Mixels Thread

[C to the J]

I just thought I'd start a place where fans of LEGO and Cartoon Network can talk about an entirely unique franchise. I'm, of course, talking about none other than Mixels.

Already, there's been a documentary about this body of work. And if what they're saying about the TV series is true, they really should step up their game and give us even more stories.

Here's the Web site: lego.com/mixels

And here are a couple of links to my posts regarding Mixels on my WordPress blog.
Post #1
Post #2

 

[Drtooth]

You're not trying to bait me, are you?

Long story short, I have a weird thing about these guys. As a toy line, I find it rather brilliant. Legos are usually used for architecture with the stars of certain sets being the Minifigures. And even then the smallest licensed sets are upwards of 10- 15 bucks. But we have a product line where you build beings instead, and while they do include Minifigure elements (heads becoming eyes, hats becoming eye brows), you have something special. And at five bucks a bag, they're the greatest value of all Lego sets. I'd say they're even better are the 4 dollar bagged sets that come out near holidays. Not to mention the fact that even if I did collect larger sets, well, I'd have no space for them. I also kinda dig the Mighty Micros line.

Then there's the cartoon. Now, I like the cartoon series fine. It's goofy and kinda dumb, but the on purpose fun kinda dumb and I was intrigued by the voice acting talent. In fact, the only reason I even got into them was because Billy West did the voice of a couple of them in series 2, and I wound up getting a Gobba as a result. My only complaint about the series is that I really don't like how it sustains itself in a series of short specials, one per product wave. I actually enjoy Lego's cartoon shows like Ninjago and Nexo Knights, and I wish that we had a deeper, episodic storyline for these characters to have them interact more with each other. Kinda disappointed that the last special didn't have more scenes with the MCPD, especially since one of them was voiced by Darran Norris.

 

[C to the J]

There are some who never had much to say, including Wizwuz, Chilbo, and Wuzzo. The fact that some Mixels are relegated to brief appearances (Tapsy only appeared in the seemingly rushed intro) is like a televised slap in the face.

What's even stranger is the change in animation studios. Although the animation in the most recent specials looks rather polished, Digital eMation and Big Star Entertainment didn't do anything to make the 'Mix splash' look more interesting like Atomic Cartoons did. Digital eMation had a few noticeable errors (e.g. Waka talking like Vaka and Jinky talking like Gurggle). And don't get me started on some instances of the choppy camera movement in Big Star Entertainment.

Now that I think about it, I wonder if everything the developers of the cartoon are doing is merely experimental. If they hadn't stopped making the shorts, some Mixels wouldn't have the fate of having less screen time.

 

[C to the J]

For those interested in the voice actors involved, here's the breakdown so far (those exclusive to the TV show are italic):

CARLOS ALAZRAQUI: Mesmo, Torts
ERIC BAUZA: Paladum, Mixapod, Miximals
JEFF BENNETT: Camillot, Dribbal, Gurggle, Jinky, Ranger Jinx
STEVE BLUM: Kamzo, King Nixel (second voice)
RODGER BUMPASS: Film Narrator, Flamzer, Gate Keeper, Major Nixel (second voice), Naut
GRIFFIN BURNS: Chilbo, Slusho, Snax
CHRIS COX: Busto, Forx, Gox, Principal
DAVE FENNOY: Boogly, Globert, Kramm, Krog, Medival King, Sergeant
JUSTIN GROLLMAN: Nurp
JESS HARNELL: Burnard, Meltus, Shuff, Vaka, Vulk, Zaptor
PHIL HAYES: Coach, King Nixel (first voice), Kuffs, Rokit
RICHARD HORVITZ: Mixadel
PETER JASON: Major Nixel (third voice), Turg, Wuzzo
TOM KENNY: Berp, Booger, Flain, Seismo, Teslo, Tungster
ANDREW KISHINO: Niksput
PHIL LAMARR: Chomly, Flurr, Tentro
DARAN NORRIS: Amphipod, Snoof, Spugg, Tiketz, Waka
SAM RIEGEL: Vampos
BUMPER ROBINSON: Footi, Glurt, Wizwux
DAVID P. SMITH: Krader, Volectro, Zorch
BRIAN STEPANEK: Magnifo
CREE SUMMER: Jamzy, Teacher
FRED TATASCIORE: Jawg, Major Nixel, Nixels (first voices), Slumbo
MATT TAYLOR: Glomp, Hoogi
BILLY WEST: Balk, Gobba, Lunk

The rampaging Mixeloptors and special vocal effects are provided by Michael Winslow.

A couple of side notes here...

1. No one knows who performed Kraw and Scorpi because their names never appeared in the closing credits. I tend to think it was Fred Tatasciore who performed Kraw because of the way the Series 1 and 2 Mixels were given voices (Kenny, Harnell, and Smith each performed one per tribe in Series 1, and LaMarr and West each performed one per tribe in Series 2, which leaves us with Tatasciore having done Slumbo and Jawg).

