MGM DVD

Credits

Editions by
Michael Kenchington

Background

MGM DVD is the DVD division of MGM Home Entertainment, created to release DVDs of MGM-owned material.

Contents
1st Logo (1998-2007)	2nd Logo (2003-September 24, 2019)

1st Logo (1998-2007)

Visuals: 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, with live-action Leo footage.

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

Availability: 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 (1994), possibly because it used the same master as the 2004 UK Special Edition DVD release.
• 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) and Australian DVD releases until sometime in 2001 (e.g. The Secret of NIMH and 12 Angry Men, both of which have the print logo on their covers) don't use this logo, instead just using the standard 1986 logo for de-facto purposes.

2nd Logo (2003-September 24, 2019)

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Visuals: 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, with live-action film clips and Leo footage.

Audio: 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: 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, Beauty Shop, 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), the 2004 Rocky Anthology box set, Spaceballs: The Animated Series and Hot Tub Time Machine.

• 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 also 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 instead.
• It also doesn't appear on MGM releases distributed by Universal on DVD and Blu-ray, such as The Addams Family (2019), its sequel and No Time to Die (2021), respectively.
• 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 logo also does not appear on the DVD release of the 2018 remake of Death Wish as well.

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MGM DVD