Sunday ` brought to you by Mazda. Tonight on Sunday ` are we breeding home-grown terrorists? (PRAYS) A radical transformation... They were so shocked that they couldn't believe that I became a Muslim. ...from gang member to devout Muslim. I've left a violent gang life for peace. Why does our government think he is a threat to national security? READS: 'You have had regular contact with overseas- and NZ-based individuals supporting terrorism.' Are you a terrorist? Are you a terrorist? No, I'm not a terrorist at all. How on earth do you make possum taste good? How on earth do you make possum taste good? LAUGHS: Can't tell you that. The wild food that made them famous... We had dishes like roadkill of the day. How did the possum go down with the tourists? Oh, the tourists love it. You know, they'll try anything. ...now backfiring on the business. It's almost like the possums getting the last laugh here. # Everything is cool when you're part of a team. # And three years, 360 people... Pose, take a picture, then pose. ...working on the most difficult brief. Could they make a movie out of plastic blocks? When you consider that all of the water and all of the fire and all the smoke is done with Lego bricks, it's astonishing. Copyright Able 2014 Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. When Wiremu Curtis went through Customs in May, the last thing he expected was to have his passport confiscated. Was it because he's a former gang member? Well, no. It's because Wiremu, now Haroon after converting to Islam, is seen as a danger to NZ security. And he's not alone. Sunday has discovered the government's been confiscating the passports of other Muslim men. So is the NZ Security Intelligence Service getting overzealous, or are they quite rightly preventing wannabe jihadists from fighting in wars we don't want a bar of? Here's John Hudson. Are you a terrorist? > Are you a terrorist? > No, I'm not a terrorist at all. LAUGHS: I'm not a terrorist. You're not being sucked in by these people to go and fight a war overseas for them? No, not at all. Not sucked in or anything like that. No. But the NZ government thinks Wiremu Curtis is a threat to our national security. I was actually at the airport ready to leave. Some guy, like some Tom Cruise-looking guy, just comes up to me in a suit, grabs me from behind. 'Could you come with me please?' I said, 'OK.' They just told me that I won't be flying today, and they took my passport away. Wiremu, who now calls himself Haroon, insists that he was going to get an education in the Middle East. They brought in some SIS agent, and they gave me some papers and to show me that I had weapons of mass destructions and I was a danger to the NZ security. The NZ Security Intelligence Service believes Haroon had other plans. I felt labelled as a terrorist. I felt as if I had been targeted or something like that. So you weren't gonna go and fight for somebody? I don't have the heart to go and fight over in other seas like that. What the hell for? So how did Wiremu Curtis go from being a patched gang member less than a year ago to Haroon, a follower of Islam who worships every day here in a garage in Blockhouse Bay? And why is the SIS keeping an eye on him? GENTLE ACOUSTIC MUSIC Lately, Haroon has gone through an incredible transformation. He prays to Allah five times a day,... (PRAYS) ...and avidly reads the Koran. But not long ago he was Wiremu, a drug dealer for Black Power. So back then your goal was to get a patch? Yeah, that was the` That was number one. URBAN MUSIC He used to live in this South Auckland street in a garage ` a tinny house. I used to sit at the tinny shop and that, sell marijuana, weed, mud, bullets, yeah. And just sit there all day and sell for my patch member. If the patch member said to do this, I had to do it. That was our way. We sort of used to intimidate. We used to take` If somebody owed us something, we'd go around to their house ` a whole load of us ` and take their stuff off of them, whatever they had ` car, money, anything. He'd grown up with gangs; knew no other way. It was always gang members, like Mongrel Mob, Black Power. My mum used to have a lot of mates in those sort of things, so it was sort of just like normal to us. I used to go home, sleep, wake back up, eat and then go back out, start drinking. I used to drink, like, four times a week. It was something like out of the Once Were Warriors you could say. And he should know. His uncle, Cliff Curtis, starred as Uncle Bully in Once Were Warriors. Were you happy being in a gang? Were you happy being in a gang? I obviously wasn't going to get anywhere with a patch. Maybe the only way I was gonna get was back into jail or either dead. GENTLE MUSIC What's for dinner? What's for dinner? Butter chicken, eh. But last year, Haroon's family life started to change. How was work, bro? Good? His mother, Helen, joined a mosque, started praying. And when I did it, it felt really good, and