Mixels is an American animated television series that aired on Cartoon Network and was co-produced by The Lego Group and Cartoon Network Studios.[1] The series first aired on February 12, 2014, with a new episode of Teen Titans Go!. The series revolves around the Mixels, small creatures that can mix and combine with one another. The Mixels are opposed by the evil Nixels, small, discolored and evil creatures led by King Nixel.
Although previous Lego series, such as Lego Ninjago and Lego Legends of Chima, use CGI animation, Mixels made use of Toon Boom Harmony software, animated at Atomic Cartoons, Inc., before later being animated traditionally at Digital eMation, Inc., Big Star Entertainment, Inc., and Saerom Animation, Inc. A mobile app was released for the series on March 4, 2014, named Calling All Mixels, and even earlier two websites, one on the LEGO website and another owned by Cartoon Network, were launched where fans can learn about the Mixels. Nine series of collectible Lego building toys were also released, based on the characters. On February 19, 2014, the series had begun airing as an interstitial program on Boomerang.
The TV series wrapped up production in July 2016, and the series finale aired on October 1, 2016.
Premise
Mixels consists of 24 tribes who each have a different color scheme and inhabit a fantasy landscape. These creatures can Mix (a two-Mixel combination), Max (a three-Mixel combination and the tribe's own one), and Murp (a failed Mix) in all kinds of situations, using items called cubits, which inhabit the Mixels.
Episodes
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 22 | February 12, 2014 | August 31, 2014 | |
| 2 | 4 | March 9, 2015 | October 1, 2016 | |
Season 1 (2014)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Written and storyboarded by | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Coconapple" | Unknown | February 12, 2014 | 501-296-01A |
|
Seismo and Zorch try to get a coconapple (combination of "coconut" and "apple") hanging from a tree. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "Hot Lava Shower" | Unknown | February 12, 2014 | 501-296-02F |
|
Vulk gets the Infernites to fix the Lava Shower, and they Max to unclog the pipes, but they heat a toilet and water fountain, resulting in burning Teslo's mouth and Krader's rear. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "Cookironi" | Unknown | February 12, 2014 | 501-296-02B |
|
Nine first-wave Mixels fight over a single cookironi (combination of "cookie" and "macaroni"). | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "Electrock" | Unknown | February 19, 2014 | 501-296-01D |
|
The Cragsters have a digging contest, but Krader digs into the Electroid kingdom. The other Cragsters find him and everyone ends up dancing in an Electrock (mix between electric and rock) dance party. They later Max and have another contest. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "Nixels" | Unknown | February 26, 2014 | 501-296-01E |
|
Flain and Seismo want to have fun on the lava slide, but some Nixels try to nix their fun. Therefore, they fight off the Nixels by mixing. | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "Murp" | Unknown | March 5, 2014 | 501-296-01C |
|
Flain and Krader try getting across a river to get to the Fun-Fun Barbecue Party which Teslo calls super-fun, but they keep making a Murp no matter what they try. They eventually mix, and the party turns super-lame. | |||||
| 7 | 7 | "Pothole" | Unknown | March 5, 2014 | 501-296-02A |
|
Zaptor and Vulk mix to get rid of a pothole on the road, making a white background appear. | |||||
| 8 | 8 | "Mailman" | Unknown | March 12, 2014 | 501-296-02E |
|
When his ceramic Teddy Butterfly does not arrive on time, Shuff teams up with the other Cragsters to catch a lightning-fast mailman, Zorch. | |||||
| 9 | 9 | "Another Nixel" | Unknown | March 19, 2014 | 501-296-02D |
|
Major Nixel tells the Nixels to bring him cubits. | |||||
| 10 | 10 | "Changing a Light Bulb" | Unknown | May 5, 2014 | 501-296-01B |
|
The Electroids (in a lesson) make their Max to change a lightbulb when the old one goes out. | |||||
| 11 | 11 | "Rockball" | Unknown | May 5, 2014 | 501-296-02C |
|
Krader and the Cragsters challenge Flain and the Infernites to a game of Rockball. | |||||
