In the run-up to the latest installment of the LEGO DREAMZZz animated series dropping on September 6 2024, I thought we might start a small survey of other ways that books, comics and other media have been used to encourage builders to ‘Cross the Themes’

The Storytelling behind LEGO DREAMZZz provides an interesting mechanic that allows fantasy creations to exist in the otherwise mundane world of LEGO City. Many of the sets in the theme exploit this excuse to mash up fantastical ideas with the mundane. The choices provided for each model also make it a little easier for kids to come up with a different final toy in the set.

Those of us above a certain age will remember the days when LEGO sets routinely came with a few alternative builds on the back of the box. This practice was stopped around the turn of the century because, quite simply, the alternative models were becoming increasingly complex, and the LEGO Customer service department was getting more and more calls for instructions for these back of the box builds (source: AFOL Engagement team, 2017).

Unfortunately, part of the response was to remove these models from most packages. There is no doubt that the set builder’s experience today is quite different from that in the 1990s: there are more parts, smaller parts, and more colours to work with. On the other hand, the instructions have been simplified (albeit thickened) to improve the builder’s chance of getting everything right the first time. More and more, we now turn to Rebrickable and their collection of Alt builds.

But I digress.

LEGO DREAMZZz sets are designed to encourage builders to move beyond the hero build on the front of the box by providing alternative models whose play fits within the story’s context. From there, hopefully, it will inspire kids to build creatively. The storyline of the DREAMZZz animated series provides ample opportunity to mix and match fantasy elements with day-to-day town/school life. There has also been a DREAMZZz – Ninjago crossover, where the Ninjas are incorporated into children’s dreams, but not quite in the same way as the characters were originally written.

But this is not the first time that external media has been used to actively mash up different themes of LEGO sets. In fact, it dates back to the earliest days of minifigures. Back in those days, we were not overrun by the variety of themes that we have today: We had Castle, set in the past; Town, set in the present; and Space, bringing us the world of the future.

In the beginning, there was the 6000 Ideas Book.

I have previously written a lot about the LEGOLAND 6000 Ideas book. Perhaps too much. This book was released at the end of 1978-early 79 and brought us the first and, in my mind, the best example of storytelling using Minifigures. While this book would inspire a generation to build new models from the sets they (we?) already owned, it also provided mechanisms for characters who plainly belonged in a Classic Town to explore Space and to travel back to the Middle Ages.

How did this happen? You can read more in my original deep dive into 6000 Ideas, but as a quick summary: our two Characters (the US Edition names them Mary and Bill while the Rest-of-the-World Edition refers to them as ‘The characters in the Car at the bottom of the opposite page.’ In years to follow, the Bricks’n’Pieces magazine would refer to them as Lt Polkadot and Captain Indigo. Still, I digress) are leading a happy life in LEGO Town, until their house burns down – they stay at a hotel, get new furniture, have their car break down and get repaired, and finally go to the movies. When the film is over, their car has been taken from the car park, and a pristine blue, grey, and transparent yellow spaceship can be found in its place.

Our heroes do what any inquisitive couple would do. They hop in, and before they know it, they have arrived at a base on the moon or some distant planet. The details are vague, and the lack of any actual text leaves you free to speculate as you will and shape the truth to your own Will.

After meeting with the Classic Space astronauts on their base (featuring colours that might include any other bricks that you won), they go on to broker peace with some really interesting alien figures. From here, they take off, and in their attempts to return home, they end up in the distant past. But how did they get there? Time Travel? Messing with Relativity, by travelling at speeds greater than the speed of light? Arriving on a planet at a different stage in their societal evolution?

To be honest, this was never really made clear. Suffice it to say that they arrived in time to take in the atmosphere at the tournament before getting back into their spaceship in a nick of time: Bill was about to embarrass himself in front of the queen and get them both executed. They leave, waving goodbye, somewhat impervious to the icy vacuum of space [Note: not every detail described here should be considered entirely Canon].

In the years that followed, Mary and Bill reappear in the English Bricks N Pieces magazine in a regular comic – now known as Indigo and Polka Dot.

Our couple travels through time using various mechanisms: Zarkon Jewels, a simple transporter, and ultimately a Blacktron-flavoured time machine. They visit the Black Knight, a 1980s town where a plague of robots is threatening civic peace, and the world of the Forestmen, where a time-travelling villain from the world of Futuron seeks to torment Captain Indigo one final time.

Mary and Bill/Polkadot and Indigo brought a glue that would enable all of the themes from the 80s – Castle, Town and Space – to come together and share plot points, characters and locations, regardless of the sets you had on hand.

Classic Themes in Dreamzzz

In LEGO DREAMZZz, we are confronted with a variety of realms, as well as sets crossing a variety of classic themes. Some sets might cross over, mashing up a spaceship and a school bus or taking a food truck and turning it into a tortoise, while Cooper’s Monster Truck is quite a passable car before it becomes something more hungry. To say nothing of the castle-like nature of the Castle Nocturnia and the Sandman’s tower

Now, I know we might prefer some more clearly defined Space and Castle sets, over this: I find myself wondering how we might convert the Castle Nocturnia to a more…standard Castle. Possibly incorporating the Sandman’s Tower. My review is coming up soon, so keep an eye out.

Stay Tuned…

Thanks for joining us for this lightning overview of the World of Bill and Mary and the 6000 Ideas Book: This was one of the first books (and comics) to provide an opportunitiy for multiple themes to flow through it, and launched a significant legacy, including, I feel, LEGO DREAMZZz.

Follow the Rambling Brick as we explore the different ways we see themes crossover in stories, comics and games outside the LEGO sets.

What are your memories of the 6000 Ideas Book? Why not leave your comments below and follow the Ramblingbrick as we travel through time to explore the different ways LEGO Characters Cross The Themes?

If you have enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends, families and communities. You can also keep up to date with us by following The Rambling Brick on our socials: Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Tumblr (or just sign up for our mailing list) and find some extra content on Instagram and TikTok.

We really value your feedback: please let us know what you think about the sets we review, and the articles we post. And if you wish to support the Rambling Brick, consider clicking on our affiliate links before going shopping at LEGO.com. The Rambling Brick receives a small commission, and it costs you nothing extra.

Until Next Time,

Play Well!