My Review: Logorama (8/10)

¨Yeah, that cheetah can run like a motherf***er, but in a zoo, they ain't got enough room to hit second gear. I mean, it ain't like they're in their natural habitat.¨

Logorama won the Oscar for best short animated film this year and I just finished watching it. At 18 minutes long it is a movie worth seeing and won´t take much of your time up. The 18 minutes fly by so fast that I even saw it again right after. You won`t regret it because it is a very original short film that uses corporate everyday logos, that we are all globally familiar with, for everything (characters, buildings, cars, etc.). Logorama sends a clear message of how we are constantly bombarded with media logos and propaganda and they found a very unique and interesting way to do it. I promise you that after watching this film you will never feel the same way towards Ronald McDonald. The opening scene reminded me of a Tarantino film with a very interesting dialogue about the zoo and cheetahs. I couldn`t help but be reminded of the famous quarter pounder with cheese scene in Pulp Fiction. Logorama was made in France, written and directed by Francois Alaux, Herve de Crecy, and Ludovic Houplain.

The movie begins with two police officers, Bibendum Mike and Bibendum Mitch (who are actually the Michelin tires mascot we have all seen) speaking about their weekend, the visit to the zoo, and cheetahs. In the meantime, they hear on the radio that a criminal is on the loose dressed as a clown, and to their surprise Ronald McDonald is across the street so the chase begins all over the corporate logo city as Ronald escapes and ends up taking some hostages inside a Pizza Hut restaurant. During the chase we run into some different characters such as the M & Ms, Pringles, AOL, Green Giant, Mr. Clean, Big Boy, Esso Girl, among many others. The plot and story are pretty simple, but it is just so fun to see all these logos used to make an entertaining movie, and at the same time raise our awareness on how we have been exposed to all these hundreds of logos we can easily recognize in the film.

Logorama is a very well made short animated film that serves as a social critique on publicity and media exposure. The effects and animation are really well done and the movie looks great. I am glad this short film won an Oscar and it definitely has made me want to watch more of these short movies which usually do not get much attention or are ignored, but that are easy to watch because of its short duration. On an interesting side note I just wanted to add that David Fincher (director of Se7en, Fight Club, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) voiced the Original Pringles character. You can find Logorama in YouTube along with many other short films that don`t come out in theaters. I recommend this animated short film, you won`t regret it.