Why BIONICLE Mattered (And Still Does!)
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- Опубліковано 19 лип 2020
- BIONICLE was a part of many of our childhoods, and it stands out as one of the highest effort children's multimedia projects ever to exist. And so, I wanted to explore what made BIONICLE special and what it taught us.
Listen along to me rambling about some kids toys with a surprisingly complex narrative. This is my first video essay type video in this format, so please bear with me for the poor quality edit.
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If BIONICLE wins the 90th anniversary theme spot, I'll prioritise those story videos, so please go vote for it (Final round starts on the 3rd of Feb)!
ideas.lego.com/blogs/a4ae09b6-0d4c-4307-9da8-3ee9f3d368d6/post/fd5cc3b8-284f-4520-825f-7c3f5e4a50fe
I don’t mind the 90th century thing, but I would prefer a G3. Not as a reboot, but rather as a retry of the original story:
Six heroes land on an island ‘in canisters’ and in the first wave/year of sets, fight of Rahi and fends of Makuta who was controlling them. Next wave/year, Makuta releases the Bohrok who are only fulfilling their purpose. Next wave/ year we get the Rahkshi and so on…
I don’t remember the whole story and I missed out on a lot when I was younger. All I did was watch one movie and buy a few sets because that is all my parents allowed me to have. Yes I’m older and I can buy whatever I missed out on, but because bionicle is precious, people are either selling complete sets for the highest prices or not selling them at all as it is an important part of their collection. So I’d love Lego to repeat the story of bionicle but I the style of G2. I hope this doesn’t sound like a rant, I’m just saying my reason for wanting a G3 more than a one time 18+ set.
lego made us lose our expectations
at the cost of a new moc style
This comment by UA-camr... MechaEmperor7000 is the best way to sum the entire franchise up
"On Mata Nui, I learned that no one stood alone.
On Metru Nui, I learned that actions, not fate, defined a hero.
On Voya Nui, I learned what it means to be determined, to face your fears.
On Mahri Nui, I learned what sacrifice truly means.
On Karda Nui, I learned to never give up, even in the Darkest Hour.
On Bara Magna, I learned that anyone, anywhere, can be a hero.
United in Duty, Bound in Destiny.
That is the way of the Bionicle."
I will never forget bionicle and the community, it comes with one closure which is....Unity.
The three Virtures
UNITY DUTY DESTINY
Yes! I will keep saying this: When you take your audience seriously, it WILL pay off.
They could have made a basic story, but they gave it their all and inspired a generation. I will never, ever forget that. BIONICLE's form of storytelling contributed so much to who I am today and they way I create my own stories.
I was a hardcore BIONICLE fan as a child, and I still am today. The Three Virtues were my religious symbol, the Toa my own Justice League. This toy series shaped my entire childhood and provided me with words of wisdom that I still live by today. It brings a tear to my eye when I see other people still talk about this franchise even though it's been dead for an entire decade. If you told my 7-year-old self, who was struggling to build his Toa Mata Pohatu set, that he would be part of one of the greatest fandoms in the world, he wouldn't have believed you.
Thanks so much for describing why BIONICLE shaped my life.
Bionicle was the greatest Lego theme. It will always be remembered in our hearts.
In my opinion, Bionicle (G1) was Lego's greatest creation.
The vast complexity was never its downfall. It’s simply the fact that the story was spread out across the different medium the way it did.
As a old hardcore fan this brought a tear in my eye, to see someone explain everything great about the franchise as a greater whole.
Having only watched the movies, I’m still trying to comprehend how those landmasses and civilisations managed to fit inside Mata Nui 😂
The movies make Metru Nui look like more of an Island, but basically every island inside Mata Nui is like an enclosed dome, and they’re connected by tubes to the other parts.
Though I still have trouble wrapping my head around the logistics of the 2007 geography.