I've been there since, and I haven't stopped. (PRAYS) Haroon's older brother Cyrus also converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdul Rachman. He used to cry in the night and asked Allah to guide him and help him guide me at the same time. And then one day he said, 'Oh bro, you wanna come to the mosque for a feed?' And I said, 'Yeah, yeah.' Every day I was going there for a feed, and I just kept seeing like, you know, 'Man, this is actually quite good, you know. There's some actually quite genuine, good people here.' So you gave up the smoking, drinking and drugs. That would have been tough? That was one of my toughest goals was to try and give that up. MELODIC ACOUSTIC MUSIC An accident that put Haroon in hospital actually helped. And then when I came out of hospital, that's when all this Islam started playing more of an effect on my life. You want some roti, Ma? Within weeks, Haroon was living a new life. We never ate like this together. We never ate like this together. Never talked together either. And now Abdul Rachman has found himself a Muslim wife, Adela. Being Muslim means that it settles you down within yourself to know the difference between right and wrong. I talk to my brother now. I talk to my mum. We can actually have, like, proper conversations without me being an idiot, without me being drunk or anything. But now we're going towards the same goal; we're trying to help one another. The end goal for us, we are hoping that we will reach paradise. Haroon's journey to paradise began when he and his brother Abdul Rachman went on last year's hajj ` the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca; his first-class journey paid for by the Saudi royal family. The hajj is the largest annual gathering of Muslim people, a demonstration of solidarity in submission to God. It is very beautiful; like, everyone's there for the same cause, believing in the one god and all the messengers ` from Moses, all the way from Adam, all the way to prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him. What was the reaction of your former gang mates when you told them you'd become a Muslim? They were so shocked that they couldn't believe that I became a Muslim. Nobody every saw me becoming a Muslim. Why? Because... a lot of people thought I was too far gone to become a Muslim. At 21, Wiremu was focused on the price of dope. Now, at 22, Haroon has a new group of friends and takes a keen interest in world events. TV: One of the group that were insisting upon the Koran and the sunnah were called the students of Taliban. He now sympathises with the plight of other Sunni Muslims in places that a year ago he knew little about, places like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. These people, there's a genuine problem there. But I'm not saying everybody should go over and fight, but I'm just saying is it really wrong to go over there and fight for them? Is it actually wrong? But instead people would rather use soldiers to go over and fight and be used for other things. In those sort of countries, you can actually see what's happening, but still people deny it and say, 'No, it's not right to fight for them; 'you're a terrorist if you're gonna go over there and fight for them.' It's wrong. I reckon it's wrong, but I myself, like I said, I wouldn't fight. Haroon denies being radicalised by jihadist propaganda. What about Isis, fighting in Syria and Iraq? If you could, would you go and fight for them? No, not` Not for them. No, not at all. Not for` These people, they're very extreme in what they do. They even kill people like their own. I'd never go and fight for someone like that. But the NZ government clearly thinks Haroon was headed for trouble. This is done by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Peter Dunne. When Haroon's passport was cancelled, the SIS gave him a letter from Peter Dunne. READS: 'I believe on reasonable grounds that you have had regular contact 'with overseas- and NZ-based individuals supporting terrorism. 'You have booked imminent travel to countries of security concerns, 'and you intend to engage in or facilitate an act of terrorism.' So Peter Dunne's calling you a terrorist. I don't know, man. They can come and check my house, check everything about me. I guarantee you, by the grace of God that they will not find any terrorists here. Were you going on a jihad? No, I was not going on a jihad. That's what they say. What were you going to do? What were you going to do? I was going to Qatar to look at universities for studying. He wanted to study sharia law. Instead he was stuck in NZ, his $2000 investment in airline tickets now worthless. I think anybody would've been angry if they saved up and next minute, they're all happy to go and the guy's told them, 'No, you can't go there, man. 