"But by supplying boys with new high imaginative fuel, we believe that we will also break new grounds and achieve new, higher goals" Oh man you had no idea
And the best thing is several years later when they released the 90th Anniversary Tahu, the community proved that statement right with sheer creativity.
To be part of creating Bionicle was truly the chance of a lifetime so I feel extremely lucky and grateful for the adventure. All the people who have interacted have basically co-created the legend. The energy of this community is legendary:)!!!
Thank you for everything you did I had a great childhood lol I remember seeing the first wave of Toa and getting the first comic with my lego magazines. Those were the days
Thank you for sharing your video. If it wasn't for Bionicle growing up, I wouldn't be doing anything imaginative right now as a semi-professional graphic designer and fiction writer!
seeing the great spirit robot in his entire design being featured in the PITCH VIDEO for bionicle, shows just how much this was a legend in the making, almost 10 years before the actual reveal to audiences
This video basically confirmed that Onua was meant to have glow in the dark eye pieces. Neat. Some of the parts of this video were seen in the Russian lego show thing. I remember that these early Toa models were used there. Thank you foe sharing this video with us Faber. I have been there in the fandom since 2001 and I try my best to keep the legend alive!
It is quite an experience seeing the original pitch for something that has had such a strong impact upon my life as this. From the deepest parts of my heart, thank you for showing it at last.
One of the best LEGO themes of all time. So rich and complex, not some simple story. The Toa had faults, sometimes things went badly. So much time spent reading whenever i could.
I find it interesting that some of the Toa are explicitly afraid of water, but nobody is afraid of anything else, and that a few characters are almost the polar opposites of what they'd eventually release as, while others have changed very little! Such an interesting video! Thank you so much for sharing it!
That was most Incredible! So much ideas put into one CD that moved LEGO entirely! And only the Toa were featured in their prototype stages, yet with no mention about the full story about the Bionicle, of Mata Nui, his Dark Brother the Makuta, or any other character that is featured just yet or decided! MAGNIFICENT MR. FABER!!!
Though I do find it interesting that they had the silhouette of a figure with outstretched arms, which was later added to the Mask of Life and Karda Nui to represent the Mata Nui Robot.
Your story defined my life, taking into account I came in during the 2006 storyline. That's all I have to say. Nothing will ever honor what you have, indirectly, done for me, you can't even imagine it.
Dont get your expectations up too high. It was a simple walk cycle made with cut up LEGO 3D files in the 3D program Soft Image. No advanced rigging or anything😉✌️
Regardless. Your work has been consistent inspiration for so many! Bionicle is how I've been learning 3D animation and modeling in Blender. It's been incredible
@@questforfuturecreativity Finally got a chance to see the first animation - honestly I love it and what it symbolizes: one small step for Toa, one giant leap for creativity :)
10:43 The fact that the Great Spirit Robot was already planned as the climax of the whole 8 years of story since the very beginning still surprises me. I'm also curious if that pose and shape of the Robot was meant to be the design for the Mask of Life or if it was just pure coincidence. But what an amazing story you created. The mistery, the teachings and the journey of seeing dark days, but also the rise of the light is the kind of storytelling that kids need today. I will be always greatful of this amazing journey. Bionicle gave me so many pillars to the way I see life and to always have an eye on different perspectives and to see beyond. Thank you a lot Mr. Faber, you gave us the way... of the Bionicle
To be fair, the series was never meant to go on for 8 years, the original plan was to reveal the Great Spirit Robot at the end of the third year. The massive popularity of the entire series took LEGO completely by surprise and they realized they could ride that popularity for a lot longer so they pushed the big reveal back a few years and developed more "in between" story material to fill the gap.
@@Dargonhuman That explains the whole confusing thing where they "awaken" Mata Nui at the end of 2003's arc only for him to still be asleep until 2008.
Seeing a promotional video that features a mix of early BIONICLE prototypes interspersed with artwork from Bone Heads of Voodoo Island is so unbelievably cool. I assume that direction for the theme had already been abandoned but there wasn’t enough time to create that much more art for this short video before the pitch meeting so you just used what you had to illustrate the point. That a PlayStation game received specific mention is also very interesting.