Same here
Five finger Mountain are literally five fingers
Metru Nui floated in protodermis much like a cerebral spinal fluid
@@Tonsa Here is my best interpretation of the 2006-07 geography. The Southern Continent is in its own dome in the abdomen of the Great Spirit robot. "Beneath" the Southern Continent if the robot is laying down or "behind" it if standing up is Karda Nui, the "heart" of the Great Spirit.
The Pit, the Order of Mata Nui's prison, is in a dome carved out by the Order's members but is far smaller than any other dome in the robot. I suspect it is located near the Southern Continent dome.
When the robot crash landed on Aqua Magna during the Great Cataclysm, a portion of the Southern Continent, Voya Nui, was ripped from the robot and sent to the surface of the world-wide ocean. Thus, Voya Nui existed on the surface of the planet just like the island of Mata Nui. Also, the roof of the dome of The Pit was shattered and ocean water flooded it. Centuries later, a portion of Voya Nui broke off and sunk into the ocean, with survivors creating the village of Mahri Nui.
The Toa Mahri destroyed the rocky "cord" that anchored Voya Nui to the robot. The island sunk, colliding and combining with Mahri Nui to form its original shape, and then sealed the hole in the robot.
Bionicle was foundational for my development as an author and an artist. The fact that they went so hard during that first year with that unique world, all the characters and all the lore plus being able to experience the main 2001 story through your own eyes via the MNOLG is staggering even to this day. For me, it was basically baby's first Tolkien!
Bionicle will forever be my favourite story of all time, no matter how old I get. It inspired me to think creatively, make my own stories and helped me to overcome my depression. Vakama has been my hero ever since I was 4, and the three virtues guide me to this day. Unity, duty, destiny. The legend of the Bionicle lives on.
Bionicle unironically might just have _the_ biggest impact on me of any piece of media, ever.
ahhhh, it nice to see people still remembering and sharing the series like fans of transformers or comics like Marvel and DC.hee, good top known it won t be forgoten.... not now, not ever....
the best way to experience the vast majority of bionicle's story would be biomediaproject.com, it's the definitive way to access the comics, games, serials, and more
Definitely! I used that a lot while making this!
I did a presentation over volumes 1 and 2 of the comics in my graphic novel class (working toward my english degree) reviewing Bionicle and I said "It was a teenage-to-adult building system, with media for all ages, sold to children." It was made to hit so many demographics at once! And succeeded!
bionicle deserves to have an animation show. all the entire story retold. combining all the movies, comics. i would love to see the full lore in a series. we know their story is long and complicated but if Adventure Time was a complex and ownlogic, then why not bionicle?
Given the resurgence of popularity in anime for young adults that would be the perfect vessel to bring it back, the story outline is already written out and can even be continued to where it was left off. Biggest problem is Lego doesn’t seem interested at all in bringing the IP back nor interest from a production company or director/ producer to make a reboot like Michael Bay did with Transformers. On a positive note many Bionicle fans are very artistically talented and the amount and quality l of fan made projects has been staggering.
Currently I'm making a stop motion series about 2001 story of Bionicle. At least that I can do about my appetite for more. In my UA-cam Channel the first episode is already waiting for the fans
It’s sad that this great story with amazing intricate lore doesn’t get the respect it deserves just because it’s a toy line. I’m in the same boat as you in terms of only knowing the most basic stuff up until recently. Hopefully people will make a bunch of lore videos talking about the world. It would also be amazing if a bunch of lore buffs got together and made fangames like MNOG and other cool things.
Thank you for covering the Epic Legend of Bionicle. I have been a fan since day 1 as an eight year old in 2001, and since then it has been the greatest creative influence excatly because of the world-building you mention throughout this video. I will tell you, Bionicle would have been a cool short fad had it only lasted until 2001, I would not be the same person writing this review. Once my eight year old self saw the Bohrok ad, signaling that this series was contuning, I was in for the ride, and, boy oh boy, what a fantastic ride it was!
Kids are smarter than most adults think, and it was this willingness to trust children's intelligence that made Bionicle BETTER than Transformers, and on the same table as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Breaking Bad, and The Lord of the Rings.
