Trivia: R2-D2 Almost Starred In 'The Lego Movie'

The Master Builders of The Lego Movie were an eclectic bunch. There were Batman and all of his fellow Justice Leaguers, Gandalf and Dubbledore (sorry, Dumbledore), Shaq, Abraham Lincoln, Michelangelo (the painter) and Michelangelo (the turtle). One that didn't make it in, however, was R2-D2.

Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller revealed they originally planned for the lovable droid to be a main character in the The Lego Movie, in keeping with the gleeful mash-up spirit of the film. But in the final product, he's nowhere to be seen. Find out why the R2-D2 Lego Movie appearance never happened after the jump.

"A kid doesn't have lawyers that won't allow the toys to play together," Miller pointed out. "Part of the appeal for us was that Roger Rabbit thing that you can get these characters together that you couldn't get in any other type of movie. Watching my own son play, he does put Batman on the Millennium Falcon and there's no-one saying they take place in completely different times and galaxies."

In retrospect, it's not all surprising that Disney would be reluctant to let Warner Bros. play with its characters, or that Warner Bros. would be unwilling to promote a Disney property. Just one of the many ways the real world is a sad disappointment compared to the anything-goes universe of a child's imagination, I guess.

Still, Lord and Miller were ultimately able to work in a smaller Star Wars cameo. There's a scene in which Batman briefly joins Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and C-3PO on the Millennium Falcon. Actually, on second thought, maybe it's better R2-D2 had to sit out The Lego Movie. Things didn't go so well for the Star Wars characters who did show up.