Twenty Years Countdown: Twenty Years of LEGO Orient Expedition and Fifteen Years of "Secret of Marco Polo"
By: Andrew Bermudez
(Mustache Maniacs Film Co. Headquarters; August 23, 2023)
With less than six months to go before the start of Twenty Years Young, we're spending some time this month to celebrate two anniversaries: twenty years of LEGO Orient Expedition and fifteen years of Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo! We're going to step back and look at this landmark film, the LEGO sets upon which it is based, and how this film will be commemorated next year!
Orient Expedition vs. Secret of Marco Polo: Comparison and Contrast
It's hard to believe that fifteen years have passed since the release of Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo, with the release of the LEGO sets that the film is based upon releasing five years prior! With that said, it is worth mentioning that there were some pretty substantial changes made to the story for its adaptation for animation, including a timeline update.
Truth be told, the best timeline that LEGO could give for the Orient Expedition sets was "1920's-1930's Orient." Beyond that...it really depended on the region that you lived in. Germans were told that the sets take place in 1925, while the timeline in the U.S. was 1933. To solve this headache, the era for the film was shifted to the year of the film's release (2008), partially to make the film more relevant to modern audiences, but also to help alleviate any authenticity issues that might arise.
This also shifted some of the characters. Chang Wu was updated to become an insane man who thinks he's Emperor Qin reincarnated, with Maharajah Lallu eliminated altogether. Harry Cane from the Adventurers Egypt and Amazon sets was introduced, and Lord Sam Sinister gained his now-infamous legion of comical henchmen.
Generally, though, the plot from the LEGO sets was left pretty much unchanged, with several enhancements made throughout to flesh out the story. These included the addition of the revolution sub-plot, Block Sauniere's murder to tie the two plots together, and new characters that joined in the journey. However, this enhanced plot is going to see its own adaptation and enhancements in the coming years, and we have a way that we're going to commemorate that next year!
A Unique Twenty Years Young Celebration!
Since the film has yet to being production, we do not plan on having this film's remake out in time for the celebration's conclusion. With that said, we do want to confirm that we will begin to tease the film in the new year, including the release of new concept art on a rolling basis (similar to Legends of the Universe) and turning May into the Month of Johnny Thunder! That month will not only see the release of Johnny Thunder and the Rise to Fame, but will also see teasers released for both this film and Johnny Thunder and the Wonders Beneath the Waves. We also plan on using this time to showcase unreleased Johnny Thunder stories, discuss the history of the infamous Temple Escape trilogy, and create canonical appearances for Johnny Thunder characters that have never been represented visually before. Schedule permitting, this film will also begin principal photography that month as well (Johnny Thunder and the Wonders Beneath the Waves already began production during the production phase of Patrick: The Movie, since the two films share the H. Frenchman's Bar film set). While not related to Johnny Thunder, the release of The Bartender's Tale and, to a lesser extent, the re-releases of Indiana Jones and the Heart of the Dragon and Kilroy Was Here! will also tie into the month thematically.
New Details for Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo: The Adventure Retold Have Been Revealed!
In addition, this version of the film introduces all of the details of the original Orient Expedition story that were not featured in the original film! This includes the addition of all of the missing characters and how we will tackle these characters with respect to the story. The characters in question are:
- Chaiku (Babloo's howdah-carrying elephant; seen in the original film, but not named)
- Dr. Giovanni (he will have his name merged with Robert Teabing's name, as he serves the same role)
- Giri (Babloo's wagon-pulling elephant; seen in the original film, but not named)
- Jing Lee's Father (not shown like in the original story, but mentioned to be named Wing Lin)
- Juti (a large snake whose role in the film is that of a wild animal)
- Pampa (Babloo's pet monkey; seen in the original film, but not named; role will be adjusted due to the changes to Babloo's backstory)
- Wong (a fisherman in the original story; is going to be a People's Liberation Army spy involved in the Adventurers approaching the Dragon Fortress)
Film Documents will Appear in the New Year!
Like what we announced back on our nineteenth anniversary back in April, we are planning on releasing most of our documents in our archive to the official wiki next year! We're looking at releasing these documents on a rolling basis, mostly based on the type of document, but what we can confirm is that we are planning on releasing an entire collection of documents from the development of Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo! Based on what we have in our archive, here is what we plan on releasing from this film's development.
- Outline
- Preliminary Script
- Shooting Script with Notes
- Aero Nomad Attack Storyboards
- Contest Entry Form
This is also in addition to the rest of the documents that we plan on releasing throughout next year, so keep an eye out for all of this new content!
Get Ready for Twenty Years Young!
Of course we couldn't leave Johnny Thunder out of this celebration! But that's not all! We still have more sneak peeks to give out throughout the rest of this year!
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