Interview with the Friends Relaunch Team
Posted by MeganL,
Earlier this week, we were invited, along with other fan media, to sit down with the Friends relaunch team to discuss the exciting re-invention of the Friends theme. We had the opportunity to speak with Fenella Charity, Creative Lead for LEGO Friends, Costas Symos, Marketing Director for LEGO Friends, and Ellen Bowley, Senior Designer for LEGO Friends.
Read on to learn how long this reboot was in the making, where the Friends team took inspiration from, and other changes Friends fans can expect to see after the break.
What kind of effort was it to do this relaunch?
Fenella: It's a huge effort, and it did start within our team. Back in February 2020, we had this kind of feeling that we wanted to pitch to the leadership team that that Friends should be going on this journey, and that the 10-year anniversary was a perfect time for this to happen.
What we would need to kick that off was this foundational study. And that was in the end what we did. Of course, that decision isn't taken lightly. This will mean changes for LEGOland parks and Merlin, it will mean changes for all of our ecosystem in terms of all the touchpoints where people experience the brand. And in terms of the show, that is actually something that sits with our team, as well as with our content development team. We work closely together, making sure that what we work on in the product and communication is represented in the show as well. We're all really excited about it. It's been a huge team effort of a massive, massive team.
Today is like a huge milestone for us to be talking with you because we've been working on this for so long. So it's been a huge effort, and it's not something that's taken lightly, but we really feel that it's the right decision.
The press release says that you specifically reviewed letters from kids. Can you share what some of them said?
Fenella: We had a few letters that were really meaningful for us. One of them was actually a while ago now, but we have this letter from an amazing girl in Brazil. She'd been a fan of LEGO Friends for years; and she had made this observation of what we were doing with the universe and how the characters are going, and where she thought things made sense and where she thought things didn't make sense.
This is something we actually pinned up in the design studio for a while because it was just such an amazing feeling to know that there are kids and adults out there that really resonate with every detail that we design.
We recently had a letter from a little girl who had a limb difference, and she really wanted to see more minidolls representing that. So Autumn was actually already in the works, and that's an example of something that's really powerful and really important for us. We felt really happy that we are making Autumn because she had such a powerful perspective on it.
Did your research result in changing any characters?
Fenella: What it highlighted for us were some things that were really important to stick with. Autumn is born with her limb difference, but it doesn't define her, and she is a character that is very outgoing and has this personality that is completely making sense for her whether she had limb difference or not.
That was something that came through in the research, that we shouldn't treat this character with a special personality because of this. She is a girl who has a personality, and her limb difference is part of who she is. That comes with all the characters and all the differences that we wanted to express.
One other thing I remember from the research was with Nova. Traditionally with Friends we haven't really gone into the territory of a character that loves spooky, or sci fi. She's quite a dark character with a lot of really awesome passions and interests. It was amazing to see kids respond to that and to see a Lego Friends character with these interests. They really loved it and some of them were super excited about what sets might be coming in the future.
Ellen: Model wise, we tested loads of different versions of these models and as you can see, the colour palette is quite moved along from where it used to be. This was something that came through in testing - kids wanting something new and vibrant, more things they could have in their city that were different to the old ones.
Did you consider boys in this relaunch?
Fenella: I think that we've been on a really big journey with boys. We actually test every time with boys as well. There are boys that want to play this relationship based play, with that extra level of realism with the characters and the storytelling. That is something that we are welcoming with open arms.
I think with this new generation of Friends, we want to welcome all the kids to play with us. We're not saying that there's a certain type of kid that should play with us and shouldn't play with us. Some of the things that we did in the past, with the purple packaging and so on, are things that we want to change now.
We want to make boys feel okay, if they want to play with us because if it speaks to them, then that's really a bonus. In terms of representing boys in the characters, we've made sure to do that in a way to have characters that they can relate to. So hopefully this appeals to both boys and girls.
What’s the logic for the gender split of five girls and three boys for the new Friends?
Fenella: We know that even though we're evolving the brand, our core audience is girls. And so we do want to represent more than friendship, which means mixed friendship groups. We can definitely see that in the research we've done. But we also know that girls are going to be a large part of the consumers that are going to be enjoying this.