'We're taking your passport away from you. Ha!' After the break ` can Haroon get his passport back? The SIS powers relate only to the security of NZ. And I think they've been overridden. And trouble at mosque ` CHANTING Intimidation, and bully. Threatening. CHANTING: No more bully! No more bully! And what's Haroon doing here? From $20 to $1 million! With Bonus Bonds, there are thousands of cash prizes to be won every month. ALL: Hey! Visit bonusbonds.co.nz to invest now. Bonus Bonds ` the much more fun investment. SOLEMN MUSIC (PRAYS) The NZ government has stopped Haroon from travelling overseas for at least a year. Can you think of any reason why you're a danger to national security? I don't understand why I'm a danger to security. If I am, I shouldn't be out; I should be in prison. So why do you think the SIS has taken your passport away? Maybe just the people that I hang around with, the brothers. Just because I'm a Muslim, I think. Some other Muslims Haroon has been 'hanging around' with have also had their passports cancelled. CHANTING Sunday has discovered the SIS has been taking a particular interest in some members of this group who opposed the recent closure of a mosque in West Auckland. There have been, like, intimidation and threats and bully tactics and those all things. There's no room in Islam for these kind of things. Mosque administrator Haider Lone says he was assaulted after some worshippers were trespassed. And after three years of infighting, the mosque was closed. (SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE) But now a splinter group from the mosque is worshipping across the road in a garage. They're led by Sheikh Abdulla Hamam, the imam who Haider Lone says is at the heart of the troubles. He never spoken anytime in peace. We didn't hear one word from him, peace. He finds those things which is disturbing, intimidation. He actually interacts with more the youth more than any other imam. Haroon says the sheikh has been a great inspiration. Like, when he talks about the Koran and the stories of the prophet, and it can almost make you cry, some of the things he says. But is Sheikh Abdulla Hamam turning his young followers like Haroon into jihadists? Is there any way violence can be justified? I told you, I don't like the blood, the colour of the blood. Does your dad teach jihad? Does he encourage young men to fight in wars overseas? No way. No way. That's an absolute outrageous allegation made against him. There's no way he teaches that. Do you know any Kiwis who have gone on a jihad or holy war? Do you know any Kiwis who have gone on a jihad or holy war? I don't know anyone. Why then is the SIS taking passports off young men from the mosque? The guys that their passports were confiscated, they're not actually from Blockhouse Bay. They're from Mt Roskill. He's right; the SIS is monitoring Muslim men from mosques throughout the country, including his dad, Sheikh Hamam. Sometimes they ring` They ring me sometimes, we sit at home. Sometimes we sit here and there. I said, 'Don't waste your time, and don't waste my time.' Do you think the SIS has got it wrong then? If people are thinking my father is a terrorist, maybe they should have come and interviewed me, you know, because I am my father's oldest son; if anything, he would be probably be, you know, influencing me. You know, I'm quite aware that they are not just interviewing people who are trying to travel; they are interviewing a lot of people, and they're asking them to, sort of,... be their intells, you know. People come to us and say, 'Hey, SIS have sat with me, 'and they've asked me to, sort of, report back on what's happening.' CHANTING We wanted to know what the SIS was trying to achieve by infiltrating this group of Muslim men, including Sheikh Hamam. They say they can't talk about specific individuals or operations. But why has Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne withdrawn the passports of Haroon and other young Muslims attempting to travel overseas? And what evidence does he have to support his actions? Peter Dunne doesn't think talking about Haroon's case is in the public interest, while SIS boss Rebecca Kitteridge says that exposure to conflicts like those in Syria and Iraq may radicalise and desensitise individuals who may then see violence as a legitimate means of achieving results back home. The SIS powers relate only to the security of NZ. And I think they've been overridden. EXPLOSIONS ECHO Human rights lawyer Peter Hosking says NZers have a right to fight in other people's wars. It's not something that you or I would do, but they have the right to if they wish. Do you think the SIS should spell out to these young men exactly why their passports have been taken? There's no reason in situations like this why the information that's held by the SIS couldn't be disclosed. It would give us, the public, the satisfaction of knowing exactly how the SIS is doing its job, uh, protecting us, but it also would enable us to see whether they have overreached in relation to the situation of these young men. OMINOUS MUSIC A