Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Background[]

This logo might scare people who have Leophobia (a fear of lions) or Ailurophobia (a fear of big cats), if you have a fear of lions don’t come here.

Metro Pictures Corporation was founded on June 23, 1915, by Richard A. Rowland (1880-1947) and Louis B. Mayer (1885-1957), and started out distributing films produced by Solax Studios. However, Mayer left the studio soon after operations began to form his own company, Louis B. Mayer Pictures Corporation, in 1918. Richard Rowland would continue to produce a number of films in New York City, Fort Lee, New Jersey, and Hollywood, where he established a backlot at North Cahuenga Boulevard (which remains open and is today known as Red Studios Hollywood). Marcus Loew, a theater magnate who had been seeking products for his ever-expanding collective of nickelodeons, vaudeville houses, and movie palaces, acquired Metro Pictures in 1920.

Dissatisfied with Metro's output following his purchase of the studio, Loew later purchased Goldwyn Pictures in 1924 and combined the two studios in the hope of creating higher-quality content for his theaters. The same year, Louis B. Mayer sold Louis B. Mayer Productions to Loew for $75,000 (around $1.17 million adjusted for inflation). On April 17, 1924, the three studios were merged to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. (MGM). With Mayer serving as head of the studio, MGM became one of the major players in the Golden Age of Hollywood, and was one of the "Big Five" film studios, alongside Paramount Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. At its peak in the 1930s, the studio was releasing 50 films a year. In 1952, Loews Inc. was forced to relinquish control of MGM due to the outcome of United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., which forced studios and theaters to separate. By the time the split was completed in 1959, MGM was in decline due to a combination of the split, the decline of the old studio system, and the rise of television. In 1957, the same year Louis B. Mayer died, the company filed a loss for the first time ever.

In 1969, Kirk Kerkorian purchased the company. However, in 1973, MGM closed its distribution offices and signed a distribution agreement with United Artists for distribution in the United States; the company also made a similar agreement with CIC for international distribution. In 1981, MGM purchased the failing United Artists before renaming itself MGM/UA Entertainment Co. a year later, with UA's distribution branch being renamed MGM/United Artists Distribution and Marketing (later MGM/UA Distribution Co.). MGM was also a founding partner in CIC's successor United International Pictures. On March 25, 1986, MGM/UA was purchased by Ted Turner (who temporarily renamed the company MGM Entertainment Co.), but after a large amount of debt, Turner sold it back on August 26, keeping the pre-1986 MGM library. MGM was then renamed MGM/UA Communications Co. In 1990, it became MGM-Pathé Communications Co. after Giancarlo Parretti purchased the company and merged it with Pathé Communications (not to be confused with the French studio, which Parretti attempted to buy but failed due to French governmental concerns over his business background). Due to lawsuits, it was sold back to Kerkorian yet again and the company became Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1992. In 2000, MGM broke off its international distribution agreement with UIP and instead signed with 20th Century Fox to take over international distribution rights for MGM's films. On April 8, 2005, a consortium led by Sony's American branch bought the company.

In 2009 and 2010, MGM suffered financial problems and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 3, 2010. After escaping from bankruptcy on December 20, Spyglass executives Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum became co-CEOs and co-chairs of the company. Birnbaum left on October 3, 2012, and Barber was fired in March 2018. For much of the 2010s, much of MGM's output was produced with and/or distributed by Columbia, Paramount, Universal, or Warner Bros. Pictures in all territories outside of the Nordics, Israel, Central Europe, and the Middle East. In 2017, MGM signed an agreement with Annapurna Pictures to distribute titles from both parties in the US, with third-party titles being released under the Mirror banner. MGM also signed an agreement with Universal that same year to handle the international distribution of MGM titles. In 2019, the partnership became known as United Artists Releasing and Orion Pictures' distribution staff was added to the venture.

