Lego Atlantis was a product range of the construction toy
Lego, themed around the underwater world of
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
. The range was launched in early 2010 and discontinued by the end of 2011. The toy sets included models of buildable underwater vehicles, as well as "heroic diver" and "shark warrior"
minifigures
A Lego minifigure, commonly referred to as a minifig, is a small plastic articulated figurine produced by Denmark, Danish toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978 and have been a success, with over 4 billion produced wor ...
. A ride based on the range was operated at
Legoland Windsor Resort
Legoland Windsor Resort (), styled and also known as Legoland Windsor, is a theme park and resort in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego brand. The park opened on 17 March 1996 and is currently operated by Merlin Entertainment ...
.
Development and launch
Designer William Thorogood commented that from design focus groups, "it emerged that there were certain key icons the product simply had to include: propellers, dome cockpits, big lights, helmets, harpoons, torpedo-like weapons, tridents, giant squid, and evil sharks."
The theme was revealed in the
Lego Club Magazine in September 2009. The associated toy sets were released from December 2009.
Story and characters
The Lego Atlantis theme
backstory
A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative o ...
was described on the Lego website and in the Lego catalogue. The Atlantis Crew were described as a deep sea salvage crew who searched the ocean for shipwrecks and treasure. The crew finds a clue to the location of the long lost Atlantis city, and then makes it their mission to search it out and uncover its mysteries.
The sets introduced two groups of good and evil characters. The first was the Atlantis salvage crew of "heroic divers", led by Captain Ace Speedman. Also in the crew was
marine biologist
Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifi ...
Dr. Jeff Fisher,
First Mate
A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the shi ...
Lance Spears, "Tech Expert" Axel Storm, and apprentice Bobby Buoy. Professor Samantha Artesia Rhodes was also part of the team, but was described as having "not initially been part of the crew, so she tricks them into helping look for Atlantis".
The evil characters were described as "Atlantis Warriors", and had human-like bodies with the heads of a sea creature. The three warriors were the "Squid Warrior" (with tentacles as well as a
squid-like head), "Manta Warrior" (with the head of a
manta ray), and "Shark Warrior'" who performed a
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
attack.
Finally, there was the "Portal Emperor", who resided over the portal to Atlantis.
Sets and products
According to
Bricklink
Lego A/S (trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks aro ...
, The Lego Group released a total of 24 Lego sets and promotional polybags as part of the Lego Atlantis theme.
It was discontinued by the end of 2011. The largest, Portal of Atlantis (set number: 8078) contained 1007 pieces, and instructions to build a portal to
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
, as well as six minifigures: three divers, a shark warrior, a squid warrior, and the portal emperor. Others included Seabed Scavenger (set number: 8059), Typhoon Turbo Sub (set number: 8060), Gateway of the Squid (set number: 8061), Atlantis Exploration HQ (set number: 8077), Shadow Snapper (set number: 8079) and Temple of Atlantis (set number: 7985).
As well as the Lego models, a number of other products were created to tie-in with the theme. These included wearable items such as a water gun, a "harpoon blaster", a trident, a shield, a collections of
minifigure
A Lego minifigure, commonly referred to as a minifig, is a small plastic articulated figurine produced by Danish toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978 and have been a success, with over 4 billion produced worldwide a ...
magnets, and keyring accessories. The Atlantis theme also produced a board game for two to four players titled "Atlantis Treasure", which was released in 2010.
Attractions
In 2010, ''Lego Summer Camp'' was located in Atlantis, on Paradise Island on the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
. The attraction was opened by
Frankie Jonas
Franklin Nathaniel Jonas (born September 28, 2000) is an American former child actor.
Jonas voiced Sōsuke in the 2009 film ''Ponyo'' and was a recurring character in the Disney Channel series ''Jonas''. He also appeared in a minor role in t ...
(younger brother of the
Jonas Brothers). It also included a life-sized figure of a SCUBA diver from the Lego Atlantis line of toys called L.A.N.S.E. (Lego Atlantis Navigational SCUBA Explorer) and Atlantis Kids Adventures (AKA) is an 8,000-square-foot club that takes the idea of personalization to the kids' level, allowing them to choose their own adventure.
In 2011, a ride based on the Atlantis theme was introduced at
Legoland Windsor Resort
Legoland Windsor Resort (), styled and also known as Legoland Windsor, is a theme park and resort in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego brand. The park opened on 17 March 1996 and is currently operated by Merlin Entertainment ...
. ''Atlantis Submarine Voyage'' combined a dark submarine ride with
Sea Life
Sea Life is a chain of commercial sea life-themed aquarium attractions. there are 53 Sea Life attractions (including standalone Sea Life centres, mini Sea Life features within resort theme parks, and Legoland submarine rides) around the world. ...
exhibits and was located in the Adventure Land area of the park. The attraction housed a 1 million litre tank that was home to 50 marine species. The ride was refurbished in 2019 and renamed ''Lego City Deep Sea Adventure''.
Other media
In 2010, three books based on the Lego Atlantis theme were released. ''Lego Atlantis: The Quest for the Lost City'' and ''Lego Atlantis: The Menace from the Deep Activity Book'' were released on 1 April 2010 by Penguin Random House Children's UK. ''Lego Atlantis Brickmaster'' was released on 16 August 2010 by
DK.
''Lego Atlantis: The Movie'' is a 22-minute
computer animated
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...
film that was produced for the Lego Atlantis theme. The storyline follows a group of treasure hunters looking for the lost city of Atlantis. The film was first shown on the
Cartoon Network website on February 15, 2010. It was directed by Mark Baldo.
See also
*
Lego Legends of Chima
Lego Legends of Chima was a Lego theme that was introduced in 2013 and discontinued in 2015. The product line was based on the storyline of ''Legends of Chima'', a 3D animated television series, which was produced to coincide with the Lego them ...
*
Nexo Knights
''Nexo Knights'' (stylized as NEXO KNIGHTS) is a 3D animated television series that aired on Cartoon Network and premiered in 2016. It was produced by The Lego Group to coincide with the Lego theme of the same name. The series is based on a fanta ...
*
Lego Ninjago
Lego Ninjago is a List of Lego themes, Lego theme that was created in 2011 and a flagship brand of The Lego Group. It is the first theme to be based on ninja since the discontinuation of the Lego Ninja theme in 2000. Whilst it retains some elemen ...
*
Lego Monkie Kid
''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 ...
*
Lego Aquazone
*
Lego Aqua Raiders
References
{{Lego
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
Products introduced in 2010
Products and services discontinued in 2011