MGM Home Entertainment/Summary

Logo descriptions by Matt Williams, Matthew Anscher, WhatTheHeckIsWiki and Jeffrey Gray

Logo captures by wisp2007, Eric S., Logoboy95, V of Doom, Brandondorf9999, Shadeed A. Kelly, EnormousRat, thehugetvfan, Logophile, Dean Stewart Rumsey, Livin', Mr.Logo and indycar

Editions by Bob Fish, V of Doom, TheMisterFree, Logophile, Jeffrey Gray, FrozenHater (SmoothCriminal12), Mr. Logo Lord, kidinbed, Shadeed A. Kelly, Jonathan Hendricks, CuriousGeoge60, Lizz Tetlow, shnick1985, FilmReel, indycar, Muzzarino, UniversalFlorida1990 and KirbyGuy2001 (Logoblin)

Video captures courtesy of Eric S., 1MisterAaron, Swedishintros, ACDC48086, YarcoTV, winerrs, Muzzarino, VUKS5, LogoLibraryinc, DudeThatLogo, AussieRoadshow, DinoTelevision, Ryan Holman and Brandondorf Raguz

Background: MGM Home Entertainment was founded in 1975 (some sources say 1973) as "MGM Home Video" for the purpose of releasing its film and television libraries on home video, but nothing ever materialized from this company. In 1979, MGM joined forces with CBS Video Enterprises, the home video division of the CBS Television Network, and established "MGM/CBS Home Video", which released its first VHS batch (consisting of 16 MGM titles and 8 CBS Video titles) in October 1980. MGM/CBS Home Video was later renamed to "MGM/UA Home Video" in 1982 after CBS ended its venture with MGM since MGM acquired United Artists a year earlier. In 1986, after MGM's pre-1986 library (also including most of the pre-1950 Warner Bros. Pictures library, a fraction of some UA material, and most US rights to the RKO Radio Pictures library (although RKO retains the copyrights to their films)), was acquired by Ted Turner and forming "Turner Entertainment Co.", MGM/UA Home Video signed a deal with Turner to continue distributing the pre-1986 MGM and the pre-1948 Warner Bros. libraries for video release. In 1990, after MGM was purchased by Pathé, MGM/UA signed a deal with Warner Home Video to have them distribute its titles exclusively on video. In 1995 this division was renamed to "MGM/UA Home Entertainment" and also launched "MGM/UA Family Entertainment". In 1997, MGM/UA began releasing its titles on DVD, just like every other major studio, managed to release over 30 titles from the Turner catalog on DVD (it was due to their video distribution deal) until it was transferred to Warner Home Video in 1999 (after MGM ended their distribution deal with Warner Bros.) and folded Orion Pictures with all its owned-library into this company. Around 1997, the UA name was dropped renaming it as "MGM Home Entertainment". Following MGM's acquisition by the Sony-led consortium in 2005, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment began distributing the MGM library on home video until May 31, 2006, when MGM shifted most of its home entertainment output to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (now 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) for worldwide release. TCFHE's worldwide distribution deal distributing the MGM library was expected to expire in September 2011 and was to revert back to SPHE, but it was later extended to end in July 2016, and extended again to end in 2020 (at which point Warner was announced as MGM's next video distributor). physically distributed on Blu-ray/DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, starting with Operation Finale on December 4, 2018, with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment handling home media rights for Missing Link and Booksmart, and Warner Home Entertainment handling the rights for its Orion releases from Gretel & Hansel onward.

MGM/CBS Home Video

Opening Variants

1st Logo (October 1980-May 1981)

MGM-CBS Home Video (1978) HQ

Nickname: "Green Lines"

Logo: On a black background, the words "MGM" and "CBS" (in the white, upper-cased, Helvetica font) fly in from the top and bottom of the screen, with green lines on the top and bottom of each letter respectively. We fade to another set of green lines, sorta shaped like a room, zoom back to bring another copy of the words, and then "AN" and "HOME VIDEO PRESENTATION", in light orange, zoom in to their respective places. A forward slash appears in-between "MGM" and "CBS" on the last note of the music.

