Do Lego Minifigures' have anger-management issues? Toy's faces are becoming less cheerful and more grumpy, fearful and disdainful, finds study



Lego's Minifigures' faces used to be universally happy, but now depict a range of negative emotions, too

Christoph Bartneck of Canterbury University, NZ, studied a set of expressions from the 6000 Minifigures in existence

Bartneck found that since the Nineties, the faces of Minifigures have changed due to themes of conflict within Lego sets

They now reflect emotions such as disdain, anger, fear and concern

Bartneck says Lego should be careful not to lose its positive reputation with its increasingly negative Minifigures

Legoland used to be a happy place, but a recent study has found that Lego's Minifigures, those little plastic figurines, are visibly less cheery than they used to be, with faces expressing emotions such as confusion, anger and fear.



Dr Christoph Bartneck, a robot expert at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, and a colleague studied a subset of all 6000 Minifigures from 1975 to 2010 and found that from the early Nineties onwards, Lego's mini-figures' facials expressions have been diversifying from consistently happy smiles to expressions reflecting greater conflict.



Bartneck's study considered the range of facial expressions across various Lego sets – now often part of themes such as Star Wars, pirates or Harry Potter.

Sad-face: According to Christoph Bartneck (pictured) of Canterbury University in New Zealand, Lego Minifigures are not the sunny, perpetually happy little plastic people they once were

They chose Lego because of the company's age: 'This gives us a real opportunity to see within one company's product and how it has changed,' Bartneck told Australia's ABC702 radio.



'What we observed is that the proportion of faces being introduced every year is changing in the sense of their facial expressions. Until the early '90s there were just a couple of faces and they were pretty much smiling, then they added beards and sunglasses... somewhere around the 2000s it exploded, we have so many different types of faces.'

Bartneck writes in the paper, 'Our cluster analysis shows that toy design has become a more complex design space in which the imaginary world of play does not only consist of a simple division of good versus evil, but a world in which heroes are scared and villains can have superior smile.'

Bartneck and his colleague charted the expressions beneath the plastic helmets of hair to illustrate just how much grumpier the two-inch Minifigures have become over the years.



In the mid-'90s, about 80 per cent of the figures were happy-go-lucky. By 2010, about 50 per cent of the figurines were distinctly less cheerful.



'It is important to study how to create appropriate expressions and how these expressions are perceived by the users. Children's toys and how they are perceived can have a significant impact on children,' Bartneck told the Guardian .



Attitude adjustment: It's not just the bad characters who look scared, or the good characters who look smug among the 6000 Lego Minifigures that exist, reflecting a more realistic range of human emotions

Bartneck identified the range of expressions now shown on Minifigures' faces as disdain, confidence, concern, fear, happiness, and anger.



'We cannot help but wonder how the move from only positive faces to an increasing number of negative faces impacts on how children play,' he said.

So is it a good thing that Lego faces now reflect a full range of human emotions?

'It would be silly to live in a toy world where everyone is smiling all the time,' said Bartneck to ABC702.

'Children need to play out conflicts, our world is full of conflicts. You fight with your brothers and sisters, you have some arguments with you parents and of course it's necessary that children learn through playing to deal with conflict.'

Grim: This stately character clearly has a lot weighing on his mind

Bartneck says his study can't tell us whether or not the changing themes in Lego is bad for our children or not.

'But I can reflect on it,' he said.

'This discussion is not just with Minifigures, it's actually a wider discussion. For example, do computer games actually result in violent behavior? It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation - is it the games that make children violent or is it the violent kids who like these kind of games?' he said to ABC702.



Bartneck thinks the real cause for concern lies in the lack of creativity now required in Lego games. While children used to build their own fantasy worlds out of Lego, now they're given the theme, the characters and the story.

'You have Star Wars and you replay someone else's fantasy, versus using Lego to create your own little houses, your own little world and be then much more creative in that way,' he said.

Lighten up: These Storm Trooper minifigures are a part of the Lego Star Wars set, one of many conflict-based Lego sets available

Bartneck notes the changes of facial expressions are a reflection of the market - Lego sets are becoming more conflict-oriented because of the stories they're telling.

The traditional Lego sets Bartneck used to play with as a child are still available - it's just that kids want Batman, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars-themed sets.

He believes the Lego company should be careful not to overuse negative expressions, and reconsider its focus on conflict-based themes.



'Lego might not be able to hold on to its highly positive reputation,' he writes in the paper.

'The children that grow up with Lego today will remember not only smileys, but also anger and fear in the Minifigures’ faces. Designers of agent faces should take great care to design the expressions and to test their effect since toys play an important role in the development of children.'

About face: Lego Minifigures' faces have changed since the '90s to reflect a range of human emotions including disdain, confidence, concern, fear, happiness and anger

Bartneck points out that the influx of film and TV-based themes in Lego was necessary for the company to survive - indeed, its Star Wars-themed set saved the company - but that the company should take care to make the Minifigures look comic rather than realistic.



'The example of the Minifigures shows that to appeal to users it is necessary to offer a wide range of emotional expressions that connects to the complex interaction scenarios of today’s users. Instead of focusing on highly realistic expressions, it may be worthwhile to increase the variability of expressions. A comic style expression is sufficient to convey a full spectrum of emotions and intensities,' he writes.



For their part, Lego says the company vigorously tests each Lego Minifigure before it is put into production.

Roar Rude Trangbæk, communications manager for Lego, told the Guardian that every toy was tested by a range of expert children, while child psychiatrists, parents and teachers were also consulted.



The company's research found that children, especially boys, enjoy playing out conflicts between characters, he said. 'The conflict between good and evil is nothing new,' said Trangbæk.



'But the characters always have classic Lego humor – the good guys always win in the end.'

He suggested if parents are worried about the face of one of their children's Minifigures, there's an easy solution: pulling off the Minifigure's head and replacing it with another more pleasing visage.

