# Playmobil: The Movie
**Playmobil: The Movie** is a 2019 animated musical adventure film based on the [Playmobil](https://www.edgepedia.org/playmobil) construction toy line produced by Germany's Brandstätter Group, directed by Lino DiSalvo and combining a live-action frame story with computer animation. It follows teenage Marla ([Anya Taylor-Joy](https://www.edgepedia.org/anya-taylor-joy)), who enters the animated Playmobil world to rescue her younger brother Charlie ([Gabriel Bateman](https://www.edgepedia.org/gabriel-bateman)) after he is kidnapped by the evil Emperor Maximus (Adam Lambert).[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/playmobil_the_movie) Widely read as an attempt to replicate the success of 2014's *The Lego Movie*, the film was a critical and commercial failure, costing about $75 million to make against a projected domestic opening of only $2 to $3 million.[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 2019; world premiere as the opening film of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival (June 10–15, 2019); US theatrical release December 6, 2019[3](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/playmobil-the-movie-will-world-premiere-at-annecy-170586.html) • [2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html) |
| Director | Lino DiSalvo, in his feature directing debut after 16 years at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he was head of animation on *Frozen*[3](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/playmobil-the-movie-will-world-premiere-at-annecy-170586.html) |
| Voice cast | Anya Taylor-Joy (Marla), Gabriel Bateman (Charlie), Jim Gaffigan (Del), Daniel Radcliffe (Rex Dasher), Adam Lambert (Emperor Maximus), Meghan Trainor (Fairy Godmother), Kenan Thompson (Bloodbones)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/playmobil_the_movie) |
| Budget and gross | About $75 million production cost; $12.5 million grossed overseas before a projected $2 to $3 million domestic opening[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html) |
| Critical scores | 16% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 61 reviews; 25/100 on Metacritic from 13 critic reviews[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/playmobil_the_movie) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/playmobil-the-movie/) |
| Production | Animated at On Animation Studios in Montreal, part of Paris-based On Kids & Family; co-financed by Wild Bunch, Pathé, and French producer Dimitri Rassam[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html) |
| Format | Live-action prologue and epilogue around an animated main feature; 99 minutes; rated PG in the United States[5](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/playmobil-the-movie) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/playmobil_the_movie) |
## Spoilers
### Story and format
The film opens in live action. Marla, a recent high school graduate who dreams of traveling the world, learns that her parents have died in a car accident, leaving her to care for her ten-year-old brother Charlie.[6](https://www.thewrap.com/playmobil-the-movie-review-anya-taylor-joy/) Four years later, Charlie runs away to a toy fair with a large Playmobil display, and the two siblings are magically transported into the animated Playmobil universe as toy figures.[6](https://www.thewrap.com/playmobil-the-movie-review-anya-taylor-joy/) Charlie is captured by Emperor Maximus, and Marla sets out to find him, traveling through settings drawn from the toy range, including pirates, Vikings, knights, a wild west, and a Cold War-era Moscow where she meets the [James Bond](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-bond)-style secret agent Rex Dasher ([Daniel Radcliffe](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-radcliffe)).[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/playmobil_the_movie) • [7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/playmobil-the-movie-review-animated-film-lego-cast-meghan-trainor-a9046226.html) Along the way she is helped by the food truck driver Del ([Jim Gaffigan](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-gaffigan)), a robot, and a fairy godmother voiced by Meghan Trainor.[8](https://app.powster.com/studiocanalintl/playmobil-the-movie/au/synopsis/)
The film is a musical, a point several reviewers noted was absent from its marketing.[9](https://www.fantasy-animation.org/current-posts/review-playmobil-the-movie-lino-disalvo-2019) [The Australian](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-australian) classification board rated it G, citing very mild themes, animated violence, and coarse language, and noted a discreetly handled scene in which the children learn of their parents' death.[10](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/playmobil-movie)
## Production
Production began in 2015, when the success of Warner Bros.'s *The Lego Movie* had prompted studios to develop films around toy brands.[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html) The film was animated at On Animation Studios in Montreal, part of the Paris-based company On Kids & Family, and was co-financed by the French companies Wild Bunch and Pathé together with producer [Dimitri Rassam](https://www.edgepedia.org/dimitri-rassam); despite the Canadian animation work, it is in many respects a European production built on a German toy property.[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html) DiSalvo wrote the story with Blaise Hemingway, Greg Erb, and Jason Oremland sharing screenplay credit.[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html) A 2014 trade report put the planned budget at $80 million with production in Montreal.[11](https://www.rotoscopers.com/2014/11/14/playmobil-animated-feature-in-development-arriving-in-2017/)
