The LEGO® Story

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you've probably seen one of these a Lego brick but have you ever wondered how it all started and why it's called Lego actually the name is much older than this plastic brick are you curious let me tell you how it all began many years ago there was a skilled and hardworking carpenter named only Kirk Christiansen oleh was a respected carpenter with his own company but times were hard so he didn't have much money and had to dismiss his last worker [Music] come on in I have closed down the workshop and packed my things thank you I suppose I'd better write you a paycheck [Music] take care [Music] well that was the last one I just didn't imagine that it would come to this I know it's hard to understand but at least now it can't get much worse but it did get worse shortly after Olli lost his wife but oleh was a special person he wasn't the type that gave up and with the responsibility of his four sons he had to think of something oleh had gotten an idea and for him it never took long to put an idea into action ole's little invention made his boys so happy that he thought maybe he should start making toys or they decided to give it a try luckily he had saved up a lot of wood from the carpentry production he could now use it to make toys time passed by and even though oleh was a skilled carpenter and had a good eye for quality and detail sales were very slow luckily one of his sons godfrey started helping out his dad after school together they just barely managed to keep up the production eventually word began to spread that wooden toys of the finest quality were being made in the little workshop in billow one day a man drove into town a man who would change ole's future he was a wholesaler from fredericka i've heard that you're making some very nice wooden toys well one does his best the wholesaler was very impressed with all the wooden toys and placed a big order before he left now there's finally someone who can see the opportunities in what we're doing look at this the wholesaler wants to put a lot of our toys into his store for the holidays it's going to be a good Christmas this year but we'll be busy now there was a lot to do in the little workshop and Olay could rehire his former workers oh they only used the highest quality wood which was hand-picked and very carefully prepared they work day and night to get the order finished so the wholesaler could get the toys out in stores before Christmas is there something wrong dad I'm afraid that we're in big trouble in the middle of their work all they received a letter saying that the wholesaler had filed for bankruptcy and couldn't buy the toys that he had ordered but what are you gonna do what about Christmas now he can't even afford food [Music] I'll do it what are you gonna do dad I'll do it myself I'll Drive around selling the toys there was no time to lose only pack the car with all the toys and drove off oleh was a very good toy maker but was not a very good salesman he didn't like praising himself or talking about how carefully the toys had been made but he had to keep trying if he was going to sell anything this is going to be a blast is there anything you were interested in it looks exciting but I don't have a lot of money right now maybe we could trade and call it even well I would prefer money but in the end he succeeded in selling all the toys he didn't receive as much money as he had hoped but the family managed and they had plenty of food for Christmas time passed by but the toys didn't sell as quickly as they had expected only thought perhaps the company needed a good name what should it be it has to be a short word I wanted to convey playing well in Danish playing well is called like God what should it be what should it be yeah if only I could get some sort of a sign leggo as you can see Olay himself ended up finding a very suitable name but what he didn't know was that in Latin the word leggo means I put together the name leggo was well received and the company slowly started to move forward we have made three thousand crowns this year and we have Lord was unusual did you say three thousand pounds then you need to see what I've been looking at even though God fraid wasn't comfortable spending money on a milling machine he could see that it was useful and that the quality of the toys improved could you finish the last batch and get it ready for shipping I will dad dad I've saved a lot of money for the company today really how I figured we could save money in the lacquer it's like only coated adducts twice instead of three times what unfortunately got Fred's idea didn't go over well with oh they only made got frayed unpack all the ducks himself give them the last layer of lacquer and bring them back to the train station only believed in high quality and not cheating his customers when God made returned only explained that that wasn't the way to create a good brand this little lesson opened Godfrey's eyes to the fact that every detail matters and only the best is good enough in the late 1930s Lego was making a profit even when the second world war broke out they tried to make the best out of a difficult time it seemed nothing could go wrong but a stormy night in 1942 changed their luck there's a fire the workshop is on fire but when the firemen arrived they were unable to save the workshop it burned to the ground and all the drawings and models were destroyed only was beginning to lose hope all that he had worked for was gone and he almost lost his company but being responsible for his children and workers inspired him to rebuild LEGO a new factory was constructed soon the production of wooden toys started again the little company fought its way back into the market gradually the Lego factory began to run smoothly and Olay started looking for new challenges one day he went to Copenhagen to look at a new machine that had just arrived in Denmark it was a plastic moulding machine and Olay was very excited about it should we buy it it sure is a good bargain and it will give us a lot of opportunities take that as a yes when the plastic molding machine finally arrived oh they started making little plastic teddy bears and rattles but he still had the plastic bricks that he had received at the fair there was something about them that he couldn't stop thinking about it and even though no one else could see the potential in it Olli decided to redesign and put them into production but it was when Lego first launched the Great Ferguson tractor that the plastic toys became a success unfortunately the sales were dropping during the summer and the company had too many toys in stock this can't be right of course our products can be sold the whole year not only for Christmas God parade decided that he would go out and sell the toys himself godfrid brought his wife Edith as company and moral support if you can't get cash then we lead by butter and eggs well it wasn't that bad got braids was a success in his trip around the country which helped Lego to get out of its financial crisis they reached home just in time for ole's birthday party ol 1860 and the whole family was gathered to celebrate with him hey I got an idea what about a picture with the three generations everyone thought that was a good idea and we were placed on the sofa with all the presents and flowers around us on a business trip to England Gottfried met the head of a big shopping center on his way home they discussed the toy industry and the conversation would be very important to the future of Lego damn this industry I just think that toys are no good nowadays what do you mean I think they're working very well oh they work fine sure but there's no system in anything system sister hmm there isn't any system what in the world are you doing gut friend there isn't any system the toys need an idea and a system built around it I want to put system into play children have only been offered ready-made solutions they need something different that will strengthen their imagination and creativity so you're trying to put Lego into a system interesting that same year Lego started producing the first Lego system of play children could now build houses from the Lego bricks the town plan gave play a realistic town setting and with this children learned about traffic safety my sisters and I could play with the new Lego system for hours some people said we were the luckiest children in the world because we grew up in a toy factory it was a huge breakthrough and godfrid decided to try selling it outside of Denmark the system of clay was so popular that they managed to sell it to many countries look what I just built that is really nice Kel even though Lego was meant for only building houses there was still a lot of opportunities there was just one problem I can't lift it up it keeps falling apart that made God freight wonder he wanted to find a way to make the Lego bricks stick together but that was easier said than done God prayed noticed that the Lego bricks got a better clutch power with tubes inside now it was no longer just bricks but a whole construction system with endless possibilities this was groundbreaking for the Lego product with a child's imagination Lego could be anything in the world over and over again the imagination is the limit look dad now I can build everything unfortunately oleh never got to see how successful the little brick actually became godfrid was left on his own and he had to go through another fire at Lego that destroyed most of the wood production just like his father got Freight knew that he had to try to get the best out of any situation and never give up godfrid took the hard times with his head held high as sales grew the company also got bigger he had to think ahead and he decided not to resume the production of wooden toys and to only focus on the Lego system it turned out to be a great decision many new models were built and Lego got stronger in the toy industry sir which one of these do you think is the best ah ah that one even though it got busier at Lego Godfried still had bigger plans now he wanted to build an airport so it would be easier to sell his toys to the whole world like father like son it didn't take long to put his idea into action only three years later Billund airport was open the many guests and business connections who visited the company always wanted to see the modeling department gradually it got so crowded that it was hard for the employees to keep up their work I think we better wait awhile godfrid could see that something had to be done he needed a bigger place to display the lego models ah I don't want to interrupt so I'll just put this package of our new Lego train on the table just put it there train the idea grew quickly from an exhibition room to an amusement park and then we could have a tower so you could look over the whole park from above the whole town it will be a land made out of Lego Legoland well it looks interesting but how many visitors are you actually counting on well I guess 200 300 thousand even though it sounded like a lot my dad was actually pretty far off the mark there were six hundred thousand guests the very first year my family and I were there to greet the guests we've kept up this tradition ever since now you know how it all began Lego wouldn't be what it is today if it hadn't been for my grandfather's sense of quality and search for perfection my father firmly believed in the endless possibilities of the Lego system I seek to take the Lego idea even further encouraging children to explore experience and express their own world a world without limits and we are still convinced that only the best is good enough because children deserve the best [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] you [Music] you