FX/SFX: The slash appearing, and the zooming effects, which are just simple computer animation. Pretty good for its time, though.

Music/Sounds: An uninspired news-like synth tune.

Availability: Rare. Seen on the initial batch of twenty-four VHS and Beta tapes, including The Wizard of Oz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ben-Hur, An American in Paris, Network, Jailhouse Rock, Coma, The Streetfighter, and the Bolshoi Ballet productions of The Nutcracker and Giselle. Also seen on the very first CED releases from CBS, as well as a few other VHS releases, including Being There, Fame, Carny, Cruising, Benji, and The Formula.

Editor's Note: It's a simple logo, but that simplicity can be excused for the fact that the company started distributing tapes only recently.

2nd Logo (June 1981-June 1982)

MGM CBS Home Video

Nicknames: "The Metallic MGM/CBS", "Silver MGM/CBS"

Logo: On the black background, a metallic forward slash mark drops down. Afterward, the camera zooms back to reveal that the slash was in-between "MGM" and "CBS", in the same font as before, but in the same style as the slash, with "CBS" from the right and "MGM" from the left. After that, we see "HOME VIDEO" (in green, and in Alternate Gothic font) zooming out. The "MGM/CBS" text then shines.

FX/SFX: The "HOME VIDEO" text looks pretty tacky all around, and the metallic letters on a black background for a logo looks very early '80s as well.

Music/Sounds: A short, orchestrated, majestic trumpet fanfare.

Availability: Rare. Seen on most MGM/CBS releases after the first batch of twenty-four Betamax and VHS tapes. Titles with this logo include Return of the Street Fighter, Westworld, Clash of the Titans, Gigi, The Philadelphia Story, Adam's Rib, My Fair Lady, South Pacific, later copies of Cruising, and Victory. However, early MGM/UA releases with the MGM/CBS Polaroid seal or tape labels would still use the 1982 MGM/UA Home Video logo, and some later MGM/CBS releases, such as Kismet, The Prisoner of Zenda, and select copies of Viva Las Vegas, go straight to the MGM logo used by the film. Some Samuel Goldwyn Home Entertainment releases such as The Billion Dollar Hobo would feature this logo at the end. (This practice would continue when the Samuel Goldwyn Home Entertainment library shifted to CBS/Fox Video, although on the original VHS/Betamax release of Guys and Dolls, this logo was shown at the beginning before the first SGHE logo.)

Editor's Note: Though it relies on typical 80's effects, it's an improvement over the previous logo.

Closing Variants

See CBS Home Entertainment for description.

MGM/UA Home Video

1st Logo (July 1982-July 21, 1993, -1999 (Indonesia))

MGM UA Home Video Logo (1982)

MGM-UA Home Video (1987)-2

Nicknames: "Leo the Lion", "Still Leo the Lion", "MGM Lion","The Static Leo Moving", "MGM/UA", "Gold Ribboning"

Logo: We see a bluish metallic "MGM/UA" moving ("MGM" going from top-right to left, "UA" going from bottom-left to right). Then a slash draws in-between them as we see a static picture of Leo inside the circle ribbon with the drama mask zooming out. After that, it completes the ribbon logo with flashes making the ribboning appear on the left and right sides of the logo while "MGM/UA" shines. After that, "HOME VIDEO" in a blue Microgramma font, zooms out and stops under the logo and the two white lines above and below "HOME VIDEO" respectively, flashes in.

Variants:

• For classic MGM/UA movies shot in B&W, the logo is grayscaled.
• Some tapes have a slightly different lion/ribbon design.
• In Sweden, MGM tapes were often distributed through Esselte Video. The byline "From ESSELTE VIDEO", in white, appears below, with Esselte's logo (a circle with an "X" inside and eight little "points" around it) in-between "From" & "ESSELTE".
• On some videos from Australia and New Zealand, the logo animates as normal up until "HOME VIDEO" flashes. Then, Leo's static picture becomes Leo roaring, and then the beginning of a promotional reel tunnels in.
• On tapes from the early '90s, this was used for preview bumpers (and usually at the end of films). The logo plays like normal, but instead of "HOME VIDEO" appearing, the logo eases back upward, and either "Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You", "Now Playing at a Theatre Near You", "Coming Soon on Videocassette", or "Now Available on Videocassette" appears below. There's an earlier version of this variant (spotted as early as 1987), where "HOME VIDEO" remains intact while the logo eases upward, and "ALSO AVAILABLE" appears below.
• On Laserdisc releases, at the beginning of each side, it's a still logo replacing "HOME VIDEO" with "SIDE ONE" or "SIDE TWO" below. At the end, it says "END SIDE ONE" and "END SIDE TWO".
• This was also used for Coming Attraction screens from around 1988-1990. In this variant, the logo plays as normal. When it finishes, the background turns into a gray marble color. Then the ribbons and "MGM/UA" shrink and move to the upper right. "HOME VIDEO" moves slightly to the right and a transparent square flies in behind "HOME VIDEO". The square shines as a purple squiggly line etches itself in below "MGM/UA" and a lime green squiggly line etches itself below the square. "COMING ATTRACTION" wipes itself below "HOME VIDEO" and flashes, and as this happens, the preview begins above "HOME VIDEO", and when the words flash, the screen zooms into the preview.
• On home video TV spots for Desperate Hours and Death Warrant, the lines above and below "HOME VIDEO" are thicker.
• On an advertisement for musical films that were released to home media in 1986, the logo appears 9 times (3 logos on three rows), and clips from the films flip over the logos to end one clip and start another.
• On a 1983 promo seen at the end of some tapes in late 1983/early 1984, the tail end is shown after clips from such works as Poltergeist, Clash of the Titans, Coma, Village of the Damned, Midnight Cowboy, Diner, Shaft, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Diva, Network, Westworld, Fame, The Compleat Beatles, My Favorite Year, A Gumby Adventure, Tom and Jerry Cartoon Festival, Viva Las Vegas, Travels with My Aunt, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, The Goodbye Girl, Singin' in the Rain, Pennies from Heaven, Victor/Victoria, An American in Paris, Easter Parade, That's Entertainment! Part II, and The Wizard of Oz, among other titles in the MGM/UA library.
• Another variant exists where a “/“ is in the middle of the screen, zooming out and brightly shining. “MGM” and “UA” slide out from behind the “/“, and zoom with it into its usual position. A red trail of a silhouette of the MGM logo zooms out, revealing the MGM logo. “HOME VIDEO” zooms out to the usual spot, but doesn’t flash. This supposedly appears on a 1987 VHS of The Ghost Comes Home.

FX/SFX: Pretty much the entire formation of the logo, the shine.

Music/Sounds: The same fanfare from the 2nd CBS Video logo, which is a louder and longer version of the 2nd MGM/CBS music.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• The late '80s-early '90s Coming Attraction screen starts off with twelve drumbeats played four at a time, then goes into a moving majestic orchestrated theme with Don LaFontaine announcing "The following is an MGM/UA Home Video coming attraction." The tune is called "Destiny" and is composed by Keith Mansfield.
• On the MGM/UA Home Video Laserdisc Sampler from 1990, the logo is shown at the end with Leo's 1960 roar (aside from the closing theme).
• The Australian promo logo has the music higher-pitched and (with Leo actually roaring) has a different roar track.
• The TV spots for Desperate Hours and Death Warrant have the sound of Leo roaring, despite being a still picture, possibly because they replaced it from the original TV spots during each movie's theatrical run.
• A higher-pitched variant was used on PAL & SECAM tapes.
• On certain UK rental tapes from the '80s, after the logo finishes, an announcer says "The following new films, which will soon be available from your local stockist, are brought to you by MGM/UA Home Video, one of the leaders in home entertainment."
• There does exist a silent variant of this logo. It was spotted on a French Canadian video release of All Dogs Go to Heaven.
• The 1983 promo variant features "Help!" by the Beatles from The Compleat Beatles, "I Write the Songs" by Barry Manilow from The First Barry Manilow Special, "Ebben? Ne andrò lontano" by Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez from Diva, "Fame" by Irene Cara from Fame, "I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King from Carole King: One to One, "Shake It Up" by The Cars from The Last American Virgin, and "Le Jazz Hot" by Julie Andrews from Victor/Victoria.