"Just because its for children that's no excuse for making it shallow." That is a lesson that everyone should know and accept by now, the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender knew this very well, adding mature themes such as genocide, colonialism, and free will to name just a few. They did it in a manner that both worked in the context of the story and have it be digestable for children eight and above. When Bionicle was good, it was Avatar-worthy, and not only was Bionicle a massive creative influence, it is definatly a HUGE PERSONAL INFLUENCE, leading me away from "kiddie shows" like those on PBS and Nickelodeon and towards world cinema including stories and films from the Pacific area that inspired the world of Bionicle, not just New Zealand and Polynesia, but throughout the Sinosphere too, ESPECIALLY JAPAN. Two years ago I made the journey to Japan for the first time with a college trip, and I wanted to experience Japan more so I went again the next year. While I did take my original Toa Mata throughout Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima and took great pictures of the Toa in nature, but that's beside the point. The point is that these trips in Japan, I have realized that I felt more at home in the Land of the Rising Sun more than the land of my birth, and Bionicle has a huge influence on my life path on so many levels.
And oh, do I have some Bionicle Stories to tell, I just have to get over a lot of anxiety I have had over the past years.
It's a segueway from your comment but tangentially related - "Just because its for children that's no excuse for making it shallow." This is /exactly/ why I hate the direction some video game companies are going. Apparently mobile games are all the rage now, but what's worse is that games aimed at kids now implies that it can't teach important lessons. Nintendo in particular, some of the developers have what i consider archaic and backwards ways of thinking as to a child's intelligence and attention span.
@@monfernova Today videogames and movies only theaches liberal and materialistc bullshit, for example: Only the money and the look matters. They don't say anything about honor, duty, braveness, sacraficing your life for your family and commutiy, fighting for a greater purpose. The Bionicle taught the real values of the life to the children.
We followed what the story taught us. Unity. Duty. And destiny, we will always find eachother and stay together. For that is how the toa won, and so shall we. That is the way.
I still have my doubts that Bionicle G2 failed financially. Considering other LEGO projects that were either out or in development around the time of its cancellation, it's not unreasonable to assume LEGO just canned it to divert recourses to higher-priority projects, chief among them being the second LEGO movie.
This was so incredibly on point. I got emotional. Well done!!
Much like how Mata Nui was a remote home of the Matoran, Bionicle is the remote home for the fans to this day. We are happy there, content with the land we have and the beauty of it's ideas. To desire more than that is like that of the Makuta. Bionicle is one of those few things that achieve a cemented identity that will live on. Who knows what more will be spawned under it's far reaching canopy.
As fans of Bionicle, we are all different and come from all walks of life. But to truly love Bionicle and be a part of it's community.... it starts with Unity.
Anyone else get nostalgia chills when those familiar movie tunes start playing? I have to go to Pixar movies just to find other film music that sweetens my nostalgia tooth like that.
Even after death, the bionicle will be a legend, we will be the chroniclers who will tell about it.
Outside of the second movie, and one Bohrok toy, I didn't have much interaction with Bionicle growing up, so it was nice marathoning the movies recently (let's ignore for now that i fell asleep in no 3...). I'd be interested in bio videos just so i can actually contribute in our conversations lol. Keep it up! :)
I swear Bionicle had the potential to become one of those timeless toy franchises, like transformers or hotwheels, something literally everyone at least knows the name of.
I followed Bionicle from childhood to adulthood and then some. Even now I hope for a return to form to the original universe, to explore all these stories and characters even more.
"Using generic terms, such as 'master' rather than 'toa'."
Actually, "Toa" was used in the reboot. It just wasn't used for branding of the sets due to the general difficulty for out-of-touch parents to find a set when a good chunk of its identifying terminology originates from an entirely different language.