2. There are various unnamed kid Mixels seen throughout Every Knight Has its Day. You can definitely make out Jeff Bennett performing the shorter Cragster kid, whom the Mixels Wiki dubbed 'Rocky.' The documentary wasn't kidding about making the show more kid-relatable.

I bet some of the previous voice actors will get to voice some Mixels from Series 8 and 9. What's odd is none of the voice actors will reveal what voices they're performing and we won't find out until the closing credits show up. In some cases, it's easy for us to figure out the voices before the credits - I recognized Cree Summer performing the Teacher and Jamzy and Richard Horvitz performing Mixadel (the latter during the Murpball scene, of course).

 

[Drtooth]

Now that I think about it, I wonder if everything the developers of the cartoon are doing is merely experimental. If they hadn't stopped making the shorts, some Mixels wouldn't have the fate of having less screen time.

I really feel that the Mixels should be its own series, though in smaller capacity than their other shows, or at least have some sort of outside form of media. Like a comic book or something. The Mixopolis concept really allows itself to broaden up stories revolving around each new tribe. They should at least supplement the half hour specials with shorts with these new occupation based tribes.

As for the toys, I really think that the newest series are a lot more creatively designed than when they first started out. There were always characters who looked a little similar here and there, but they're taking bigger risks in these builds to give them all more unique looks and styles. I really like the look of series 7, and 8 and 9 look fantastic. Love the Shark Pirate character. Even if I didn't care about this line, I'd grab that one as soon as it came out. He seems like one of those TMNT mutants that only exist in action figure form late in the line.

1. No one knows who performed Kraw and Scorpi because their names never appeared in the closing credits. I tend to think it was Fred Tatasciore who performed Kraw because of the way the Series 1 and 2 Mixels were given voices (Kenny, Harnell, and Smith each performed one per tribe in Series 1, and LaMarr and West each performed one per tribe in Series 2, which leaves us with Tatasciore having done Slumbo and Jawg).

Yeah, it's totally Fred. I look at the wiki from time to time and wonder why that's the subject of debate. That's the logical conclusion that they only had 3 voice actors doing 3 characters per series. I have to admit, I really liked that, but I do like the variety of voice actors they've had since series 5. But it's totally Fred's voice, it has the same slightly gravelly quality, and I swear I heard him voice a character with a similar high pitched voice.

 

[C to the J]

I guess that leaves us with Scorpi, and to a lesser extent, the Nixels in both 2015 specials. Unfortunately, no one, not even the people in the documentary, will say anything about it. Since Fred Tatasciore performed the Nixels and Major Nixel in 2014, it can be assumed that Rodger Bumpass did the Nixels in Mixel Moon Madness when he replaced Fred's role as Major Nixel. Rodger was then replaced by Peter Jason in performing Major Nixel in the Mixamajig episode, so the Nixels also had to be voiced by him. It's rather curious, as Rodger returned for Every Knight Has its Day after an absence in A Quest for the Lost Mixamajig.

Now to talk about the toys.

Ever notice how some of the toys come with pieces that aren't seen in the cartoon versions and vice versa? I prefer to make my Mixels in a way that will make them closely resemble those variations:

• Flain's cuffs
• Krader's black left arm
• extra detail on Seismo's feet and left leg
• arrangement on Shuff's feet
• spikes on Flurr's tail
• black segments on Glurt's hindlegs
• Niksput's wide lower lip
• Nurp-Naut's green lower lip and white portion of the body
• Meltus's maroon nose nub
• Flamzer's tail spikes
• Vampos' ears (made so they're black only on top)
• no hints of gold on Jinky's legs
• Snoof's horn pointing up
• Tungster's black lower lip
• extra slime on Gurggle's feet
• Jamzy's purple lower lip

The spare pieces that come with each item do come in handy!

 

[Drtooth]

Now to talk about the toys.

Ever notice how some of the toys come with pieces that aren't seen in the cartoon versions and vice versa? I prefer to make my Mixels in a way that will make them closely resemble those variations:

• Flain's cuffs
• Krader's black left arm
• extra detail on Seismo's feet and left leg
• arrangement on Shuff's feet
• spikes on Flurr's tail
• black segments on Glurt's hindlegs
• Niksput's wide lower lip
• Nurp-Naut's green lower lip and white portion of the body
• Meltus's maroon nose nub
• Flamzer's tail spikes
• Vampos' ears (made so they're black only on top)
• no hints of gold on Jinky's legs
• Snoof's horn pointing up
• Tungster's black lower lip
• extra slime on Gurggle's feet
• Jamzy's purple lower lip

The spare pieces that come with each item do come in handy!

