Troma Entertainment

Logo descriptions by codyfinke, Eric S. and PAV123 Logo captures by Eric S., Sagan Blob, and V of Doom Editions by V of Doom Video captures courtesy of rvideoprod, MrCinematicTrash and Peakpasha

Background: Troma Entertainment was founded in 1974 by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz. Originally producing a slew of lowbrow comedies, the company later found success with many cult low-budget horror-comedy movies. Since the 1990s onward, Troma has specialized in distributing independent films.

1st Logo (1974-1981) Troma Team Release (1979, HD) Nickname: "The City Skyline"

Logo: We see a city skyline at dusk. The words:

MICHAEL HERZ--- AND --LLOYD KAUFMAN PRESENT A-- TROMA TEAM RELEASE

are shown on the screen, in the same font for the credits for All in the Family.

FX/SFX: Just the fading.

Music/Sounds: Environment sounds. Sometimes, it's silent.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on older copies of earlier Troma films such as Bloodsucking Freaks.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1981- )

Troma Team (1984, A)Troma Team (1984, B)Troma Team (1981, A)Troma Team (1981, B)Troma (1980s, sunburst) Troma Films (2012, A)Troma Films (2012, B)

Nicknames: "The City Skyline II", "The Red City Skyline"

Logo: We see a city skyline in red with searchlights moving. The words:

Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz present

shown in yellow, zoom in. The text zooms out, and the words "A Troma Team Release" (also shown in yellow) zoom in.

Variants:

A version exists where the text is in a different font and is aligned differently. A still variation also exists where it merely shows the city skyline with moving searchlights and the text "TROMA" beneath it. The "O" is replaced with a sunburst. On The Toxic Avenger, the "A TROMA TEAM RELEASE" notice flies in, in-credit, against a set of buildings similar to the skyline. On the company's recent films (which can be seen on YouTube), there's a flash remake of this logo.

FX/SFX: The searchlights, the zoom-in and zoom-out effects.

Music/Sounds: A synthesized theme with strings and piano chords.

Availability: Rare. Seen on many Troma films, like Class of Nuke 'em High and Cannibal: The Musical. The Flash version can be seen on their films on YouTube.

Editor's Note: Knowing Troma, the cheapness might be intentional.

3rd Logo (1991-1993)

Troma, Inc.Logo: On a blue background we see a gold sketch of a city with a filmstrip in the back. "TROMA, INC." is below in silver. The entire logo shines.

FX/SFX: Just the shining.

Music/Sounds: An electric guitar note.

Availability: Seen on The Toxic Crusaders.

Editor's Note: This is very tame, compared to the next logo...

4th Logo (Home Video Version) (1999?-2000s) Troma Entertainment (90's)

Nicknames: "The Toxie Logo", "The Red City Skyline Goes Wrong", "Movies of the Future", "Trauma Entertainment"

Logo: We see a city skyline plastered on an animated, cloudy blue sky background, with the music from the 2nd logo playing on. Then, the sky fades to red as searchlights appear and a whistling noise is heard as a UFO crashes into the Empire State Building and explodes. From it comes a logo formed by a yellow oval (with a whirl-lke pattern), and the word TROMA with the face of Toxie, the Toxic Avenger inside the O (Toxie's name and the copyright symbol feature underneath). "movies of the future" [sic] can be read above the logo, while "ENTERTAINMENT INC." is below. The logo spins out and apparently crashes on the screen, causing Toxie to get propelled out the logo and crash onto the screen as his eyes pop up (he seemingly screams in protest of this explosive situation). He gets back into the logo and then the background explodes, causing the logo to shatter to pieces. As the explosion clears out, the skyline morphs into the Troma logo on a black screen.

Trivia: The face is actually from Toxie, the title character from The Toxic Avenger and leader of The Toxic Crusaders team (as seen in the cartoon series about the character).

FX/SFX: Very basic CGI effects.

Music/Sounds: The music from the 2nd logo, which is then interrupted by a metal guitar tune (the intro part from "Ten Ton Hammer" by Machine Head). Proceeding is the whoosh and "boom" of the UFO, an alarm whooping and an ascending sci-fi whoosh. When Toxie is zooming-in, a weird roaring scream is heard, probably from him. An old fashioned-sounding explosion is heard for the remainder.

Availability: Rare. Found on Troma films on VHS and DVD.

Editor's Note: The electronic music, sounds, Toxie's face (despite him being a well-meaning superhero) and the cheesy animation may scare quite a bit of people.