I have no problem with licensed theme brickfilms, as long as they're done well. That's basically my rule for all brickfilms, whether they're original property or not.

The only issue is that with the rise in the popularity of brickfilmers like Forrestfire101, filmyguy and most recently Brotherhood Workshop - all of whom I hold in high regard - YouTube has become increasingly saturated with people trying to copy the formula, and by people I mean (and this is probably going to sound mean) kids who take 20 frames and expect to get thousands of views. For ages, that gave licensed theme brickfilms a bad name here on BiM, and I felt awkward trying to do a Batman brickfilm when there was such a negative reaction.

As far as viewing them goes, I tend to stick to animations I know will be technically impressive, such as those by Forrestfire101, while I go to other brickfilmers for originality and characterisation. Brotherhood Workshop's animations are breathtaking but simple; they're enjoyable, but still not a patch on something like Unrenewable.

I personally am currently working on a series for BrickUltra called Avengers Tower, which is basically just a chance to put my collection of Marvel minifigures to use. I also plan to resume my Young Istari project at some point, from last Halloween, which is a bunch of short-but-sweet Tolkien parodies. The reason? Well, like any hobby, brickfilming is about working on projects that you want to work on. While I have lots of scripts ready to animate that are original stories and characters, and I'm champing at the bit to get them made, I also really want to do a Spider-man animation, or an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. animation. It's not something I can easily explain, but I think it's for the same reason I bought the sets (and the additional figures that I found on ebay, most recently Loki and Eric Savin) - the appeal of having a LEGO Iron Man, or Thor, or Batman, or Luke Skywalker, or Captain Jack Sparrow. Brickfilming's only an extension of play (in a sense) so it's only a logical step to go from buying Batman LEGO to animating Batman LEGO.

Doing it for the views is something I'm a little bit guilty of, but I wouldn't even be doing that if I didn't enjoy making IP animations. I've been doing Avengers Tower for another channel and it's got more exposure than it would have done on my account, which is great (just over 3000 views in two months is good, for me). Ideally, I'd love it if the series could bring in more of a viewership - hook people in with the stuff they're familiar with, like Captain America, and then they'll be interested in watching some of your other, original videos. My most viewed video was about four years ago (I think) - a Green Lantern animation that raked in 200,000 views, so it's worth thinking about if you want to be noticed. However, I would strongly advise ever making a brickfilm solely to get viewed, as that way lies disappointment and the animation itself tends to be bland and, well, it's just not the right reason to be making a brickfilm.

Like any hobby, it's important that you enjoy yourself, and if doing the odd licensed theme brickfilm - or entirely licensed theme - is what you want to do, then go for it. I do, and I love it. To me, there's honestly nothing wrong with doing a Star Wars or Batman brickfilm if that's what you enjoy. For me, it's a way of havign fun animating, let's say a fight scene, in order to hone my animation skills, without having to worry too much about prior characterisation. Plus, the odd reference, bit of name-dropping or even frame replication from the actual movie can be quite fun.

All this coming from the guy who started the no-licensed-theme BrickFilm Cinematic Universe #lol . I plan to continue with all of that alongside licensed theme projects: up soon are vampire owls, more conquistador adventures, smiling demons and a genie.

EDIT: As for whether it's beneficial to the hobby overall...like I said, YouTube is saturated with kids whose only interest is to copy popular brickfilmers or do the odd animation and then stop. In terms of creativity, it can be detrimental, as a lot of the time licensed them brickfilms can just be shot-for-shot replications of movie trailers or clips. Though many are done well, a lot are not and also don't encourage any kind of creative writing ability.

The balance could be to use licensed characters but then build a story from that. I'd like to cite some of Atlas Animationz's work for that - the guy's done a series of Marvel brickfilms that may be predictable in parts, or quite simple, but the dialogue is mostly pretty strong (Spider-man's feels like it's straight out of the comics) and I was really hooked on later episodes. Overall, what he's produced is a lot more interesting than a "trailer done in Legos", and this kind of brickfilm would, I believe be beneficial to the hobby. It's got the familiarity to draw viewers in, but it's a story into itself and is well-made.

Atlas, if you're reading this, I want to know who voices Tony Stark in your videos.

That is all.

KTHNXBAI

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein

I don't think it really matters  whether a brickfilm is uses a licensed theme or not.  As long the brickfilmer makes a creative and enjoyable brickfilm, I say go for it. 

I think Brotherhood Workshop is a good example of a brickfilmer that uses licensed themes to make very good brickfilms.  Fancy Pants also makes excellent brickfilms without original themes.

The bottom line, make great brickfilms with whatever sort of theme you prefer.

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I don't think that the IP sets are harmful to brickfilming, but, they aren't helpful, either...

For the LEGO company, getting the license to use other branded property, and using it to promote your (LEGO's) product is genius, and, as a fellow business-savy person, I'm 100% for it. There's no doubt that the Star Wars, Prince of Persia, and Harry Potter themes brought new pieces, and updated out-of-print pieces - another positive. However, from an artist's perspective, IP's can be a little detrimental. To explain, I'll focus on Hollywood first, and then make connections in the brickfilming community on BiM, and Youtube...

