Well it is now officially the start of the Christmas season, and my latest creation is the house from the movie "A Christmas Story". In the States, this movie is iconic. So much so that it runs 24 hours straight on Christmas Eve on a particular channel, and the actual house where the movie was filmed was turned into a museum and gets 10s of thousands of visitors every year. However, it dawned on me that Lego fans outside of America may not even know about this movie. Thus, I figured that Eurobricks was probably the best place to get some perspective. Any feedback that you can provide would be great.

Just a little about the model itself... I have an 8 year-old, and I really wanted it to be playable for her. Thus, it is modular where the second story and roof can be removed, and it fits fully on a 32x32 baseplate (actually two white 16x32 plates to be exact). Many of the movie scenes were shot in a studio, so the interior layout is based on a mix of the film and the actual house (in Cleveland, Ohio). It was created 100% percent with bricks that I had or was able to procure from bricklink, so there are no custom bricks. I was even able to find a tile with a "FRAGILE" sticker on it! To distinctly set it apart from other Lego houses, I added snow in a unique way to the roof and ground. The most fun feature that I was able to recreate was the famous leg lamp from the film using a Lego light brick above it so that it can be turned on. Anyway, if people outside of the US don't really know about the movie, then I guess those details would be lost. Just looking for some feedback and perspective (mostly from non-Americans, but anyone can feel free to weigh in).

I did end up submitting it to Lego Ideas last month, so there are more and higher res pics there, as well as more of a description of the project and how the leg lamp works.

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/156866

Here are just a couple of pics though... Just let me know your perspective and/ or if you have any questions. Thanks so much!

Excellent roof snow!

Thank you! That was actually one of the more tricky parts. I removed a few of the roof bricks and used base and hinge pieces to attach the snow at the exact angle. I then needed to make sure that they met at the top of the roof. Once I had that down, I just experimented until I thought it looked right.

I saw this on ideas! It's pretty accurate for the scale and I LOVE the way you made the leg lamp!!

And if you are interested, here is my version!

 

As a Dutch European, I can say that I'm not familiar with this film. 

The build has a nice colour scheme, but overall its low on details. This does not include the patches of snow and entrance balcony (don't know what this feature is called), these are done very well

10 hours ago, redtrooper27 said:

I saw this on ideas! It's pretty accurate for the scale and I LOVE the way you made the leg lamp!!

And if you are interested, here is my version!

 

That is totally awesome! Very cool. You make a great point that another one of the challenges was the scale. You have it exactly right to the actual house. I wanted to fit it on one standard baseplate so I did my best to do some give and take. Have you completed the inside? If so how did you lay out the rooms? The movie is a little contradictory, particularly upstairs, but the way I did it allows for Ralphie to look out the window Christmas morning, look out the side window after writing the theme, run across the hall to his parents' room, and get a good view of the hallway phone and stairs from the bathroom. No room for the dining room in my model or the real house though, but nothing happens there in the movie. Don't know if you looked at the update pic on the Ideas site, but I included some stairs behind the corner kitchen door that lead down to furnace too. Anyway your model is fantastic; Great job and thanks for the feedback.

7 hours ago, Exetrius said:

As a Dutch European, I can say that I'm not familiar with this film. 

The build has a nice colour scheme, but overall its low on details. This does not include the patches of snow and entrance balcony (don't know what this feature is called), these are done very well

Thank you for the feedback, as I have curious about the film's reach. Most of the detail on the model is actually inside the house. Because of the size of the pics I could only post a couple here and the rest are on the ideas site with some vignettes from the movie. Thanks again.

Edited November 25, 20168 yr by twrt0es

I know of it but don't really care for it.

NIce work on the house and interior.  No idea of the movie though.  We watch A Christmas Carol.
Good luck with the project.

Just now, dr_spock said:

NIce work on the house and interior.  No idea of the movie though.  We watch A Christmas Carol.
Good luck with the project.

I love a Christmas Carol too!! I see that you are from Canada, so you should definitely check out the movie. Many of the scenes were shot in Toronto (because it still had running street cars at the time of the film), and the school is in St Catherines ON. Thanks for the feedback!