That is so incredibly interesting to see the earliest behind the scenes footage, and how Bionicle was presented to LEGO early on. It feels surreal honestly. Absolutely wild how much of what was said in the video was followed through with and worked so well.
I am so happy to see this. Bionicles were a huge part of my childhood. I still have my figures and treasure them a lot. I hope Bionicles will return one day. Thank you sir for everything. ❤
Some of you asked for the "original not upscaled"-version. It's very low-res, and only 12,5 fps. But here you go :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V6wLz-lFj1c.html Regards Niklas / The Video Editor (Who upscaled it)
You are a legend for uploading this lost treasure. Thank you! Those early masks look crazy. There's a red one that looks like an original Voodoo Heads prototype, and the green one may be something we've never seen before. Absolutely adore the beginnings of Bionicle. Those initial waves and the accompanying stories were something truly special.
I swear I've seen those unused prototype masks in my Bionicle dreams before... they're definitely triggering some repressed, forgotten dream memories. Which is crazy since this is the first time I'm seeing them in a waking state. ... Well, at least I _hope_ I'm in a waking state right now...
This is incredible. To see the very foundations of the franchise being laid out along with the plans for marketing and knowing that so much of this paid off, is a very heart warming hindsight. I will never understand why we stopped getting things like promo CD's in the packaging or more narrative centric content like the Mata Nui Online Game and the movies when that was some of the best parts of the franchise next to the toys themselves.
By far the coolest part is seeing the prototype masks. That wee paper with the hand made concepts? Evocative as shit. Thanks Faber and the team. You're the greatest!
Absolutely adore all of this new behind the scenes stuff about Bionicle coming to light. This toyline helped me through all of my schooling and an entire country move and seeing the original creator still showing us new content on it makes my day that much better!
Thank you so much for sharing it. It's always fascinating to see new Bionicle content, even if it's concept art like this, but the fact that this was the pitch video makes it even more interesting.
Honestly seeing all this sort of stuff come back into the light in the past year has been such a treat. I'm in my thirties now and Bionicle still fills me with so much wonder. I hope if they ever do a G3 that it somehow re-captures the spirit on these early days. Thank you Mr Faber for sharing your work, and for your wonderful and generous spirit.
I have to say that bionicle is one of my favorite stories ever, right up there with the lord of the rings. It has been a huge inspiration to me as a writer and I still buy the sets and parts where I can find them. Thank you for creating the best lego theme, the best toy line, and one of the most interesting and unique story worlds ever.
Seeing footage like this is so incredible. The early concepts that shaped the world we began to love 24 years ago. I truly appreciate you sharing and indulging the fanbase with this treasure.
The selling in video has resurfaced and opened the doors to the beginning of the legend! Complete with the masks with codes on the front and the iconic Toa holding the Mask of Time concept art! A phenomenal discovery!
Bionicles were a huge part of my childhood. They were the perfect toy for imaginative play. Thank you so much Mr. Faber and the rest of the team for coming up with something so special and unique.
Even now, knowing all that Bionicle eventually became, this intro into the world and characters sparks something very deep about the imagination of young childhood. It's no wonder there was so much faith and enthusiasm for Bionicle. There was truly nothing else like it in any form of story or toy at the time. It was truly something special.
You guys were really a head of your time. It's crazy looking at back this 25 years later. How you wanted to use the internet and video games to tell the story and teasing was a big part of the introduction. I've seen so many indie projects get big by using the same teasing tactics Bionicle used, the internet has complete change how we interact with media, and story telling has become a huge part of gaming. Now there are people making fans games to tell the story of Bionicle.
I can't even begin to break down how much quality went into this. This is bloody amazing, from the camera, CGI and narration to the work on storyline and prototype builds. Even if I was just a kid playing with toys, I'm glad I was a part of this story.
10:44 I recognize that silhouette anywhere. It amazes me just how well thought out this franchise was. We will never get anything like it again, and honestly, I'm fine with that.
Thank you for sharing this! It's incredible to see this piece of Bionicle's history. As time progresses forward, more of Bionicle's past continues to be revealed, very similar to how the story of Bionicle itself was told.