fortnight after his passport was cancelled, Haroon was once again approached by an SIS agent. This time Haroon recorded the conversation. But Haroon says he's none the wiser. He still doesn't know exactly why the SIS thinks he's a terrorist. They should give my passport back because they can't prove anything, obviously. And what they've done is wrong. Are you going to fight to get your passport back? Yeah, I would have to try and get a lawyer and do this legally as` the best legal way I can. You've gotta go to the High Court and argue your case? > You've gotta go to the High Court and argue your case? > I've got no choice. That's pretty expensive though, isn't it? The High Court? The High Court? Yeah. > The High Court? Yeah. > Yep. SWIRLING MUSIC Fighting the government decision in the High Court will cost Haroon thousands, a huge expense for a young man surviving on part-time work. I could be stuck here for a long time. Even if I, kind of, try and get my passport back next year, they could cancel it again. But Haroon says there's no going back to his old ways. Where do see yourself in five years? > Where do see yourself in five years? > Five years... I think I see myself married at that time, I think, I hope. And I could see myself being a Muslim all the way till the day I die. Have you gone from one gang to another? Have you gone from one gang to another? Hmm... No. I've left a violent gang life for... peace. Yep. Meanwhile, Britain and France have put measures in place to stop citizens travelling who are suspected of wanting to fight or attend terrorist training camps. And Australian Prime minister Tony Abbott says he'll be doing his best to prevent more than 100 suspected Australian jihadists already in Iraq and Syria from returning home. Well, after the break ` their wild food made them famous, but now it's backfired on their business. How keen would you be to tuck in to a possum pie? All right, here we go. Yeah, all right. Mmm. It is` It tastes to me like chicken. It tastes like a chicken pie. < It's called chicken of the forest. < It's called chicken of the forest. Mmm. Look, I'm already going in for the second mouthful. BOTH LAUGH BOTH LAUGH That's good. Mother Nature loves food that's free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives, and so do I. That's why my Uncle Ben's Express Rice is made with delicious rice, vegetables and herbs and spices. Ready in just two minutes. Begin with Ben and get to wholesome meals fast. Welcome back. Who would've thought simply serving up an iconic Kiwi pie could lead to criminal charges? Well, that's what's happened to the West Coast character known as Possum Pete. He and wife Justine made their names with their possum pies. We featured them once before on Sunday. But now the business is in ruins. Reporter Libby Middlebrook took a trip to Pukekura to find out why. JANGLY GUITAR MUSIC Peter Salters walked these hills for a lifetime. A city boy who became a hunter and a bushman. It was a time when bureaucracy hadn't moved into the mountains. You know, it was stated down. Your life was your own. You made decisions, you know, and you lived and died by them. A bushman's philosophy he's always lived by, even when his decisions made him his own worst enemy. In hindsight, we feel like we created a monster. It's almost like the possum's getting the last laugh here. Cos he's, uh... He's turned on us a bit. The possum pies that made him famous... We have never had one complaint. ...now backfiring on his business and landing him in court. Oh, yeah, we're pie criminals, you know (!) We're bloody big-time` big-time bad guys us, you know (!) Will you fight it? Yeah, we'll fight it. I come from a family of fighters. TRANQUIL GUITAR MUSIC If you've ever taken a road trip down the South Island's West Coast, chances are you've been through Pukekura. I think I like Pukekura because it's... it's almost like a little oasis in reverse. It's surrounded by native forest. It's just got that nice, protected feeling. An old swamp, but Pete Salter saw it had potential. CHUCKLES: Bought a bit of swamp, yeah. Yeah, yeah, and I had people mock me for it, but, uh... But not for long. Pete had worked as a professional hunter. Turned out he had a flair for marketing,... There was nobody else doing something like this. ...creating a popular tourist attraction ` 'a taste of life on the coast'. What we do have for the vegetarians is our specialty here ` possum pies. You can do a bit of bonding while you're chewing away on one of those. In its heyday, we were` we were the flavour of the month for all the coach tours coming through here. And the tourists came for just one thing. We just got into making anything and everything out of possum. How on earth do you make possum taste good? It's a secret. (LAUGHS) Can't tell you that! Pete's wife, Justine, ran the cafe kitchen, cooking up all kinds of possum delights. We had dishes like 'roadkill of the day', 'chicken of the