TIFF 2024: Pharrell's animated biopic populated by LEGOs

He says LEGO characters give the film global appeal, avoiding cliches

Singer and producer Pharell Williams holds a likeness of himself made with LEGO as he speaks with a reporter before "Piece by Piece" is screened as the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) returns for its 49th edition in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Sept 10, 2024 in a still image from video. Reuters/Dennis Porter

The flesh-and-blood Pharrell Williams walked the red carpet on Tuesday with the star of his new animated biopic – a Pharrell Williams made of LEGO blocks – as "Piece by Piece" made its international premiere in Toronto.

The animated feature, voiced by Pharrell and fellow pop stars Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z, takes the audience on an unconventional journey through the musical virtuoso's upbringing and vibrant career by casting LEGO pieces as the characters in his life story.

Pharrell, a renowned recording artist, producer and songwriter, said LEGO characters, a favourite of children around the world, gave the picture a global appeal and enabled the film to sidestep cliches in telling his story.

"LEGO really helps to universalise the story so that it can be received by anyone that comes from a marginalised community,” Pharrell, who has won 13 Grammy Awards, including three for Producer of the Year, said on the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“I didn't want to tell a story that's like poverty porn. That's a usual Hollywood trope and that's not what this is."

Director Morgan Neville said one of the reasons he tackled the project was his long-standing interest in music producers, who he said often have a larger vision.

"Pharrell is famous for seeing the world a little differently and approaching music differently,” Neville said on the red carpet.

The film was not the first Neville focused on musical artists. His credits include the 2015 Keith Richards documentary and 2023’s “Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming with Dave Letterman.”

Neville said animation was an ideal media to tell the story of Pharrell's life.

"Pharrell has synaesthesia, which means when he hears music, he sees colour," the director said. "The idea that ... you could actually see the colour and make all this stuff come alive and taking the beats he was writing and turn them into physical objects."

Pharrell wrote an original song for the film, also titled “Piece by Piece,” about building a dream from the ground up.

He told Reuters the diversification of the LEGO characters was part of his dream.

“There's all kinds of people on this planet," he said. "All of this continues to be a gift,” he said.