We got a pretty surprise today, in the form of the first Warner Bros. The LEGO Movie trailer and movie poster being released! Now, it’s not surprising that Warner Bros. is working on a 2014 LEGO Movie–we’ve known about that for a while. No, what makes this a “good surprise” is that based on the teaser trailer, it looks like The LEGO Movie might actually be good! But don’t expect to see some of the most popular LEGO themes of all-time like LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Marvel or LEGO Star Wars in The LEGO Movie…

I wasn’t confident that Warner Bros. would be able to bring the zany wit and humor that make the LEGO video games and cartoon series so terrific to the big screen, but this first The LEGO Movie trailer is definitely encouraging.

I love that absolutely everything in The LEGO Movie world appears to be made of LEGO bricks (unlike some of the games and cartoons), as well as the fact that the characters in the movie can seemingly only move in close to the same manner as an actual toy LEGO minifigure can. The stop-motion style animation still looks a little choppy, but I’m hopeful that will improve by the time the movie releases in February 2014.

Licensed characters that appear in the first  trailer for The LEGO Movie include Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, the 2002 NBA All-Star team (yes, I know they’re real people), some of the Lone Ranger Soldiers and Cowboys, and Michelangelo of the LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Notice anything about this list? Yep–there’s no LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Toy Story, LEGO Cars, LEGO Marvel Avengers and so forth present. What’s the common denominator between all of those themes? You guessed right–it’s that they’re owned by Disney.

So will there be LEGO Star Wars characters in The LEGO Movie? It is highly unlikely–bordering on the impossible–that we will see any of the properties that Warner Bros. doesn’t control appearing in The LEGO Movie. Sorry, guys–the long dreamed-of duel between LEGO Darth Vader and LEGO Batman appears to be off. (I wouldn’t be too shocked to see LEGO Harry Potter or LEGO Speed Racer show up, however.)

For hardcore LEGO collectors, this movie looks like it’s going to be a veritable “Where’s Waldo?” of awesomeness. While the range of licensed LEGO characters appearing in the movie is fairly limited, there’s a huge variety of original LEGO characters appearing.

Just watching the trailer twice through, I saw the LEGO Ninjago Green Ninja (Lloyd), LEGO Castle Knights and a plethora of LEGO Minifigures Series figures (Crash Test Dummy, Lady Liberty, Painter, Vampire, Hazmat, Lizard Suit Guy, Mermaid, Magician, and more).

The LEGO Movie is scheduled to be released in theaters on February 7, 2014. I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to post and talk about as the movie draws near and more trailers and information are revealed. And if you want LEGO news and updates sent directly to your Facebook Newsfeed, remember to ‘Like’ Bricks and Bloks on Facebook!