I personally believe that bionicle will have one more shot, but not as action figures but as your traditional lego sets. With the toa being mini figures and what not. It’ll be different, but if it brings bionicle back I’d be down
I personally think it’s just Bionicle in name at that point. The entire identity of the series is that it was character based and the playsets were for shits and giggles more than anything. Even in story it was so focused on being character driven that the entire universe was literally a character in of itself. If they took those resources to make another system line I’d rather them make something original inspired by it instead. That way it would be less polarizing and be able to bring something to the table without having to hold itself back for any preconceived establishments.
God knows Lego can use something new these days anyway
Great video man, I'm glad it popped up on my feed!
i want to think that the reboot is just another parallel universe.
This is the series that Kick-started my imagination, I will never forget, and will always be with me!😊
No. Its greatest asset saved it so that it’s still remembered. What killed it was how its story was spread out across SO many mediums, most of which weren’t even available in most countries that had the toys. Even in Denmark, home country of LEGO, you couldn’t get most of the comics or even any of the books.
i dont think it killed it entirely, this is a common problem everywhere but yes you are right
If you’ve subbed for SMT and are watching this, thanks for checking out some of my other content too!
Yes, please make a Bionicle story series! Always great to see more Bionicle content!
Hell yeah my dude! Keep Bionicle alive
I appreciate the conclusions you drew. I think you succinctly captured the frustration had with the reboot.
Thank you for making this video about the Legend of our generation of Lego themes.
Always more room for more bionicle videos.
Bionicle. The best line from lego
Bionicle series R.I.P. (sniff)
This was great! More please...
Been getting a lot more views and comments over the past couple of days, and I’m really grateful for all of them!
In terms of lore videos, I’m still working on them and got drafts done for 2 and a half, but I think the biggest problem I’ve got is where to start, so if you see this comment, help me out, do you want me to go in chronological order or to start with the Island of Mata Nui?
I don't have much skill in this field, but I really want to make a Bionicle game. I'm a aware that a team of talented creators are working on Quest for the Masks, but I still seriously want to make one.
Right now my most valid option is Dreams for the PS4. It is a beautiful creative tool, that I'm still trying to learn. You can even make VR games with it. Something like a VR Mata Nui Online game would be amazing.
Bionicle storytelling videos? Sign me up! Unity, Duty, and Destiny FTW!
These days I am so proud of being a part of it, and I wish I can go back in time to feel this spirit again of the early 00s
Greetings from Germany
Abso-god damn-lutely! I would love to see more Bionicle videos!
YES! yes! tell us all the stories there is to tell!
That's a massive throwback, I had the toys & some books as well. Great vid!
Thanks for watching! It’s pretty different to my usual content, but in a way it appealed to me for similar reasons😅
@@Tonsa Its great to branch out at times!
What a great video, i just have to say that as long as we continue to be creative and share our love to this series it will never die. but for real though, i would have killed for some bionicle dinosaurs if bionicle g1 would have continued a little longer.
Yeah, I wish they’d had just a couple more years to wrap up the story
Let's see those BIONICLE stories, my guy.
They’re on the way!
@@Tonsa Hells yeah!!
Bionicle is my favorite thing, like, ever
Man I really hope you do those Bionicle Lore Videos, cause just saying that got me to subtribe
I’ve been pretty inactive lately, but they’re coming
I feel like we need a reboot of this whole franchise
I think LEGO should do with bionicle the same they did with ninjago, make a legacy series with all the old toys.
Bro.. I want so say thanks from my heart... I really miss Bionicle. So deep lore. I was fall in love with that story. And yes keep going with bionicle vids. (Sorry for my English)
Will do! Video production’s slow, but they’re coming!
Honestly I wasn’t even born yet when bionicle came out and was too young to have played with any of the newer sets and I wish I could’ve experienced Bionicle Gen 1. I did have gen 2 and love those sets but I like the story the original has!
I hope bionicle one day gets a big budget film. Like a movie that takes the philosophical themes present in MNOG seriously
Unless Lego attempts another bionicle reboot, this time taking it audience's intelligence seriously, not likely to happen. But I do stand with you on the idea.