On May 26, 2021, online shopping company Amazon announced its intention to acquire MGM for $8.45 billion, a deal that was finalized on March 17, 2022. On August 15, 2022, MGM announced a new distribution agreement with Warner Bros. for international markets outside of North America (including China), which excluded two titles from Orion and the 26th Bond film, which will be retained by Universal. As part of the deal, Warner Bros. will take over home video rights in all regions.

The current company and studio location are located in Beverly Hills, California. MGM owned a more well-known set of studios in Culver City from 1925 until 1986 when the backlot was sold to Lorimar-Telepictures; the lot is now owned by Sony through the Sony Pictures Entertainment subsidiary of Sony Entertainment and is known as Sony Pictures Studios.

Logos[]

1st logo:

We see the original lion, name unknown, nicknamed "Leo" by Samuel Goldwyn, in the circle of a ribbon-like filmstrips which has two filmstrips flowing out the bottom side, which looks like it's in twos. Underneath the circle is a Greek drama mask. A reef surrounds it. The circle has the phrase "ARS GRATIA ARTIS" [Latin for "Art for Art's Sake"] inscribed at the top, and at the bottom is a marquee that reads "A GOLDWYN PICTURE". On the left side is the word "TRADE", and the right "MARK". The lion moves his head left to right throughout and doesn't roar, because movies did not have sound until 1923, when the name was changed.

Variant[]

There was a sepia variant of the logo.

Closing Variant[]

Somewhere on the screen during the closing credits, we can see the small Goldwyn Pictures print logo, which consists of a lion statue resting on top of a pedestal reading "GOLDWYN PICTURES".
We see a lion in a pedestal at the left-bottom of the screen, The film's chapter nameis writen at the center.

2nd logo: A still painting of a lion (name of the lion unknown), and the film ribbon and drama mask can barely be seen. The words "TRADE" and "MARK" still appear on either side of the lion. The words "A Goldwyn Picture" appear above the lion in Old English font.

3rd logo: The ribboning and the marquee look the same as the first one, but with a different lion. The logo begins with the lion (name unknown, possibly Slats?) staring to one side, then immediately skips after a second to the lion staring at the other side, then it skips to the lion looking down, turning his head, and looks at the camera. After that, he roars a bit. After a second, it skips to the lion looking directly at the camera.

Variant[]

There is also a sepia-toned version.

4th logo: On a black background, there is a marquee with torches surrounding it, similar to the MGM print logo. A statue of a lion rests on top. On the first part is "A", on the middle is "Metro Goldwyn", and on the bottom is "PICTURE", looking slightly smudged out in the center.

Variant[]

The logo has been seen in Sepia.

5th logo: We have a new lion named "Slats" inside a newly redone film-like ribboning logo. Slats moves his head from right to left and then looks at the camera, and later looks around. The words "TRADE" and "MARK" are surrounding the circle containing Slats. Below the logo is a marquee that reads "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer". On top of the circle, the phrase "ARS GRATIA ARTIS" is inscribed.

Variant[]

Slats appears to move differently on every film in which he makes an appearance.

6th logo: A new MGM lion named "Jackie" appears in a slightly re-done film-like ribboning logo. Jackie roars three times and then looks at his trainer. The marquee "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer" is seen below, the Latin phrase is inscribed on the circle, and the words "TRADE" on the left and "MARK" on the right outside of the circle.

Variants[]

Up until 1932, there was also an extended version where Jackie roared three times, then he looks away, then turns back to the camera and then fades out.
This logo would also appear in sepia tone.
1949: Silver Anniversary. There is a fancy napkin which reads "A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Silver Anniversary Picture". Jackie proceeds this. Seen on Scene of the Crime, The Doctor and the Girl, and Adam's Rib.
In later colorized versions of the logo, the ribboning is in a brownish-gold color, the reef is green, and the mask is red. Also, the NRA (National Recovery Administration, a New Deal agency that existed between 1933 and 1935) logo appears on the left side, below the marquee.
There's another color variant, like the previous mentioned logo, but with the marquee in red.
There is a variant where there is copyright information around the logo. This was seen on the Our Gang shorts "Teacher's Pet", "School's Out", and "Love Business", as well as the Laurel & Hardy short "Another Fine Mess".
This has appeared superimposed over scenes on trailers of 1930s films, such as Mutiny on the Bounty, Fury, and San Francisco.
In the 1993 MGM/UA Home Video logo, this logo was edited to make Jackie roar once instead of three times for the CGI filmstrip animation.