We felt that eight was a good number and the five girls gave us a good mix of different passions and diversity and the three boys as well. So it's really how they all come together that is the new generation.
Costas: It also gives us an opportunity to create smaller groups of friendships within the eight. You will have smaller clusters; some of the characters will live next to each other, some of the characters have common interests. We will see that in the storylines both in the product and the show. Even though we have eight kids there are smaller dynamics going on as you do in the real world.
In the original Friends characters, Olivia was the one associated with STEM. How is STEM being represented in the new Friends world?
Ellen: It’s been spread out. We have Nova obviously in engineering and technology and she builds things. And then we have Leo, he's into cooking and the gastronomy side of it. Aliya is super academic so she’s into maths and science and things like this. So I think it's really nice that we spread it out and kids who are into those different aspects of STEM don't have to relate to just one character, they can pick and choose between them.
There will be different sets catering to each of their different interests. We don't have to create one set that fully caters to STEM for this one character. We can spread it out and have them in different districts in different kinds of sets.
Is there going to be a symbol or a signature item/colour for each one of the Friends, like the originals?
Fenella: It's definitely something we were excited to have a fresh start around because as you can imagine, it was kind of limiting at times to work with those things. We will see characters exploring their styles and their aesthetics, but we're not going to be going down the route of giving characters an icon like we did before.
What we know about kids now is that as they explore their passions, it's not linear. So if you find the kid that loves dinosaurs, they most likely like something else as well. This is the case for our characters. We don't want them to be one dimensional. We want them to be multifaceted, because that really represents real kids now. And so with that in mind, we wouldn't be able to find one icon that suits a character because they like more than one thing.
So we won't be going down that road. But you will see with Paisley, for example, that she loves music and that comes through in like loads of things that she does, but it doesn't mean that every set that she's going to be in will be about music because she has more to her character than that.
It seems like there's some built in tension in some of the storylines. Does this mean that we'll get mini dolls with expressions other than smiles? And if so, did that pose any graphic design challenges?
Ellen: I think it was a really exciting journey for the graphic design team to go on, to also have the opportunity to explore all sorts of different facial expressions. I've seen some really cool concept arts where they're showing each character with all of their facial expressions and how they would be in different emotions. It is a really cool thing to explore.
Also, then going into the model, depending on the stories that are happening within the model, then we can sort of pick and choose where it makes sense to use different facial expressions and emotions. Also with the pets, we have the character Pickles (the dog) where he's looking really sad.
The dogs are very sad and being rescued and another (set) where he's super happy and elated. It also gives us a really nice opportunity to diversify our models. So we don't just have the same face in each one.
Fenella: For the TV show, the content is going to be minidoll based. As part of the development of that we've created a library of emotions for every character. So we can actually pull on that to make those animation expressions in product. We'll be exploring that as part of what we're doing going forward. We've seen a really positive reaction to the faces that we put in some of the 2022 products. So we really hope to include that play as we move forward.
Ellen: One of the things for the kids in tests, (they) will pick up on so many tiny details, like the smallest thing in the model, and that can be the only thing they talk about. So if one of our characters has a facial expression, and it's not just happy, then that can open up for so many different stories they have been wanting to tell. This is a really nice part that we've seen in testing - just how much emotion these different facial expressions have different details about from the kids.
There were a couple of sets that had more than one head, so different facial expressions for the mini dolls in this year. I'm glad that's going to continue in 2023.
Fenella: Yeah, you'll see a lot of different facial expressions, that's for sure.
Does the relaunch include modification to instruction manuals?
Fenella: We have made some changes to the building instructions. We know that the experience starts when they open the book. It's important that they connect to the character. So we're using the first pages in the building instructions to introduce characters. And we have some really nice new details that start the storytelling, as you imagine.
And then throughout the model building, we also have what we call play breaks, where we're gonna give kids the chance to play out stories that we would suggest with the model. Of course, they can come up with their own stories as well, but it's just to make sure that kids are getting the experience that we intended for them to enjoy, but you'll definitely be seeing some updates to the building instructions.
What has the reaction of kids been to the relaunch?
