LEGO: Piece by Piece

Piece by Piece is a 2024 American animated documentary that tells the life story of musician and producer Pharrell Williams entirely through LEGO animation. Directed by Morgan Neville, it reframes interviews with Williams and his collaborators as minifigure scenes, and was produced with The LEGO Group and released by Focus Features.

Telling a life story entirely in bricks makes animation the whole of the production rather than an addition to it. Everything on screen has to be built and performed digitally: character animation constrained to the limited joints of a minifigure, layout and camera work that imitate handheld documentary shooting, lighting and shading that reproduce moulded plastic down to its scuffs and seams, and simulation of water, smoke and crowds reimagined in brick form. Terminal FX contributed visual effects and animation to Piece by Piece, part of the studio’s film, television and commercial portfolio.