7th logo: It's nearly the same as before, but the ribboning is slightly re-done and a different lion (name unknown) appears here. The usual MGM marquee is seen below. The ribboning is white, the reef is yellow, the mask is red, and the marquee is green.

8th logo: Another lion named "Telly" appears in a new re-drawn film-like ribboning of the MGM logo. He is the first of the two two-strip Technicolor lions. Telly appears with a longer snarl with two roaring sound effects. The usual MGM marquee is seen below. Everything but the lion is in a green hue.

Variants[]

While the logo was made in color, there is also a black and white version on The Mysterious Island. The movie was originally shot in color, but only a black and white version survived.

9th logo: Another two-strip Technicolor lion by the name of "Coffee" appears in a slightly re-drawn film-like ribboning and mask of the MGM logo. Coffee snarls by looking down and later roars. The Latin word is still shown inscribed on the circle. "TRADE" and "MARK" appear on different sides. The usual MGM marquee is seen below. The ribboning and reef is white, and the mask is red.

Variant[]

There is also a longer version of this logo, as well as B&W versions. Sometimes (due to film deterioration), the logo itself might be closer or further away than usually intended.

10th logo: The next lion named "Tanner" appears in this MGM logo. The Latin phrase on the circle is red, the words "TRADE" and "MARK" are yellow, the red mask and the ribboning are re-drawn slightly with the color orange on certain parts on the filmstrip ribbons. The reef is yellow and on the MGM marquee, the letters "M", "G", and "M" are red, with the remainder of the letters in yellow. Tanner roars three times in this one.

Variants[]

There is a longer version of this logo. Tanner would growl first, then roar three times, then Tanner would look at the camera while having his head leaning, and would growl again, and the final roar with a gasp-like sound and a growl at the end.
On some early animated shorts, the logo has Coffee's roar track. On the first roar for Tanner, it's Coffee's second roar, followed by the third roar, and the final roar is Coffee's growl.
1949: MGM celebrates its silver anniversary. This is basically the same as the version seen on Jackie's, but it's in color and Tanner proceeds this. Seen on In the Good Old Summertime, Challenge to Lassie, and On the Town.
This logo strangely appeared in black & white and with Jackie's roar due to a plastering error on a TCM Australia airing of The Hucksters. Current prints of said film have Jackie.
On My Grandfather's Clock, the logo has a bit of a red hue.

11th logo: This time, the MGM marquee has been dropped and the name "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer" has been placed on top of the logo, minus the hyphens (-) in between the names. Jackie appears on black & white films and Tanner appears on color films. Also a Registered trademark symbol is added underneath the left side of the filmstrip.

Variants[]

There is a short version of Jackie with the last two roars.
For the Tanner version, there are two versions. One has the ribbons in silver and the other in gold.
Two films, The Long, Long Trailer and Forever Darling, have Tanner with Jackie's roar.
Another version appears with the gold ribbon Tanner with copyright info on either side.

12th logo: A new lion by the name of George appears in the studio's logo. The ribboning in the logo looks more stretched out than the earlier versions. The red mask below looks re-drawn and the reef looks more stretched out below. The color of the letters "M", "G", and "M" are still red, but look faded. A registered trademark symbol has been added. The first version has the lion looking at the camera, then turns away and starts roaring. Then he would later look back at the camera and roar again and snarl. The other would have the lion look at the camera first, then would roar while looking up and snarl at the end.

Variants[]

This logo would appear on either a blue or black background.
There is also a black & white variant.

13th logo: A new lion appears, but his real name is Leo. However to the world, he's known as "Leo". The script "Metro Goldwyn Mayer" is in a new font. The reef and the mask is re-drawn once again, and the ribboning on the sides are stretched out even more. Leo roars at first, then turns his head to his right. He would roar again for the second time and look away, and would do the same thing on his third roar and would look away for the final time.

