If you’re tired of formal musical biopics – that is, almost all musical biopics – Morgan Neville’s ‘Piece by Piece’ is a breath of fresh air. Pharrell Williams, an artist with more #1 hits than Will Riker and Jack Ransom in a bar fight, has a story to tell about his childhood, his career, and his creative process, and it’s not your typical rags-to-riches story . (He’s also a “Star Trek” fan, so if no one else gets that joke, at least he will.)

“Piece by Piece” is an animated documentary, not a brand new concept, but not dead on either. Morgan Neville, who won an Oscar for the music documentary “20 Feet from Stardom,” sat down Pharrell Williams and his friends, family and artistic collaborators for extensive interviews, then animated their story in the same style as the various “LEGO Movies.” everyone loves so much. It’s a charming approach, even if it’s also a huge commercial for toys.

But to hear Pharrell tell it, the LEGO aesthetic connects with him on a personal level. From his perspective, there is nothing new in this universe, so everything we create is made from pre-existing pieces. His music comes from his life experiences, large and small, and when he puts together a beat, it takes physical form: a collection of LEGO pieces that pulsate with rhythm.

When it’s not about in-depth explanations about LEGO, ‘Piece by Piece’ is funny about it. Anecdotes about working at McDonalds and becoming addicted to Chicken McNuggets are amusing in themselves, but completely absurd if there isn’t a LEGO brick small enough to make the illusion come true. So Pharrell just pulls down beige 1×1 bricks that are practically the size of his head.

Pharrell also explains that he experiences synesthesia, which means he processes music visually, and that gives ‘Piece by Piece’ an excuse to get trippy. Lots of colours, lots of strange images. Still, it’s not too trippy. Neville’s animated documentary is set in the music industry, but it’s a family-friendly film, and so are the sharpest lyrics. And the scenes with Snoop Dogg reveal that the mysterious cloud of white smoke following him is just “PG Spray,” which the characters spray around themselves in the hopes that adults will laugh and kids won’t think about it too much.

“Piece by Piece” is designed with children in mind. It is a relaxed storybook, with inspiring moments and surprisingly subdued drama. Pharrell’s life seems to have somehow averted many of the music industry’s most pernicious clichés, so the film contains no subplots of substance abuse or even melodramatic shouting matches with his friends, family, and fellow musicians. His biggest struggles, from the sounds of “Piece by Piece,” were overloading himself with side projects and a period of creative burnout.

This lack of intensity isn’t a drawback in Neville’s film, it’s a selling point. “Piece by Piece” isn’t about building Pharrell’s legend, it’s about the value of hard work and personal growth. These are some of the most important lessons in life, but in the movies it often seems like they always come from outward conflict, when often it’s just hunkering down, perfecting your craft, paying your dues, making time for your friends and family, and living your core values do not lose sight of. “Piece by Piece” uses whimsy to make these experiences entertaining, while many biopics fall into the trap of turning reality into dramatic contrivances.

So it goes that “Piece by Piece” is small, very small, but still quite impressive. Pharrell is a likable guy, and the rest of the interviewees are friendly and self-effacing. It amuses them that a man with such childish exuberance and eccentric fashion choices has conquered the music world, but they are all very happy that he has done so, either because he is a nice guy or because he has made them a lot of money . Usually both. It’s comforting to think that the music industry doesn’t eat you up and spit you out every now and then. Looks like Pharrell just got a little bit gnawed.

And of course there are the songs. There are so many songs. “Piece by Piece” doesn’t stop to play them all in their entirety, because it’s not Bernardo Bertolucci’s director’s cut of “1900” and we don’t have all the time in the world. If you only know Pharrell Williams from his hit single “Happy,” you’ll be amazed at the amount of classic songs that he and his producing partner Chad Hugo have been directly responsible for, or at least brought to fruition. It’s such an incredible, high-volume, high-quality artistic production that it’s really hard to process, but to hear Pharrell tell it, it was his day job.

“Piece by Piece” doesn’t hit you like a ton of bricks. It’s gentle, with good intentions and funny jokes. But it’s that fact – the fact that it’s a musical biography that just wants its audience to be comforted and inspired – that makes it special. Morgan Neville may have created the latest in a long line of gigantic LEGO commercials, but he created one with real human decency and soul.