User Reviews

I appreciate how well done this French made piece was executed, and love the way, it looks. The movie is visually beautiful to watch. Directed by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy & Ludovic Houplain, the movie had at least, two thousand logos and symbols that made up this huge computer animation world of Los Angeles. It really shows that a film about animation logos can be made right. 2012's Foodfight & Branded should had honestly, look at this film as an example, on how to do, their film justice when they were producing their own films. Still, the movie isn't without faults. While, the movie has plenty of action and humor, the movie lacks a good solid story. It seem like they were cramming way too much visual things to look at, without thinking, once how to make a film out of it. The movie create three-stories that are going on. One is the story of two cops (Voiced by Bob Stephenson and Sherman Augustus) chasing down a fugitive (Also by Bob Stephenson) from justice. The other story is about two children (voiced by Joel Michaely & Matt Winston) trip to the zoo, and the last is a story of a waitress (Voiced by Aja Evans) trying not to get sexual harass from a customer (Voiced by famous director, David Fincher of 1995's Se7en fame). All of the character do intercut, but none of the characters are truly that develop in this 16 minute movie. The plot seem to jump around, way too much and felt unsure of itself on what the story is about. Make sure you have an overall goal or point to your story. There needs to be a reason for telling the story. Half of the time, I'm watching it, I'm trying to figure out what the film is trying to say with its satire tone. Is corporations destroying America? Is God angry at how corporations replace him? The movie seem to have hidden messages about greed, religion, environment and others. The movie even had metaphors for Katrina disaster, the raiding of the Middle East for oil, and others. There were so many brilliant references from start to finish. Liked how the Michelin Men, were chosen because of their perception as tough, while as a caricature of American policemen due to the long held notion of them being overweight. I like how Weight Watchers bringing down McDonalds and Ronald McDonald crashed into the American Cancer Society! Whether or not, the film is intended as a social commentary is up to question. Still, you can see that the film is trying to show something. They should had keep the main plot simple, in my opinion. If there is too much going on, the general population won't get it. Think accessibility, not complexity. Have one character with one story arch. Another thing that people might not like about the film is how offensive it is, it does conveys a very narrow-minded view of America. The whole Quentin Tarantino type dialogue is a trip and works to make these characters into human like, but none of the corporations here are put into a good light. Why is every logo characters in the film, made in negative stereotype? Honestly, the over the top gay stereotype of Mr. Clean was just awful and probably anger a lot of gay people. The whole idea of Bob's Big Boy and Haribo Boy as idiotic punks is just wrong. Last, Mr. Pringles sexual assaulting somebody isn't what I call, great P.R. The worst beat down was McDonalds as Ronald McDonald is portray as a psychopath criminal. Ever since, then. McDonald's less and less, use the character in its own ads. The company just wants to communicate less and less through him. The only logo that seems to be presented in alright light is the Esso Girl. It wouldn't be no surprise if any of the companies that had their logo used, try to threatened legal action against the film, because how they were portray or how the film use their logo without their permission. The film makers probably relying on Fair Use for legal cover. I know, some of the companies were pretty please, to see their logotype in the film. I like how the film also use, movie, music and television logos as Easter eggs such as The Buy N Large "BnL" logo from 2008's Wall-E, the Slurm logo from the TV Series, Futurama, and Pink Floyd on the Wall, album cover. There are too many to count. The short movie also had some great license music choices. The opening track to Dean Martin "Good Morning Life" really set the mood. The closing track, The Ink Spots "I don't want to send the world on fire", show how chaotic, it had become. The voice acting is alright. I love Aja Evans, southern accent as the Esso Girl. I don't think the movie is appropriate for children as the movie is full of violent and harsh language. So, don't mistake this movie for a Disney or Pixar short. Overall: Logorama is a must-have for any designer, student, marketing professionals, and anyone interested in contemporary culture. I'm glad, it won Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 82nd Academy Awards. A great bitter-sweet satire of our commercial world.

Shorts like "Logorama" are the perfect example of how to use product placement in a funny and creative manner.

What starts like a surreal parody of crime films eventually turns into something that one would expect from an apocalyptic disaster movie, and the most incredibly thing of this is that it works very well, being actually more exciting (and also, more entertaining) than anything made by filmmakers like Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich.

While the animation from this short isn't really that impressive (Don't get me wrong, the animation is decent, but not incredible, and it merely serves as a vehicle for the clever plot) is the brilliance of the script from this short what makes it a worth-watching experience, having an impressive use of logos and corporate mascots in a way which never fails to surprise and amuse.

I think that the Academy Award that it got was more than well deserved.