Supported!  Flipping through the pictures was like watching a clip reel of the movie.  You have done a great job of recreating some of the more hilarious scenes that take place in and around the house.  I think this would be a great addition to any Lego Christmas display, well at least for those of us in the U.S.  Kudos to you for a great idea.

P.S.   And for anyone outside of the U.S. who hasn't already, you should see the movie. It perfectly encapsulates what Christmas is/was like here, both the commercialism and traditionalism. 

6 minutes ago, LegoLeroy said:

Supported!  Flipping through the pictures was like watching a clip reel of the movie.  You have done a great job of recreating some of the more hilarious scenes that take place in and around the house.  I think this would be a great addition to any Lego Christmas display, well at least for those of us in the U.S.  Kudos to you for a great idea.

P.S.   And for anyone outside of the U.S. who hasn't already, you should see the movie. It perfectly encapsulates what Christmas is/was like here, both the commercialism and traditionalism. 

Thank you so much! I have made a bunch of creations with my daughter, but this is the one that I really thought that others might really enjoy. I have just been so curious as to what people think of the film outside of the States, but it is so great to hear that people in the south also love it. I guess the nuanced question would have been whether it was regional at all within the US? I have always lived in the northeast with all of the snow. Thanks again for the feedback and definitely for the support!

1 hour ago, twrt0es said:

I guess the nuanced question would have been whether it was regional at all within the US? I have always lived in the northeast with all of the snow. 

As far as I know here in the southern states it is as much of a staple as "A Charlie Brown Christmas" or any of the claymation Rudolph movies.  From what I can remember here in North Texas we've had snow on Christmas day as recently as 2012 and then before that I can only recall 1986. That being said it can get very cold here and movies such as "A Christmas Story" seem very familiar especially with cursing, kooky gifts, wanting for bb guns and such.  

 

Cool build. The snow looks great. 

I know the movie quite well,  but i had a very unorthodox childhood, slightly americanized. It's not a well known movie in these parts. 

On 11/25/2016 at 3:08 PM, LegoLeroy said:

As far as I know here in the southern states it is as much of a staple as "A Charlie Brown Christmas" or any of the claymation Rudolph movies.  From what I can remember here in North Texas we've had snow on Christmas day as recently as 2012 and then before that I can only recall 1986. That being said it can get very cold here and movies such as "A Christmas Story" seem very familiar especially with cursing, kooky gifts, wanting for bb guns and such.  

 

Great feedback. I wonder about our friends on the west coast, and Alaska + Hawaii as well...

On 11/25/2016 at 7:12 PM, Sven F said:

Cool build. The snow looks great. 

I know the movie quite well,  but i had a very unorthodox childhood, slightly americanized. It's not a well known movie in these parts. 

Thanks Sven... Good to know that it at least has some exposure that far away! Thank you for weighing in!

Well... TBS, which is broadcast out of Atlanta, for the past few years has just shown 24 hours of A Christmas Story, starting Christmas Eve... I don't like it that much, but it's one of those should-watch-during-the-holidays movies (along with The Nightmare Before Christmas and Christmas Vacation).

 

Great looking house, this movie is a staple in our house on Christmas Eve with the mention that Fred said, since it is on for 24 hours.  A friend had given me the DVD as well.  Fun movie, great looking build, thanks for sharing

10 hours ago, Herky said:

Great looking house, this movie is a staple in our house on Christmas Eve with the mention that Fred said, since it is on for 24 hours.  A friend had given me the DVD as well.  Fun movie, great looking build, thanks for sharing

 

22 hours ago, fred67 said:

Well... TBS, which is broadcast out of Atlanta, for the past few years has just shown 24 hours of A Christmas Story, starting Christmas Eve... I don't like it that much, but it's one of those should-watch-during-the-holidays movies (along with The Nightmare Before Christmas and Christmas Vacation).

 

Thanks... I pretty much figured that most folks in the US would at least have to be aware of it. Come to think of it, I don't know of any homes from movies that are so famous that they later became a museum as a tribute to the movie. The Christmas Story House is that famous, so I figured it would make a great Lego set. Also, being seasonal, I thought that it gets a "rebirth" every year. I am also of the opinion that Lego is at its core a toy, and I wanted it to be playable... that could also be because I have an 8 year old... Thank you for the feedback and insight.