Pharrell Williams’ “Piece by Piece” Documentary Breaks New Ground with Lego Animation

Pharrell Williams’ new documentary, Piece by Piece, offers a strikingly unconventional look at the multi-talented musician, breaking new ground with its entirely Lego-animated format.

Critics have praised the film’s unique visual style, describing it as “disarmingly joyous” and “oddly charming.” However, the documentary’s omission of a key chapter from Williams’ past has sparked discussion — particularly the controversial plagiarism trial surrounding his 2013 hit “Blurred Lines.”

Piece by Piece briefly includes a snippet of “Blurred Lines” in its soundtrack, but director Morgan Neville chose to sidestep the infamous legal battle over the song’s alleged similarities to Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up,” a case that ended with Williams and co-writer Robin Thicke being ordered to pay $5 million in damages.

Neville, who is known for his insightful documentaries about music icons, explained to the BBC that he considered addressing the trial, but ultimately decided against it.

“I definitely thought about it. I even interviewed Robin Thicke,” Neville said. “But every time I tried to incorporate a scene about copyright law, it felt like it belonged in a different movie. I was looking for a personal story, and this just didn’t fit.”

The Blurred Lines trial, a landmark case in music copyright law, centered on whether Williams and Thicke had copied the “feel” of Gaye’s iconic track rather than its specific melody.

The ruling sparked a broader debate about the nature of musical influence versus infringement, with many industry experts questioning the legal distinction between the two.

Neville, however, was outspoken in his belief that the case represented a misstep for the legal system. “I think Pharrell was in the right on this one, and most creatives would agree with him,” he told the BBC. “It was one of the worst judicial decisions about creativity in history.”

In choosing to omit the trial from the documentary, Neville noted that it didn’t feel like a moment that contributed to Williams’ personal growth. “It’s not like Pharrell learned a big lesson from the case. I don’t know if it actually changed him in any meaningful way, which is what I look for in a documentary story.”

Piece by Piece focuses instead on Williams’ creative journey, exploring his evolution from an outsider in his hometown of Virginia to one of the most influential figures in modern music.

The film delves into Williams’ struggle to maintain his artistic identity as his unconventional sound – developed alongside collaborator Chad Hugo as part of The Neptunes – transitioned from being a niche style to a mainstream phenomenon.

Despite the omission of the Blurred Lines trial, the film is a deeply personal exploration of Williams’ career, bringing his musical vision to life through Lego animation. According to Neville, the idea to tell Williams’ story in this medium came directly from the artist himself.

“It was a crazy idea, but an exciting one,” Neville recalled of their first meeting. “Pharrell said, ‘People have always wanted me to tell my story, and I’ve never been interested, but I love your films. Why don’t you make a documentary about me, and then do it all again with Lego?'”

Initially skeptical, Neville soon saw the potential for animation to add a unique layer to Williams’ story. “It wasn’t just about turning real-life footage into Lego,” he explained. “It was about using animation to do things a traditional documentary couldn’t—like time travel, or visualizing Pharrell’s synaesthesia.”

In fact, the film’s visual style was carefully crafted to reflect Williams’ own perception of music. As a synesthete, Williams experiences sound as color and shape, and the film uses Lego blocks to illustrate the abstract nature of his beats.

“Pharrell can tell you the color and shape of every beat he’s ever made,” Neville said, explaining that Williams was closely involved in designing the Lego representations of his music.

Filming for Piece by Piece began about a year after Neville and Williams first met, a process that included getting Lego on board as a partner. While the company did not fund the project, Lego’s willingness to collaborate was key.

“I told them it wouldn’t be a G-rated movie, but that we would be addressing issues like race, which they said were important conversations to have,” Neville said.

Once Lego agreed to participate, the team set about creating 3D renders of the characters, revealing them to artists like Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg. Some, like Missy, even requested small changes—Missy’s iconic earrings, for instance, were one of the few bespoke elements made for the film.

The limited facial expressions of Lego figures posed challenges for the animators, but Neville credits the team for their ability to convey emotion through the characters’ movements.

“The Lego faces were a concern,” he admitted. “Would a Lego minifigure crying be emotional? But we had some animators who were fantastic at making those moments work.”

As for the documentary’s broader impact, Neville believes it offers something different from the increasingly formulaic music biopic. Piece by Piece is not just a standard rise-and-fall story, but a meditation on the artist’s relationship with creativity, identity, and commercial success. “Pharrell is like the Wizard of Oz.

He’s not seeking the spotlight, but rather working behind the curtain,” Neville said, contrasting him with figures like Robbie Williams, whose upcoming biopic features him portrayed by a CGI monkey.

Ultimately, Piece by Piece is a celebration of Pharrell Williams’ artistic journey—one that uses innovation and imagination to tell a story about finding your own voice in a world that often demands conformity.

The film, now in theaters, offers a fresh perspective on the musician’s multifaceted career, while also pushing the boundaries of what a documentary can be.