The last several years, I have gone to special showings of the Oscar-nominated shorts--both live action and animated. I am very fortunate that I live in an area where they have these showings. I am predicting here BEFORE the Oscars are announced that I think LOGORAMA is the odds-on favorite to win out of the five nominees. While I have a few minor misgivings about it, it was an incredible film and is among the most creative and amazing shorts I've ever seen. However, this film is actually my second favorite of the shorts and I still am pulling for THE OLD LADY AND THE REAPER, but it's the sort of film that's unlikely to win. Plus, I have found that if a short is my favorite, then it's bound to lose!!

If you are looking for a short with a deep story or that makes a lot of sense, then do NOT watch LOGORAMA. It will probably make your brain hurt if you try to make too much sense out of it. However, it is one of the most stunning films visually and the concept is just brilliant. It consists of a magical land where everything is logos--advertising signs and figures used throughout the world. Here, the AOL man, Bic pen man, Bob's Big Boy and many others live and the buildings, wall, etc. are all advertising logos. And, interestingly enough, Ronald McDonald is an evil psychotic!! This, however, is not the reason that this film was shown last after a special warning appeared on the screen indicating this last film was not appropriate for children. It's because the film is very violent and the language is amazingly harsh. Little kids might be traumatized to see the characters acting in a very R-rated manner!

I really wish, however, that they'd shown the movie in French with subtitles--as I assume the version I saw was dubbed into English since the film was made in France. If there is no French version or if you know how I can find it, let me know.

Aside from a relatively weak narrative and language that could have been toned down a bit to make this a better film for a wider audience, this is a brilliant film and I respect the great job they did. As I said, I won't be surprised if it's picked and can easily live with this result...as I had a great time viewing it.

By the way, for all you "Futurama" fans out there, look carefully--there is a logo for Slurm Cola during this film!! Pretty clever!

UPDATE (3/7/10)--well I picked this one correctly. Too bad I wasn't so talented when it came to Best Live Action Short! I was really wrong there!

Bringing together all things that make run the much maligned global economy, Logorama is comprised of satirical characters, every single one representative of a well known brand and, of course, borrowing some of its traits / values. Making fun, intelligently none the less, of what we have come to recognize as (social) values is always a public draw, as you might imagine. Also having a moral to story is a plus, and it's probably what makes this movie so good and so appreciated.

What needs to be said is that the authors of this short film are French, I don't know how much they have come in contact with American Society, but their depiction of it is very accurate, even if at times hyperbolic. The script is constructed as that of a box office hit, complete with a villain (Ronald McDonald), tough cops (Michelin characters that make you think, image wise, of donuts eating police officers), and is somewhat chaotic, but I see it as an irony to the recipe of block busters grossing billions of $. The ending to the film - the earthquake followed by the "apocalypse of petrol" - make it seem like a very intuitive prediction (the film was made in 2009) of what has happened this year (Haiti + Balkan Petroleum). With the characters being profit motivated, walking clichés, violent and blood thirsty, the aftermath - destruction, disasters - is easy to anticipate, although sad.

And what the story amounts to, a Noah's Arch type of apocalypse, is very well put into perspective by the zoom-out end: we're just a dot in the Milky Way Galaxy.. Insert Registered mark logo here, of course..

When it's all said and done, the movie is well made, accessible to all ages and a great run of humorous inter-texts.

Calin Radulescu @ Shorts Up Romania, June 2010

This won the Oscar for Animated Short. There will be spoilers ahead:

This is a semi-deranged bit of madness. I find myself wondering what various executives of some of the companies which still exist think about various characters and incidents taking place in this short (particularly McDonald's). Let's face it, it isn't every day an iconic figure goes off the rails as spectacularly as the clown does here. He's one "Top of the world, Ma!" away from Cody Jarrett territory.

There's a lot to like about this short. It's visually stunning to look at and every time I watch it, I notice quite a few things along the edges I didn't see before (at six times so far, I'm still noticing stuff for the first time).

The choice of music is fascinating. They start with a peppy song sung by Dean Martin and end with the Ink Spots. The underscoring is effective and fitting.

You'll see appearances by Mr. Clean, the Jolly Green Giant, The Pringles guy(s), your favorite M&Ms, Mr. Peanut and other trademarks (some of which may have caused various lawyers some sleepless nights). The language is colorful and definitely the kind of thing you'd find in a Scorsese or Tarantino film rather than the average animated short. This not meant for children in any way, shape or form.

Blink and you'll probably miss something. Not for all tastes, but it's fast-paced, entertaining and funny in a disturbed, chuckle with a gasp and a drop of blood at the corner of your mouth kind of way. Available on a Blu-Ray/DVD combo release from Shorts International (which is itself a very good compilation of Academy Award winning shorts, live action and animation). Logorama is well worth watching and most recommended.

