The AT-AT is probably the most intimidating and terrifying ground vehicle in the Star Wars movies. They are devastating war machines with powerful guns, also able to carry troops and smaller vehicles into the battlefield. It’s only due to the ingenuity of Luke Skywalker and the other Rebel pilots that we discover their weakness and see them brought down. Angus MacLane apparently took one look at these war machines and thought to himself, “How can I make this cute?”
As part of a ‘chibi’ Star Wars contest, he decided to turn the AT-AT into a cuter representation using LEGOs. Chibi is a Japanese word essentially meaning little; in anime and manga fandoms it is typically used to describe an unrealistic art style where characters are drawn smaller, often child-sized, with exaggerated features. Surprisingly, this is what was done to the intimidating All Terrain Armored Transport, turned into a smaller and, well, cuter version with apparent ease.
While the AT-AT in the movies is often compared to a large cat in terms of appearance, this chibi version looks more like a kitten. However, it still maintains its most important properties. The shape of the body is still very accurate, the mounted guns on the front are all there, and the legs appear to have fully-working joints. The really remarkable thing about this is the level of detail that was packed into such a small frame. You can see the scale shown in comparison to LEGO minifigs, with one poor Empire soldier crammed into the cockpit and Luke Skywalker appearing to be about half the height of the legs as he dangles beneath the walking tank. Just check out the pictures below for a good look at the stunning detail.
For more amazing Star Wars art, make sure you check out this Homemade Lightsaber, R2-D2 Video Projector, or (if you’re feeling hungry) a Death Star Cake.
