Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures originally started off as two separate film studios -- Metro Pictures Coproration and Goldwyn Pictures Corporation. In 1924, Marcus Loew bought these two companies to form Metro-Goldwyn Pictures, and on April 17, Louis B. Mayer merged his company with Metro-Goldwyn Pictures to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, or simply MGM. Today, many movies distributed by this company are actually United Artists films.

## 1924-1956

Before 1928, the MGM logo had a silent lion who just moves his head from left to right and was spotted on He Who Gets Slapped (1924), The Circle (1925) and Battling Butler (1926), but other silent MGM films have him replaced by a roaring lion in it. Up until 1932, there was also an extended version where he would roar three times, then look away then look back at the camera and fade out. Also in 1932, a roar track used a roar of Telly the lion and was used until 1956. If you're a fan of The Wizard of Oz (1939), you will see this logo on all prints of the film mentioned. Color films such as The Viking (1928), The Mysterious Island (1929) and Crazy House (1930) include a giraffe. Others from 1932-1935 such as the Happy Harmonies cartoons, The Menu (1933) and Wild People (1932) have a monkey. Color films from 1934-1956 such as Quo Vadis (1951), On The Town (1949), Anchors Aweigh (1945), In The Good Old Summertime (1949), Meet Me In St. Louis (1944), Show Boat (1951), Singin' In The Rain (1952), Good News (1947), Royal Wedding (1951), An American In Paris (1951), Dangerous When Wet (1953) and The Naked Spur (1953) has a bear. The bear and lion's logos were redone in 1953. The Lion is found on The MGM Parade and Blackboard Jungle (1955). The bear is found on Torch Song (1953), Kiss Me Kate (1953), Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954), The Cobweb (1955), Bad Day At Black Rock (1954), Moonfleet (1955), Forbidden Planet (1956) and a few others.

## 1956–1959

The third lion, called George, was introduced in 1956, and appeared more heavily maned than any of the other lions. There were at least three different variations of the logo with George. His most famous film appearance was *The Wings of Eagles* (1957). The logo was reused from the Canadian VHS release of *Cinema Paradiso* (1988) (which was distributed by Alliance Releasing Home Video), while the logo was removed from the U.S. VHS release of *Cinema Paradiso* (1988) (which was distributed by HBO Video under license from Miramax Films).

## 1957-1987

Lived for at least 30 years, this was Leo the Lion's first logo ever made in the history of MGM films. There are three variants of this logo. In the first version (1957- 1959), Leo roars three times. On films released as of 1960, Leo roars twice. And from 1983-1987, the words "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer" would be replaced by "MGM/UA Entertainment Co."

Examples of films that have this logo are Ben-Hur (1959) and A Christmas Story (1983).

## 1984-2008

This logo has three variants. The first one has the byline "An MGM/UA Communications Company", seen from 1987 to 1992. The second variant, which has no byline whatsoever, was seen on all MGM films from 1992 to 2001. And finally, the third variant carries the byline "www.mgm.com", the web address for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. This byline was seen from 2001 to 2008.

In 1994 and 1999, respectively, temporary logos were used on MGM films for the studio's 70th and 75th anniversaries.

Films with this logo include Spaceballs (1987), Death Warrant (1990), Thelma & Louise (1991), Species (1995), The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Legally Blonde (2001).

## 2008-2012

From November 14, 2008 to March 16, 2012 (March 24, 2009 to June 26, 2012 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc), most films released between these dates had the logo containing the byline "MGM.COM". The first film to have this byline on the MGM logo was Quantum of Solace (2008), and the last was 21 Jump Street (2012).

## 2012-2021

From 2012 to 2021, starting with Hope Springs (2012), the logo is now seen animated on all brand-new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures films. One of them by Paramount Pictures is Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013). Another film by Paramount that has this logo is Sherlock Gnomes (2018).

## 2012-2021

On March 8, 2021, MGM unveiled an updated logo, with Leo now being CGI animated, while being based on its 1957 footage, the first major redesign for the mascot in over six decades. The latest rendition leans into the company's traditional gold design, filtering out sepia tones and modernizing the logo by sharpening the film roll, mask and lettering. The biggest change is evident in the brand's new monogram, which uses the classic font of the MGM logo rather than the blocky lettering associated with MGM Resorts. Furthermore, the motto now shows its English translation, "Art for Art's Sake", then changing to its original Latin motto. It also had a proper fanfare composed by Sounds Red, alongside the re-used 1995 roar. MGM worked with Culver City, Calif.-based Baked Studios on the new look. While the new logo, similar to the previous logos, was set to be unveiled with the James Bond film No Time to Die, it was frequently delayed over 2 years from its intended November 2019 release to October 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It instead debuted with the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, which was released on August 13, 2021. On January 19, 2022, a special variation was released to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the James Bond franchise, with the logo zooming out further to make room for the "60 Years of Bond" logo which appears on the right next to it. It premiered in front of the IMAX re-release engagement of No Time to Die on January 21, 2022, and appeared on Ron Howard's Thirteen Lives and the documentary The Sound of 007. Beginning with 2021's Wrath of Man (released just over 2 months after the unveiling of the new MGM logo, though the film itself retains the 2012-era logo), the company quietly unveiled a new secondary logo mainly used for digital/physical/television advertising (as well as becoming the new logo on the company's home entertainment releases and film posters), phasing out the static MGM logo (though it remains at the end of the company's films) in favor of simply the company's initials, written in the company's longtime typeface.