TORONTO (AP) 鈥 When and decided to embark on a movie about Williams鈥 life but animated in Lego pieces, they knew there would be culture shocks. But making 鈥淧iece by Piece鈥 still led to some places that neither Williams, Neville or Lego could foresee.
鈥淲e did have extensive conversations about how wide a back of a bikini bottom would be on a minifig in a 鈥楻ump Shaker鈥 video,鈥 says Neville, chuckling. 鈥淲e had many discussions about things I thought I would never be talking about as a filmmaker.鈥
鈥淧iece by Piece鈥 did not come with any easy-to-assemble instructions. It鈥檚 part music biopic, part documentary, part family film. It is, like many things about Williams鈥 hit-making life, radiant with uplift, beats and idiosyncrasy.
鈥淪ociety likes to put us in boxes, pun intended,鈥 Williams says, speaking alongside Neville. 鈥淗ere was a moment where this guy鈥檚 view of my life and the way he saw it strung together was incredibly liberating for me. While I鈥檝e never seen myself in a box, this helps other people now to, as well.鈥
鈥淧iece by Piece,鈥 which Focus Features releases in theaters Friday, begins, like many documentaries, with the director, Neville, sitting down with a camera crew focused on their subject, Williams. But in this case, Williams 鈥 and everything else, including a bearded, bespectacled Neville 鈥 are Lego.
鈥淲hat if we told my life with Legos?鈥 Williams asks in the film. 鈥淭hat鈥檒l never happen,鈥 replies Neville.
What follows is something like a traditional documentary complete with colorful recounting of past struggles and triumphs, from his upbringing in Virginia Beach to his string of chart-topping hits, told through Williams鈥 voiceover and a number of talking heads. It was recorded that way in interviews, either on camera, Zoom or phone, and then animated into Lego form. Here, finally, is a chance to see Busta Rhymes as a Lego, along with many others, including Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Missy Elliott.
鈥淭he first meeting we had was with Lego because if they had said no, there would have been no film,鈥 says Neville, the director of documentaries including 鈥20 Feet From Stardom,鈥 and 鈥淭o their credit, they not only said yes, but I think understood the kind of growth it would force them into.鈥
For Lego, the Danish toy company, making 鈥淧iece by Piece鈥 was its biggest gamble since stepping into feature films with Neville approached the company鈥檚 head of global entertainment, Jill Wilfert with a pitch for what would be Lego鈥檚 first foray into a documentary not about itself. Wilfert was immediately responsive.
鈥淭he whole idea behind Lego is its endless creativity and limitless possibility, and Pharrell really kind of embodies that,鈥 she says.
As proof of concept, Neville put together a 90-second video of Williams reflecting on his upbringing and the inspiration of artists like Stevie Wonder. (A vinyl of 鈥淪ongs in the Key of Life鈥 is another one of those things you never expected to see as a Lego.)
鈥淚 came away from that saying, 鈥楾his is totally going to work,鈥欌 Neville says. 鈥淎nd everybody we showed it to got it. They were like: I want to see this movie.鈥
Still, Neville and Williams knew the Lego approach would mean working within PG parameters. Some things about Williams鈥 life 鈥 like being young and famous while operating in the upper echelons of pop and hip-hop 鈥 wouldn鈥檛 fit in a family-friendly movie. Williams says the movie 鈥減araphrases鈥 his life.
鈥淭here were definitely some areas that weren鈥檛 within my expectations of where we might go,鈥 Wilfert says. 鈥淲e had a lot of good dialogue throughout the whole process. Morgan and Pharrell, there was mutual respect because we are a brand that people have high expectations of and expect certain things of. So we did work with them on areas that we felt did make sense and didn鈥檛 make sense.鈥
It also pushed Lego in other ways. Williams is particularly proud that the movie led to Lego expanding its available skin tones and hair textures. Williams鈥 Lego self 鈥 which he to the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of 鈥淧iece by Piece鈥 鈥 was specifically designed to match his own skin tone.
鈥淵ou name the type of human being, we fought hard for their existence and acknowledgement,鈥 says Williams. 鈥淟ego obliged and I think the brand is better because of it.鈥
One of the movie鈥檚 most clever designs is illustrating tracks that Williams crafts himself or in collaboration, like Snoop Dogg鈥檚 鈥淒rop It Like It鈥檚 Hot,鈥 Gwen Stefani鈥檚 鈥淗ollaback Girl,鈥 Nelly鈥檚 鈥淗ot in Herre鈥 or Pharrell鈥檚 own 鈥淗appy.鈥 Each is rendered as a unique little glowing set of Legos pieced together.
Other, less happy aspects of Williams鈥 life don鈥檛 make the cut. You won鈥檛 see anything about in which Marvin Gaye鈥檚 estate sued for copyright infringement and won. Nor is there anything in the film about Williams鈥 recent legal squabbles with his Neptunes co-founder Chad Hugo. Earlier this year, Hugo filed a trademark opposition over the duo鈥檚 name, claiming Williams鈥 鈥渇raudulently鈥 sought control of it. Representatives for Williams have disagreed, saying Williams 鈥渞eached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership.鈥
鈥淧iece By Piece,鈥 though, does include a positive portrayal of Hugo, particularly in Williams鈥 early days in Virginia Beach, when the two began making music together.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing bittersweet. I鈥檓 so grateful for my experiences. Chad is an integral part of the beginning, the genesis of my pursuit in music and being there,鈥 Williams says. 鈥淚 met him in the second grade in band class, and the memories that we have of making music together, I would not be sitting here if it weren鈥檛 for us meeting.鈥
Williams, who is , is talented when it comes to brand management. He released his debut solo album, 鈥淚n My Mind,鈥 in 2006 and long ago stepped into the spotlight, himself. But he has, by his own acknowledgement, remained a producer at heart. Not everything about 鈥淧iece by Piece鈥 was easy for him.
鈥淎 lot of that was vulnerable for me,鈥 Williams says. 鈥淚鈥檓, like, crying two times in the story. I hadn鈥檛 considered he might ask questions that would trigger emotion. I鈥檓 such a produced person. I鈥檝e produced myself so much.鈥
It鈥檚 a sentiment that Neville, as a protean documentarian used to adapting to the style and attitude of his subjects, can relate to.
鈥淧harrell as a producer is often holding up a mirror to artists to get them to see themselves. My job is to hold up a mirror to him to get him to see himself,鈥 Neville says. 鈥淚 feel like, in an odd way, we have the same job.鈥
When Neville interviewed other musicians for the film, he told them that they鈥檇 be animated. But he didn鈥檛 say how. It was only later they found out they鈥檇 be Lego minifigs.
鈥淓veryone was so shocked and so elated,鈥 says Williams. 鈥淚 feel like it released the inner child in all of them. Some of them look at life that way, anyways. Other ones, even the tough guys, were like, 鈥極h, man, this is so cool.鈥欌
Capturing Williams鈥 life in a playful, even childlike way will surely help some younger viewers connect to his story. Becoming a world-famous multi-hyphenate might seem out of reach to most, but 鈥淧iece by Piece鈥 makes it look, almost, like a snap.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a universality that Lego brings out,鈥 Neville says. 鈥淚 feel like this whole film is an experiment in the tension between the specificity of real life and documentary and the imagination and universality of imagination.鈥
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
