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The Emoji Story Videos

The Emoji Story: Trailer 1

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The Emoji Story Photos

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Movie Info

Exploring the complex, conflict-prone, and often hilarious world of the creators, lovers, and arbiters of the emoji, the world's newest pictorial language.

Genre:

documentary
Original Language:

English
Director:

Ian Cheney, Martha Shane
Producer:

Ian Cheney, Jennifer 8 Lee, Martha Shane
Release Date (Streaming):

Dec 22, 2020
Runtime:

1h 21m

Cast & Crew

Ian Cheney
Director

Martha Shane
Director

Ian Cheney
Producer

Jennifer 8 Lee
Producer

Martha Shane
Producer

Fred Benenson
Executive Producer

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for The Emoji Story

All Critics (11) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (1)

The idea of a feature-length documentary about emojis may sound whimsical, but the more filmmakers Ian Cheney and Martha Shane probe the topic, the more intriguing questions are opened up.

August 9, 2019 | Full Review…

Jake Wilson
The Age (Australia)
Everything you always wanted to know about emojis, but were afraid to ask.

April 29, 2019 | Full Review…

Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Cheney and Shane fortify a seemingly frivolous concept with such profundity as considering whether emojis have the power to enhance language or destroy it.

January 1, 2021 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Edwin Arnaudin
Asheville Movies
An interesting look at the power and importance of emojis. A fun look that takes on serious questions.

December 22, 2020 | Full Review…

Nathaniel Muir
AIPT
The movie takes a fascinating look into the process of getting a new emoji approved by the Unicode Technical Committee (UTC), a mysterious group based in California's Silicon Valley.

July 12, 2020 | Full Review…

Carla Hay
Culture Mix
The larger story tracks this decade's change in internet culture as it moves away from nerds festering around California college campuses and into the hands of the people.

May 25, 2019 | Full Review…

Andrew Karpan
Nonfics
Picture Character made me excited to see how our language will develop over time.

May 17, 2019 | Full Review…

Khadjiah johnson
Black Nerd Problems
Ian Cheney and Martha Shane's entertaining doc reflects a shared humanity.

May 14, 2019 | Full Review…

Stephen Saito
Moveable Fest
It all makes for fascinating viewing, perfect for watching on either 🎥 or 📺, or maybe even 👁📞...

May 10, 2019 | Full Review…

Christopher Llewellyn Reed
Hammer to Nail
In between fascinating interviews with linguists, designers, emoji activists (yes, it's a thing!) and Unicode board members, Picture Character follows the attempts to get three new emoji accepted...

May 4, 2019 | Full Review…

Manuel Betancourt
Remezcla
...what keeps it from being great is that its directors simply don't provide the viewer enough information to understand emojis in a meaningful way.

April 29, 2019 | Full Review…

Marisa Carpico
The Pop Break