The 2009 movie "Logorama" is a perfect example for how a creative idea and execution can already be enough to achieve an Academy Award, one of the highest honors in the world of movies. This 16-minute movie managed to beat Nick Park's newest Wallace&Gromit adventure and 3 other pretty decent animated short films. I guess my personal choice would have been "Lady and the Reaper". But "Logorama" is very well-done too. Admittedly, there is nothing particularly new about the story, but this is all about the animation or I should probably be more specific and say it is about the way how they included hundreds (thousands?) of brands here. A truly creative effort and I applaud the filmmakers for this. These brands really make the story too as all the protagonists represent certain enterprises, mostly McDonald of course with Ronald McDonald playing a Joker-like villain here. Did this film set my world on fire (in a positive sense)? Probably not, but still I enjoyed it a lot and it is certainly one of the most unique animated short films of the new millennium. The three people behind this work are from France actually and made another popular short film based on a very famous video game afterward. I will check this one out soon too and wonder if we ever get a full feature animated movie from them. I certainly would be interested in watching it.

"I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing. The first, of course, is ransom notes." – Philip Dusenberry

"Advertising is legalised lying." – H. G. Wells

"Logorama" is a short film which takes place in an "over-marketed" world in which nearly everything is constructed from corporate brand images. Capitalism's commodification and advertising's proliferation taken to grotesque extremes, the film also satires big budget Hollywood action movies, whilst homaging fare like Altman's "Short Cut's", "Blade Runner", "Falling Down", disaster movies and Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction". As post-modernism is the logic of late capitalism, it's no surprise that virtually everything in this film is a ripped from somewhere else.

The plot is simple, and involves police forces tracking down a deranged Ronald McDonald, who has recently committed a robbery and kidnapping. As the film unfolds, we're treated to some expertly mounted action scenes (with excellent virtual camera work), the overriding point being that big corporations, oil conglomerates and brand heavy businesses are not only run by sleazy people, but completely wrecking the world.

When its not critiquing corporations and when Ronald McDonald isn't shooting up the place with a machine-gun, the film makes some subtle jokes. Most of these are noticeable only with re-watches, but some of the more blatant ones include Ronald McDonald tripped by a Weight Watchers billboard, an IBM building collapsing such that its catchphrase loses an "s" to read "Solutions for a mall planet" and a sequence in which Enron, K-Mart, and Freddie Mac - all of which have been marred by scandal, bankruptcy, and government bailouts - fall during an earthquake. A later scene featuring several logotypes drowning in oil even includes Phillips 66, Chrysler, and a "W", from the George W. Bush reelection campaign of 2004.

Though the film critiques consumption, Americanocentrism, mindless entertainment, corporate branding, cultural imperialism, globalisation and capitalism's rampant reification, it's ultimately a very limp work of satire. Functioning more as product placement, "Logorama" adopts the tactics of and revels in exactly that which it damns. It's as stupid and crass as the action movies it parodies and as reliant on gimmickry and the novelty value of symbols as the brands it tries to mock. The notion that having characters cursing somehow taints these corporations is also naive (Most of the logos on the screen are not portrayed in a negative light. They are just there.), as modern advertising now works despite being annoying. The ads of today – think internet pop-ups, IMDb banners and spam – do not seek to ingratiate themselves with the consumer, only to get their name out there, in the public's consciousness, by whatever means necessary. The ad, in other words, no longer advertises a product, but the ad itself. That the companies whose logos appear in this film have not blocked the release of "Logorama" is merely an indication of how comfortable they all are with the current state of things, and how ineffectual such small acts of protest really are.

Then there's the fact that H5, the company that produced "Logorama", is itself a well known French company which works in music video, advertising and packaging, servicing such brands as Audi and Cartier. With that in mind, consider the way discussions relating to "Logorama" always degenerate into a game of "spot the logo" or "spot the brand". This effectively reverses the usual operation of advertising. The ad is no longer pushed upon the consumer, but the consumer is actively searching for the ad and rewarding himself for spotting it. Creepy.

7.5/10 – Plays better as an Ellroy/Chandler styled cop movie than a satire. Worth one viewing.

"Logorama" is a spoof, and a very good spoof at that, of at least two kind of movies : on one hand the more violent kind of crime and hostage drama, on the other hand the disaster movie. However, it is primarily a sharp-toothed satire on the visual pollution of our Western cities - what am I saying, on the visual pollution of our Western lives, which get buried under an avalanche of publicity, corporate logos and product placement.

By the way, don't expect this little movie to end on a happy note : it pretty much implies that Mankind will happily export this kind of egregious ugliness to other planets, even other dimensions. Space, the final frontier, just panting for the chance to get buried under mind-boggling layers of greed, crassness and impudence...

I stand in awe of the daring of the various makers of the movie - from a legal point of view, I can only suppose that they've either got b*lls of iron or excellent lawyers. Or they might have excellent lawyers with b*lls of iron, that's a possibility too.

Richly deserved the awards thrown in its direction, plus a few other ones it should have obtained.