Availability: Pretty common. Found on many VHS and Laserdisc videos from MGM and UA, and the logo lasted for a pretty good amount of time, eleven years to be exact, with the first tapes to use this were the 1983 VHS releases of Poltergeist and The Secret of NIMH, and the last release to use this being Rich in Love. Also seen on the early Hemdale releases. It makes surprise appearances on the 1995 Australian VHS of Getting Even with Dad, a 1999 VHS of Annie Hall, and at the end of the documentary Something a Little Less Serious: A Tribute to It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which can be found on the original film's 2001 MGM DVD release. Strangely, this appears on a 1985 Betamax release of the 1956 film Forbidden Planet, but the packaging resembles an MGM/CBS release. Also seen on the Laserdisc and VHS releases of The Golden Age of Looney Tunes. This logo was kept on reprints even past 1993, including 1995 printings of Pink Floyd: The Wall and Diamonds Are Forever and a 1999 printing of Cotton Comes to Harlem, due to those printings still using tape masters from 1993 and 1992 (in the case of the latter two), respectively. Strangely, in a few Asian countries (including Indonesia), this was still used on VCDs until 1999, examples including GoldenEye and Get Shorty. (Other discs used the regular 1986 MGM logo as a de-facto home video logo.) The color version surprisingly appears on some tapes of B&W films, such as Naughty Marietta, Captains Courageous, The Great Waltz, Lost in a Harem, It's a Date, Humoresque, and Ziegfeld Girl.

Editor's Note: One of the most iconic home video logos of the 80s.

2nd Logo (1983-1986)

Nicknames: "Leo the Lion II", "MGM Lion", "Roaring Lion", "Gold Ribboning II", "MGM/UA Roaring Lion"

Logo: Same as before, except the text does not move, "HOME VIDEO" is metallic like the MGM/UA text and is a bit smaller with the 1984 MGM logo (minus the Diamond Jubilee text) above the text. Leo roars once.

Variant: On a VHS commercial for Gone with the Wind which aired around 1984-85, it has the "DIAMOND JUBILEE" text (keeping consistent with MGM's 60th anniversary in 1984).

FX/SFX: Leo roaring.

Music/Sounds: Leo's 1982 roar.

Availability: Extremely rare. This logo appeared at the beginning of a promotional trailer for MGM/UA's video release of Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever and a 1986 promo for classic MGM musicals on home video.

3rd Logo (October 24, 1989-August 23, 2005)

Nicknames: "Leo the Lion III", "Still Leo the Lion II", "(CGI) MGM Rainbow", "Gold Ribboning III" "Leo the Panthera Arctus"

Logo: Just the MGM/UA Home Video logo with a copyright stamp on the bottom, against a space background. In the background, there is a pattern of the "MGM/UA HOME VIDEO" text, slanted at an angle, which scrolls from right to left while changing in many different colors. The following changing colors are: gray, red, teal blue, fuchsia, blue, and green.

Trivia:

• This logo was inspired by the hologram stickers that was used on most VHS releases from MGM before this logo came out.
• Sometimes, this logo is absent either at the beginning or end of tapes.

Variants:

• Early releases had the copyright stamp in a slightly different font arranged to the left.
• Some late-1990s-2000 releases had a screen freeze of this logo, lasting until one to three seconds towards the end, when the background scrolls. Tapes with this include Tea with Mussolini, The Thomas Crown Affair, and reissues of The Falcon and the Snowman, The Hot Spot, Never on Sunday, and Hoosiers.
  • A subvariant exists on Bent, The Woman in Red, and Black Narcissus, where it cuts to black at the end.
• On the 1992 reprint of the 1988 VHS of Fiddler on the Roof, this logo used a 1992 copyright at the beginning of the tape, but a 1990 copyright at the end. The 1988 release was likely reprinted first in 1990 with this logo added at both ends, then reprinted again in 1992 using the supposed 1990 video master, but with the copyright information only changed at the beginning.
  • A similar occurrence happens on the 1998 MGM Contemporary Classics re-release of Get Shorty, which has a 1998 copyright at the beginning and a 1996 copyright at the end.
• The size of the logo and the color changing arrangements varies.
• At the start of French tapes, the screen lasts for two minutes (except for Stigmata, which shortens it to ten seconds).

