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The LEGO® Story
0:02 you've probably seen one of these LEGO bricks
0:06 but have you ever wondered how it all started and why it's called LEGO
0:10 actually the name is much older than this plastic bricks
0:14 are you curious?
0:15 let me tell you how it all began…
0:18 many years ago
0:19 there was a skilled and hard-working carpenter named Ole Kirk Christiansen
0:25 Ole was a respected carpenter with his own company
0:28 but times were hard
0:30 so he didn't have much money
0:32 and had to dismiss his last workers
0:39 come on in
0:41 I've closed down the workshop
0:43 and packed my things
0:45 Thank you…I suppose I better
0:47 write you a paycheck
0:56 take care
1:06 Well, that was the last one
1:08 I guess I didn't imagine that it would come to this
1:12 I know
1:13 it's hard to understand
1:15 but at least now it can’t get much worse
1:19 But it did get worse
1:20 shortly after Ole lost his wife
1:24 but Ole was a special person
1:26 he wasn't the type that gave up
1:28 and with the responsibility of his four sons he had to think of something
1:33 Ole had gotten an idea and for him it never took long to put an idea into
1:38 action
1:41 Ole’s little invention made his boys so happy that he thought maybe he
1:45 should start making toys
1:49 Ole decided to give it a try…Luckily
1:52 he had saved up a lot of wood from the carpentry production
1:56 he could now use it to make toys
2:00 time passed by
2:02 and even though Ole was a skilled carpenter
2:04 and had a good eye for quality and details
2:07 sales were very slow
2:09 luckily one of his son's - Godfred started helping out his dad after
2:13 school - together they just barely managed to keep up the production
2:18 eventually
2:19 word began to spread the wooden toys of them
2:22 finest quality
2:26 and then drove into town
2:28 a man who would change Ole’s future
2:31 he was a wholesaler from Frederitia
2:34 I heard that you are making some
2:35 very nice wooden toys. Ole: Well one does his best. The wholesaler was very
2:41 impressed with all the wooden toys and placed a big order before he left
2:49 now there's finally someone who can see the opportunities and what we are doing
2:53 look at this
2:54 the wholesaler wants to put a lot of our toys
2:56 into his stores for holidays. It’s
2:59 going to be a good christmas this year but we
3:02 will be busy
3:04 now there was a lot to do in the little workshop and Ole could rehire his former
3:08 workers
3:09 Ole only used the highest quality wood
3:12 which was hand-picked and very carefully prepared
3:15 They worked day and night to get the order finished so the wholesaler could get the toys
3:20 in stores before Christmas
3:25 Is there something wrong dad?
3:27 I’m afraid we are
3:29 in big trouble
3:31 in the middle of their work
3:32 Ole received a letter
3:34 Saying that the wholesaler
3:35 had filed for bankruptcy
3:37 and couldn't buy the toys that he had ordered
3:40 what are we gonna do?
3:42 what about Christmas?
3:44 Now we can’t even afford food?
3:49 I will do it!
3:51 What are you going to do dad?
3:53 I will do it myself!
3:55 i'll drive around selling the toys
3:58 there was no time to lose. Ole packed the car with all the toys
4:03 and drove off
4:04 Ole was a very good toy maker
4:07 but he was not a very good salesman
4:09 he didn't like praising himself or talking about how carefully the
4:13 toys had been made
4:14 but he had to keep trying if he was going to sell anything
4:19 (Ole): this is going to be a blast
4:21 is there anything you are interested in?
4:24 looks exciting but I don't have a lot of money right now
4:27 maybe we could trade and call it even
4:31 i would prefer money
4:33 but…
4:34 In the end, he succeeded in selling all the toys
4:39 he didn't receive as much money as he had hoped
4:42 but the family managed and they had plenty of food for Christmas
4:47 time passed by
4:48 but the toys didn't sell as quickly as they had expected
4:52 Ole thought perhaps the company needed of good name
4:57 what should it be
4:59 It has to be a short word
5:01 i wanted to convey playing well
5:03 in Danish, playing well it is called “leg godt
5:08 what should It be…
5:10 what should it be?
5:12 if only i could get some sort of a sign
5:20 LEGO
5:21 as you can see Ole himself ended up finding a very suitable name but what he
5:26 didn't know was that in latin the word lego means ” I put together
5:31 The name lego was well-received and the company slowly started to move forward
5:37 We’ve made three thousand crowns this year
5:40 every of mourners than usual
5:42 did you say three thousand crowns?
5:45 then you need to see what i've been looking at…
5:48 even though godfred wasn't comfortable spending money on a million machine
5:52 he could see that it was useful and that the quality of the toys improved
5:57 Could you finish the last batch and get it ready for shipping?
6:05 Dad, I saved a lot of money for the company today!
6:08 really?
6:09 how?
6:10 I figured we can save money in the laquer
6:13 I coated the ducks twice instead of three times…-You what?!?!
6:18 Unfortunately, Godfred
6:19 idea didn't go over well with hid dad
6:22 Ole made Godfred unpack all the ducks himself give them the last layer of
6:27 laquer
6:27 and bring them back to the train station
6:30 ole believed in high quality
6:32 and not cheating his customers
6:34 when Godfred returned
6:35 Ole explained that that wasn't the way to create a good brand
6:39 this little lesson opened Godfred’s eyes to the fact that every detail
6:44 matters
6:45 and only the best is good enough
6:48 in the late nineteen thirties lego was making a profit
6:51 even when the second world war broke out they tried to make the best out of a
6:55 difficult time
6:57 it seemed nothing could go wrong
7:00 but a stormy night in nineteen forty two
7:03 changed their luck
7:09 there's a fire!!
