# What's the word for the group of animated logos that appear at the start of a movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377 "2015-10-11T23:27:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377/1 "2015-10-11T23:27:10Z")
What’s the word for the group of animated logos that appear at the start of a movie? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377/2 "2015-10-11T23:32:15Z")
Bumpers ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377/3 "2015-10-12T03:54:44Z")
And they have gotten [ridiculously numerous…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvpNdwh__Fc) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377/4 "2015-10-12T13:49:08Z")
That’s a function of the fact that movies are so expensive these days that you often need multiple production companies to pay for them. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377/5 "2015-10-13T03:28:17Z")
I watched one on Netflix today called Pressure that had a series of production logos followed by the same exact thing in plain white text on black screen, one at a time! In reality, it probably only wasted an extra 20 seconds of my day, but it felt like an eternity. It’s not their use of the logos that irk me, it’s the use of the logos AND the text. The text will be at the end too. So who benefits from that kind of redundancy at the beginning? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377/6 "2015-10-13T14:06:29Z")
The longer the video, the more bumpers people are willing to put up with. But I’m surprised they haven’t started consolidating by now, like happens in shorter videos. Do they think anyone in the audience cares about the production company? Those things are for those who finance movies, and they don’t need a full logo. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377/7 "2015-10-13T16:44:29Z")
I would think that since the production company pays for the movie they feel that they should at least get a thirty second animated logo at the beginning of the movie in return for there investment. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377/8 "2015-10-13T20:02:09Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Bumpers No, a bumper is the little bit that comes right before and after commercials, usually saying something like “we’ll be right back after these messages.” Nowadays I can’t think of any, aside from the ones on Adult Swim. The name for the logo at the start of the movie is… just called a [production logo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_logo). Or a vanity logo. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377/9 "2015-10-13T20:49:38Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > No, a bumper is the little bit that comes right before and after commercials, usually saying something like “we’ll be right back after these messages.” Nowadays I can’t think of any, aside from the ones on Adult Swim. > > The name for the logo at the start of the movie is… just called a [production logo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_logo). Or a vanity logo. So why do we have to endure a minute or so of animated production logos followed by the exact same information in text form during the opening credits? I get it! The movie is from Amalgamated Pictures! You don’t have to tell me twice. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-the-group-of-animated-logos-that-appear-at-the-start-of-a-movie/734377/10 "2015-10-13T20:56:39Z")
[Relevant Family Guy clip.](https://youtu.be/vI7JDTlixb8?t=23)