FX/SFX: The changing colors, the scrolling of the "MGM/UA HOME VIDEO" text.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Common. It can be seen on MGM/UA movies of the VHS era (excluding LaserDiscs) at both beginning and end of their videos such as All Dogs Go to Heaven, Road House, James Bond VHS releases of the era, Wild Bill, Ronin, The Princess Bride, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Six Degrees of Separation. However, starting with the 2003 VHS of Die Another Day, it was only used at the end of tapes (although some titles, such as from that year Agent Cody Banks and Bulletproof Monk, still had it at the front). The first tape to use this logo was the original VHS release of Leviathan, and the last tapes to use it were Be Cool, Hotel Rwanda and Beauty Shop, MGM's final releases as an independent company. Strangely, the 1990 copyright appears on the 1992 video releases of Once Upon a Crime, The Singing Nun, Shattered, The Kentuckian, Lost in a Harem, Honky Tonk, and Time Bomb, as well as a 1995 printing of the 1989 VHS of Boys Town. The 2000 copyright was also seen at the front of Australian VHS releases of Some Like it Hot and Josie and the Pussycats, and Thai VCDs of The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

Editor's Note: This logo can be perceived as rather primitive, what with Leo's still pose of him roaring more resembling a bear for most who have seen this one, and the text scrolls looking rather choppy. Also: where are the 1991, 1994 and 2005 copyright stamps?!

4th Logo (August 4, 1993-January 27, 1998)

DVD version

Laserdisc version

Closing (DVD version)

Closing (Laserdisc version)

MGM UA Home Video (1993-1999)

Nicknames: "Leo the Lion IV", "Gold Leo the Lion", "The Rollercoaster Filmstrip", "Gold Ribboning IV", "CGI Gold Ribboning", "MGM/UA Roaring Lion II"

Logo:

• Opening: On a black background, a golden 3D CGI filmstrip swerves in the screen, and the camera pans down, around, and then upwards on it in a rollercoaster-style fashion. While panning upwards, the 1928 MGM logo with Jackie the Lion slowly fades onto the frames of the filmstrip, as Jackie roars once. Blue rays suddenly appear around the filmstrip, and it then suddenly pans down, revealing the then-current MGM logo, redone in a lusher, CGI style (including the drama mask with the reef surrounding it) with Leo the Lion in it. The blue light rays are all around the logo's ribboning, and the "Metro Goldwyn Mayer" and "TRADE MARK" texts are still intact around it all, as well as the "(R)" symbol, (this time, in yellow gradient coloring). The logo turns and zooms out as the light rays dim out. As the logo makes its way to its normal position and when Leo roars the second time, the logo flashes, causing Leo and the drama mask to turn gold, and the texts around him and the reef to dissolve into dust. The dark blue letters of "MGM/UA" then rotate letter-by-letter underneath Leo, followed by a blue line, and then "HOME VIDEO" in Century Gothic. The entire logo then shines.

• Closing: The completed logo, with Leo in it, the drama mask already in gold, and without the text, flies in from the left side of the screen with the light rays all around it. After making its way onto the screen, the words "MGM/UA HOME VIDEO", line and all, animate in the same style as the opening variant. Leo roars throughout the variant and does not turn gold.

Trivia:

• Even though this logo officially ended in 1998, the trailer bumpers were still used in the MGM Home Entertainment years.
• On tapes outside the USA (UK for example), only the opening variant of the logo is shown - the closing variant is absent as the tape goes directly to black after the film's closing credits.
• On the 1999 VHS release of National Velvet, this logo comes after the MGM Home Entertainment logo at the beginning of the tape. Likely a result of MGM forgetting to erase the logo when making new masters.
• On the 1996 VHS releases of Rocky and The Year of Living Dangerously, both the opening and closing variations of this appear at the beginning of the tape, bookending the previews.

