''Logorama'' is a 2009 French

adult animated An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

co-written and directed by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain ( H5), and produced by Autour de Minuit. Set in a stylized version of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, the short portrays events told entirely through the extensive use of more than 2,000 contemporary and historical

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

s and

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

s. The film won both the Prix Kodak at the

2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

and the

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

at the

82nd Academy Awards The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2009 and took place on March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m ...

in 2010. A

catalog Catalog or catalogue may refer to: *Cataloging **'emmy on the 'og **in science and technology ***Library catalog, a catalog of books and other media ****Union catalog, a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of libraries ...

based on the short, titled ''Logobook'' and written by the film's co-director Ludovic Houplain, was published by

Taschen Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen. History The company began as Taschen Comics, pu ...

in 2013.

Plot

The short opens with a

panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

where all of its buildings and inhabitants are in some form of commercial branding: birds are in the form of

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...

and

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...

logos and

MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

; pedestrians are in the shape of the AIM icon; and overhead highway signs are mounted on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

logos, among others. The Original Pringles mascot (voiced by

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Fin ...

) pulls into a

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...

restaurant's parking lot and propositions an

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...

Girl waitress (voiced by Aja Evans) on a

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

break (her cigarette is the

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...

logo). Meanwhile, BiC Boy students alongside

Bob's Big Boy Bob's Big Boy is a restaurant chain founded by Bob Wian in Southern California in 1936, originally named Bob's Pantry. It is now part of Big Boy Restaurant Group, the current primary trademark owner and franchisor of the Big Boy system. At its ...

(voiced by

Joel Michaely Joel Michaely is an American actor and film producer. He has appeared in such films as ''Can't Hardly Wait'', '' But I'm a Cheerleader'', '' Ghost World'', ''The Rules of Attraction'', ''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'', '' Cruel World'', '' Factory Girl'' ...

) and

Haribo Haribo ( ) is a German confectionery company founded by Hans Riegel Sr.. It began in Kessenich, Bonn, Germany. The name "Haribo" is a syllabic abbreviation formed from Hans Riegel Bonn. The company created the first gummy candy in 1960 in the for ...

Boy (voiced by

Matt Winston Matthew Winston is an American actor. He is the son of special effects artist Stan Winston. Career Winston's television appearances include the HBO dramas '' Six Feet Under'' and '' John from Cincinnati'', and as Crewman Daniels in '' Star T ...

) are on a tour at a zoo led by a flamboyant

Mr. Clean Mr. Clean (or Mr. Proper) is a brand name and mascot, owned by the American company Procter & Gamble, used for an all-purpose cleaner and later also for a melamine foam abrasive sponge. The all-purpose cleaner was originally formulated by Linwo ...

(voiced by Michaely); hating the tour, Big Boy and Haribo Boy hop off the tour train and soon begin to harass the

MGM lion Leo the Lion is the mascot for the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and one of its predecessors, Goldwyn Pictures, featured in the studio's production logo, which was created by the Paramount Pictures, Paramou ...

mooning Mooning is the act of displaying one's bare buttocks by removing clothing, e.g., by lowering the backside of one's trousers and underpants, usually bending over, and also potentially exposing the genitals. Mooning is used in the English-speaking ...

and throwing a bottle of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

at it, prompting the zoo's owner, the

Jolly Green Giant Green Giant and Le Sueur (spelled Le Sieur in Canada) are brands of frozen and canned vegetables owned by B&G Foods. The company's mascot is the Jolly Green Giant. Company and brand history The Minnesota Valley Canning Company was founded in ...

(voiced by Michaely), to scold them. As

Michelin Man Bibendum (), commonly referred to in English as the Michelin Man or Michelin Tyre Man, is the official mascot of the Michelin tyre company. A humanoid figure consisting of stacked white tire, tyres, it was introduced at the Lyon Exposition inter ...

