- "That's a suggestion. They have to put that on there."
- ―The Man Upstairs explaining the age restrictions on LEGO sets to Finn.
"The Man Upstairs" is the overarching antagonist of Warner Animation Group’s 1st full-length animated feature film The LEGO Movie, and a cameo character in its 2019 sequel The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part.
He is Finn's inspiration for President Business, and is played by Will Ferrell (who also voices Lord Business). He and President Business are voiced by Will Ferrell once again in the LEGO Movie sequel.
Biography[]
- "Wh-what did you do down there? Did you take the top of the tower?!"
- ―The Man Upstairs, questioning Finn about the roof of the Octan tower
"The Man Upstairs" is Finn's father and a LEGO collector who is the creator of Bricksburg and the other realms in The LEGO Movie. He is first seen when Emmet touched the Piece of Resistance.
Since the events in the film are being created and controlled by Finn, he based Lord Business off of his father. When Emmet falls into the Hole of Infinity, he finds himself as an inanimate minifigure in the real world where he witnesses the father chastising Finn for "ruining" his father's LEGO model displays by mixing characters with the wrong playsets, and making hodgepodge creations such as MetalBeard. When he is angry at Finn, he argues that LEGO is for children, but his father prefers to violently Krazy Glue his perceived perfect creations together permanently, as he states that this is how adults play with LEGO. As he is doing this after getting out a bunch of Krazy Glue, he reverts the Trash Chomper back into a garbage truck, regresses the Fire Mech back into a fire truck, glues Mrs. Scratchen-Post and her cats in place, glues pants on the "Where are my Pants?" Guy, and disassembles Benny's Spaceship (all of this was mirrored in the LEGO universe as being done by the Micro Managers). The man then notices the Emmet figure and attempts to get the glue off of his back. When the man is distracted, Emmet manages to move himself and fall from the table to the floor where Finn takes notice of him and puts him through a tube that takes him back to Bricksburg. When Emmet attempts to redeem Business in his world, these events are mirrored by Finn trying to tell his father about creativity.
- "If...if the construction guy...said something to President Business, what would he say?"
- ―The Man Upstairs, questioning Finn
After listening to Finn's words, his father looks at his son's creations again and finds himself impressed. Realizing his son based the evil Lord Business on him, the father has a change of heart and allows his son to play with the LEGO however he sees fit, mirroring Lord Business' redemption. Finn's mother called him and Finn "It is time for dinner!" to eat tacos for dinner, and the father says that they will be up in a second and even allows Finn's younger sister (before she is named Bianca) to play with them as well, which in the LEGO world is mirrored by alien DUPLO beings beaming down, announcing their intentions to invade.
- "Honey, where are my pants?!"
- ―The Man Upstairs, asking his wife while having trouble finding his pants
Despite not appearing in The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, clips of him from the first movie are reused and his voice is heard in Rex's Story as Finn and Bianca are bickering, then halted by their mother. Normally, he told them to do what their mother tells them to do, such as putting the bricks in the storage bins. Near the end, he asked his wife where his pants are (the same catchphrase of the "Where Are My Pants?" Guy).
Notes[]
- Finn appears in a cutscene in The LEGO Movie Video Game, however, his father is absent. In fact, the Man Upstairs is never even mentioned or shown in the cutscenes.
- However in the portable versions he is mentioned only once, but never appears overall.