Variants:

• On several earlier DVDs with this logo, the DVD quality version has a minor VHS-like graphical glitch on the left seen on part of the filmstrip animation with the 1928 MGM logo. The Laserdisc quality, which is also seen on some DVDs, has this cropped off and re-positioned a little. Other minor changes to these from the original DVD quality has the opening logo brightened and the sharpness of the logos are minorly fuzzy. The closing and the trailer logo do not have the minor color re-adjustment, but they were re-positioned.
• At the end of The Pebble and the Penguin, the logo cuts to black near the end before it fades out.
• On MGM Greats releases, after the sparkle effects fade out, the words "MGM GREATS", in red, wipe in (instead of the normal "MGM/UA HOME VIDEO" text) without the spotlight gradient effect. It has been spotted on a 2001 UK VHS of The Great Escape. The logo also fades out slower than usual at the end.
• On an infomercial for James Bond which was broadcast on KLGT-TV 23 in 1995, the specular highlights for "MGM/UA" were lightened up, and "Presents" fades in instead of the home video text that is normally in place. Also, the logo doesn't shine.
• At the beginning of a VHS promo for Elvis: The Commemorative Collection, only the ending part of the opening variation is shown, at warp-speed.

Trailer Variants: There is a bumper that precedes trailers with a still of the end logo, replacing "HOME VIDEO" with one of these below:

• COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU
• NOW PLAYING AT A THEATER NEAR YOU
• NOW AVAILABLE ON VIDEOCASSETTE
• COMING SOON ON VIDEOCASSETTE
• THEATRICAL TRAILER

FX/SFX The zooming ribbon and pan outs. A big improvement over the first logo done in quite advanced CGI for the time.

Music/Sounds:

• Opening: A majestic fanfare (based off the first few notes of the opening credits music of The Wizard of Oz) that starts off dramatic, then ends more triumphant. During the fanfare, we hear Tanner's roar, and then Leo's 1985 roar.

• Closing: An abridged version of the ending portion of the opening fanfare, also featuring Leo's roar.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On the retail VHS release of The Pebble and the Penguin, the fanfare has weird stereo mixing due to a video processing error.
• On Mexican Spanish tapes until the 2000s, a completely different tune was heard, even including different roars.

Availability: Common. It debuted with the August 1993 home video release of Untamed Heart, and can be found on VHS and Laserdisc releases of this era, such as The Pebble and the Penguin, Get Shorty, All Dogs Go to Heaven 2, and the 1996 release of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Earlier DVD releases also have this logo such as Red Dawn (which has the MGM Home Entertainment logo on the cover), The Wizard of Oz, Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky IV, The Black Stallion, Leaving Las Vegas, Rob Roy, GoldenEye, A Christmas Story and Poltergeist. Even though this logo officially ended in 1998 with the DVD releases of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Moonraker, Hoodlum, and the aforementioned Leaving Las Vegas and Red Dawn, the trailer bumpers were still used into the MGM Home Entertainment era, and the logo itself made a surprise appearance on the 1999 VHS releases of When Harry Met Sally..., National Velvet, The Cutting Edge, and Moonstruck. Also seen on The Golden Age of Looney Tunes on Laserdisc. The closing variant makes a surprise appearance at the end of a behind-the-scenes featurette on the 2000 DVD of Spaceballs (this was likely sourced from a 1996 Special Edition Laserdisc release). In the UK, this logo was used until at least 2002, on titles such as Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Child's Play. The opening variant was also made available on the author's Vimeo profile.

Editor's Note: This logo is a favorite of many due to its advanced CGI, great music, and homage to the classic MGM era.

MGM Home Entertainment

(January 28, 1998-present)

MGM Home Entertainment

Nickname: "Leo the Lion V", "Gold Ribboning V"

Logo: Just the standard MGM logo of the time with Leo the Lion roaring. Underneath the logo are the words HOME ENTERTAINMENT in Trajan Pro which are separated by two lines.