forest', cos we just used the back legs. And so they just looked like drumsticks. It's getting the` getting the smell away, is the big thing. Because what do they smell like? Because what do they smell like? Awful. (LAUGHS) Put anybody off cooking 'em! In the beginning, they had what felt like an endless supply of meat. Wall to wall, front to back, full of boxes, and every box had something like 10 possums in. A frozen container load from a government-inspected meatworks. How did the possum go down with the tourists? Oh, no, tourists love it. You know, they'll try anything, you know. You'd give somebody some possum to eat, then they'd come back and you'd say, 'How did you like that?' And they'd say, 'Oh, tastes like guinea pig.' I said, 'Take your word for it,' you know. WHIMSICAL MUSIC Before long, Pete was famous ` a poster boy for West Coast tourism. We've had Billy Connolly here. That was neat. Did he eat a pie? Nah. He was a wuss. He was a vegetarian. And I bet you gave him a hard time about it. We did. We gave him one of our bumper stickers which said, 'Vegetarian's an old Indian word for piss-poor hunter.' But the good times were never going to last. Runaway train. It was a runaway train in the end, yeah. Were you conscious of this ever-dwindling supply of meat? No, we didn't really think of life after this possum meat. They couldn't buy any more. The meatworks had closed down. Yeah, it was pretty devastating. We'd come to work and spend every day having to explain to people we didn't have any left. They were turning round and walking out. It was that disappointment all the time. Falling victim to their own popularity. Tried to see if we could get the meat killed elsewhere, but just the costs were, you know, astronomical. They had to find a solution, so Pete went back to the bush,... QUIRKY COUNTRY MUSIC How you going there, Libby? You just` Nice, delicate little girl like you just slip through the bush. Don't you go pinging a fern in my face. Don't you go pinging a fern in my face. No, no. ...this time trapping his own possums for pie meat. We believed that what we were doing was good for everybody. It was helping us, people were getting what they wanted when they came in here. They knew they couldn't sell the possum, because it hadn't been officially inspected through a meatworks. Instead, they asked customers for donations. Did you think what you were doing was legal? Thought nothing of it; didn't think we were doing anything wrong. What happened to the donations? What happened to the donations? That money was going to a charity. They suggested $4 a pie; tourists told to try them at their own risk. And we had a notice just up on the top here. We got people to just read that. It's to let people know that my husband has trapped them and they haven't come from the processing plant. And it's really up to the person if they want them or not. So how certain are you that those animals, through all the years you made these pies, were healthy? 100%. 100% certain. Trapping's the most effective way of keeping on top of them. I've been a hunter for nearly 40 years. When I gut them, I check the lungs and the liver. They're the best signs to tell whether you've got a healthy animal or not. I've obviously cleaned them out. I've obviously cleaned them out. Yeah. I'm not some mad, crazy chef that will just say, 'Oh, just throw it in the pie. It doesn't matter.' And for five years there were no complaints, until one quiet afternoon. RECORDING: It's a food premise. It's a registered food premises. Any food in here is deemed to be for sale. After the break, food safety investigators conduct a sting. Are you angry? Yeah, I'm pissed that it's got this far. WOMAN: Now, tell me what you see in this image. WOMAN: Now, tell me what you see in this image. MAN: Uh, my new golf clubs. OK. And this? Um, anniversary presents. Right, OK. This? This? My mechanic's bill. This? My mechanic's bill. Mm. If your credit card balance is playing on your mind, switch it to an ANZ low-rate MasterCard and enjoy 0% per annum for a whole year. Call us today. ANIMALS SQUAWK For 20 years, Peter Salter built his life around his home and the wild food that made him famous. It was a self-perpetuating attraction for people to keep coming in for pies. This monster you had created. Yeah, it is. It's... Well, it's still a monster. It's... turned into a bit of a serpent, now. One afternoon last spring, Pete was out working when Justine phoned from the cafe. By the time I got back down here, there was a real slanging match going on. RECORDING: Any food, I said, any food in this premises is deemed to be for sale. Because that is one of the reg` No! That is one of the regulations... CLAMOURING An argument with government investigators taped by Justine. Here we've got legitimate cause to believe that these pies are for sale. They're not for sale! They're not for sale! CLAMOURING The inspectors had been into the cafe asking for possum