Variants[]

There is also black & white variant.
A still version exists. This was spotted on Ben-Hur.
By the 1970s, the logo looks a little more enhanced.
From 1983-February 21, 1986 and July 10, 1987, the marquee name was altered to read "MGM/UA Entertainment Co.", following their acquisition of United Artists in 1981. Also, on UA releases of the era, this logo preceded the United Artists on-screen text. Starting with the release of Dream Lover on February 28, 1986, it reverted back to the name "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer". However, the MGM/UA variant appeared on the 1987 film O.C. and Stiggs. The film was originally made in 1985 and was shelved for two years.
On several home media releases from the 1980s, the logo (especially the MGM/UA Entertainment Co. version) has the sides cut off and is more zoomed in. This is due to the pan and scan nature of the releases.
On DVD copies of Teen Wolf, the fade-in is cut-off and the logo starts at the first roar.
Closing: At the end of every MGM/UA release, the movie's title would often appear above and below would say "DISTRIBUTED BY" or "FROM" with the MGM/UA Entertainment Co. or MGM Entertainment Co. print logo below. The Beastmaster only showed just the logo.

14th logo: On a bluebackground, we see a yellow-orange outlined drawing of a unknown lion's head in a circle. Below it are the letters "MGM" in yellow-orange.

Variant[]

A rare variant as the background color teal-green, the lion drawning is now white, and "MGM" is smaller.

Trailer Variant[]

On trailers for the studio's films that were released by United Artists Pictures, this logo appears (in negative) above the 1976 United Artists logo. "An MGM Presentation" is next to this logo.

15th logo: Same as the 12th logo, but at the top, "Metro Goldwyn Mayer", in the same font as the 1957 logo, is in yellowish-gold. Inside the circle is the phrase "BEGINNING OUR NEXT 50 YEARS...", with "B" a bit bigger and stretched vertically, also in yellowish-gold as Leo roars. There would be a cross fade between the phrase and Leo. Instead of "TRADE MARK" seen on the sides of the circle, "GOLDEN" is seen on the left and "ANNIVERSARY" is seen on the right in the same color. Leo would roar again two more times.

16th logo: We have the 1957 MGM logo, but instead, the ribboning is in gold instead of white and will remain this way from this point forward. On top of the logo are the words "DIAMOND JUBILEE", arched in a white font. On the circle is inscribed "METRO GOLDWYN MAYER/UNITED ARTISTS" in red, instead of the usual Latin phrase. The mask is re-drawn once again, with the mouth inside the mask in white, and the reef surrounding the mask is not there. Below the mask is a ribboning banner that reads "ENTERTAINMENT CO." On the right side above the ribbon, there is a small trademark symbol "TM", and below the logo is the phrase "SIXTY YEARS OF GREAT ENTERTAINMENT" in white. Leo roars while there is a white spark on the letters "M", "E" and "J".

17th logo: The logo is the same as the 1984 logo, minus the "ENTERTAINMENT CO." banner beneath the red mask. The company name is now golden colored, and will remain this way from this point forward. The mask appears in a darker red color. Leo roars twice as usual.

Variants[]

There are different variants through the years:

