Lego Monkie Kid ( and stylized as LEGO Monkie Kid) is a Lego theme inspired by Monkey King and Journey to the West. It is licensed from The Lego Group. The theme was first introduced in May 2020. The toy line is also accompanied by an animated television series that premiered in China on May 29, 2020, with the special Lego Monkie Kid: A Hero Is Born.
Overview
Lego Monkie Kid is inspired by Monkey King and Journey to the West, which focuses on Monkie Kid and his friends, battling against a variety of demons who are trying to take over Megapolis.
Development
Lego Monkie Kid is The Lego Group's first product line based on Chinese culture. Although The Lego Group had previously released Lego Chinese New Year sets, it was the first time that the company had released an entire product line based on a Chinese theme. Following research in China, The Lego Group discovered that the classic Chinese story of the Monkey King and Journey to the West is widely known within Chinese culture. As a result, the story was chosen as the main inspiration for Lego Monkie Kid. Simon Lucas, senior creative director commented, "It feels like it was in the DNA of everybody there. So we thought it was a great starting point to tell a new story that's rooted in Chinese culture". The Lego theme was developed over the course of two years and interpreted the story in a different way to the original. Lucas explained, "The people we spoke to have grown up with these stories, and we wanted to find out what's important to them, and how to interpret that in a new way...So, being 100% accurate to the original was not necessary, really, because we were picking up the key ingredients". The product line does, however, include recognizable characters from Journey to the West.
The designers behind Lego Monkie Kid had revealed that researching Chinese stories and testing with children were important in the development of the brand new theme. Lego Senior Design Manager Dennis Fong explained, “We felt that we hit something really big when we had this concept of the Monkey King,” and continued, “Seeing all the energy from the kids, the parents, how they could instantly recognize it because we had a lot of key iconic elements in there. And, you know, we didn't need to tell a new story. We had the old story as a foundation for us to build upon."
Lego Senior Design Manager Dennis Fong also explained how he turns Lego Monkie Kid theme from concept to products: "For us it was a “Journey to the East” because right after we were given the Design brief, from the very beginning we made trips to China and involved our Shanghai colleagues in brainstorming workshops to create several concept directions. Subsequently, we made more trips to various cities in China to test and validate our concepts with Chinese kids and parents. This provided us with valuable insights which pointed to the huge potential Monkie Kid has as a promising new playtheme. It ticked all the boxes of having the right play ingredients which resonated really well with our Chinese consumers as they find it super interesting. At some point we also tested the models in US and Germany as well, where the theme also received really positive feedback. Over time, we shaped the assortment lineup of Monkie Kid and developed model designs based on consumer insights and inputs from our Chinese colleagues. Back in Billund, we regularly conduct play sessions with kids to test model handling and stability, among other quality tests like heat tests, model design build through with LEGO model coach experts to identify areas for design simplification and improvements. Thereby undergoing several rounds of design iterations until we arrive at the final model design. In parallel, many other Creatives were also hard at work with designing and developing new element prototypes needed for Monkie Kid, stickers and graphic prints that go onto the model, principle design identity, packaging and last but not least the building experience itself. It was truly a collective team effort to pull it off and excellent collaboration on all fronts. All in all, it was a fun and exciting journey to be involved in the creation and development of LEGO Monkie Kid."
The initial concept for the theme originated in a rough sketch created by Ned Rogers in December 2021. The sketch depicted several construction sets are transformed into animated vehicles and which parts of the design remain. Featured the concept art are Monkie Kid's Cloud Jet, Pigsy's Food Truck and the Tuk Tuk from Iron Bull Tank. With Lego Monkie Kid theme from The Lego Group was developed as an animated television series, the images showcase how the early set designs were taken and turned into animated models on screens.