Fenella: We've tested with kids, and we were expecting this reaction of like a band breaking up, but it's not been like that. We've been so pleasantly surprised that when kids see the new generation, and they know that the old generation is okay, and they didn't die or anything, then they feel really happy about it, and they actually quickly move on to the excitement that they feel about the new characters.
We now feel confident that giving these (original) characters a cameo and mentioning it here and there is going to be enough. One thing we did see was that the kids aren't super driven to play with these characters as adults, they would rather play with the new generation of kids, because that's what's exciting to them now.
How do you feel about the Friends relaunch? What things do you hope to see? Let us know in the comments.
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33 comments on this article
Amazing to see how this took 2.5 years to come to fruition. Really great interview, fun to see how deep the commitment of LEGO is to the play beyond building, and how they really walk the walk when it comes to making toys that help kids learn through play, and connect to the greater world.
Great interview! I know Fenella has been working on this theme since the very start—I remember her giving a talk about the theme at BrickFair VA early in the theme's lifespan. So it's neat to hear perspectives on such a major change from someone who has been involved with it the whole way.
The way they describe Nova is a little exciting—one of the few types of "theme" that still hasn't been covered by Lego Friends that I've thought of would be a spooky sort of subtheme, perhaps with trick-or-treat focus or a "teen detective" angle like Scooby Doo or Nancy Drew. I loved the darker sort of subject matter of some of the Elves sets so having one of the main Friends characters having those sorts of spooky passions could allow for some great designs!
Headcanon: Olivia is still in space.
Oh my god, it has been 10 years!!?? I’m getting really old.
I’m really excited about what they’re doing here. It’s obviously not targeted at me. But it’s a fascinating approach. I hope they can keep sets reasonably priced to give lots of kids an opportunity to play in this world.
This was a really great interview. I really like what they’ve done with the friends line over the years, and I think this evolution feels very natural and has been incredibly well executed. If this line existed back when I was young it’s definitely something I would have gravitated towards, so I’m really glad they’ve expanded the cast to include more males as well. I’m really liking how the range is being run and I’m looking forward to seeing where they take it with the new generation!
I’ve always enjoyed when the themes told stories with characters and there was a clear progression over time, not just characters popping up in random sets. So while I don’t collect Friends sets, I like this approach, and it’s a great way to keep the brand fresh while respecting the past.
@MisterBrickster said:
"Headcanon: Olivia is still in space."
The rocket she was on was Apollo 13. In the LEGO Friends universe, it never returned…
Help I thought I had grown out of Friends years ago why am I getting so invested in these characters XD
@RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"Headcanon: Olivia is still in space."
The rocket she was on was Apollo 13. In the LEGO Friends universe, it never returned…"
I assume more like Apollo 18, like from the horror film. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_18_(film)
@Murdoch17 said:
" @RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"Headcanon: Olivia is still in space."
The rocket she was on was Apollo 13. In the LEGO Friends universe, it never returned…"
I assume more like Apollo 18, like from the horror film. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_18_(film)"
I'm wondering if she's reached LV-427
@Toc13 said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"Headcanon: Olivia is still in space."
The rocket she was on was Apollo 13. In the LEGO Friends universe, it never returned…"
I assume more like Apollo 18, like from the horror film. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_18_(film)"
I'm wondering if she's reached LV-427"
Olivia, now a space marine, dakka dakka dakka ;)
I wonder if Ninjago's reboot will be the same shabang
@MisterBrickster said: "Headcanon: Olivia is still in space."
Given the state of Earth, the last few years, can we blame her for staying up there?
@Zordboy said:
" @MisterBrickster said: "Headcanon: Olivia is still in space."
Given the state of Earth, the last few years, can we blame her for staying up there?"
Ground Control to Olivia
Ground Control to Olivia
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground Control to Olivia,
Commencing countdown engines on,
Check ignition and may our love be with you
This is Ground Control to Olivia
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
But it's time to leave the capsule if you dare
This is Olivia to ground control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today
For here am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do
Though I've gone past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my friends I love them very much, they know
Ground control to Olivia
Your circuits dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me Olivia?
Can you hear me Olivia?
Can you hear me Olivia?
