So what are Ninjago Stories anyway?

A few years ago, we experienced a major power outage at home. It was winter and reading bedtime stories to my son was nearly impossible since it was dark by 6:00 pm. So in a moment of sheer madness (or brilliance) I came up the a story based on the Lego Ninjago characters that my son was very interested in at the time. After a few nights we finally got our power back and we went back to reading books for bedtime as usual. After I had finished the last of his books, he asked “Daddy, where’s the Ninjago story?” Now as you know, there are only so many things ninjas can do besides training and fighting bad guys. In looking around at the other toys my son had and other things he was interested in, I incorporated these into the Ninjago stories. Also, at the time we were playing the MMORPG Lego Universe which gave us the Island of Crux Prime, the home of the Ninjas and their Dojo. In order to make the rest of the characters and ideas fit, we simply expanded the Island of Ninjago to accommodate our ideas.

The map of Ninjago shows the approximate location of all the different groups involved but in no means should it be considered as literal. Travel on the island is instantaneous in most cases, so physical location is irrelevant. It’s mostly a way for me to remember all the different groups that have been introduced.

That summer, my son and wife spent a few weeks away on vacation with family and Canada. One of the things missing from my son’s bedtime routine, was the Ninjago stories. So, calling upon my podcasting past, I set about to record a series of stories that he could listen to at bedtime.

It is now the second summer of creating these stories and they look to be continuing into the foreseeable future.

You may notice a difference in the stories from seasons 1 and 2. In season 1, I complete wrote and tightly edited the recordings. Although they are fine, to me, they lacked some of the dramatic nature from our usual bedtime tales. The usual bedtime tales are totally off the cuff and have a number of dramatic pauses while I come up with more story to tell. This, to me, is really part of the fun of the Ninjago stories and the records from season 1 totally lacked that.

Season 2 was from the beginning totally unscripted and the editing was not as heavy as the previous season. Of course stammers and brain farts were edited out, but I think it’s much truer to the real Ninjago bedtime tales.