Mixels

Mixels is an American animated television series that aired on Cartoon Network and was co-produced by The Lego Group and Cartoon Network Studios. The series first aired on February 12, 2014, with a new episode of Teen Titans Go!. The series revolves around the Mixels, small creatures that can mix and combine with one another. The Mixels are opposed by the evil Nixels, small, discolored and evil creatures led by King Nixel.

Although previous Lego series, such as Lego Ninjago and Lego Legends of Chima, use CGI animation, Mixels made use of Toon Boom Harmony software, animated at Atomic Cartoons, Inc., before later being animated traditionally at Digital eMation, Inc., Big Star Entertainment, Inc., and Saerom Animation, Inc. A mobile app was released for the series on March 4, 2014, named Calling All Mixels, and even earlier two websites, one on the LEGO website and another owned by Cartoon Network, were launched where fans can learn about the Mixels. Nine series of collectible Lego building toys were also released, based on the characters. On February 19, 2014, the series had begun airing as an interstitial program on Boomerang.

The TV series wrapped up production in July 2016, and the series finale aired on October 1, 2016.

Premise
Mixels consists of 24 tribes who each have a different color scheme and inhabit a fantasy landscape. These creatures can Mix (a two-Mixel combination), Max (a three-Mixel combination and the tribe's own one), and Murp (a failed Mix) in all kinds of situations, using items called cubits, which inhabit the Mixels.

Lego Mixels
Lego Mixels (stylized as LEGO Mixels) was a Lego theme based on a variety of tribes living in a fantastical diverse world and are small creatures that can mix and combine with one another to create new characters. The theme was first introduced in 2014. It was eventually discontinued by the end of 2016.

Overview
The Lego Group handles all toy merchandise for the Mixels franchise, and Cartoon Network handles all non-toy merchandising. The Lego Mixels buildable collectible figurines went on sale on March 1, 2014. Each character has their own set, and nine were released as part of series one. For each tribe, one of the three sets contains a Nixel. Series 2 was released at the end of May, and Series 3 was released at the end of August. Series 4 was released on February 1, 2015.

Development
Before Cartoon Network came to Lego, Mixels was called Monsters. It had sets of five in a tribe with overly simple designs. Some design changes include Shuff and Seismo's names being swapped with each other, Shuff having a looser crystal on his head that would have looked more like hair, Vulk's ears being red instead of black, the Nixels coming in various shapes, and Balk originally being shorter and squatter with thinner tentacles and smaller pupils. Kraw was originally named Bouncer, Gobba was Chippo, and Tentro was Flexi; other sources still slip up on Tentro and call him Flexi, though, including the Lego Magazine once.

Lego designer Gemma Anderson explained the importance of the Max figure in designing each tribe's individual figures and stating that, "During the sketching phase, I would consider what the tribe theme is and then work out what the max could be, at the same time wondering how I can use certain parts from the Max in the 3 small Mixels. It's often a case of going back and forth between the 3 models and the Max." Anderson also highlighted the importance in the characters' faces in capturing a unique personality and explained, "The eyes and mouths are a huge part of the personality of the Mixel, changing the eyebrows for example can drastically change the expressions from sad to happy, or even angry! We would often brainstorm on the names of the character; some of them might be inside jokes with the team. One example is 'Tuth' in Series 8, it was a joke in the team that me being from Wales, I pronounce some words a little differently, such as 'tooth' sounding more like 'tuth'. We decided during the naming process, we would try to name that one Mixel how I pronounce it, and we succeeded."

Construction sets
According to BrickLink, The Lego Group released 90 playsets as part of the Lego Mixels theme. The product line was eventually discontinued by the end of 2016.

Discontinuation
Shortly after Cartoon Network announced that the episode "Nixel Nixel Go Away" will be the series finale, The Lego Group cancelled production of the toy line. As a result, the theme was discontinued.

Awards and nominations
In 2014, Mixels won the Pocket Money award at the London Toy Fair Best New Toy Awards.