@@patricklenigan4309 It shouldn’t be a hard reboot ever again anyway. G1's universe all the way. It has wells of amazingly deep untapped potential still.
i think that we should just reboot G1, but with a lot more moral nuance, this time.
as in CHARACTER-DEVELOPMENT for Non-Toa, maybe even redeeming characters like the Piraka and allowing for more Toa-Villains, who aren't just obscure side-characters.
or better yet: have Makuta to be corrupted Toa. that would work even better!
it would be understandable for Kids, as in "behaving like a Monster makes you a monster" and it would get rid of that stupid "good sentient species vs. evil sentient species" thing.
I’ll definitely make those Bionicle Story videos I mentioned! No regular schedule for them, they’ll happen, but it’ll be whenever I have the free time. What even is a content schedule?
I would love bionicle stories
Bionicle LIVES! 👍👍😁
I’m interested!
Great stuff! I’d be interested to see some storytelling videos.
I hope to start making some story videos soon. I was debating between chronological order or original order, and I think I’ll stick more to the original order, so when I get round to the first one, I’ll aim to cover all of the 2001-2003 story.
I’m down with some Bionicle storytelling, that might be interesting
Dang u did not have to put Lhikans theme for the background music, that brings me to tears inside me.
great video it explains it really well. i didn't get to expirience this when it relased but i did enjoy it when i was growing up. i really wish that G2 didn't fail. if bionicle was still a thing i would buy it but ninjago is my bionicle. it isn't as deep as bionicle but i enjoy it because i have been with it since the start. when ninjago ends i will be really sad about it and it will be like with chima and bionicle when they ended but the comunity is going to keep the legacy alive.
All hail bionicle
Man bionicle is my favourite lego series I’m sad people didn’t like bionicle g2 😔😔 I’m sad
This video should get more views.
Yes I will subscribe, thank you kind sir.
I would certainly be interested in storytelling videos! Would they be recapping the official storylines, creating original narratives, or doing a bit of both?
Main idea would be to cover the official storylines, though ideally I’d want to do it in more “story” form rather than just recapping (probably arc based, so a vid on the Mata Nui arc, Metru Nui arc etc.)
@@Tonsa That sounds good!
tbh the only thing about G2 I really gave a shit about was Umarak and Makuta's Titan designs. I feel with small changes they could fit fairly well into the G1 story as background Makuta.
For a video that's set to a quality of 1080P by default, a lot of the B-roll you used was weirdly low-quality. Like, there's literally 1080P 60FPS versions of a lot of the footage used free on UA-cam.
Yes a thousand times yes!!!
i still like Bionicle to this day, despite its flaws.
one of my main gripes is that evil Toa are not given enough spotlight and that Non-Toa Heroes are almost never present in the story.
the only story that goes against this "good vs. evil species"-stigma, was the story where Takanuva travelled into the Pocket Dimension of the silver city and fought Kestora with the City-Building beast.
and MAYBE the Alternate Kingdom Universe, where Takanuva became a Turaga. (tbh. a reboot based on this universe would've been great!)
the problem is, that Greg gives his villains too much nuance to be "evil by nature", but not enough nuance to be morally complex, if you catch my drift.
i KNOW, it's a story for younger people. still, that's no excuse! stories for kids can portray a more complex morality, than just "these beings are always good/evil!"
if i would reboot Bionicle, i would make Makuta into something like Borderline corrupted Toa, who haven chosen evil on their own terms.
that's why, in my stories i take some creative liberties, in terms of "these beings are always EEEEVIIIL!"
Bionicle was my childhood, if you're gonna do some storytelling then do so. There is a lot of people that would love to hear it, me included!
Well thanks for the colossal spoiler, I guess...
Judging from the title one would think this video was meant for people who haven't experienced the storyline yet.
does anyone know where these Bionicle audiobooks can be found? I wanna listen!!
biomediaproject.com/bmp/story/ this site’s got a pretty comprehensive collection of Bionicle media, you can find them under “web story”
*Bye Bye Babylon starts playing*
I will be doing audio books for the 25 novels from bionicle I just need 1 more book so that I can start
I’m fairly sure LEGO Club wasn’t free in Denmark…
Yes preach the bonkles
Super
Boi, STORY TIME!!!
