Troma Entertainment

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 low-budget horror-comedy movies. Since the 1990s, Troma has specialized in distributing independent films.

1st Logo (1974-1981)


Visuals: We see the midtown Manhattan skyline at dusk. The words: MICHAEL HERZ AND LLOYD KAUFMAN PRESENT

A

TROMA TEAM RELEASE

are shown on the screen, in the Souvenir font.

Technique: Fading effects.

Audio: Environment sounds. Sometimes, it's silent.

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

2nd Logo (1981- )
Visuals: There is a Manhattan skyline with a red sky and searchlights moving behind the city. The words:

Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz

present

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

Trivia: The World Trade Center's Twin Towers can be seen in this logo. This was produced twenty years before the towers were destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Despite this, it was never removed from the logo.

Variants:
 * A version exists where the text is in ITC Century 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.
 * In 2004, a 30th anniversary variant was made. It has the same Manhattan skyline, but the searchlights are in front of the city instead of the back, and are very different, with one on either side of the screen. The logo begins with a blurred zoom-out effect, and the word "TROMA" in a yellow Arial font with a red outline is shown, with each letter fading in one-by-one. The words "Entertainment inc." wipe in, shown in the Impact font. Then the words "30 years of Independent Art" (in an italic script font) wipe in. A clip of Toxie from The Toxic Avenger fades in behind the city.
 * From 2013 onward, the logo is remade in Flash. Here, the text is now in Adobe Garamond Bold and the searchlights animate less wildly.
 * A variant of the Flash remake used in Return to Nuke 'Em High Volume 1 (the first film to use the enhanced version) has the text in a slightly thinner, more spaced-out font. The second screen replaces "Release" with "Production".

Technique: Likely live action, as it appears to be flashlights held by people waving them behind a cutout of the city. The remake is done in Flash.

Audio: A synthesized theme with strings and piano chords. Occasionally the logo is either silent or has background music/noise from the film. In the 30th anniversary variant, Toxie's roar is added.

Availability: Seen on many Troma films, such as The Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke 'em High and Cannibal!: The Musical. The Flash version can be seen on their films on YouTube. This makes a surprise appearance on a 2000 VCD of The Battle of Neretva, a Commonwealth United film.

3rd Logo (The Toxic Crusaders custom variant) (March 1-May 20, 1991)


Visuals: On a blue background we see a gold sketch of Midtown Manhattan with a filmstrip in the back. "TROMA, INC." is below in silver. The entire logo shines.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Originally the silence but starting with episode 7, an electric guitar note can be heard.

Availability: Seen only on The Toxic Crusaders.

4th Logo (Home Video Version) (1999?-2000s)
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Visuals: We see the New York 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 an 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" is 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.

Technique: 2D animation, likely made on a video editor, such as Final Cut Pro.

Audio: The music from the second 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 strange roaring sound is heard (probably from Toxie himself). An old fashioned-sounding explosion is heard for the remainder.

Availability: Found on Troma films on VHS and DVD.