Spoilers. What you are about to watch is an animation. We say spoilers because you absolutely couldn’t tell that this video of a LEGO Rube Goldberg machine that plays the theme to Pixar’s Up is anything but a feat of engineering. But instead, it’s a feat of animation. Up‘s house carried into the air by a LEGO balloon, the ball rolling down a series of keys, the track suspended from the wall, these are mere pixels and nothing more. But they seem so real. It blows our minds. Take a look at this beautiful rendition of Up‘s “Married Life” accompanied by incredible animation.
We admit we spent a good five minutes with our jaws on the ground. The video fooled us and we imagined that someone had engineered this LEGO Up video to perfection. We were even trying to understand the physics and how the LEGO bricks came together to create the final video. Given how many incredible works of engineering we see out there, it doesn’t feel out of the realm of possibility. After all, Rube Goldberg machines are an internet favorite. But after taking a closer look, we realized what we were looking at was a different kind of genius.
And commentators shared our initial confusion. One even asked to purchase the project. In the meanwhile, another wondered “Is the ball movement only CGI, or is everything in this CGI (the house, track, all that)?” In an answer that finally made everything clear, creator Enbiggen replied, “Every… single… pixel :D.” To that, all we can say is, wow! Although we kind of wish we could buy the project. But we love it as an animation too.
Everything about the video feels so natural. The track even “bounces” as the ball hits it. And nothing feels uncanny or contrived. And beyond that, this LEGO machine animation truly captures the spirit of Up. It’s melancholy but hopeful, and so very beautiful.
We can’t wait to see what feats of animated engineering Enbiggen will create next.