| 12 | 12 | "Wrong Colors" | Unknown | May 21, 2014 | 501-296-03A |
|
Volectro and Shuff get chased by hundreds of Nixels, but the only cubit that they have has the wrong colors, so it is up to Flurr and Gobba to save them. | |||||
| 13 | 13 | "Mix Over" "Nixel 'Mix Over'" | Unknown | May 28, 2014 | 501-296-03F |
|
Major Nixel tells the Nixels to steal cubits from Balk and Lunk by painting them like Mixels. | |||||
| 14 | 14 | "Bar B Cubes" | Unknown | May 28, 2014 | 501-296-03B |
|
Vulk and Slumbo mix and open a Bar-B-Cube stand, while Krader and Volectro mix and open a Rock-Pop (parody of Pop Rocks) stand. Both try to get Gobba to buy free samples of their snacks because he has only one muck. | |||||
| 15 | 15 | "Snow Half Pipe" | Unknown | June 5, 2014 | 501-296-04C |
|
Flain, Krader, Jawg, Kraw, Slumbo, and Flurr do tricks and mix on an ice half-pipe (save for Flain and Krader, who make a Murp). | |||||
| 16 | 16 | "Hamlogna Conveyorbelt" | Unknown | June 5, 2014 | 501-296-03G |
|
Zaptor wants more Hamlogna sandwiches, so he makes the conveyor belt go too fast for Lunk and Tentro, who then mix to help. Jawg eventually eats all the Hamlogna sandwiches. | |||||
| 17 | 17 | "Vaudeville Fun" | Unknown | June 12, 2014 | 501-296-04B |
|
Kraw and Gobba mix to make an audition judged by Vulk, Slumbo, and Volectro. Nothing goes well, though. | |||||
| 18 | 18 | "Fang Gang Log Toss" | Unknown | June 19, 2014 | 501-296-04A |
|
Chomly and Jawg play Log Toss, despite Slumbo and Flain's protests. Therefore, they make them into a log-shaped Murp and continue playing. | |||||
| 19 | 19 | "High Five" | Unknown | June 19, 2014 | 501-296-03E |
|
Slumbo and Kraw mix to give Chomly high-fives. They eventually make a Murp. | |||||
| 20 | 20 | "Elevator" | Unknown | June 26, 2014 | 501-296-03C |
|
Lunk has to quickly get to Balk's birthday party. However, he is too slow to reach the elevator. Therefore, he mixes with Tentro to make it in time. | |||||
| 21 | 21 | "The Biggest and Most Epic Mixels Minisode Ever" "Epic Comedy Adventure" | David P. Smith, John Fang, and Dominic Bisignano | August 31, 2014 | 701-???-200 |
|
Major Nixel attempts to ruin the Mixels' annual event the Mixfest, so the first two series tribal leaders must stop him and his Nixel army to save Mixel Land. | |||||
| 22 | 22 | "Murp Romp" "Murp Rump" | David P. Smith, John Fang, and Dominic Bisignano | August 31, 2014 | 701-???-200 |
|
Scorpi and Glurt accidentally Mix into a horrible Murp that goes loose and starts to destroy everything, so Glomp, Torts, Footi, and Hoogi must stop him from sliming and slicing everything up before it is too late. | |||||
Season 2 (2015–16)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Written and storyboarded by | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 1 | "Moon Madness[a]" | Michael Diederich, Douglas McCarthy, and John Fang Miranda Dressler (additional storyboarder) | March 9, 2015 | 701-???-400 |
|
The Infernite Cousins go on a camping trip, which quickly turns into an alien abduction, revealing new Mixels on the Mixel Moon. | |||||
| 24 | 2 | "Quest for the Mixamajig" "A Quest for the Lost Mixamajig" | Michael Diederich and Skip Jones | September 26, 2015 | 701-029-600 |
|
A group of Mixels set out on a quest for the mythical Mixamajig without knowing that it is part of King Nixel's plot. | |||||
| 25 | 3 | "Every Knight Has Its Day" | Michael Diederich, Skip Jones, and Steven Banks | March 5, 2016 | 701-030-700 |
|
Camillot and Mixadel go to Mixopolis Middle School to learn how to mix with the "common" Mixels. Note: This episode isn't available on YouTube by Lego. | |||||
| 26 | 4 | "Nixel Nixel Go Away" | Michael Diederich, Skip Jones, and Steven Banks | October 1, 2016 | 701-???-900 |
|
Booger must stop King Nixel from replacing Cubits with "I-Cubits" and taking over Mixopolis. Note: This episode isn't available on YouTube by Lego. | |||||
Merchandise
Lego Mixels
Lego Mixels (stylized as LEGO Mixels) was a Lego theme based on a variety of tribes living in a fantastical diverse world and are small creatures that can mix and combine with one another to create new characters. The theme was first introduced in 2014. It was eventually discontinued by the end of 2016.
