The Magic Portal is a 1989 live-action/stop motion animated sci-fi adventure short film written, produced and directed by Lindsay Fleay. Filmed with the Lego line of construction toys, the film is considered to be a significant example of early brickfilms. The film tells the story of an astronaut that finds a mysterious portal that transports him and his crew to strange and wondrous worlds. Fleay appears in a live-action role.
History
The film was produced in Perth, Australia from 1985 to 1989. The film was shot on a Bolex 16mm camera. Fleay, who wrote, directed, produced and narrated the film, was able to secure partial financing from the Australian Film Commission, allowing for higher production values than typically seen in brickfilms. He made his own Lego faces with ink, and used several fans to prevent the plastic from overheating under the photographic lights.
Fleay sent the film to Lego, who initially responded positively, but then sent him a cease and desist letter, threatening legal action. Over time, Lego softened its stance to the film and fan films in general; in 2014 the company included a handmade representation of a "magic portal" in its film The Lego Movie.
Plot
In a traveling Lego spaceship run by anthropomorphic minifigures, astronaut P finds his crew mate L leaving Captain Paranoia's office in disappointment. Ignoring P's concerns, L walks by him aimlessly around the ship. He then finds a mysterious rectangular portal sitting inside the ship, flashing red, yellow, blue, and white. L walks through the portal and still remains on board the ship, but finds the portal leading to a dark tunnel upon turning around. Eager to find what is on the other side of the portal, L enters, and the tunnel pulls him through.
L arrives at the other side of the portal, located in a maze. He is soon visited by red brick-built creatures that build L a car out of thin air. L climbs inside the car excitedly and drives through the maze, and the red creatures enter the portal to board the ship. As L drives his car around and meets other sentient brick-built creatures, he finds a menacing two-headed beast (each head having an excavator claw for a mouth) is following him. L tries to escape the beast, while nearly getting hit by a train in the process, and the car breaks down just as he finds the portal again. L leaves behind his car and runs for the portal, but he trips over one of the car's loose tires and falls. The beast arrives to eat his car, and it charges after the tire, causing L to faint, and therefore sending the beast over him, through the portal, and into the ship, which, for a moment, appears to be used as an animation set.
L wakes back up and reenters the portal to inform Captain Paranoia about his experience. Paranoia disbelieves L and kicks him out of his office and into some live wires. P, however, is intrigued by L's story and asks him to take him to the portal. L guides him there, but finds the portal is gone. The ship's alarm goes off, waking up Paranoia from his nap and getting him to open his office door and find the red creatures L encountered earlier, phasing through the ship's walls. Paranoia collects his blaster before searching for the creatures, but instead finds the portal right behind him. He enters and is transported to a blank location.
As Paranoia looks around, a plasticine shark fin follows him around, bringing him to shoot at it, causing it to fall on its side. The Plasticine turns into various things, such as a wall, a cannon, and a toilet tank, to playfully toy with Paranoia. As Paranoia is flushed through the floor by the Plasticine, she skates through the portal to board the ship. Paranoia finds the floor was just a sheet of paper, and looks for L and P, who are sitting in the ship, again presenting itself as an animation set.