Pharrell’s happy pieces

Pharrell Williams has been working on an animated film for the last several years. Initially conceived as an original collaboration between Pharrell and Minions studio Illumination, the project ultimately became a biographical documentary about Pharrell, produced in the LEGO style, and it shifted over to Focus Features, which shares NBCUniversal as a parent company with Illumination. 

The trailer for this new film, titled Piece By Piece, dropped yesterday. It looks super cute, and it promises new music from Pharrell (besides his work as a film composer, he scored both Despicable Me 4 and Mufasa: The Lion King this year).

You can see the roots of this project as an animated feature intended for kids, and not just because of the LEGO style. It’s the tone, and the emphasis on “the things that make us different also make us special”. It feels kind of like a hug in movie form. But it also promises to be a retrospective of Pharrell’s career, and Piece By Piece is directed by Morgan Neville, who has an incredible track record with music films. He previously directed documentaries on subjects including Brian Wilson, Sam Phillips, Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Keith Richards, and he made the Oscar and Grammy-award winning documentary about backup singers, 20 Feet From Stardom. PLUS, he directed docs on Anthony Bourdain, Steve Martin, and Mr. Rogers. 

One thing Neville’s films have in common is that they’re all generally upbeat, positive reflections on their subjects. This is not a man interested in tearing down his subjects, which fits with the overall, er, happy vibes of the Piece By Piece trailer. Pharrell is producing his own biography, I highly doubt he’ll poke the darkest corners of his history or psyche. It seems more like he wants to tell his own story in a way that inspires others to find the music and beauty around them. Piece By Piece is due out in October, and by then, we’re probably going to need every ounce of light and love we can muster, so I’m fine with a cute, softball bio-doc about Pharrell done with LEGO animation. Also, you cannot convince me that LEGO Pharrell and LEGO Batman don’t exist in the same universe. I hope Pharrell produces Batman’s next album!