LEGO Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick, a humorous LEGO brick short film, provides a playful take on Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. This mini-movie debuted on Cartoon Network on May 8th, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. EST. You could also find it in QuickTime format on the LEGO website for viewing or downloading. Furthermore, the trailer was included as a special feature on the Clone Wars Volume 2 DVD. The film was also showcased on October 2, 2005, within the "Animation for Kids" category at the Woodstock Film Festival of 2005.
Treehouse Animation, the studio behind this production, has since worked with Lego again on Batman mini-movies with a similar style. The LEGO website offered the mini-movie for viewing in QuickTime or direct download. A "making-of" featurette, narrated by Mark Hamill, was also accessible on the site.
Mark Hamill, famous for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars movies, participated in the creation of this project. Hamill stated, "Being the original Luke Skywalker, I feel I have some understanding of what goes into making Star Wars films. Therefore, partnering with Treehouse [Animations] was a natural choice."
The film commences with an initial scene set above Kashyyyk. Obi-Wan and Anakin, piloting a Jedi Starfighter and an ARC-170 respectively, are readying themselves to attack the Trade Federation droid control ship from The Phantom Menace. The scene then switches to the interior of the control ship, where Count Dooku uses a remote control to swivel a chair, revealing General Grievous seated within. Grievous then stands to carry out his master's directives. The scene then returns to the space battle, where enemy ships materialize.
The focus shifts to Anakin Skywalker's ship (an ARC-170), with a clone trooper and a clone rear gunner as copilots. Anakin executes a left turn, causing the ship to invert, and the camera displays Anakin and a frightened clone pilot diving down a trench to engage the enemy fighters, referencing Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. A droid tri-fighter fires at Anakin, but misses. Anakin moves away, and the two fighters flanking him are destroyed by friendly fire.
Another enemy fighter targets Anakin's ship and launches a projectile, which strikes his vessel. A crazed buzz droid emerges from the projectile and attaches itself to the ARC fighter. The rear gunner employs "Buzz Spray" to ward it off, but the coughing droid simply moves to Anakin's window. Anakin presses a small blue button, activating the windshield wipers to eliminate the bothersome machine. The buzz droid evades the wipers, however, and affixes itself to the fighter's starboard engine, beginning to cut into it.
Count Dooku is observing a TV screen, but it only displays static. General Grievous serves as an antenna. Dooku points his LEGO finger at Grievous, directing him to the precise location that provides a clear image of the battle occurring outside. The film then transitions to a different sequence. Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi interceptor appears as a vulture droid fighter launches two missiles at him. Obi-Wan uses the Force to disassemble his starfighter into individual bricks to evade the missiles. The projectiles instead hit two other vulture droids.
The camera then focuses on Anakin. Turbolasers from the control ship obliterate Anakin's ARC fighter. Anakin exits the wreckage of the ship, floating in space. He uses the Force to rebuild his fighter. Upon realizing that he has created a bi-plane, he destroys it and rebuilds it again into a speeder-like fighter (while still exposed to the vacuum of space). One of the clones is also onboard. (The other clone is missing, presumed dead.) Anakin uses the Force to create an opening into the Trade Federation droid control ship. Inside the flagship, droidekas fire at Anakin from a platform, attempting to halt his progress. Anakin uses his lightsaber to destroy the platform the droidekas are standing on, while the clone trooper clings desperately to the side of the fighter.
The scene returns to Obi-Wan's ship. A tri-fighter fires at Obi-Wan, destroying his starboard wing. Obi-Wan uses his Force abilities to dismantle the enemy craft. Obi-Wan then pulverizes another tri-fighter and two vultures. He then uses the pieces to transform his fighter into a Y-wing. Obi-Wan advances on the control ship and destroys some of the communications devices on top. The scene shifts to Anakin exiting the flagship, with the clone trooper still clinging to the side. The flagship explodes. Anakin and Obi-Wan then head to Kashyyyk.
On Kashyyyk, Yoda notices some battle droids. The droids also spot him and surround him. Yoda uses the Force to disassemble several droids, mixing their parts together. Yoda then brandishes his lightsaber and destroys more droids. A Turbo Tank arrives with Mace Windu and clone troopers. The Wookiees join the clone army in the fight, led by Chewbacca. Anakin and Obi-Wan soon arrive and join the battle.
The clone troopers and Wookiees continue to fight bravely. A Clone AT-RT is destroyed during the battle. Chewbacca is attacked by a Confederate tank droid and is nearly run over. He assembles a rocket launcher from broken bricks just in time to fire a rocket as the tank turns around to run him over. The damaged vehicle skids to a stop near him, and he loses consciousness from the shock.
Nearly all the clones and Wookiees have been defeated. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Mace, and Chewbacca are the only ones remaining, surrounded by battle droids. One of the droids exclaims "Uh oh" as Wookiee reinforcements arrive in a Wookiee Catamaran and destroy the droids. They launch missiles, destroying many droids and tanks and forcing the droid army to retreat.
The subsequent scene unfolds in a bar reminiscent of the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in A New Hope. Everyone is present (Grievous is the bartender, having apparently left his general position. Ponda Baba and some Jawas are there, and though seen only briefly, Count Dooku and a Droideka are also there. R2-D2 rolls past Yoda, who uses the Force to steal the drinks R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) is carrying on a tray attached to his back. Mace, Obi-Wan, and Anakin are at the bar. Chewbacca takes a photo of Anakin and Obi-Wan. Chewbacca sees a picture of Darth Vader and Old Obi-Wan in a lightsaber battle (a reference to A New Hope) instead of Anakin and Obi-Wan standing together, happily. Chewbacca faints. Greedo, who is playing darts and has missed five times despite standing very close to the board, is standing behind him, and watches him fall as the mini-movie concludes. The end credits roll as Darth Vader wields his lightsaber like a baton, conducting a stormtrooper orchestra that is playing The Imperial March.
While Count Dooku is attempting to adjust his television, the screen briefly displays a test pattern similar to the Indian Head test card, featuring the phrases "Please stand by" and "Treehouse" along with bullseye images and horses.
The mini-movie offers a very lighthearted and humorous perspective on the significant events of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, presented in a 3-D computer animation style, which is Treehouse's area of expertise.
When Chewbacca uses the camera to photograph Obi-Wan and Anakin, the resulting picture shows Darth Vader engaged in a lightsaber duel with Ben Kenobi, referencing Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.
The spoof showcases stylized versions of the LEGO Star Wars Episode III building toys in imaginative scenarios, highlighting the interactive nature of LEGO in several comedic scenes. LEGO classic mini-figures are also enhanced with 3-D detail, offering greater flexibility of movement to support the film's action sequences (e.g., squash and stretch).
Besides its broadcast on television and online release, the short film was distributed on a promotional disc in Europe, and the trailer was included on the Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume Two DVD on December 6, 2005, for the rest of the world. It was also featured on the "Bonus DVD" included in Trends International LLC's: "The Art of Star Wars: A 16-Month 2008 Wall Calendar." It was subsequently released on the LEGO Club YouTube channel.