As of recent, Sequels and Remakes have been on the rise - More being made more frequently than ever before, AND these films getting very popular, usually very fast. - Though I'm sure not all in Tinseltown are just in it for the money; Sequels and Remakes can seem like just outlets for extra money, especially when the films are just horrendously awful! However, this doesn't stop people from doing it - and getting ahead! (Avatar, weather you love it or hate it, was marketed on James Cameron's name. The new Godzilla, on the popularity of the "classic" horror films, just in a more modern setting.) It seems as if this trend is innate, and people have to "overcome" the urge to continue, rather than "decide" to make more films.

The same applies to brickfilming, especially on Youtube. The most viewed videos are usually ones based around IP's - ForrestFire101 a perfect example. Though, I don't think that making films based on other IP is necessarily bad, (Though, it's technically illegal) at least for kids. I, as many have, I'm sure, made some of my first stories, drawings, and films around other things I knew, instead of creating original things. - I didn't "strive" for original content, nor did I even think to do it. - So, for kids to do this sort of thing, it's understandable, and even, needed to fuel their imaginations.

However, these "popularity hogs" do "steal" views and support that artists creating original content deserve. (And sometimes, need.) But, life is never fair, and, brickfilmers such as myself know to not expect going viral. I know that as long as I put in effort into my projects, and I like doing them, I'll be satisfied... But, I digress.

Personally, I think that these IP themes give inspiration to those without it, bring potential collectors into the market, and provide awesome pieces and sets - even IF this all comes with a cost to the brickfilming community.

for me they're boring no matter what quality they are
like even something like fancypants' the force unleashed was boring to me. granted it was really well done, but it still bored me
i honestly dont have patience for them, im just not interested i guess. its like i can barely stand star wars itself let alone it redone in plastic toys for the millionth time

In my opinion they are going crazy with all of the themes. I love the original themes (Star Wars, City, Batman, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Spongebob), but I feel that the quality with all the new themes is getting lost in all that $$. By quality I mean, they are getting more and more cartoony. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I've lost interest in being a Lego collector. I don't buy sets anymore, and if I ever need more pieces, I can only see myself ordering off of Bricklink. I used to be really into going to the store and browsing for 10 minutes, just enjoying looking at the things there (and marveling at the price). It could also be an age (and social anxiety) issue, so I'm not entirely sure.

A lot of people are against licensed themes for a good reason: almost all the Brickfilms that spawn from them are not funny/clever.

I don't think this is due to the Brickfilmer, but rather the limitations the Brickfilmer faces. When doing licenced themes, a lot of people tend to stick closely to the source material - which often just makes the film boring because we've seen it all before. I feel really bad when someone makes a well animated Batman film that's just dull.

Of course, its still possible to be good. There are some really good Brickfilms based on licenced themes out there. There's stuff like The Force Unleashed which just doesn't bother to tell a story and instead stages an eye-explodingly amazing action sequence. And there are a few that genuinely are funny. You just have to think more outside the box.

Also, I still think that someone out there could make a really good Batman or Star Wars film. Like, an ultra-serious 20 min Brickfilm thats beautifully short, well animated, well voiced, and with a good script. It IS possible, its just whenever anyone I know has tried it, they've given up.

I really wish more people would make Brickfilms around themes the Lego Company have created. Films just based on Knights Kingdom, Pirate, and Wild West sets tend to be of much better quality - probably because the films maintain the nostalgia and fun that LEGO brings to animation whilst also encouraging more creativity on the writers part.

I agree. Eye candy IP videos always go down well with me, and when I make them this is what I tend to try to do. I'd rather put my creative juices plot and dialogue-wise into something that has my own individual, stylistic stamp on it.

That's one of the things I've been trying to encourage with the BFCU, and I have plans to do more to try and interest people in participating. Because LEGO themes are so vague in terms of actual story and characterisation, it gives you more chance to develop something that's both individual and hugely creative. I can't remember who it was, but I saw this nearly-hour-long Pirate animation that was breathtaking: amazing sets, good solid plot, and generally delightful (except for a teensy bit of clunky dialogue).

Overall, though, I think a lot of what makes an IP brickfilm good or not is up to the filmmaker. Yes it can be harder to make something original, but part of the fun might be finding that original story hidden under the haystack.

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein

The greatest Brickfilms are those without licensed themes: The Magic Portal, Robota, Nightly News At Nine, Joe Brickmond, the films of Michael Hickox, the films of Mob Deli, etc.  I prefer watching those films, which are totally created out of the mind of the animator.

However, I also love watching animations that allude/spoof/pay tribute to the storylines I love.  The fact that Lego has reached out to acquire so many popular IPs has given children (and the young at heart) an opportunity to immerse their imaginations in those worlds, and by extension, brickfilmers can use these assets to create animations with them that weren't really possible without Lego.

I love these topics of discussion. Keep them going!

Here is where I stand, if done really well I'm all for it! I'm a HUGE Star Wars fan, but you can't find hardly any good SW brickfilms. Like Jampot said, you have these 4-10 year olds who film at 4 fps and think they can get 1,000,000 views off of them! That's why I've waited this long to do a SW brickfilm because in my opinion if you can't do a good Star Wars brickfilm DON'T DO A STAR WARS BRICKFILM!!!!!!!! And like Pritchard Studios said, it's better to keep the feel of the theme and respect the characters.