Lego Elves (stylised as LEGO Elves) is a discontinued Lego product line produced by The Lego Group that was launched in 2015. The product line was based on the storyline of accompanying animated series on Disney Channel, the Lego YouTube channel, and Netflix which follow the adventures of a character named Emily Jones who travels to a magical land called Elvendale. It went through a reboot at one point, where the animation had the characters with typical Lego-figurine-styled hands. The theme aimed to introduce a fantasy element to girl-focused Lego products. It was discontinued in 2018.
The Lego Elves theme was underpinned by the storyline of its accompanying animated series. The Lego Elves animated television series began with a mini movie special titled Unite The Magic. An animated webisode series was released on the Lego YouTube channel. An animated series titled Lego Elves: Secrets of Elvendale was produced and aired by Netflix. Both the Lego toy line and the animated series targeted the girls market. The series focus on a human girl named Emily Jones, who inherits a magical amulet from her grandmother and travels through a portal to a magical realm called Elvendale. The storyline relates how she meets four elves with elemental powers (fire, earth, wind and water) with whom she fights against evil forces, and who help her to return home.
Following the success of Lego Friends and Lego Disney, The Lego Group aimed to launch another Lego theme targeted at the girls market. In contrast to the contemporary setting of Lego Friends, Lego Elves aimed to introduce a fantasy setting into girl-focused Lego toys. The theme was developed after testing several story ideas with girls around the world.
The Lego Elves theme was announced on 12 February 2015 at the American International Toy Fair. The toy line began with the release of eight toy construction sets that introduced the four main elves and their home environments which began to launch in March 2015. An official teaser for the animated series was released on the Lego YouTube channel on 15 December 2014. This was followed by the release of a trailer on 19 February 2015.
(voiced by Scott McNeil and Kathleen Barr)
The Elemental Guardians are a group of giant, mystical creatures who protect the elemental diamonds of Elvendale. These jewels are the source of all elemental magic.
The Shadow Creature is an entity of darkness who aids The Goblin King in his quest for power. It can drain the life-force from creatures and the environment. It is also a shapeshifter and has used the following forms:
According to BrickLink, between 2015 and 2018 The Lego Group released 33 toy construction sets, two polybag sets and six foil pack sets for the Lego Elves theme. The product line was discontinued in 2018.
The construction sets released each year were developed around a different storyline (which were reflected in the four seasons of the webisodes). The printed clothing featured on the "main five" mini dolls changed with each storyline; storyline four featured an armored look with designs representing each Elemental Guardian.
In March 2015, eight playsets were announced for the 2015 waves. Wave One: Aira's Creative Workshop, Naida's Spa Secret, Naida's Epic Adventure Ship, Azari and the Magical Bakery, The Elves' Treetop Hideaway, Farran and the Crystal Hollow. Wave Two: Aira's Pegasus Sleigh and Skyra's Mysterious Sky Castle. In addition, Azari's Magic Fire polybag set was released as a promotion.
In March 2016, ten playsets were announced for the 2016 waves. Wave Three: Emily Jones and the Baby Wind Dragon, The Water Dragon Adventure, Elvendale School of Dragons, The Starlight Inn, Fire Dragon's Lava Cave, The Secret Market Place. Wave Four: The Precious Crystal Mine, The Dragon Sanctuary, Queen Dragon's Rescue and Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle. In addition, Sira's Adventurous Airglider polybag set was released as a promotion.
In February 2017 at New York Toy Fair, eight playsets were announced for the 2017 waves. Wave Five: NaidaâÂÂs Gondola and the Goblin Thief, The Capture of Sophie Jones, The Goblin KingâÂÂs Evil Dragon, AiraâÂÂs Airship and the Amulet Chase, Magic Rescue from the Goblin Village. Wave Six: Azari and The Goblin Forest Escape, Rosalyn's Healing Hideout, Breakout from the Goblin King's Fortress.
In January 2018, seven playsets were announced as part of the 2018 waves. Wave Seven: Emily Jones and The Eagle Getaway, Naida and The Water Turtle Ambush, Azari and the Fire Lion Capture, Aira and the Song of the Wind Dragon, Noctura's Tower and the Earth Fox Rescue. Wave Eight: Emily and NocturaâÂÂs Showdown, The Elvenstar Tree Bat Attack.
Azari's Magic Fire (2015) and Sira's Adventurous Airglider (2016).