Overview
The Lego Group handles all toy merchandise for the Mixels franchise, and Cartoon Network handles all non-toy merchandising. The Lego Mixels buildable collectible figurines went on sale on March 1, 2014. Each character has their own set, and nine were released as part of series one. For each tribe, one of the three sets contains a Nixel. Series 2 was released at the end of May, and Series 3 was released at the end of August. Series 4 was released on February 1, 2015.[3][4]
Development
Before Cartoon Network came to Lego, Mixels was called Monsters. It had sets of five in a tribe with overly simple designs. Some design changes include Shuff and Seismo's names being swapped with each other, Shuff having a looser crystal on his head that would have looked more like hair, Vulk's ears being red instead of black, the Nixels coming in various shapes, and Balk originally being shorter and squatter with thinner tentacles and smaller pupils. Kraw was originally named Bouncer, Gobba was Chippo, and Tentro was Flexi; other sources still slip up on Tentro and call him Flexi, though, including the Lego Magazine once.[citation needed]
Lego designer Gemma Anderson explained the importance of the Max figure in designing each tribe's individual figures and stating that, "During the sketching phase, I would consider what the tribe theme is and then work out what the max could be, at the same time wondering how I can use certain parts from the Max in the 3 small Mixels. It's often a case of going back and forth between the 3 models and the Max." Anderson also highlighted the importance in the characters' faces in capturing a unique personality and explained, "The eyes and mouths are a huge part of the personality of the Mixel, changing the eyebrows for example can drastically change the expressions from sad to happy, or even angry! We would often brainstorm on the names of the character; some of them might be inside jokes with the team. One example is 'Tuth' in Series 8, it was a joke in the team that me being from Wales, I pronounce some words a little differently, such as 'tooth' sounding more like 'tuth'. We decided during the naming process, we would try to name that one Mixel how I pronounce it, and we succeeded."[5]
Construction sets
According to BrickLink, The Lego Group released 90 playsets as part of the Lego Mixels theme.[2] The product line was eventually discontinued by the end of 2016.[6]
Discontinuation
Shortly after Cartoon Network announced that the episode "Nixel Nixel Go Away" will be the series finale, The Lego Group cancelled production of the toy line. As a result, the theme was discontinued.[7][8]
Awards and nominations
In 2014, Mixels won the Pocket Money award at the London Toy Fair Best New Toy Awards.[9]
See also
Notes
- ^ This special was divided into six shorts: "Only You Can Prevent Forest Freezes, Only You!", "Houston, We Have a Problem!", "Crater Tots!", "Things That Go Murp in the Night!", "Don't Pull the Gravity Plug!", and "Tall Tales From Da Moon!"
References
- ^ Zahed, Ramin (February 15, 2014). "The Mixel Invasion Has Begun!". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ a b "BrickLink Reference Catalog - Sets - Category Lego Mixels". BrickLink. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
- ^ Chan, Robert (January 31, 2014). "The Cutest, Trippiest Lego Cartoon Ever: Meet the 'Mixels'". TV.Yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
- ^ White, Adam (August 14, 2022). "LEGO Look Back – LEGO Mixels". BricksFanz.com.
- ^ Hancock, Graham (January 7, 2017). "LEGO Mixels Designer Explains the Design Process". BrickFanatics.com. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ "Mixels LEGO Sets". BrickEconomy. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Hancock, Graham E. (August 30, 2016). "LEGO Mixels Nixed". BrickFanatics.com. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
- ^ "Themes". Lego.com. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ Hutchins, Robert (January 31, 2014). "Cartoon Network and LEGO's Mixels Set for UK Debut in February". Toynews-online.biz. Archived from the original on 2014-11-03. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
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