7:10 the workshop is on fire
7:15 but when the firemen arrived
7:17 they were to save the workshop, it burned to the ground
7:21 and all the drawings and models were destroyed
7:25 Ole was beginning to lose hope
7:27 all that he had worked for was gone
7:30 Ole almost lost his company
7:32 but being responsible for his children and workers inspired him to rebuild
7:37 LEGO
7:39 a new factory was constructed
7:41 soon the production of wooden started up again
7:44 the little company fought its way back into the market
7:48 gradually lego factory began to run smoothly and Ole started looking for
7:53 new challenges
7:54 one day he went to Copenhagen to look at a new machine that had just arrived
7:59 in Denmark
8:00 it was a plastic molding machine and Ole was very excited about it
8:06 should we buy it?
8:07 it sure is a good bargain..
8:09 and it will give us a lot of opportunities
8:12 Well, it does sound interesting but it is a lot of money…
8:15 i'll take that as a yes
8:20 when the plastic molding machine finally arrived Ole started making little
8:24 plastic teddy bears unravels
8:27 but he still had the plastic bricks that he had received at the fair
8:31 there was something
8:33 he couldn't stop thinking about and even though no one else could see the
8:37 potential
8:38 Ole decided to redesign
8:40 and put them into production
8:44 but it was when LEGO first launched the great Ferguson tractor
8:48 but the plastic toys became a success
8:52 unfortunately the sales were dropping during the summer
8:56 and the company had too many toys in stock
8:59 This can’t be right
9:00 of course our products can be sold off all year not only for christmas
9:05 Godfred decided he would sell the toys himself
9:09 Godfred brought his wife Edith
9:18 as company and moral support [Edith: if they can’t pay cash, we need butter and eggs]
9:23 Well, it wasn’t that bad…Godfred was a success in his trip around the country
9:26 which helped LEGO to get
9:28 out of its financial crisis
9:30 they reached home just in time for all Ole’s birthday party Ole turned sixty
9:35 and the whole family was gathered to celebrate with him
9:42 yes it was a long trip around the country
9:45 I got an idea, listen, listen…what about a
9:46 picture with the three generations everyone thought that was a
9:51 good idea
9:53 and we were placed on the sofa
9:54 with all of the presents and flowers around us
9:58 on a business trip to England
10:00 Godfred met the head of a big shopping center on his way home
10:04 he discussed the toy industry
10:06 and the conversation would be very important
10:09 to the future of LEGO
10:11 Dam this industry
10:12 I just think that toys are no good nowadays
10:15 what do you mean?
10:16 I think they're working very well
10:18 They work fine, sure, but there's no system in anything
10:23 system
10:26 system
10:28 there isn’t any system
10:30 What in the world are you doing Godfred?.. there isn't any system
10:35 that toys needed an idea and a system built around it
10:38 I wanna put system in the play
10:41 children have only been offered a ready-made solutions they need something
10:45 different that will strengthen their imagination and creativity
10:49 soon you're trying to put lego into a system
10:53 interesting
10:55 that same year lego started producing the first LEGO system of play
11:00 children could now build houses from the legal bricks
11:02 the town plan gave players a realistic town setting and with this children
11:07 learned about traffic safety
11:09 my sisters and i can play with the new LEGO system for hours
11:13 some people said we were the luckiest children in the world
11:16 because we grew up in the toy factory
11:19 it was a huge breakthrough
11:21 and Godfred decided to try selling it outside of Denmark
11:25 the system of play was so popular that they manage to sell it to many countries
11:32 Look what I just built!
11:34 that is really nice Cal
11:36 even though LEGO was meant only for building houses
11:40 there was still a lot of opportunities …there was just one problem
11:46 I can’t lift it up
11:50 it keeps falling apart..that made Godfred wonder…
11:53 he wanted to find a way to make the LEGO bricks stick together
11:56 but that was easier said than done
11:59 Godfred noticed that the lego bricks got a better clutch power with tubes
12:03 inside
12:04 no it was no longer just bricks but a whole construction system with endless
12:09 possibilities
12:11 this was ground breaking for the legal product with the child's imagination
12:16 legal could be anything in the world over and over again
12:20 the imagination is the limit
12:24 Look dad, now I can build everything
12:28 unfortunately
12:29 Ole never got to see how successful the little brick actually became
12:34 Godfred was left on his own
12:36 and he had to go through another fire at LEGO that destroyed most of the wood
12:41 production
12:42 just like his father
12:44 Godfred knew that he had to try to get the best part of any situation and never
12:48 give up
12:49 Godfred took the hard times with his head held high
12:53 as sales grew
12:54 the company also got bigger
12:57 he had to think ahead
12:59 and he decided not to resume the production of wooden toys
13:02 and to only focus on the legal system
13:05 he turned out to be a great decision
13:08 many new models were built
13:09 and LEGO got stronger in the toy industry…-Sir
13:13 which one of these do you think is the
13:16 best
13:19 uh... that one
13:21 even though it got busier at LEGO,
13:23 Godfred still had bigger plans …now he wanted to build an airport so it would
13:28 be easier to sell his toys to the whole world
13:32 like father, like son
13:34 he didn't take long to put his ideas into action
13:37 only three years later
13:39 Billund airport was open
13:42 the many guests and business connections who visited the company
13:45 always wanted to see the modeling department
13:48 gradually
13:49 it got so crowded that it was hard for the employees to keep up their work
13:53 I think we better wait awhile
13:56 Godfred could see that something had to be done
13:59 he needed a bigger place to display the LEGO models