MGM Home Entertainment/Production Logo

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Background

In 1997, the UA name was dropped, renaming it as MGM Home Entertainment. Outside North America, MGM sold their international home video operations to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The assets of the former Orion Home Video was transferred to MGM itself, as well as picking up the pre-1996 PolyGram film library. Outside North America, MGM sold their international home video operations to 20th Century Fox 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 for worldwide release (although Sony and Fox traded off releases throughout the rest of the year as part of a transitional period). TCFHE's worldwide distribution deal distributing the MGM library was expected to expire in September 2011, but it was later extended to end until sometime in 2016, and again on June 27, 2016, when MGM extended its deal with TCFHE until June 2020.

As of late 2022 in the United States, MGM releases are distributed on home media by Studio Distribution Services, with United Artists Releasing titles initially through Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (from Operation Finale to On the Count of Three and the eventual 26th James Bond film) and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment for all catalog releases and United Artists Releasing titles since Three Thousand Years of Longing, finally unifying all of the MGM catalog titles (along with the legacy UA catalog) under the same roof for the first time in over two decades.

MGM Home Entertainment

Contents

(January 27, 1998-2005, 1998- in Asia)

MGM DVD

Contents

1st Logo (1998-2007)	2nd Logo (2003-2019)

MGM Home Entertainment

(January 27, 1998-2005 [1998- in Asia])

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:

On the home video trailer for Species III,"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".
A superimposed variant of the logo exists.
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.

Technique: Live-action footage.

Music/Sounds: The 1995 lion roar.

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) and the 1998 VHS of Bad Influence. 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.
MGM's sale to a Sony-led consortium put an end to this logo in the United States in 2005, with some of the last uses of this logo, like the 3rd logo, being the 2005 VHS releases of Be Cool, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, Hotel Rwanda, and Beauty Shop.
Strangely enough, VCDs released in Asia still use this logo, and it makes a surprise appearance on the Fox PAL DVD release of For a Few Dollars More.

MGM DVD

1st Logo (1998-2007)

Logo: On a black background, a red oval rotates onto the screen. A small red circle with the MGM logo in it fades in, and we hear Leo roaring loudly in it. The letters of "MGM DVD" zoom out onto the oval one-by-one. The oval and circle disappear in a flash of light, and the remaining texts move closer to each other.

Trivia: On international DVD releases, this logo has been duplicated into two titles depending on which release (e.g. on the UK DVD of Tank Girl, Title 1 (the logo itself) was used to precede the language selection screen while Title 4 (the duplicate) was used to proceed the copyright screen at the end of the disc.

Technique: CGI animation.

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.

Availability: Common.

Seen on all 1998-2003 MGM DVDs such as The Great Escape, Bad Influence, Overboard, UHF, Mannequin, Fluke, The Care Bears Movie, Legally Blonde, Heartbreakers, Barbershop, Spaceballs, The Pride of the Yankees, Igby Goes Down, Original Sin, Antitrust, Autumn in New York, Truly Madly Deeply, the original 2003 North American DVD releases of the DIC Movie Toons, and the Rocky 25th Anniversary DVD box set.
This logo makes a surprise appearance on the 2005 DVD of The Last Waltz and the 2004 DVD of Lightning, the White Stallion. It also makes a surprise appearance on the 2007 Australian Deluxe Edition DVD release of Four Weddings and a Funeral, possibly because the DVD master had been prepared in 2004, but not released until 2007 for unknown reasons. It also appears on the 2007 Australian DVD release of Teen Wolf, possibly because the DVD master from the region 4 2004 double movie DVD release with Teen Wolf Too was used.
Despite being retired in North America in 2003 and replaced with the next logo, this logo continued to be used on Fox-distributed DVD releases internationally until late 2006 (e.g. the 2005 Australian Region 4 Special Edition/Gold Edition DVD release of Rain Man).
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 1986 logo for de-facto purposes.
This does not appear on the Australian DVD release of The Secret of NIMH, even though the print logo is shown on the cover, instead, the standard 1986 logo is used (as with earlier Australian MGM DVD releases up until sometime in 2001, when this logo most likely began to appear internationally), it's also strangely absent from the Australian DVD release of 12 Angry Men, despite the print logo being shown on the cover, instead, the 1986 logo is used as the de-facto logo.

2nd Logo (2003-2019)

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 gold outline. Leo roars once in it, and after that, the logo quickly zooms into the screen before cutting to black.

Technique: CGI animation, with live-action film clips and Leo footage.

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.

Availability: Very common.

Seen on a lot of 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, and The Indian Fighter, as well as the Collector's Editions of Spaceballs, Get Shorty, and Red Dawn (1984) and the 2004 Rocky Anthology box set.
This logo was not used outside North America until late 2006. It is almost preceded by the 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment logo from the time period in these regions.
It doesn't appear on the Hi-5 volumes that MGM distributed or any other family MGM DVDs at the time, as they use the MGM Kids logo.
It also doesn't appear on MGM releases distributed by Universal on DVD & Blu-ray, such as The Addams Family (2019), its sequel and No Time to Die.
As MGM became more of a film financer in 2011, this logo began to be used less frequently, with only DVD releases of films MGM co-produced but held the home video rights to, films from Orion Pictures released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, or TV shows utilizing this logo.
This does not appear on the DVD release of the 2018 remake of Death Wish.

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MGM Home Entertainment