June 24, 1987-1992: There is a byline that reads "An MGM/UA Communications company". The byline was used intermittently from 1990-1992, including the trailer for Once Upon a Crime (another version has the bylineless logo).
September 19, 1986-1987, 1988, 1989-2001, 2008: The MGM/UA Communications byline isn't shown. Despite general use stopping around 2001, it made a surprise appearance on WarGames: The Dead Code.
August 4, 1993-1998, 1999-2002: Same as above, but redone in CGI style with the coloring to the text and (R) symbol are in yellow and orange gradient coloring. Once the logo makes its way to its position and Leo roars the second time, the sparkles cover the text, symbol and the reef and then flashes to make them disappear. This version has been used as part of the animation in the 1993 MGM/UA Home Video opening logo after the roller-coaster filmstrip part with the 2nd logo on the filmstrip images.
1994: 70th Anniversary logo; "70th ANNIVERSARY" is used. On this logo, the logo is pushed up to the top. "ANNIVERSARY" in spaced-out letters, wipes itself on the bottom of the logo, then "70th" appears. Starting with this logo, the ribbons now appear in a darker golden-brown color.
1999: 75th Anniversary logo; "75, A LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE" is used. The MGM logo is once again moved up. When it begins "75" zooms back and rests. "A LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE" appears. The words shine. There is a version on The World Is Not Enough without animation, except for the lion roaring, of course.
January 13, 2001-April 28, 2009: A "www.mgm.com" web address is added below the logo.

Closing Variants[]

There's a white outline MGM print logo that would have the movie title (mainly those by 007), and would have the word "FROM" (for MGM releases) or "DISTRIBUTED BY" (for UA releases) below the title above the logo. Below the logo would be a byline stating "An MGM/UA Communications company", then later "A Metro Goldwyn Mayer Communications company". Starting in the mid to late 90s, it would say "DISTRIBUTED BY MGM/UA DISTRIBUTION CO.", then later "DISTRIBUTED BY MGM DISTRIBUTION CO."
Another closing wouldn't have the MGM print logo seen on the end of classic movies owned by MGM. They would carry a short version of the MGM logo.
There is a short black & white version of the 1995 logo that's seen after any classic MGM-owned movie in black & white, such as those by United Artists and Samuel Goldwyn Productions.

18th logo: The text, ribbons, and mask, along with its reef, are now all in a lighter, more metallic-looking shade of gold. The web address below the lion now reads "MGM.COM". Leo roars twice.

Variants[]

On the closing variant and in 2009 on cable broadcasts (otherwise the MGM Television logo), there is a bright gold logo.
There is also a longer variant that is basically a 3-lion roar restoration, which was not seen on films at all.
2010-: A closing variant appears at the end of Hot Tub Time Machine, the words "DISTRIBUTED BY MGM DISTRIBUTION CO." appear in place of the URL. On a recent WGN airing of Mr. Mom, a slightly different font is used.
Starting in 2011, the logo began appearing without the URL. It first appeared on The Cutting Edge: Fire and Ice in 2010. Then it made an appearance on a behind-the-scenes video of Zookeeper found on the MGM website. Then it was seen on the trailers for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, 21 Jump Street and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Oddly, the roar track is not used on the former two trailers, though it is heard on the latter. The logo made its first appearance on a theatrical release with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

19th logo/THX: On a black background, we see flickers of light. The image pulls back to reveal that it is a pupil, a close-up of Leo's eye. We then see Leo, the ribboning, mask and the words "TRADE MARK" on both sides (from the previous logo, all in gold and metallic) ease back with the ribbons moving, as "Metro Goldwyn Mayer" appears shimmering and eases itself above the ribboning. The company name is darker and appears to have a "shining" effect applied to it. The mask is also different as well. Leo roars as this happens And Zooms In The Mask's Eye Until The Word THX Appears Then The Digitally Mastered Appears Until Byline Appears A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/20th Century Fox Film Corporation Company With The Deep Note Fanfare.

Variants[]

On the game 007 Legends and Skyfall, the logo is darker and appears more golden. The flickers of light at the beginning are not seen.
At the end of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Carrie, Creed, and the 2016 remakes of Ben-Hur and The Magnificent Seven, the logo is still.
A short version at the end of the films, such as Spectre and on the 2014 Blu-Ray of The Terminator, exists.
On the ITunes print of Spaceballs( which features a new 4k remastered transfer), the logo starts later when the ribbons zoom out and Leo starts roaring. This oddity is most likely a sloppy attempt to plaster the 1987 variant of the 13th logo with the MGM/UA Communications byline.

