A Fantozzi Project Achieves 10,000 Supporters on LEGO Ideas in Just 23 Days

22nd December 2022

The Fantozzi Takes The Bus On The Fly project has raced to 10,000 supporters on LEGO Ideas, having reached the mark in just 23 days.

This is a testament not only to the project's complexity and variety, but also the popularity of the 1975 comedy movie on which it is based. Fantozzi centres on a good-natured but unlucky Italian who is constantly getting into sticky situations, but maintains his sense of positivity throughout. For UK residents that haven't seen the film, think of an Italian version of Mr. Bean.

The project depicts one of the movies most famous and hilarious scenes, where Ugo Fantozzi is trying to get the bus on the fly, but ends up failing miserably by sending every passenger tumbling down the freeway with him.

The project features the delightful green coloured bus on the freeway, set against a backdrop of a large apartment building with nearly 30 little rooms that are just wide and deep enough to accommodate a minifigure. Each room has a unique character and appearance to it, making this set a great model from both front and the back.

One of the most interesting features of this project is the raised road, which was necessary for accuracy to the source material, as the bus travels on an elevated freeway. Having a multistorey build is a technique growing in popularity in fan creations, as two other projects in the review round, London Underground and Sewer Heroes: Fighting The Fatberg have also integrated this design feature.

As the designer notes, the project not only acts as a replica of the movie scene, but also a vintage city build with a pleasing old-fashioned aesthetic. Therefore, it will appeal to people who have no familiarity with the movie, which is especially important in this case, as Fantozzi is a non-English language film and has more limited appeal in North America, which is LEGO's biggest market. Despite this, the project may struggle when judged against the market demand criteria, which is just one of many used to decide which projects get approved.

The other 34 projects vying for LEGO's approval in the last review round of 2022 are listed below.

• Battle of Tir Asleen
• The Wizard's Retreat
• Japanese Castle
• The Winter Village with Working Train
• Wallace and Gromit
• The Alpine Refuge
• Mechanical Flip Clock
• The Clock Tower Park
• Jack Skellington's House
• Lover House
• The House of Open Shutters
• The Cat
• The Modular Arcade
• Jaws
• Zoo
• The Old Western Train Station
• The NeverEnding Story
• Pixar's Up House with Balloons
• Japanese Courtyard Garden
• This Is Fine
• Castle Dracula
• The Travel Suitcase
• Ancient Roman Temple
• Pac-Man Moving Display
• The Lost City
• BOTW Temple of Time
• London Underground
• The Architect's House
• Community
• Sewer Heroes: Fighting the Fatberg
• JWST
• Cipher Machine
• Golden Clifftop Temple
• The Wright Flyer
• Classic Thunderbirds

Comments