Over thirty years ago Aardman Animations won the Best Animated Short Film Oscar for Creature Comforts. At just over five minutes long, the film took voices from interviewees living in a housing estate and put them in the mouths of stop-motion animated zoo animals. By contrast, Piece by Piece uses the results of interviews with Pharrell Williams and his associates and places them in the mouths of computer animated Lego pieces. Both films share a certain whimsical delight but whereas Creature Comforts was able to sustain this for its short duration, the conceit becomes prosaic by the time Piece by Piece’s assembly is complete.

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It's a bit of a letdown given the film’s exhilarating opening. After floating the idea to documentarian Morgan Neville that his story should be told with Lego pieces, Williams explains how he experiences synesthesia (a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sense leads to the involuntary stimulation of another). In Williams’ case he sees colours whenever he listens to music, which is brilliantly represented when the younger Williams is bombarded by shards of light while Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Wish’ blasts out of Lego boombox.

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Though Piece by Piece has been categorised as an animated biopic, it is for all intents and purposes a documentary, with Lego employed to depict the interviewees and reenactments. Taking us through the pivotal moments of his life, Williams isn’t a particularly captivating speaker, which leaves the computer animation to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Thematically, the most successful use is representation of William’s compositions as bouncy, glowing gems waiting to be realised. There is also some fun to be had in seeing celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani turned into Lego pieces, but the novelty of watching talking Lego heads eventually wears off.

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When Walt Disney was warned audiences would grow tired of watching a feature length cartoon, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ story, at least in part, kept them enthralled. Piece by Piece has no such bridge.