20th logo: On a black background, a golden, rounded square passes by, bringing in a bright light. Another square passes while we zoom out through another to reveal we were inside the golden filmstrip ribbon. The ribbon zooms out and settles in place, this time reading "ART FOR ART'S SAKE" (the English translation of the usual "ARS GRATIA ARTIS"). A bright light is seen filtering out of the words in the ribbon. The light fades away from the right, making the metallic lustre of the ribbon more obvious and changing the English translation back to its familiar Latin version. The ribbons on either side of the circle unfurl into their familiar form as Leo (now a CGI rendering of the 1957 footage) fades in and roars. The mask (once again redesigned, with a solid mouth) and leaf-like design around it grow and fade from the darkness, and the company name zooms out (just like the previous logo) and shines on top of the ribbon, "TRADE MARK" fading in.

Music/Sounds[]

1st logo: None. However, there was a fanfare that was used in one of the films.

2nd logo: The film's opening fanfare.

3rd logo: None.

4th logo: None.

5th logo: None or the music's intro.

6th logo: Jackie roaring. The roar always varied. From 1929-1930, Jackie's actual roar was used. From 1930-1932, starting with the film Paid, a panther's roar was used. From 1932-1953, another roar was used, which would also be used for the 4th logo. For silent films, it's the music's intro only without Jackie roaring.

Music/Sounds Variants[]

Several early sound movies made in 1929-1930, like The Broadway Melody, The Single Standard, Hallelujah, Marianne, Untamed, It's a Great Life, Devil-May-Care, Not So Dumb, Anna Christie, Lord Byron of Broadway, A Lady to Love, Montana Moon, Free and Easy, The Divorcee, Redemption, The Big House, The Lady of Scandal, The Sins of the Children, The Unholy Three (1930), Our Blushing Brides, Call of the Flesh, Romance, Doughboys, Madam Satan, Those Three French Girls, War Nurse, Min and Bill, Passion Flower and New Moon, have this logo without the roar, even though the movies themselves have sound.
In the early variants of the logo, at least three different roar variations were used, some more often than the others.
In 1932, a new roar track that used the roar from the 4th logo. Used from this point on until 1956.
In the 1930s, a light fanfare composed by LeRoy Shield played under Jackie's roaring, chiefly at the beginning of the Hal Roach Studios output. In the 1940s, there was a more majestic fanfare composed by Franz Waxman heard, with Jackie roaring on some films (such as A Day at the Races and The Philadelphia Story). None for the mid to later years, as some had the intro music from any film playing with Jackie roaring.
The Super 8mm version of The Wizard of Oz used Leo the Lion's roar from the 1970s.
In the 1993 MGM/UA Home Video logo, Jackie roars with Tanner's roar instead of his own roaring sound.

7th logo: The only movies this is known to appear on were silent, so the logo either has silence or the movie's intro music.

8th logo: Jackie's roar. Some movies would only have the music's intro or the music and Telly's roar.

9th logo: Just Coffee's roar.

10th logo: Some movies would feature Tanner's roar or Coffee's roar on animated features by MGM. Other live-action films would have the music's intro with Tanner roaring. For the long version, it's just Tanner roaring. During the filmstrip animation for the 2nd logo on the 1993 MGM/UA Home Video logo, Jackie roars once with this lion's roaring sound effect.

11th logo: Same as the 6th, 8th, and 10th logos.

12th logo: Tanner's re-dubbed roar or Tanner's roar with the music's intro.

13th logo: Some movies would only have Leo's roar. Other movies would have the music's intro with the roar.

Music/Sounds Variants[]

Tanner's roar was used from 1957-1982. The sound used is Tanner's first roar. Though for the three-roar variant, the first roar is Tanner's second roar.

