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AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
casually remarks “Bruce Wayne? Uh… who’s that? Sounds like a cool guy.”
And while this is just one example, it goes without saying that the same
applies to virtually all of the other characters in the film, whether borrowed
from other story franchises, or pirate lore that dates back to the 17th century
and sideways to Pirates of the Caribbean.
Clare Parody has proposed a model for thinking about transmedia
storytelling that relies both on the convergence of various media, as well
as on adaptation. As she argues, adaptation is “fundamentally sympathetic
to the aims and protocols of franchise storytelling” as well as an “efficient
way of getting maximum use out of a fictional creation” such as a particular
character or story franchise. 6 And just as stock characters may migrate
freely across storyworlds, Julie Sanders has followed Roland Barthes in
arguing for the infinite adaptability of “mythic templates and outlines [for]
storytelling purposes,” given that the simple elements of myth are constantly
(re)appropriated and “persistently relocated in […] new cultural geograph[ies]
at each occasion of adaptation and appropriation”. 7 Quite obviously, The
LEGO Movie exploits several such interchangeable storytelling templates,
and Emmet and the other minifigures embark upon their quest precisely
to ensure that “templates” – in this case playsets – will once again be as
open to reapportion and relocation as they were before President Business
“erected walls between [playset] worlds and became obsessed with order
and perfection.” As Wyldstyle explains, under President Business’ reign of
surveillance and paranoia the minifigures are compelled to “follow the
rules,” and to “make everything look like it does in the instructions.” Before
this oppressive era, the minifigures supposedly enjoyed a golden age in which
they were “free to travel and mingle, and build whatever they wanted,” in
any setting from Outer Space to the Old West. In other words, like myth, or
very familiar, simple allegorical stories and plot structures, The LEGO Movie
seems to permit and even promote endless (re)combinatory possibilities
and ludic, narrative freedom to create new stories across platforms. Or,
as Jenkins has explained, transmedia stories like the one in The LEGO
Movie are based on “complex fictional worlds which can sustain multiple
interrelated characters and their stories,” and should, one might think, be
open to infinite disaggregation and reconfiguration. 8
6 Clare Parody, “Franchising/Adaptation,” Adaptation 4, no. 2 (2011): 211.
7 Julie Sanders, Adaptation and Appropriation (London: Routledge, 2006), 63–64.
8 Henry Jenkins, “Transmedia Storytelling 101,” Confessions of an Aca-Fan. The Official Weblog
of Henry Jenkins, 22 March 2007, accessed February 15, 2019, http://henryjenkins.org/2007/03/
transmedia_storytelling_101.html.
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
casually remarks “Bruce Wayne? Uh… who’s that? Sounds like a cool guy.”
And while this is just one example, it goes without saying that the same
applies to virtually all of the other characters in the film, whether borrowed
from other story franchises, or pirate lore that dates back to the 17th century
and sideways to Pirates of the Caribbean.
Clare Parody has proposed a model for thinking about transmedia
storytelling that relies both on the convergence of various media, as well
as on adaptation. As she argues, adaptation is “fundamentally sympathetic
to the aims and protocols of franchise storytelling” as well as an “efficient
way of getting maximum use out of a fictional creation” such as a particular
character or story franchise. 6 And just as stock characters may migrate
freely across storyworlds, Julie Sanders has followed Roland Barthes in
arguing for the infinite adaptability of “mythic templates and outlines [for]
storytelling purposes,” given that the simple elements of myth are constantly
(re)appropriated and “persistently relocated in […] new cultural geograph[ies]
at each occasion of adaptation and appropriation”. 7 Quite obviously, The
LEGO Movie exploits several such interchangeable storytelling templates,
and Emmet and the other minifigures embark upon their quest precisely
to ensure that “templates” – in this case playsets – will once again be as
open to reapportion and relocation as they were before President Business
“erected walls between [playset] worlds and became obsessed with order
and perfection.” As Wyldstyle explains, under President Business’ reign of
surveillance and paranoia the minifigures are compelled to “follow the
rules,” and to “make everything look like it does in the instructions.” Before
this oppressive era, the minifigures supposedly enjoyed a golden age in which
they were “free to travel and mingle, and build whatever they wanted,” in
any setting from Outer Space to the Old West. In other words, like myth, or
very familiar, simple allegorical stories and plot structures, The LEGO Movie
seems to permit and even promote endless (re)combinatory possibilities
and ludic, narrative freedom to create new stories across platforms. Or,
as Jenkins has explained, transmedia stories like the one in The LEGO
Movie are based on “complex fictional worlds which can sustain multiple
interrelated characters and their stories,” and should, one might think, be
open to infinite disaggregation and reconfiguration. 8
6 Clare Parody, “Franchising/Adaptation,” Adaptation 4, no. 2 (2011): 211.
7 Julie Sanders, Adaptation and Appropriation (London: Routledge, 2006), 63–64.
8 Henry Jenkins, “Transmedia Storytelling 101,” Confessions of an Aca-Fan. The Official Weblog
of Henry Jenkins, 22 March 2007, accessed February 15, 2019, http://henryjenkins.org/2007/03/
transmedia_storytelling_101.html.