Can you
Here am I floating in my tin can
far above the moon
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do...
I continue to be impressed with the work put into the Friends line and how seriously they take it.
It’s a line that’s really succeeded. One change I hope to see is retailers catching on to the more gender inclusive relaunch and not segregate the Friends line off in the ‘girls’ section of the toy store away from the other legos - I think there’s great stuff here that all kids could enjoy.
Why is it when looking at this, all I can think is: New Coke...
Seriously, I get the pervious characters 'aged out', but this is a really odd way to bring in new characters...almost like "Force Awakens"...:|
"One thing we did see was that the kids aren't super driven to play with these characters as adults..."
Of course, we older fans enjoy seeing our old Friends. Here's hoping we get all five of them i sets, not just Mia. Although with Olivia still in space...
@Murdoch17: I thought of the same song when I saw @MisterBrickster's post.
@MisterBrickster said:
"Headcanon: Olivia is still in space."
I'd never thought to imagine a Blacktron minidoll before...
"...and they know that the old generation is okay, and they didn't die or anything..."
Now that would have been a dark twist.
Great interview! You can tell how passionate they are and how much they care about the theme.
@brick_r said:
[Why is it when looking at this, all I can think is: New Coke...
Seriously, I get the pervious characters 'aged out', but this is a really odd way to bring in new characters...almost like "Force Awakens"...:|]
I absolutely agree! It's like watching a 'new' sitcom where the kids are now the parents. Pick one, go on: Fuller House, Saved by the Bell, Girl Meets World, Punky Brewster ... Where's that case of New Coke. It's here somewhere ...
@Toc13 said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"Headcanon: Olivia is still in space."
The rocket she was on was Apollo 13. In the LEGO Friends universe, it never returned…"
I assume more like Apollo 18, like from the horror film. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_18_ (film)"
I'm wondering if she's reached LV-427"
It's LV-426, actually.
@TheIronBadger said:
" It's LV-426, actually."
LL-462 sounds like it would be a more agreeable destination.
The press release touts the relaunch as "inclusive of gender." Seems like that just means there's a few boy protagonists now. It's always nice to see more minorities being represented in sets, but I guess featuring trans characters of any kind is still more than a company of this size can do in 2022.
@TheOtherMike said:
""One thing we did see was that the kids aren't super driven to play with these characters as adults..."
Of course, we older fans enjoy seeing our old Friends. Here's hoping we get all five of them i sets, not just Mia. Although with Olivia still in space...
@Murdoch17: I thought of the same song when I saw @MisterBrickster's post."
While it's exciting to see the original Lego Friends as adults, I do think them appearing over a longer period of time (as opposed to releasing all at once) could be nice too, even as a longtime fan. Will make it feel more special each time one of them shows up in a set.
Overall I’m in favor of this relaunch, it seems to be well thought out, the new character designs are great, and it’s nice to see even more diversity in the figures, something City can’t do as well with yellow (whether you’re a fan of yellow figs or not), although it’s getting better.
That being said-
It’s disappointing not to see a gay or non-binary character. Perhaps an openly lgbtq main character is too much to ask of Lego, but with all their talk of inclusion in these press releases, it’s an incredibly noticeable absence. I suppose as the show continues we may get some potential romantic interests, so there’s still a chance for a gay/lesbian character, but I feel like at this point one out of eight could and should have been lgbt from the get go.
I understand that trans/non-binary representation is still more controversial, but I hope this is something we can see at least in a secondary character. Of all Lego themes, Friends is the most diverse, modern, and inclusive. City is floundering at the moment, licensed sets are limited in what they can produce, and Ninjago is overwhelmingly pseudo-Asian (for justifiable reasons). Friends is the only theme about real people and, well, friends, that aren’t cops or firefighters. Clearly they realize this, and this relaunch is supposed to introduce more diversity into the cast. That just makes the lack of lgbt content sting more.