1957-1960: Leo roars three times.
1960-1987: Leo roars only twice.
There are a few variations seen on some movies with the roar. Some have Tanner's first and second roar, while a few others have that reversed.
Starting with the movie Poltergeist, released on June 4, 1982, there is a new roar track for Leo. Leo's roar track becomes a phase-shifted one, which sounded more polished in theaters featuring Dolby/THX sound systems. Leo's image is unchanged. Though movie trailers have the 1960 roar.
Around 1985, the final part for the roar changes, ending with a growl (that appeared on Year of the Dragon, though a few films released like To Live and Die in L.A. and 9 1/2 Weeks used the 1982 track). This version would be used co-currently with the 1982 roar until around 1987-1988.
Brainstorm has an edited 1982 roar. The first roar is the last roar repeated two times, and the last roar is the first roar.
Reckless has the growls heard between the roars muted out.
On the DVD of The Beastmaster, it uses the 1995 roar. Though the stereo 2.0 track keeps the 1982 roar.
On the 1994 Laserdisc release of Poltergeist, the 1994 roar track is used.

14th logo: None, but on 2001: A Space Odyssey, the film's opening theme plays over the logo.

15th logo: Same as the 12th logo from 1957. As a closing logo, the closing theme with the 1960 roar track was used.

16th logo: The 1982 lion roar.

Music/Sounds Variants[]

Several trailers use the 1960 MGM lion roar.
Some trailers with this logo use the 1982 roar.
Another variant has the 1960 and 1982 MGM lion roars combined. This is seen on 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
On current prints of Red Dawn, the 1995 roar is used.
On Garbo Talks, the warped version of the 1982 roar is used.

17th logo: Leo's roar.

1986-1988: The 1982 roar.
1994-October 20, 1995 and 1997: The 1982 roar, with a more raspier sound. Sounds close to the 1995 roar, but not quite.
December 22, 1995-: Starting with the release of Cutthroat Island, the 1982 lion track was remixed using digital audio technology which blended many roars together.
A silent variant of the short version has been spotted.

Music/Sounds Variants[]

On current prints and the DVD of Solarbabies, the 1985 roar is used on the 2001 logo. This occurrence also happened on foreign prints of Year of the Dragon (which MGM inherited from PolyGram Filmed Entertainment along with other Dino De Laurentiis productions from the time period) and current prints of A Dry White Season and The Meteor Man.
On the 2002 DVD of Walk Like a Man, it uses both the 1982 and 1995 roars combined.
Recent prints of Yentl have the 2001 logo with the 1982 roar, probably because the opening theme was used with the roar (some prints have the 1982 and 1985 roars combined). This also happens on the 2006 UE DVD of Octopussy, and A View to a Kill, when you turn on the audio commentary.
On the MGM Home Entertainment DVD release of Mr. Saturday Night, the theatrical trailer on the disc has the logo with the 1982 roar. On that trailer, it erases any Columbia references.
On trailers and TV spots up to the late 80s-early 90s, the earliest being Running Scared (1986), the 1960 roar is used.
On Rocky Marciano (a made for TV movie), the 1995 roar is used on the 1986 logo.
On the 1997 MGM and 2000 WB DVDs of Network, the 1960 logo is plastered with the bylineless 1986 logo, but keeps the 1960 roar. However, the 2006 UK MGM DVD release of Network has the 2001 revision w/URL, but with the 1960 and 1985 roars combined.
On Windtalkers and the 2007 "Family Fun Edition" DVD of The Pebble and the Penguin, the 1994 roar is used on the 2001 logo.
At least one airing of an MGM movie in syndication has the 2001 logo with the 2008 roar track.
The movie Bandits has a low-pitched 1995 roar on the 2001 logo.

18th logo:

November 14, 2008-February 6, 2009: A new roar sound bite that also has elements of the 1995 MGM lion roar and is more powerful than its predecessor. This was also used on the trailers for Fame and Hot Tub Time Machine.
June 12, 2009-March 16, 2012: The 1995 lion roar is used.

Music/Sounds Variants[]

On the current HD NET airing of Life Stinks, the 1985 roar is used with the 2009 logo.
The roar track is muted on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

19th logo: The 1995 roar is used, along with whooshes throughout the animation and the sound of a running film projector before the lion roars. The noise dies down after the first roar. There is also an extra growling sound added after the second roar.

