“ONE PIECE” Is Setting Sail in Brick Form With New LEGO Animated Special

The Straw Hats have already crossed the East Blue, faced down the Arlong Pirates, gone head-to-head with Baroque Works and somehow continued sailing toward even bigger trouble.

Naturally, the next logical step is doing all of that again.

Only this time, in LEGO form.

Netflix is bringing the world of its live-action ONE PIECE series into an entirely different style with the new two-part “LEGO ONE PIECE” animated special, arriving September 29.

Rather than simply recreating Seasons 1 and 2 beat-for-beat, the special puts one of the crew’s biggest storytellers front and center.

Usopp will retell the Straw Hats’ adventures to newest crew member Tony Tony Chopper, taking viewers back through the group’s journey across the East Blue and into the Grand Line through his own very particular version of events.

And given that this is Usopp telling the story, we are sure every single detail will be completely accurate.

Probably.

The idea gives the special a fun way to revisit some of the biggest moments from the live-action series while still letting the LEGO format do something different with them.

Showrunner, writer and executive producer Tom Hyndman explained that the goal was to create something accessible for newcomers while also giving longtime fans another way to experience familiar stories.

The entire main Straw Hat cast from Netflix’s live-action series is also returning to voice their LEGO counterparts.

Iñaki Godoy returns as Monkey D. Luffy, Emily Rudd as Nami, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Jacob Romero as Usopp, Taz Skylar as Sanji and Mikaela Hoover as Tony Tony Chopper.

Having the live-action cast return also allowed the creative team to have some extra fun during recording, with Hyndman noting that the actors already understand these characters so deeply that the sessions could lean more heavily into improvisation.

Apparently, there was also plenty of excitement over finally seeing themselves transformed into LEGO characters.

Understandable.

There is just something about becoming a minifigure that feels like its own strange entertainment milestone.

Behind the scenes, LEGO ONE PIECE is being produced in partnership with the LEGO Group, Shueisha and Vancouver-based Atomic Cartoons, the studio behind Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends.

Chelsea Ker directs both episodes, while Hyndman serves as showrunner, writer and executive producer.

ONE PIECE creator Eiichiro Oda is also executive producing alongside Jill Wilfert, Keith Malone and Lars Danielsen for LEGO, as well as Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements for Tomorrow Studios.

And the partnership between LEGO and ONE PIECE is already extending well beyond the screen.

A collection of LEGO sets inspired by Netflix’s live-action adaptation is already available, giving fans the chance to build their own version of the Straw Hats’ adventures before—or after—watching them unfold in animated brick form.

With two seasons of Netflix’s live-action series now available, a third season already on the horizon and the world of ONE PIECE continuing to expand in just about every direction imaginable, there apparently really is no limit to where the Straw Hats can sail next.

Even if the Grand Line is suddenly made out of little plastic bricks.

The two-part LEGO ONE PIECE animated special premieres September 29 exclusively on Netflix.