I am ecstatic to finally see and promote the Animated Short Winner from this year's Academy Awards, Logorama. The 16-minute short is a cataclysm of thousands of current and former corporate cultural icons, mascots, and logos playing out in a quick and cliché narrative. But when I say cliché, this is a good thing.
The story follows two Michelin men acting as stereotypical cops hunting down a lunatic terrorist played by Ronald McDonald through a stylized version of Los Angeles. Their struggle collides with the lives of two boys played by the mascots for Big Boy Restaurants and Haribo Candy, two blue collar workers played by the mustached Pringles guy, and even a homosexual zoo tour guide played by Mr. Clean (I laughed myself to death when he pops into the narrative).
This has to be one of the most interesting conceptualized stories I have ever seen. By the creators only using recognizable pieces of culture, it makes viewers laugh to see the personification and sometimes destruction of these icons. It makes the story more amusing to watch as the narrative is told through the interaction of all these logos.
While watching it I was not only interested to see how the story was going to evolve, but also to see how many cultural references and logos I could recognize from shot to shot. Trust me, the screen is saturated with these icons making it near impossible to find them all with one viewing.
The short was written/directed by the production company H5 and debuted at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. In charge of this creation were: François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain, and it was produced by Autour de Minuit. H5 is a French graphics and animation studio, and if you cannot tell, all the men credited with creating this masterpiece are French.
There is a reason this animated short won a golden statue at the 82nd Academy Awards, see if you can tell why below. Without further ado, enjoy Logorama.
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