pies. They were accusing us of selling, which really got up our nose, because we haven't sold a pie for about five years. Customers had been asked to give a donation. Cos we knew we couldn't sell it. But this was not selling. When you're putting $4 on something, is that not selling? When you're putting $4 on something, is that not selling? No, it's not, cos it says donation. So you would've given them away for free? So you would've given them away for free? Yes. I have done. It's an argument which will now be played out in court ` the Salters charged with criminal offences. I'm 53 and suddenly I'm in a courtroom. I've never been in a courtroom in my life. Accused of selling unregulated meat, endangering the public. Yeah, I'm pissed that it's got this far. It shouldn't have got this far. Officials would say, Pete, that you've been stopped for good reason, that those pies might be unsafe for people to eat. They might say a lot of things, but whether there's any truth in it or not. You know, we've been doing this for five years. We have never had one complaint over our possum pies. But they've been forced to take possum off the menu. We've had buses coming in. Once again, bunch of disappointed customers. No pies to give away. They don't hang around; they leave. < Has it killed the business? < Has it killed the business? It's killed it, totally. Gone. Ended. In a way, it's sad for the business. But in another way, it could be something good for us. CHICKENS SQUAWK An opportunity to quit tourism. We're just totally drained from being called on by other people, so it's nice just to get away and do something for ourselves. You're becoming a bit of a grumpy old bugger. It's an old person's right, isn't it? You know. You do, yeah. You've noticed. That's good. MEAT SIZZLES They have a retreat ` a log cabin in the hills. Because seven days a week we're down at the centre. And I think I just can't wait to get up here at night, sit outside and watch the stars, put our feet up by the fire. Is this all venison? Is this all venison? Yep. Where did you get that one? Where did you get that one? In the neck. Where did you get that one? In the neck. LAUGHTER More steak? More steak? Yeah, yeah. CLINKING Cheers, lady. > Yum. Looks good. Is it as good as your possum pies? Is it as good as your possum pies? Yes, I'd say so. Is it as good as your possum pies? Yes, I'd say so. ALL LAUGH Or are they better? Or are they better? Probably better. No one will ever know now, will they? LAUGHTER Apart from a few friends and family invited for a late supper and a last hurrah. Your attention, please. Attention. We've done something rather naughty. LAUGHTER We've made some possum pies. You want that one? We're not trying to poison you here, but this could be your last opportunity to grab something that we became, basically, famous for and now we've become infamous for. JAUNTY FIDDLE MUSIC All right, here we go. Yeah, all right. Mmm. It is like` It tastes to me like chicken. But it's all lost on Pete, who never did like the taste of possum,... Hello, badger. Let's go. ...just the job of catching them. As long as I can still bend down and hammer the staple into the tree and then shuffle along and... keep up with my dog, yeah, I'll still keep doing it. Maybe one day they'll find a skeleton in the hill with his finger stuck in a trap, you know. That'll be possums' revenge. Yes, so just to clarify ` that last batch of possum pies came from the Salters' home kitchen, and they were free. Now, Pete and Justine have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are due in court next month. Meanwhile, in a statement, the Ministry of Primary Industries said, 'unregulated meat could expose people to serious health problems', but has now agreed to meet the Salters to discuss their case. So we'll keep you posted there. After the break ` apparently hilarious, a bunch of blocks that became a blockbuster. # Everything is awesome. # The Lego characters feel like they're real Lego. They look you could be playing with them in your basement. But they bring so much character and emotion. Oh, man. Thinking about fixing? Talk to NZ's favourite home loan provider. You'll get a great rate, plus, for a limited time, get up to $3000 cash for new lending. Conditions apply. Talk to us today. Welcome back. They've been the building blocks of children's dreams for almost 70 years. But how do you make a funny, entertaining movie with a bunch of Lego blocks? Well, you start with a small Aussie company with big ideas ` Animal Logic. It's created visual effects for blockbusters like The Hunger Games and The Matrix and won an Oscar for Happy Feet. But The Lego Movie was their toughest project yet, but somehow it's yielded epic box-office success. Reporter Alex Cullum with the breakthrough animation company whose movie took three years and 360 designers. MECHANICAL WHIRRING Oh! # Everything is awesome. # Everything is cool when you're part of a team. ALARM BUZZES (CHUCKLES) (YAWNS) Good morning, apartment. Good morning, doorway, wall. Morning, ceiling. Good morning, floor. Ready to start the day. Be sure to keep the soap out of your` (SCREAMS) It was great to play with Lego, cos you could make stuff that came out of your imagination. I am so pumped up! You come up with some really wild and wonderful things. The whole world is created out of Lego bricks, or, as I like to call them, bricks. From little bricks, big things have been built. In fact, a blockbuster. BOOM! OK. I've made it look exactly as it did in the instructions. Hey, buddy. I need a 1-by-2 keyhole. Hey, buddy. I need a 1-by-2 keyhole. No problem, Michael. 