Variants:

• At the end of the animated feature Tom Sawyer, a still image of the MGM logo scrolls up and the text "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" is shown below the logo in a white Roman text. Strangely, the lion is not in its correct still image.
• On a home video trailer for Species III, which can be found on the 2004 VHS of Wicker Park, "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" and the lines are presented in a more brown-ish color, the text font differs, and the lines are spaced closer to "HOME ENTERTAINMENT."

FX/SFX: Leo the Lion roaring.

Music/Sounds: Leo's 1995 roar. On Descriptive Video Service VHSes, a DVS narrator (for example, Peter Haydu on the DVS issue of The Miracle Worker) describes the logo: "Now, a logo of a thick maned lion framed by a ring of film. Metro Goldwyn Mayer Home Entertainment." On the DVS versions of Singin' in the Rain and the Casablanca special features, a female narrator describes the logo: "A logo appears. Metro Goldwyn Mayer Home Entertainment."

Availability: Common. Found primarily on VHS releases, VCDs and later Laserdiscs.

• Such examples include the Special Edition Laserdisc of The Spy Who Loved Me, as well as on the 2000 VHS of Never Say Never Again (despite no MGM logo appearing on the packaging). One of the first releases to use this logo was the 1998 VHS of 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (the demo VHS used the 1990 Orion Home Video logo).
• This makes a strange appearance on the TV spots for Platoon on its 2001 MGM DVD. Doesn't appear on the 1998 THX remastered Laserdisc of Singin' in the Rain, despite showing the print logo on the cover.
• This logo officially retired in the United States in 2006.
• Strangely enough, VCDs released in Asia still use this logo after 2006, and it makes a surprise appearance on the Fox PAL DVD release of For a Few Dollars More.
• It first appeared on the DVD release of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Editor's Note: It's generally considered a letdown, especially considering the effort of the 1st and 4th MGM/UA logos, since this is just the regular MGM logo with a home entertainment identifier below.

MGM DVD

Background: MGM DVD is the DVD brand from MGM Home Entertainment.

1st Logo (March 10, 1998-March 4, 2003; April 6, 2004; 2012)

Nicknames: "Leo the Lion VI", "Loud Lion", "Gold Ribboning VI"

Logo: On a red oval, a miniature MGM logo comes up, roaring loudly, and the letters "MGM DVD" (in yellow) come up one by one from the front of the screen. Then the lion zooms out and disappears with a bright flash of light, and "MGM DVD" centers on the screen as the red oval fades out.

Variants:

• On some releases such as Support Your Local Gunfighter, the logo runs at a slower frame rate.
• A widescreen variant also exists.

FX/SFX: The logo zooming, the flash, the oval fading, "MGM DVD" centering.

Music/Sounds: A whoosh and a different but very loud roar sound effect. 6 cello notes are heard as the letters come in, as well as an orchestral hit at the end, and synth chimes.

Music/Sounds Variant: A PAL-pitched version is heard on international releases.

Availability: Common.

• Seen on all 1998-2003 MGM Home Entertainment DVDs such as Rollerball (the first DVD to have it), Overboard, UHF, Fluke, The Care Bears Movie, Legally Blonde, HeartBreakers, Barbershop, Spaceballs, The Pride of the Yankees, Igby Goes Down, Original Sin, Antitrust, Mr. Mom, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, King Solomon's Mines, The Terminator, The Secret of NIMH, all three All Dogs Go to Heaven films, the James Bond Special Edition films from Dr. No up until The World is Not Enough, the first two Bill & Ted films, the original release of It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas, A Doll's House, the original 2003 North American DVD releases of the DIC Movie Toons, and the Rocky 25th Anniversary DVD box set.
• This logo makes surprise appearances on the 2004 DVDs of Lightning, the White Stallion, Little Monsters, and Ring of Bright Water.
• Despite retiring in North America in 2003, this logo continued to be used on DVD releases internationally until 2006.
• Some earlier international DVD prints from Warner Home Video (e.g. the 1999 release of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) don't use this logo, instead just using the standard 1987 logo for de-facto purposes.
• Don't except this logo to appear on the Shout! Factory reprint of UHF, as it only uses their logo.