I’ve been away for a bit, but it’s 100% happening
Real.
Question what your opinion on Toa Tuyet
i'm slightly put off that Greg seems to refuse, to actually portray her as the villain, she truly is. as if he just can't bring himself to present her as truly evil, just because she's no Makuta or Dark Hunter and tries to find a backdoor, to portray her as "sImPlY mIsGuIdEd!"
or maybe i need to re-read the webserials, again.
being such a fan of Ninjago mechs, I've recently started to get interested in Bionicle, and the prices for used sets are so dang high!
why the heck do the reboot sets cost so much? I thought these were on discount for years
Due to them being less popular, there were likely less reboot sets produced. If you look around on eBay you can still often find many of the original run sets for lower prices.
This argument that is was too complicated sounds kinda contrived the more I hear it. Sure, if you don't know where to start it works, but in the age of binge consumption of products... It sounds like a perfect elevator sales pitch to get someone invested. All you need is a clear answer to where one should begin, and the resources that exist(I.E.) Biomedia project.
Amazing video! I would however just've added that 99% of the Bionicle fan base are adults XD.
Nowadays most are, but back during the peak early 2000s era most of us were still kids!
1:12 yes do it please
Unity, duty, fate everyone
I'm really upset cause when I was a kid i could buy like the first series of bionicle but then i was playing with hero factory and thought that bionicle wasn't so good (the pieces wasn't familiar to me didn't know the lore ect)
Audio dramas? You mean the podcast serials?
yo is that herofactory
The creativity of this franchise can’t be understated. When I was a kid I got so fucking little of anything. I got into the series when I was 6 and I couldn’t understand any of the crazy ass big words and fictional terms greg was plastering all over the place. But at face value there always felt like there was more beneath the surface through the presentation alone. It’s that kinda thing that let your imagination go wild even if your understanding of the story is just “robots with funny names gotta fight the spooky shadow man”
Bionicle 2015 failed because there was nothing of substance at all. Instead of unique designs based on a number of things to create something striking we got “skeleton” “spider” and “beast”. Okoto feels nowhere near as diverse and the lack of any combo models or wildlife or any of that adds to it. I was in major cope mode when the reboot was new but it was the most watered down thing imaginable looking back. There is no mystery to gravitate towards when there’s no evidence of any deep thought into the plot structure at all compared to everything about g1’s story footnotes being planned since the very beginning. And Lego had the gall to kill off constraction and CCBS because *they* forgot how to gravitate an audience and pretends that the audience doesn’t exist anymore to begin with. Sad
G2 failed, because it was formulaic. and Ninjago only persisted, because it got more creative and diverse with its settings and stories.
Yudron Micros as formulaic as you can be with only two years worth of sets under your belt anyway
If someone gave 1 billion dollars to waste, then the first I would do is use to make a proper Bionicle animated show, none of Journey to One crap or just movies.
And still, no info about Bionicle sets for 2021 or at least LEGO Ideas diorama... They're wasting this universe's potential so much... Still, I believe, that if fans will keep creating fan projects not letting Bionicle die, someday Greg will return to Bionicle Universe to give us back our beloved dark-fantasy story :)
Haha lol
Вижу приятный контент
0:32 and this is exactly why I hate most of the movie designs, Kids familiar with the series, have the sets, seen the art and the commercials have already immersed themselves into a world of biomechanical mask wearers they don't need them to have goofy floating eyebrows on their masks like Vakama in MoL or masks that function and move exactly like human faces. When I was a kid that didn’t help me relate to them it was just confusing.
It was likely to attract kids who weren’t already connected to the sets but it confused the fuck outta me too as a tyke
This is more of a retrospective than an actual essay. Good video though.
they better show the damn dislikes....it better be 0
0 dislikes 👌