Partly from nostalgia and partly from a wish to have something superior to a desktop mannequin, I have recently been working on a kind of "Toa Metru as you remember them, not as they were" thing where the idea is to capture that aesthetic and character size but with any available parts. In essence: Metru mask on a hand piece, Vahki leg as the thorax for a bendy waist with a 'hand' piece joining it to Vahkhi hips, 90609 HF upper arms, Toa Metru lower arms, normal 'hands', 2x7 ball connector thighs with Inika thigh armour, Hordika legs, Nuva feet. I think you'd probably enjoy that, or a similar recipe.
I am so grateful that this idea was approved and the legend I grew up with until it's very end in 2009 even happened. I just only wish I had kept all my sets and not given them away.
Super cool how the Toa seemed more like unpredictable rulers of their respective domains. Almost like vengeful gods. I’m glad with what we got, but this was certainly an interesting angle as well.
I think grandma Nokama had a stroke at 8:38 🤣 Jokes aside, it's super awesome to see the early ideas of what bionicle was to be! I'd give just about anything to be able to live it all again 😌
Thank you for sharing this! It's really awesome seeing the original pitch to something that would shape my life all those years back! It looked like Onua originally had glow in the dark eyes to emphasize his better vision at night and in caves. That must have been neat to see!
i saw a strange prototype Bionicle video in a russian TV Lego show, with a few scenes of this video, but pretty much incomplete. now i feel amazed to see this full video complete. this concept video from 1999 remainds me to the Bohrok concept video i saw when i was a kid (the proyect B.U.G.S), so it feels sorta nostalgic for me. presenting Onua first as the "main character" instead of Tahu, clicked my mind on the cancelled game of Bionicle presenting him as the first playable character, or, to put it simple, on the Netslé game, you can see the teaser of a PC game presenting first Onua. 8:48 i don't know if the canister spinning thing was there in the final relase, i can't remember since i got 2001 sets a very young age. 9:51 now that, make me feel a gasp of joy. this make me feel happy and, thank you so much for showing us this
Wow. I never seen this part of Bionicle 2001 before. There are the prototype Toa Mata sets. Boy, I always look at the Toa Mata as Bionicle’s own first Avengers from Marvel, before other heroes showed up (I also count Hero Factory as a part of Bionicle G1’s universe because of the similarities). This is great. I wish we could have seen this in 2001. Good thing that you saved it, Mr. Faber. Happy 1st anniversary to the “Tahu and Takua” set in 2023, too! :)
I would KILL to have full images of things like those mask prototypes and the design sheet, also this finally answers where the clips from the german ads came from
Crazy the idea of the Toa being some kind of powerful spirits of the land rather than champions of the matoran specifically. Atleast the pitch does make it sound like some would snap on a tiny matoran for ducking up lol
Bionicle has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. Seeing stuff like this is fantastic, always makes me want to pull my collection out of storage.
There are few things that have had as profound an impact on my life as Bionicle. I can safely say that becoming obsessed with the Bionicle storyline when I was a little boy played a huge role in making me the woman I am today. So much of who I am - my interests, my hobbies, my aesthetic tastes - I can trace back to Bionicle. So, seeing this, the thing that started that story which meant so much to me... it feels like coming home. Three things stand out to me in this video: First, the emphasis on the Toa as _spirits_ is fascinating - like they don't just wield the elements, but in a way _are_ them. Second - oh, so _that's_ how you pronounce "Lewa"! I remember arguing with my classmates about that in Elementary School. Turns out, we were both wrong! And third: it's oddly comforting to learn that Pohatu (my favorite Toa) was already written as a himbo, even at this early stage.
Can't wait for that video. Thank You very much for everything that You have done for us!! Lately I realized how Bionicle influenced my childhood and I really owe You for that!
This is Amazing! Looking back on my childhood I think Bionicle has had some of the biggest impact on who I am today. The world building, story and design is something I strive to replicate in my own work to this day. I started becoming a game developer to make a fan-game of Mata Nui Online Game, but it grew further and has led me into a career of game development. I am truly grateful to have been able to grow up along side such an amazing product as Bionicle. Hopefully we will see something like it again in the future.
It’s interesting to see how some of the Toa looked different compared to their final designs, specifically Onua having no hunchback and Gali having different arms like Lewa or Kopaka