2-by-2 macaroni over here. 2-by-2 macaroni over here. 2-by-2 macaroni flying in. Here's one, Mel. In The Lego Movie, the hero is a bloke called Emmet, a nobody who becomes a somebody. I love to share a meal with the special people in my life. Fred, Barry, Gail, me and you. SMACK! SMACK! Ah, no, wait. Guys, wait up. OK, I'll meet you there. At the beginning, the main character Emmet, he, like, wakes up and he gets out of his bed and he goes to a book shelf, and he looks for a book, the instructions on what to do in his day. Ah, here it is. The instructions to fit in, have everybody like you, and always be happy. Then he goes` Like, he gets his plant, puts it on the couch and has, like, toast or something for breakfast watching TV. TV: Tonight on 'Where Are My Pants?' ` TV: Tonight on 'Where Are My Pants?' ` Honey, where are my pants? (LAUGHS) I'm not spoiling any more. ALL: Ready? Break. OK. OK. These are the colours I need ` blue, razzleberry and sour apple. If anybody has black parts, I need them, OK? I only work in black and sometimes, very very dark grey. To date, the enduring tale of overcoming adversity while saving the world, even though you're made of Lego, has taken $0.5 billion at the Box Office. Just tell me exactly what to do and how to do it. Hollywood is happy. But it's Australia that should be proud, because it was built brick by brick by a little Aussie company that could. (GASPS) Animal Logic has become a world leader by thinking outside the square. ACTION MUSIC Spaceship! Spaceship! Spaceship! Spaceship! My cousin had this as a kid, and I was so jealous of him. Really? I don't think I could have afforded that when I was a kid. That's, like, more pieces than I had in my whole kit. Can you feel me?! Can you feel me?! I can feel you. Can you feel me?! I can feel you. Whoo! Nothing's gonna stop me now. Rest in pieces. The Lego Movie is Animal Logic's biggest animation project so far. SCREAMING BOOM! The company began working on feature films in the mid '90s. They brought a fresh approach to computer graphics. (ROARS) In 2006, the Aussie animators won an Oscar for Happy Feet. Get into the Octan Tower... But Lego was heavy lifting. And I know it's going to be really hard, but` And I know it's going to be really hard, but` Really hard?! Wiping your bum with a hook for a hand is really hard. It took three years and 360 people working on the most difficult possible brief. Could they make a movie out of plastic blocks? No, I don't want to. No, I don't want to. You have to. No, I don't want to. You have to. I don't want to. Would you please be quiet? Would you please be quiet? I can't. Would you please be quiet? I can't. You must. But they` But they` Shut it! It's not nice. It's not nice. It's your job, man. I can't do it. Even a 10-year-old like Rok knows that is hard ask. It made everyone at the first parts of it think it was stop motion, but then you started to realise there were things that would be impossible with actual real-life Lego. Lasers! Sharks! Laser sharks! Overbearing assistants. And strange dangerous relics that entrap, snap and zap. In a way, the film looks really simple, but it's very complex in its simplicity. We had to develop new tools, new technology, do a lot of testing. But ultimately, I think we struck the sweet spot. Wake up! Wake up! (GASPS) How did you find the Piece of Resistance. How did you find the Piece of Resistance. The piece of what? The Piece of Resistance. The Lego characters feel like they're real Lego. They look like you could be playing with them in your basement. But they bring so much character and emotion. Would you please tell me what is happening? I'm rescuing you. You're the one the prophecy spoke of. You're the Special. Me? You found the Piece of the Resistance, and the prophecy states that you're the most important, most talented, most interesting, and most extraordinary person in the universe. That's you, right? Uh... Yes. That's me. How long does it take to animate? How long does it take to animate? For this film, we decided that we were gonna target six seconds per animator per week. Six seconds a week? Six seconds a week. So that's about a second` 1.2 seconds per day. (SCREAMS) When you consider that all of the water and all of the fire and all the smoke is done