Update May 24 7:28pm CT: Zaki Studios commented to We Got This Covered about the project.
It’s been a while since LazyTown finished airing season 4, and with no new episodes being released, you could imagine the shock when a movie made its way onto Prime Video. There is one problem, though; this isn’t an official LazyTown production, and was made by a passionate fan.
The LazyTown Movie is a fan-made production of the once-popular children’s show, created by Zaki Paul, and starring The Little Mermaid’s Jodi Benson. This unofficial film is pretty wild, to the point it’s hard to describe. It starts with a flashback from a scene from the original show, then has Stephanie waking up in her bedroom in LazyTown. Later on, it was revealed that Stephanie has a sister, and ends up going to Japan to stop her father and Robbie Rotten.
If you can’t afford the $20 to buy the film on Prime Video, an official upload was released on Bados Innos YouTube channel, a page known for LazyTown content. Fans “praised” the film for the director’s dedication to such project and there was confirmation via the community Discord server that a sequel may be produced.
Fans creating their own production of LazyTown isn’t new. In fact, composer Máni Svavarsson produced a song titled “LazyTown Forever” in celebration of the community that reemerged in 2016 due to the “We Are Number One” memes. The big question, however, is how this movie made its way to Prime Video with fake credits.
According to Prime Video’s support page, anyone can release their own films onto the platform as a “Standalone Title.” However, Amazon’s Content Policy Guidelines state that user-generated content isn’t allowed to be released. Based on how it was produced, this fan-made film is pretty much user-generated with really bad audio mixing, so it’s assumed that this film managed to get away from Amazon’s radar.
“Prime Video doesn’t accept user-generated content, or other types of video that aren’t normally considered feature-length movies or TV shows. Additional content categories that are no longer accepted via Prime Video Direct may include (but aren’t limited to): Product reviews, product unboxing, compilation videos, news segments, vlogs, health videos, toy play, selfie/YouTube video (Tik Tok/reaction videos), home videos, slideshows, lectures, videogame play, tutorials, listicles (i.e. top 10 videos), and ambient content.”
Zaki Studios spoke to We Got This Covered about the project, claiming they acted because they were not happy that the franchise was over, and the speculated season five rumors didn’t come to fruition. They are also aware of the legal ramifications when it came to the fake credits and using Turner’s IP (now owned by Warner Bros Discovery) but didn’t seem to be too concerned.
“I love LazyTown so much I never wanted it to be canceled. I am aware of it [the fake credits]. They [the LazyTown community] got mad but they may be fans in the future. I’m not worried about Turner noticing it. They have neglected LazyTown and has done nothing about it.”
Production Studios tend to have a mixed relationship when it comes to fan-made content. Warner Bros. Discovery once allowed a Harry Potter fan-made film to be released as long as no profits would be made. On the other hand, Nintendo tends to crack down on fan content and video gameplay of its IP if it infringes on copyright.
As of writing, the film is still available for purchase on Prime Video and still can be streamed on YouTube.
We Got This Covered has reached out to Warner Bros Media, and Amazon for comment.