’s why making this episode was more than just cross-promotion with the popular toy line:

“People are probably looking at it going, ‘All this fits and it’s a plan.’ No, it was just the love of Lego” and creativity, not cross-promotion, Al Jean, “The Simpsons” longtime executive producer, told the Associated Press via conference call. And while the LEGO movie is one of the year’s biggest hits so far, for Matt Selman, an executive producer and co-writer, with Brian Kelley, of the Lego episode, it’s simply a nicely timed coincidence: “All the cross-promotion was just gravy, delicious gravy,” Selman joked.

As for the plot of Brick Like Me, according to the NY Post, “Homer discovers he can actually have fun playing with daughter Lisa when the two build Legos together, which transports him to a land of toys. But when his brick reality begins to crumble, he must decide whether to trade his perfect plastic life for the messiness of the real world.”

Brick Like Me is chock full of Lego goodies and employs a similar style of animation as The Lego Movie. Selman told the Associated Press that cost was a factor in how the animation was produced, claiming that integrating stop-motion animation like The Lego Movie employed would have been too costly. Another tidbit of info is that while there is a Simpsons Lego set being released, Homer and company are not exactly animated with the same look as the figures.

But make no mistake, Homer, Marge, Bart and company will all look the part of classic Lego. Writer Matt Selman described the episode as “an especially family friendly one.” According to the Associated Press, Brick Like Me is a 2-year labor of love for co-writers Matt Selman and Brian Kelley, who began plotting the episode back in 2012.

“We had to have a story worthy of this much technical ambition. If it didn’t have heart, character and feeling, all the jokes about someone taking off their head and kicking it into the distance weren’t going to play.”

The Simpsons continues it’s epic 25-year run with the special Lego episode Brick Like Me airing this Sunday.