Info

Channel: LEGOClubTV

Views: 26,170,920

Rating: 4.8873816 out of 5

Keywords: LEGO, History, Birthday, house, Animation, Story, Happy Birthday

Id: NdDU_BBJW9Y

Channel Id: undefined

Length: 17min 9sec (1029 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 10 2012

Reddit Comments

This is a pretty interesting video and I like knowing more about how Lego started, but what the hell was up with the way they presented his wife's death? "Oh well at least things can't get much worse." And then she's DEAD! And he's like, "Oh well, I'm over it. Better go make one wooden duck on a string for my four boys who should clearly be too old for this shit." That was the most jarring, stilted, mock-up of a human experience I've seen since the Romney campaign.

👍︎︎ 3 👤︎︎ u/althevandal 📅︎︎ Apr 26 2013 🗫︎ replies

I mean, how can you not love legos. I feel like everyone grew up with these and inspired creativity in many.

👍︎︎ 3 👤︎︎ u/Malystryxx 📅︎︎ Apr 26 2013 🗫︎ replies

For a "marketing" video, I am amazed by the quality of the models and sets for each scene - it's authentic Danish style, there is proper Danish writing everywhere, and the areas look just like they should (including the old look of Legoland, etc).

It's nice to see that, very often when an English language video is produced (i.e lips sync is to the English language), the native language is sacrificed in the models in favor of something foreigners understand.