I always wonder why if the toys are designed first how the cartoon versions have variations of them that could have easily been remedied by swapping out pieces in the sets with different colors or shapes in production. Yeah, I was able to swap out Jamzy's lower lips because I got that Mighty Micros Batman and Catwoman set. Catwoman's car uses the purple curved half pieces. Her car actually looks better with the yellow pieces. Then there are simple changes made by simply adding a piece. My Zaptor came with an extra yellow round single peg, so I added the extra one on the top of his head to connect his (I dunno) Tesla coil. I added a small white round peg to Berp's left eye to have it stick out a bit more and tilted his head slightly. And just for the heck of it, I swapped Naut's heavy lid eye for Magnifico's so I can give him that "gasp...APPLAUSE!" expression. Other than that I don't really have the means to invest in getting extra sets to get smaller pieces or get one of those "Pick a Brick" things at the Lego store. If I get something in another set that I can swap out or extra pieces, though, I'll use one of those.

Of course, at one point I tried to use a Goofy House of Mouse Happy Meal toy's removable apron on Rokit (for the Crater Tots scene), but it was too big.

 

[Drtooth]

Gotta admit I'm kinda disappointed that they're doing the 2 specials thing they did last year. Mixopolis really lends itself to at least a series of shorts. While my favorite of the specials is the Mixamajig one, I really like how Moon Madness turned out. 3 Tribes each introduced with each act, and while a few characters didn't have many lines (the Glowkies besides Globert), none of the tribes were really short changed. Mixamajig introduced too many characters at once, and while I dig what they did with the Weldos, I feel they were basically just shoved to the side just for that gag. That and, well, too many characters already.

 

[C to the J]

Gotta admit I'm kinda disappointed that they're doing the 2 specials thing they did last year. Mixopolis really lends itself to at least a series of shorts. While my favorite of the specials is the Mixamajig one, I really like how Moon Madness turned out. 3 Tribes each introduced with each act, and while a few characters didn't have many lines (the Glowkies besides Globert), none of the tribes were really short changed. Mixamajig introduced too many characters at once, and while I dig what they did with the Weldos, I feel they were basically just shoved to the side just for that gag. That and, well, too many characters already.

Something must be holding back the people responsible for the cartoon, and I hope writer's block isn't one of them. And yes, Mixopolis does allow for production of more shorts. They could at least take a cue from the new Mickey Mouse shorts and perhaps Angry Birds Toons and expand even more. The middle school, the zoo, and the police station are all we've seen so far, but there were no signs of the other areas seen in the concept art whatsoever.

Maybe someday, they'll make a special similar to "22 Short Films About Springfield" and "Turbo Does Laundry." It's only a suggestion, but I think it would give the characters, especially in LEGO sets, a better chance to shine.

 

[C to the J]

The LEGO Web site's taking quite a while to update the Mixels site to include Series 8, isn't it?

Series 2: May 19, 2014
Series 3: Sometime in August 2014
Series 4: January 8, 2015
Series 5: May 8, 2015
Series 6: September 10, 2015
Series 7: January 12, 2016

I wonder what the hold up could be.

And I think there's a little more I forgot to mention to make the toys look more like their cartoon versions.

• Adjusted Zorch's feet
• Also added extra piece to Zaptor's antenna
• Extra blue pieces added to Magnifo's feet
• Switched out big fire with small fire on Flamzer's tail. Can be switched again when needed.
• I said "no hints of gold on Jinky's legs". I meant to say " no hints of brown." I also adjusted the body to make the lower jaw more prominent.
• Adjusted Krog's teeth so the larger canines are more in the front
• Spugg's toes pointed inward
• Turg's toes arranged to match cartoon image
• Tungster's toes pointed inward

I also believe these pieces to be optional, so they're transferred to the spare parts bag. There are some I bring out when I want to demonstrate a particular Mix's ability.

• Lunk's ice sneeze
• Flurr's ice breath
• Wizwuz's magic breath
• Fire propulsion on Rokit's and Niksput's backs.
• Meltus's fire sneeze
• Burnard's fire breath
• Ice propulsion from Snoof's jets
• Two treats that go inside Snax's cheeks
• Four cherry pieces that go inside Berp's mouth
• Rest of the food pieces inside Vaka-Waka's body
• Crowbar that comes with Busto
• Cookironi that comes with Tiketz
• Rock that comes with Mixadel
• Spear that comes with Paladum
• Mix tape that comes with Trumpsy

I switch out Zorch's fire and Jamzy's microphone whenever I take pictures and upload to the gallery. And I use the Cubit that comes with Gurggle to take one picture of the 2+ Mixels I mix together. If you looked at the gallery page, I'm sure you came upon my build and drawing of a mix of characters performed by Tom Kenny (my most recent).