Six small limited edition LEGO sets were produced for inclusion with issues of the Lego Elves magazine. Each set included an animal figure from the Lego Elves toy line: Enki the panther, Flamy the Fox, Miku the baby dragon, Jynx the elven witch RaganaâÂÂs cat, Mr. Spry the squirrel, and Hidee the chameleon.
An animated television series, Lego Elves, was produced by Ja Film in Aarhus, Denmark. In the United States, the first special titled Unite The Magic aired on 8 March 2015 on Disney Channel. The second special titled Dragons To Save, Time To Be Brave aired on 6 March 2016 as a two part special on Disney Channel. The third special titled Down a Dark Path (a sequel to Dragons to Save, Time to be Brave) aired on 14 August 2016 on Disney Channel.
These specials (also referred to as episodes or mini movies) were released in conjunction with the webisodes released on the Lego YouTube channel.
Jenny Nixon for Common Sense Media gave the series a three-star rating, commenting, "This series is jam-packed with little girl bait - sparkling rainbow oceans, a flowing-haired Pegasus or three - and though the plot has a similar amount of depth, there's still something kind of fun about it. The quests Emily and her elf friends go on can be a tad generic, sure, but it's always nice to see a show with a high percentage of female characters, most of whom jump right in on the action and don't need a boy (or boy elf) to lead the way."
The Lego Elves webisodes were released on the Lego YouTube channel. The webisodes are grouped into four seasons. Season 1: Unite the Magic consists of webisodes 1 - 5. Season 2: Save the Dragons consists of webisodes 6 - 17. Season 3: The Capture of Sophie Jones consists of webisodes 18 - 33 and includes an unnumbered promo webisode "Did You Miss Us?" before webisode 18. Season 4: Into the Shadows consists of webisodes 1 - 15 (webisode numbering restarted at 1 for this season).
The webisodes from seasons 1 to 3 were later combined into webisode compilations. Webisode compilation 1 - 8 was released on 30 April 2018. Webisode compilation 9 - 17 was released on 7 May 2018. Webisode compilation 18 - 25 was released on 14 May 2018. Webisode compilation 26 - 33 was released on 21 May 2018. The 15 webisodes of Season 4 were released between March and August 2018, with a compilation of only webisodes 1 - 8 released on 4 June 2018.
Lego Elves: Secrets of Elvendale, a Netflix series produced by Studio Mir and animated by Production Reve, was released on 1 September 2017. The series is a more detailed retelling of the story featured in Season 3 of the webisodes (webisodes 18 - 33).
Joyce Slaton for Common Sense Media gave the series a three-star rating and commented on the "beautiful visuals, charming characters, heavy commercialism". The review also opined, "It's certainly lovely to look at -- the typical blocky Lego style has been abandoned for a rainbow-hued and glitter palette - and it goes down smoothly enough for young viewers who like mild antics lightened up with lots of jokes and friendly repartee between characters."
Several short character spots were released on the Lego YouTube channel to promote the Lego Elves series. Meet Aira, Meet Emily Jones, Meet Farran and Meet Naida were released on 22 January 2015. LEGO Elves - Azari was released on 11 March 2015. Introducing Tidus and Sira, Emily the Elves and the Dragons and The Baby Dragons were released on 9 February 2016. Ragana, Jynx and Dusti and Emily and the Queen Dragon were released on 4 March 2016.
Short (36 seconds to 89 seconds) computer-animated product videos were produced and released on the Lego Elves YouTube channel. The videos showed animation of each of the construction sets and mini-dolls in motion, showcasing the features of each set and what can be done with it.
Several music videos were released on the Lego YouTube channel in 2016 and 2017. They include If You Dare to Believe, Think Twice, and LetâÂÂs Do This.
A quarterly Lego Elves magazine targeted at girls and published by Immediate Media was launched from 2015 to accompany the toy line.
Two 128-page chapter books were published by Scholastic Inc. Quest for the Keys was released in August 2015, and The Dragon Queen was released in January 2016.
Activity books
Several activity books were produced during the run of the toy line and the webisodes. A Magical Adventure/A Magical Journey, A Mysterious Book (in Polish), Dragon Adventures, To the Rescue!, The Elf Witches Revenge (in Polish), and The Power of Dark Magic. The books came with items such as a bracelet to be assembled, stickers, or a small LEGO build set with an animal figure from the Lego Elves toy line.
An app game titled Lego Elves - Unite The Magic was developed by The Lego Group for iOS and released on 1 March 2015.
In September 2015, The Lego Group reported that the Lego Elves line and Lego Jurassic World, "were received very positively by children all over the world", and that these themes had helped to push revenue up by 23%.