## Release
*Playmobil: The Movie* premiered as the opening-night film of the 2019 Annecy Festival, a choice widely criticized by attendees, many of whom left during the screening.[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html) It rolled out in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries from August 2019.[3](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/playmobil-the-movie-will-world-premiere-at-annecy-170586.html) [Open Road Films](https://www.edgepedia.org/open-road-films) was originally set to distribute in the United States but dropped the film after filing for bankruptcy; [STX Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/stx-entertainment) took over and moved the release from August 30 to December 6, 2019, partly to avoid *The Angry Birds Movie 2*.[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html) It opened in 2,300 North American theaters in a box-office dead zone directly against *Frozen 2*, and was projected to open at only $2 to $3 million domestically on top of $12.5 million grossed overseas.[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html)
## Reception
The film received broadly negative reviews. Its Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus describes it as "a superficially similar yet less desirable alternative to the competition," and it holds 16% on the Tomatometer from 61 reviews, with a warmer 62% audience score.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/playmobil_the_movie) Metacritic assigned a score of 25 out of 100 from 13 critics, labeled "Generally Unfavorable," with 54% of those reviews negative and none positive.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/playmobil-the-movie/)
**Recurring criticisms.** Reviewers repeatedly framed the film as a lesser imitation of *The Lego Movie*. Guy Lodge of Variety wrote that it attempts to do for Playmobil what *The Lego Movie* did for the plastic brick "but without that blockbuster's dizzy, self-aware wit and visual invention," and that it "never transcends its blatant product-flogging purpose."[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/playmobil-the-movie/) The Independent called it a feature-length advertisement that "never sells us any ideas or themes, only some pieces of moulded plastic."[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/playmobil-the-movie-review-animated-film-lego-cast-meghan-trainor-a9046226.html) TheWrap criticized an uneven story with little emotional connectivity and internal inconsistencies, such as Marla struggling to walk without knees and then running a minute later.[6](https://www.thewrap.com/playmobil-the-movie-review-anya-taylor-joy/) A Fantasy/[Animation](https://www.edgepedia.org/animation) review added that the film's relatively realistic rendering, at 24 frames per second with semi-accurate shading, made much of it look like television animation rather than cinema.[9](https://www.fantasy-animation.org/current-posts/review-playmobil-the-movie-lino-disalvo-2019)
Some critics were more positive about its appeal to young children. Polygon's Caroline Siede called it heartfelt and earnest, a film that keeps children entertained without alienating parents, even while judging it to feel like *The Lego Movie* "with the serial numbers filed off."[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/playmobil-the-movie/) Common Sense Media described it as bland and unoriginal but potentially amusing for young kids familiar with the toys.[5](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/playmobil-the-movie)
## Box office failure
The film is counted among the major animated box-office failures of 2019. Cartoon Brew reported a $75 million production cost against a projected $2 to $3 million domestic opening and $12.5 million already grossed overseas, calling the numbers disastrous.[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html) A German case study of the [Nuremberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/nuremberg) metropolitan area, where Playmobil is made, likewise records the film as costing around $75 million to produce.[12](https://balleis.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Case-Studies-from-the-NA%C2%BCrnberg-Metropolitan-Area_3rd-edition.pdf) Cartoon Brew attributed the failure partly to a wider cooling of the toy-based animated film trend triggered by *The Lego Movie*, noting that STX's own *Uglydolls* had flopped in May 2019 and that *The Lego Movie* sequels had themselves fallen short of the original's earnings.[2](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html)
## References
1. [Playmobil: The Movie, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/playmobil_the_movie)
2. [In A Year Of Feature Animation Bombs, 'Playmobil: The Movie' Might Be The Biggest One Yet, Cartoon Brew (2019)](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/in-a-year-of-feature-animation-bombs-playmobil-the-movie-might-be-the-biggest-one-yet-183415.html)
3. ['Playmobil: The Movie' Will World Premiere At Annecy, Cartoon Brew (2019)](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/playmobil-the-movie-will-world-premiere-at-annecy-170586.html)
4. [Playmobil: The Movie Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/playmobil-the-movie/)
5. [Playmobil: The Movie, Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/playmobil-the-movie)
6. ['Playmobil: The Movie' Review: Feature-Length Toy Commercial Lacks Wit and Heart, TheWrap (2019)](https://www.thewrap.com/playmobil-the-movie-review-anya-taylor-joy/)
7. [Playmobil: The Movie, review: A feature-length toy ad that has little of substance to offer, The Independent (2019)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/playmobil-the-movie-review-animated-film-lego-cast-meghan-trainor-a9046226.html)
8. [Playmobil: The Movie, Synopsis, STUDIOCANAL Intl](https://app.powster.com/studiocanalintl/playmobil-the-movie/au/synopsis/)
9. [Review: Playmobil: The Movie (Lino DiSalvo, 2019), Fantasy/Animation](https://www.fantasy-animation.org/current-posts/review-playmobil-the-movie-lino-disalvo-2019)
10. [PLAYMOBIL THE MOVIE, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/playmobil-movie)
11. ['Playmobil' Animated Feature in Development, Arriving in 2017, Rotoscopers (2014)](https://www.rotoscopers.com/2014/11/14/playmobil-animated-feature-in-development-arriving-in-2017/)
12. [The Internationalization of Playmobil, Case Studies from the Nuremberg Metropolitan Area, 3rd edition](https://balleis.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Case-Studies-from-the-NA%C2%BCrnberg-Metropolitan-Area_3rd-edition.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Television-, game-, and toy-derived film entries › Toy and merchandise adaptations*
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