Editor's Note: This logo was infamous for scaring most children because of the loud roar from the lion. However, those who are used to it, will not be scared.

2nd Logo (1998-????) (International Variant)

Nicknames: “Leo the Lion VII”, “Gold Ribbioning VII”

Logo: Just the byline-less variant of the 1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios logo with no video indicator whatsoever.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios logo.

Music/Sounds: The 1995 lion roar.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen on earlier MGM DVD releases outside of North America, most of which featured the 1998 logo on the packaging. A example is the 1999 release of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Editor’s Note: See Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

3rd Logo (Early 2003-2012; 2019-2020)

MGM DVD

Nicknames: "Leo the Lion VII", "CGI MGM DVD", "Gold Ribboning VII"

Logo: On a black background, a flash of light emerges from the screen and circles showing clips from MGM-owned movies (in order: Pierce Brosnan from GoldenEye, the titular characters of Thelma & Louise, Raymond and Charlie Babbitt from Rain Man, Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs, Steve McQueen's motorcycle jump from The Great Escape, Marilyn Monroe from Some Like It Hot, Willem Dafoe's death scene from Platoon, Frances McDormand from Fargo, Reese Witherspoon from Legally Blonde and Rocky's victory pose after running up the steps in Rocky) fly toward us. As the last circle flies towards us, two golden rings appear in the center rotating and collapse into the MGM DVD logo (in gray), surrounded by a red aura and a yellow outline. Leo roars once in it, and after that, the logo quickly zooms into the screen before cutting to black.

Variant: Depending on the aspect ratio of the disc, the screen may either appear in widescreen or fullscreen. However, on the 2004 DVDs of SpaceCamp and Gotham (the former film is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen, while the latter was originally produced and is shown in fullscreen), a letterboxed widescreen version is used.

FX/SFX: Clips of MGM-owned films flying, Leo roaring, and the logo zooming.

Music/Sounds: A commanding orchestral fanfare ending with a triumphant finish, which is a snippet of the stock musical piece "Ultimate Glory" by Anthony DiLorenzo. The appearance of the MGM logo is marked with a loud explosion sound, and the 1995 roar is heard when Leo is seen.

Music/Sounds Variant: A PAL-pitched version exists.

Availability: Very common.

• Seen on all DVDs of MGM-owned output released from this period, such as Good Boy!, the Ultimate Editions of the first 19 James Bond films as well as both editions of Die Another Day, The Pink Panther (1963), The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Intermission, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Touching the Void, Blizzard, Jeepers Creepers 2, Be Cool, Hotel Rwanda, Road House, Into the Blue, Bulletproof Monk, Out of Time, Uptown Girls, Wedding Daze, The Last American Virgin, Stone Cold, Death to the Supermodels, A Guy Thing, Hard Promises, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Soul Plane, National Lampoon's Dorm Daze, Quantum of Solace, Valkyrie, Material Girls, Flyboys, Hooisers, Igor, Skyfall, Hot Tub Time Machine, My Summer Story, both Agent Cody Banks movies, Walking Tall, The Pink Panther 2, Spectre, Beauty Shop, X-15, Sleepover, Submarine X-1, Saved!, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Prodigy, the remakes of The Amityville Horror, RoboCop, Child's Play, and Carrie, as well as the Collector's Editions of Spaceballs, Get Shorty, A Fish Called Wanda, Red Dawn, and the 2004 Rocky Anthology box set.
• It also appears on the UK DVDs like Rocky Balboa.
• This logo was not used outside North America until late 2006.
• It doesn't appear on the Hi-5 volumes that MGM distributed, as they use the MGM Kids logo.

Editor's Note: A fantastic logo.

Final Note: Starting in 2012, MGM uses their current print logo as a de-facto home video logo on most DVD and Blu-ray releases, although this continued to be used until 2020. That year, MGM shifted their home media distribution to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, right on the heels of the Fox deal coming to an end.