Jerry Seinfeld Accuses 'The Lego Movie' Of Stealing His Superman Joke
For a film based on an iconic toy line and produced by a major studio, The Lego Movie was surprisingly original. Or that's what we thought — but it seems that not everyone agrees. Jerry Seinfeld took to Twitter to complain that Phil Lord and Chris Miller's film "stole" his bit about the awkward relationship between Superman and Green Lantern. Does his argument hold water? Hit the jump to see what Seinfeld is talking about.
I think Lego Movie stole my Superman has issues with Green Lantern bit from Amex Seinfeld and Superman webisode.
Anyone else catch that?— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) February 11, 2014
The comedian followed up with a couple more ambivalent remarks.
Also loved Lego Movie.
A story would have been a nice added touch, though..— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) February 11, 2014
I'm glad they did. It was a fun bit..#legomymaterial
— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) February 11, 2014
The joke Seinfeld is referencing comes from this American Express ad from about 2004. Skip ahead to the 1:00 mark to hear it.
In The Lego Movie, the relationship between Justice League teammates Superman (Channing Tatum) and Green Lantern (Jonah Hill) is amusingly one-sided. Green Lantern basically worships Superman and wants to be his best friend, whereas Superman finds Green Lantern a nuisance and tries his best to avoid him.
In the commercial, Superman issue isn't really with Green Lantern, but with a woman who won't stop talking about Green Lantern. It's not really the same thing at all, unless Seinfeld believes that any reference to the two not getting along perfectly is a ripoff of his AmEx ad. Shia LaBeouf passing Daniel Clowes' work off as his own, this isn't.
A couple of snarky tweeters pointed out that Seinfeld isn't exactly in the best position to complain about theft.
@JerrySeinfeld Well it's not like they stole a cookbook idea or anything.
— Brian Boone (@brianbooone) February 12, 2014
There's also the time he was accused of plagiarizing Bee Movie from a couple of Swedish animators who'd allegedly pitched a project to DreamWorks titled Beebylon. Seinfeld shrugged off those claims, pointing out that it was "entirely possible that somebody else came up with an idea about making a movie about bees." But someone else independently coming up with a bit about two co-workers not getting along — that's crazy talk, apparently.