@MainBricker said:
" @rishi_eel said:
"I understand that trans/non-binary representation is still more controversial, but I hope this is something we can see at least in a secondary character. Of all Lego themes, Friends is the most diverse, modern, and inclusive. City is floundering at the moment, licensed sets are limited in what they can produce, and Ninjago is overwhelmingly pseudo-Asian (for justifiable reasons). Friends is the only theme about real people and, well, friends, that aren’t cops or firefighters. Clearly they realize this, and this relaunch is supposed to introduce more diversity into the cast. That just makes the lack of lgbt content sting more."
I'd be curious to know how you feel they could represent LGBT characters visually in the toys? I'd be even more curious that you go on about trans/non-binary but don't acknowledge asexual, intersex, de-trans and two spirit individuals? And again how you expect them to represented in Lego form?
These characters are of indeterminate age, but would seem to be pre-teen, most children don't know their sexual orientation at that age. For most the discovery of your sexual orientation is a teenage thing. So it would seem unrealistic for these characters to have any sort of sexuality."
The previous generation of Friends quite clearly placed the main characters in high school, so approximately 15-18. Well within the range for identity exploration, and romantic relationships at the age are extremely common.
As far as representing various sexualities in toys, and easy visual shorthand is including pride flags and the like on graphic design elements. An ace character could easily be represented by adding a pin, t-shirt, or the like in matching colors. Relationships in general are tricky to depict visually, but that’s where ancillary materials come in. The relaunch is accompanied by a television series, which is ripe for exploring more character focused stuff. Additionally this sort of information can be included in the set description, or on the box art, etc.
Trans, non-binary, and intersex people can be represented both visually - by using different body types, clothing choices, and graphic design characteristics - or again, through ancillary materials like packaging, set descriptions, press releases, etc.
I focused mainly on gay, bisexual, trans, and non-binary people, as those are the groups that are most personally relevant to me. I’m definitely biased there. They also happen to be the largest lgbt groups, so pulling representation from there is the most likely choice. Asexual and intersex representation is still important of course. At risk of going off topic, I would suggest looking into the term ‘detrans’ further, and some of its harmful implications.
TLDR:
The friends are high school aged, high schoolers deal with lgbtq issues, especially todays youth. Lgbtq characters can be represented through graphic design with pride imagery and diverse clothing and body types, or through a secondary materials like the show or press releases and product info.
@Lyichir: That is a very good point I hadn't really thought about.
No question as to why none of the new Friends use they/them pronouns? I'm pretty sure that would have come up in their focus groups for inclusivity, which make me guess that the marketing team vetoed that decision.
@rishi_eel said:
"Overall I’m in favor of this relaunch, it seems to be well thought out, the new character designs are great, and it’s nice to see even more diversity in the figures, something City can’t do as well with yellow (whether you’re a fan of yellow figs or not), although it’s getting better.
That being said-
It’s disappointing not to see a gay or non-binary character. Perhaps an openly lgbtq main character is too much to ask of Lego, but with all their talk of inclusion in these press releases, it’s an incredibly noticeable absence. I suppose as the show continues we may get some potential romantic interests, so there’s still a chance for a gay/lesbian character, but I feel like at this point one out of eight could and should have been lgbt from the get go.
I understand that trans/non-binary representation is still more controversial, but I hope this is something we can see at least in a secondary character. Of all Lego themes, Friends is the most diverse, modern, and inclusive. City is floundering at the moment, licensed sets are limited in what they can produce, and Ninjago is overwhelmingly pseudo-Asian (for justifiable reasons). Friends is the only theme about real people and, well, friends, that aren’t cops or firefighters. Clearly they realize this, and this relaunch is supposed to introduce more diversity into the cast. That just makes the lack of lgbt content sting more."
Yo, you nailed it. Couldn’t have said it better myself, and I’m glad to see you, @Dash_Justice and other people have all had a similar reaction to mine about the lack of trans and queer representation. I’m still holding out hope that we’ll get characters who come out as part of their story, and that LEGO is maybe planning to use that as a way to show queer kids that they can be accepted for who they are. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, though.
Also, word of advice — disregard MainBricker. They seem to be trolling and picking fights in each of these threads about diversity. I hope that they’re doing it without meaning to, but I guess the outcome is the same either way :(
I think it’s clear that whatever Lego do it will never be enough for people, you can see that in this thread with people attacking each other.
They better not remake Ninjago like this!