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s Mitch and Mike (voiced by Bob Stephenson and

Sherman Augustus Sherman Augustus (born January 10, 1959) is an American actor, martial artist and former National Football League, NFL player. He is best known for his role as Nathaniel Moon in the AMC (TV channel), AMC series Into the Badlands (TV series), Into ...

) order lunch at

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

, a call comes in over the radio stating that a criminal named

Ronald McDonald Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. He inhabits the fictional world of McDonaldland, with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird and ...

(voiced by Stephenson) is on the loose in a red delivery truck; both Mitch and Mike spot Ronald in his truck and chase him. The police pursuit quickly veers out of control, as many innocent bystanders are imperiled/injured. Meanwhile, the BiC students alongside Big Boy and Haribo Boy at the zoo have finished their tour and are back on the school bus, soon nearing the Pizza Hut where Esso Girl is serving the Original Pringles mascot and the Pringles Hot & Spicy mascot. Ronald swerves to avoid the school bus and crashes his truck over in front of the Pizza Hut. Several guns and biological weapons then spill out of the back of the truck, tempting Big Boy and Haribo Boy to steal and sell them at the

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

. Ronald gets out of the truck and knocks out Haribo Boy with his foot, before taking Big Boy hostage and running inside the Pizza Hut. Big Boy frees himself by biting Ronald in the arm, before running for cover behind the counter with Esso Girl while an enraged Ronald attempts to shoot him. The police are given the excuse to start firing on Ronald, but Ronald kills one of the police officers. As the gunfight ensues in the streets, a low rumbling is heard across Los Angeles, resulting in a giant

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

erupting and opening a

fissure A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes. Ground fissure ...

shaped like

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

logo that splits the streets wide open. Big Boy and Esso Girl escape the rapidly collapsing Pizza Hut using a hijacked police car while the Original Pringles mascot and the Pringles Hot & Spicy mascot are both crushed inside. After shooting Mitch with his gun (as shown via the

gun barrel sequence The gun barrel sequence is a signature device featured in nearly every List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' film.Cork, John & Scivally, Bruce (2002). ''James Bond: The Legacy''. Boxtree, 46. Shot from the point of view of a presumed assassin, ...

à la

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

), Ronald rides through the city on a stolen ''

Grease 2 ''Grease 2'' is a 1982 American musical romantic comedy film and the sequel to the 1978 film ''Grease'', adapted from the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Originally titled ''More Grease'', the film was produced ...

'' motorcycle, but drives into a fallen Weight Watchers sign and is thrown off, sliding and falling into a

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pie ...

shaped like the

Zenith Electronics Zenith Electronics, LLC, is an American research and development company that develops ATSC and digital rights management technologies. It is owned by the South Korean company LG Electronics. Zenith was previously an American brand of consumer el ...

logo. As he pulls himself back up, he is run over by Esso Girl and Big Boy, who barely escape the city and speed along a curved highway shaped like the VAIO logo. As the duo near the Hollywood Chewing Gum

Hollywood Sign The Hollywood Sign is an American landmark and cultural icon overlooking Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Originally the Hollywoodland Sign, it is situated on Mount Lee, in the Beachwood Canyon area of the Santa Monica Mountains. Spelling ...

, it falls apart and sends the giant letters crashing onto the highway in front of them. While evading one of the letters, the duo veer off the highway and down a hill, finally crashing into a tree shaped like the

American Century Investments American Century Investments is a privately controlled and independent investment management firm. Operations The Building has approximately 1,300 employees and its headquarters are located at 4500 Main in Kansas City, Missouri, near the Countr ...

logo. Following this,

petroleum oil Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils. The name 'mineral oil' by itself is imprecise, ...

suddenly erupts from the rifts around town and entirely floods Los Angeles. The hill Esso Girl and Big Boy are stranded on splits into two, revealing a giant

North Face North face or Northface or The North Face may refer to: * North face (Eiger), in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland * North Face (Everest), in Himalaya, usually traversed ascending Everest from the north * North face (Fairview Dome), a climbing route ...

logo while the land crumbles around them, swallowed by the sea and leaving the duo on a tiny island together. The film closes with Esso Girl picking up and biting a colored

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

logo while lying down on the island alongside Big Boy, before zooming out to reveal that

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

has been separated from mainland and is now shaped like the

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is headquartered ne ...

logo, but also revealing that the entire universe is made up of even more logos. After the credits, a now-bald, black-eyed and partly-toothless Ronald laughs menacingly and says " I'm lovin' it!"

