Line #8 Creator/MichaelHickox


1	[[quoteright:272:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hickox_6284.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:272:Hickox shows students at Cardinal Middle School in Middlefield, Ohio, how he made his videos.]]
3
4	->''"Next to the creators of WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie, Michael Hickox may just be the best LEGO movie maker of all time."''
5	-->--'''Colleen Pence, as written in [[http://sanantoniomomblogs.com/free-ways-to-entertain-your-lego-obsessed-kids-before-the-lego-movie-comes-out-on-feb-7/ this December 2013 article]] for [=SanAntonioMomBlogs.com=]'''
6
7	An {{UsefulNotes/Ohio}}-based former creator of short Website/YouTube videos, mostly [[BuiltWithLEGO Brickfilms]]. Hickox was making these particular videos since ''way'' before [[WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie everything was awesome]].
8
9	Hickox began uploading videos to his [[https://www.youtube.com/user/MlCHAELHlCKOX/featured old YouTube account]] in 2007. This account contained a mix of videos, ranging from live action, to computer animation, to his first Lego stop motion videos. It was the Lego videos that got the most views, and so, in 2009, Hickox created [[https://www.youtube.com/user/MlCHAELHlCKOXFilms/featured his second YouTube account]], with the hopes of becoming a [=YouTube=] Partner, a goal he met in February 2012. This account was exclusively Lego stop motion videos.
10
11	As of August 2023, Hickox's second account has over 1.46 million subscribers, and those videos have over 1 billion combined views. Many of the Lego videos on his current account have view counts that are in the eight-figure range. His old account, which he hasn't uploaded a video to since leaving it behind in 2009, has over 28,800 subscribers[[note]]The subscriber count on that channel has actually gone up over the years.[[/note]], and all of those videos have over 62 million combined views.
12
13	So popular were Hickox's Lego videos, that he was approached to make a promotional video for the DVD and Blu-Ray release of ''The LEGO Movie'' in the Summer of 2014, doing so in his own unique style. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxC5BqHWF_I Here is the finished product.]]
14
15	In October 2014, Hickox announced a new series called ''Tim & Ralph'', which centers around the adventures of two best friends. The series' fourth season premiered in July of 2018 after a two-year hiatus. Each season contains five episodes. The final season premiered in the spring of 2021.
16
17	Hickox stopped making videos in 2021, citing dissatisfaction with changes to [=YouTube's=] Partner Program, as well as potential sponsors having to cut back on budgets due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. He returned to his old job at an Ohio-based technology company in 2022, having quit the job a few years before to make his LEGO videos full-time.
18
19	In addition to his [=YouTube=] account, Hickox also has a [[https://www.facebook.com/MichaelHickoxFilms/timeline Facebook page]] that is still active.
20
21	----
22	! Michael Hickox's videos provide examples of:
23	* AllThatGlitters: The ending of "Lego Treasure Hunt", [[spoiler: in which the protagonists discover that the treasure is an American penny. They have no idea it's worthless yet.]]
24	* AnAssKickingChristmas: "Lego Christmas Shopping", in which the main character is trampled multiple times by fellow shoppers; one shopper chases another around after being hit by a shopping cart; and another shopper[[note]]who happens to be Tim[[/note]] ''takes off his own arm, and starts beating another shopper[[note]]who happens to be Ralph[[/note]] with it, trying to take away the item he just picked up''. Also, the main character is kicked in the butt by Santa Claus after requesting ''Legos'' for Christmas.
25	* BittersweetEnding (A rather PlayedForLaughs version): After the misadventures of the Pizza Delivery Guy delivering Pizza in the eighth video, he finally got a successful delivery, but a lot of people are coming for the Dollar Bill.
26	* BizarreAndImprobableGolfGame: The ending of "Lego Mini Golf", which absolutely defies the laws of physics.
27	* [[HunterOfHisOwnKind Buyer of His Own Kind]]: In Hickox's Lego universe, Lego figures buy Legos to play with (of course, they're buying Lego blocks with stickers showing Lego City box art on them).