with Lego bricks, it's astonishing. To the Batmobile! LASERS ZIP, BOOM! LASERS ZIP, BOOM! Dang it. LASERS ZIP, BOOM! Dang it. To the Invisible Jet. LASERS ZIP, BOOM! LASERS ZIP, BOOM! Dang it. Pose. Take a picture of them. Pose. Rob Coleman cut his teeth on the Star Wars films. STAR WARS THEME Chewie! (GROWLS) (GROWLS) We're supposed to be halfway to Naboo for a sweet party. This hyperdrive malfunctions, taking us to loser systems like this. On The Lego Movie, he was in charge of bringing Lego to life. The droid's right. Let's roll. The droid's right. Let's roll. Hold on, Han. This might be the right galaxy after all because I see a heavenly body. > Whoa. I have a boyfriend. We wanna make the best, the biggest brick film that's ever been made. And part of that was we wanna make it look like it was done with stop motion in someone's basement. So we wanted to stay true to the nature of the Lego mini figure. For example, you can't bend at the elbow, and you can't bend at the knee. But we knew we had to do it in computer animation, because there was no way you could do a movie of this size with real stop motion. CLUNK! SMASH! CLINKING Everyone has their own Lego memories. My mother tells me that on the odd occasion those bricks didn't quite stack right, there may have been tantrums. But here in Wollongong, these Lego heads are in complete control. And they're using bricks that have not changed since that first design 65 years ago. Wow. Lego comes from the Danish phrase 'leg godt', which means 'play well'. Carpenter Ole Christiansen started out making wooden toys. After World War II, there was a timber shortage, so his family began using plastic instead. The first Lego brick was moulded in Denmark in 1958. 21 billion are now made every year. They're being used to create Lego worlds everywhere. The inventors and the creators of tomorrow ` whether it be an iPhone or whatever in the future ` it starts with putting two bricks together. It starts with 'I can make something; I can dream it; I can put it together; I can create it.' Rob McGowen used to be a company CEO until he retired and became an AFOL ` that's an 'Adult Fan of Lego' ` as is his wife, Leigh. Together, they're arguably Australia's biggest Lego heads. Is it a passion or an obsession? It's a passion that can be obsessive. There's times when you'd have to say it's an obsession, but, no, it's passion. Rob, I have to ask ` why Lego? Spiritual's not the word, but it's part of who you are. It's a bit like Jedis with the force. It's` You know, I'm attracted to it. It's an extension of my creativity and what I like to do and produce and share with people. Obviously, like all my movies, Batman is the main character. And this is no exception. There is no question, the lead in this film was` There is no question, the lead in this film was` Me! Hi, everybody. Be quiet, you. Be quiet, you. Whoopsie. Be quiet, you. Whoopsie. No, I'm the lead. Yeah, I-I just stayed out of it. The lasting appeal of Lego and its surprise success on the big screen means another Lego movie is already on the drawing board, which, no doubt, will be a chip off the old block. Avast, mateys! And if the little Aussie company that could gets to do it again, then everything will be awesome. Who-awesome! # Everything is awesome. # Everything is cool when you're part of a team. # Everything is awesome # when we're living out a dream. We get a lot of complaints about 'Everything is Awesome' because once people hear it, they just can't stop singing it and hearing it. And we heard it for two years, and we still love it. It brought us to work every day, you know, saying, 'Everything is awesome.' # Everything is awesome. # Everything is cool when you're part of a team. # Everything is awesome... # ...when you're living out a dream. # # ...when you're living out a dream. # Oh man. Well, before we go, let's take a quick look at next week. It's frighteningly common. It's one of the world's leading causes of adult disability. There are about 6000 strokes in NZ every year, and roughly 50,000 Kiwis living right now with the effects of stroke. I couldn't walk. You couldn't stand up? > No, I couldn't do anything. I was... bed-bound, let's say. Cos I couldn't walk. Couldn't do anything... 16 years in limbo until she met this man, Mike Ansari ` Kiwi martial arts expert, Iranian health guru. I told her, I give her that confidence without no doubt, that once I'd start with her, she would be able to walk again without any help. I want you to use the tendons. See here. A-ha. And discovered that a little hope can sometimes spark a miracle. Are there some things that science can't explain? I think always be things that we don't fully understand, even through science. A-ha! It is moving. There we go. So that's next week. And that's us for tonight. Do join us on Facebook and Twitter. Sunday, TVNZ. Lovely to have you join us. We'll look forward to seeing you again next week. Nga mihinui, hei kona.