Music Variants[]

On the Skyfall teaser trailer, there is a shortened version of the roar.
The version seen on Shine's website has the standard 1995 roar without any additional sound effects. This audio variant is also present on the Itunes print of Mad Max (which features a new remastered 4k transfer sporting this and the 1970s AIP logo).
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and 22 Jump Street have the opening theme to the film without the whooshes and projector sounds, just the roaring. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and Spectre have the opening theme of the movie with the whooshes and projector sounds and the roaring.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation has the 2008 roar track.
None for the still variant.
A strange reverse plaster with the MGM/UA Home Video logo was found on a Portuguese dub of Exterminator 2. This can be seen here.

20th logo: A majestic orchestral fanfare plays in the beginning (notably marking the first time the MGM Lion's roar has been complimented with proper fanfare), which ends in a somber, violin-esque descent as the 1995 roar track caps it off.

Scare Factor[]

1st logo: None.

2nd logo: Minimal. This is very different from the traditional MGM logos, so it may surprise a few but it's harmless.

3rd logo: None.

4th logo: None.

5th logo: None.

6th logo: Low to medium. Jackie's roars can scare some people, and the mask on the bottom has freaked people out as well. But it's one of the tamer MGM logos and Jackie doesn't look particularly threatening.

7th logo: Minimal. The scare factor rises with the next logos however.

8th logo: Low to high. Telly is usually considered one of the scariest MGM lions, along with Coffee and Tanner, mainly because of the darkened lighting that was used during filming (which unintentionally makes him look menacing), in addition to Telly staring right at the camera while barely moving. Not to mention the mask looking very creepy. The next logo is not helping matters

9th logo: Medium to high, Coffee is another MGM lion often considered scary, due to the roars sounding more ferocious, the rough audio quality of the roars and his overall menacing look.

Medium to nightmare for the extended version, as the additional roar can freak-out unsuspecting viewers. Unfortunately, this would get worse with the next logo…

10th logo: High to nightmare, Tanner is often considered one of, if not the scariest lion ever used, as his roars sound the most ferocious of them all and his cranky look may frighten some people, especially children. Nightmare for the extended version, as the additional roars may surprise unexpecting viewers. Nonetheless, the scare factor is lower for those used to it, and he is also one of the greatest MGM lions used to date, and is a favorite of many.

Low to nightmare for the Marx Brothers variant, Although it's in black and white which could make it more unnerving than before to a small amount of people, it is supposed to be comedic with the roars of the brothers with the honking noise for the last brother.

11th logo: See the 6th and 10th logos.

12th logo: Low to high. The roars of Tanner are still there but the lion looks less threatening.

13th logo: Low to medium for the original version, and low for the 1982 variant. Leo is another one of the greatest MGM lions, and it is a favorite of many.

14th logo: None.

15th logo: Low.

16th logo: Low.

17th logo: Low, unless you have leophobia. You may be annoyed by how many times you've seen it, not to mention that it's not a favorite of some considering the fact that it plasters older logos. Nevertheless, it's popular.

18th logo: Low to medium. The 2008 lion roar track can throw some people off, especially if they are used to the commonly-used 1995 lion roar. The scare factor is low for the version with the 1995 roar, as audiences are more familiar with it. And like the previous logo, it's not a favorite of some because of its excessive appearance plastering logos.

19th logo: Low to medium. This is a nice looking logo. However, this may be a trouble for those who hate roaring lions. The whooshes and projector sounds (along with the darkness of the logo) can scare some.

20th logo: Low. Despite the fact that this logo is considered by many to be pleasant and well-made, this can nevertheless be an issue for people who can not stand roaring lions. Although the orchestral tune is majestic, the quit of the track might also make some a bit sad. It is a nice and lovely successor to the predecessor emblems.

Trivia[]

In 1955 this company introduced MGM Televison.
It started out as Metro Pictures.
Loads of kids had nightmares off this. Click here to see a random kid getting scared by it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db2WPbWfK0k
The more they progressed, the scarier the lion was until 1956.