28	* CombatPragmatist: The Secret Agent in "Lego Secret Agent", who shoots one bad guy right in the back as soon as he climbs out of an air vent, and another whom ''he drags into a dark hallway before gunning down''.
29	* CrossOver: One can consider the promo video for ''The LEGO Movie'''s DVD and Blu-Ray release this, since many of the film's characters show up at the house of the video's main character ("The Builder") to watch said movie.
30	* DarkHorseVictory: In "Lego Pizza Delivery 4", neither the Pizza Delivery Guy nor anyone in the crowd gets the pizza. A shark does.
31	* FantasticRacism: The "Lego Imposters" videos show Lego knockoff minifigures being arrested by the police.
32	* {{Homage}}: The two "Lego Arcade" episodes on his old channel, which contain quick glimpses of classic arcade games like ''VideoGame/{{Frogger}}'', ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'', and ''VideoGame/PacMan'' in Lego form. There was also a separate 34-second video devoted to ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''.
33	* HorribleCampingTrip: [[CampingEpisode "Lego Camping"]], [[FinaglesLaw where anything that can go wrong does go wrong]], including [[spoiler: [[StrongAnts one character being briefly carried off by ants]].]] It's also one of the more dialogue-driven videos.
34	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: The majority of the Lego videos across both of his [=YouTube=] accounts begin with, well, the word "Lego".
35	* ManOfAThousandVoices: Rarely ever do characters in his Lego videos speak; but when they do, Hickox will provide their voice. There are rare occasions where an actress will be used to provide a female voice.
36	* MeatOVision: The two main characters in "Lego Desert Island" suffer from this. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for the character who manages to escape, so do the people on the mainland he comes across. And they were having a cookout!]]
37	* MetalDetectorCheckpoint: The main character in "Lego Airport" keeps setting off the metal detector at the security checkpoint. This leads to a FunnyXRay moment, where he ''takes himself apart to go through the scanner''. He gets through no problem, and puts himself back together before continuing to make his way to his plane.
38	* MerchandiseDriven: Of course, the purpose of ''The LEGO Movie'' promo.
39	* OneSizeFitsAll: In "Lego Shopping", the main character notices two shelves of clothing, one labeled "Men", and the other labeled "Women". Each top shelf has two shirts, and the bottom shelf has three pairs of pants. Each item of clothing is a solid color, causing the main character to ask, "Guys. Girls. What's the difference in Lego?" He then walks into the big and tall section, encountering three of the TECHNIC Figures (which are much larger than the standard minifigures; TECHNIC Figures have not been produced since 2001), quickly proving that there is a difference, at least in size.
40	* {{Sequel}}: Some of Hickox's videos get this treatment, like "Lego School" (two sequels) and "Lego Imposters". "Lego Pizza Delivery", which is about the misadventures of a pizza delivery guy, has ''seven'' sequels! The original channel had a series called "Mullet Maniac", which had six sequels.
41	** SequelEscalation: The more DenserAndWackier the ''Lego Pizza Delivery'' sequels became, the more we could get HilarityEnsues of what would happen if the Pizza Deliveries of Real Life became this.
42	* ShockinglyExpensiveBill: In "Lego Movie Theater", the main character leaves the theater he's in to go to the lobby to buy a candy bar. The snack bar clerk tells him the cost is '''''$35!''''' The main character slowly backs away from the counter and leaves the candy behind.
43	* StockSoundEffects: Used throughout his Lego videos.
44	* StopMotion
45	* SuddenDownerEnding: The ending of "Lego Gardening", in which the gardener is crushed by a real apple falling from the massive tree that's just sprung up.
46	* TitledAfterTheSong: His promotional video for the DVD and Blu-Ray release of ''The LEGO Movie'' was titled "The Builder", after the instrumental piece of BackgroundMusic used in the short, which was composed by Kevin [=MacLeod=], whose work has been heard in many of Hickox's recent Lego films.

Context Creator / MichaelHickox