Cast

* Bob Stephenson –

Police Officer Mike *

– Original Pringles Mascot * Aja Evans –

Girl *

– Michelin Man Police Officer Mitch *

– Big Boy,

–

Boy * Gregory J. Pruss –

Pillsbury Doughboy Poppin' Fresh, more widely known as the Pillsbury Doughboy, is an advertising mascot for the Pillsbury Company, appearing in many of their commercials. Many commercials from 1965 until 2005 (together with some for GEICO between 2009 and 2017) en ...

, Chopper Pilot * Josh Eichenbaum –

M&M's M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are multi-colored button-shaped chocolates, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M ...

Jaime Ray Newman Jaime Ray Newman (born April 2, 1978) is an American actress, producer and singer. She is known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in the soap opera '' General Hospital'', Mindy O'Dell in the drama series ''Veronica Mars'', Kat Gardener in the fa ...

– Dispatch Girl (Radio) *

Andrew Kevin Walker Andrew Kevin Walker (born August 14, 1964) is an American screenwriter, producer and script doctor. He is known for having written ''Seven'' (1995), for which he earned a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as s ...

as Pringles Hot & Spicy

Themes

''Logorama'' explores the extent to which logos are embedded in Earth's daily existence. H5 members explained that, "''Logorama'' presents us with an over-marketed world built only from logos and real trademarks that are destroyed by a series of natural disasters (including an earthquake and a tidal wave of oil). Logotypes are used to describe an alarming universe (similar to the one that we are living in) with all the graphic signs that accompany us in our lives. This over-organized universe is violently transformed by the cataclysm becoming fantastic and absurd. It shows the victory of the creative against the rational, where nature and human fantasy triumph".

Brands, mascots and logos

The entirety of ''Logorama'' is made up of brand images, logos and mascots, with these brand images, logos and mascots used as characters, props, locations, vehicles and other content. Notable uses within the film include

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

mascot

being depicted as the main antagonist, while Michelin Men are depicted as the police. However, some of the logos are also derived from fictional works, such as

Slurm The Slurm Workload Manager, formerly known as Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management (SLURM), or simply Slurm, is a free and open-source job scheduler for Linux and Unix-like kernels, used by many of the world's supercomputers and compu ...

from ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...

'', the ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...

'' logo, the Buy-N-Large (BnL) sign from ''

WALL-E ''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton, pro ...

'', the ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' sign and logo of ''My First Thomas'', a ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'' toyline.

Awards

''Logorama'' has received the following nominations and awards: * Kodak Discovery Award for Best Short Film (the Kodak Prix) - Critics' Week,

62nd Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

(2009) – Won * Audience Award – Festival International de Curtas Metragans (2009) – Nominated * Audience Award – Lille International Short Film Festival (2009) – Nominated * Jury's Special Prize, Audience Prize, Fuji Prize for Best Directors – Cinanima International Animated Film Festival (2009) – Nominated * Best Short Film – Stockholm International Film Festival (2009) – Nominated * Best Direction, Audience Award – Vendôme Film Festival (2009) – Nominated * Gold Medal for Animation – Zinebi, Bilbao International Film Festival (2009) – Nominated *

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

for

Best Animated Short The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

–

(2010) – Won * Best Short Film – Césars 2011 – Nominated

In other media

The 2012 ''

Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, a ...

'' episode "

A Tree Grows in Springfield A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

" ends with a vignette inspired by ''Logorama'' called Logomania."The Simpsons" A Tree Grows in Springfield (TV Episode 2012) -Connection - IMDB
/ref>

References

External links

''Logorama''
on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...