MGM Home Entertainment

Background

MGM Home Entertainment was founded in 1973 originally known as "MGM Home Video" by releasing its film and television libraries on video. 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" (logo is still the same name, though) 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 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. Beginning with Operation Finale, MGM's titles distributed by United Artists Releasing have since been released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment; meanwhile, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment acquired the home video rights to the rest of the MGM catalog.

MGM/CBS Home Video

1st Logo (October 1980-April 6, 1981)

Nickname: "Green Lines"

Logo: On a black background, the words "MGM" and "CBS" in white and in 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 sort of shaped like a room, which zoom back to bring another copy of the words, and then "AN" and "HOME VIDEO PRESENTATION" zoom into 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.

Music/Sounds: An uninspired synth tune which sounds like the opening of a news program.

Availability: Quite rare.

Seen on the initial batch of twenty-four VHS and Betamax tapes, including The Wizard of Oz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ben-Hur, An American in Paris, Network, Jailhouse Rock, Coma, The Street Fighter, 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: Its simplicity can be excused for the fact that the company started distributing tapes only recently.

2nd Logo (June 1981-June 1982)

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

Logo: We see a metallic forward slash mark on a dark background dropping down. Afterward, "MGM" and "CBS", in the same font as before, zoom out toward the slash at the same time, "CBS" from the right and "MGM" from the left. After that, we see "HOME VIDEO" in Alternate Gothic font zooming out. The "MGM/CBS" text then shines.

Variant: On rental-only tapes, this fades to the next logo.

FX/SFX: Sane as the previous logo, with the added shining effects.

Music/Sounds: A short, orchestrated, majestic trumpet fanfare that ends like Bernard Hoffer's theme for The MacNeil/Lehrer Report.

Availability: Also pretty rare.

Seen on most MGM/CBS releases after the first batch of twenty-four Betamax and VHS tapes. Notable titles to include this logo include Return of the Street Fighter, Westworld, and Clash of the Titans, as well as titles such as Gigi, The Philadelphia Story, Adam's Rib, My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Cruising, and Victory.
However, early MGM/UA releases with the MGM/CBS Polaroid seal or tape labels would still use the MGM/UA Home Video logo, and some later MGM/CBS releases, such as 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 1980s effects, it's an improvement over the previous logo.

3rd Logo (February-June 1982)

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

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, magenta, blue, and green.

Trivia:

This logo was inspired by the hologram stickers that were 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.
Starting in 2003, this logo is only seen at the end of tapes.

Variants:

1989-1992 releases show the copyright stamp in a slightly different font, arranged to the left.
Some late 1990s-2000 releases had a screen freeze of this logo.
The beginning of the U.S. VHS of Tea With Mussolini has the logo almost entirely freeze-framed and only starts moving three seconds before it cuts to black.
On the 1992 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 of the tape. Fiddler on the Roof was probably released on videocassette originally in 1990; when they reprinted it in 1992, they changed the copyright info at the beginning, but they forgot to change the copyright info at the end.
The size of the logo and the color changing arrangements varies.
On rare releases, there's a rare extended version (with the ending part in place either at the beginning or end of the tapes) where we see the colors: rose pink, golden yellow, violet, and dark blue in place.

FX/SFX: The changing colors, and 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 and all the 007 VHS releases of the era. However, starting later in 2003, it was only used at the end of tapes.
One of the first tapes to use this logo was the original VHS release of Leviathan, and some of the last tapes to use this logo were the 2005 VHS releases of Be Cool, Hotel Rwanda, and Beauty Shop; the last of which was their final independent release. All MGM films released on VHS after that were distributed by other parties (mainly Sony).

Editor's Note: For some reason, there was never a copyright stamp with the years 1991, 1994, or 2005 on it. 1991 VHS tapes had the 1990 copyright stamp, 1994 VHS tapes had the 1993 copyright stamp, and 2005 VHS tapes had the 2004 copyright stamp. Also, it's weird that this was used into the MGM Home Entertainment days, with the name changes.

4th Logo (August 4, 1993-February 4, 1998 [2002 in the UK])

Digital opening logo
Analog TV opening logo
Opening logo (dark)
Digital closing logo
Analog TV closing
Opening logo seen on error popups
Opening logo used on video options menus

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 dark 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:

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 release of Rocky, both the opening and closing variations of this appear at the beginning of the tape. The opening variation appears before the previews, while the closing variation appears after the previews.

Variants:

On several earlier DVDs with the 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" 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 films which was broadcast on KLGT-TV 23 in 1995, the specular highlights for "MGM/UA" were lit up, and "Presents" fades in instead of the home video text that is normally in place. Also, the logo doesn't shine.

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: An orchestral fanfare composed by David Engel based off the opening theme of The Wizard of Oz, which starts dramatically and then ends in a majestic fashion. During the fanfare, we hear Tanner's roar, and then Leo's 1985 roar. The closing variant has a shortened version of the opening fanfare's ending.

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.
A different version, with completely different music and different roars, is seen on Mexican Spanish tapes until 2000-2001.

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 days, 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).
This logo was used on many UK MGM VHS releases from Warner Home Video and 20th Century Fox 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 27, 1998-2005 [1998- in Asia])

Nicknames: "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.

Closing Variant: 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.

FX/SFX: Leo the Lion roaring.

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). 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 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.

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 plain old MGM logo with a Home Entertainment suffix below.

MGM DVD

1st Logo (1998-2006)

Nicknames: "Leo the Lion VI", "Loud Lion", "Gold Ribboning VI", "Tanner the Lion's Cousin"

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.

FX/SFX: The ovals merging, the letters appearing.

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, Overboard, UHF, 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, Company Business, Prancer, The Adventures of Priscilla, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, Mr. Mom, Fluke, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, King Solomon's Mines, Khartoum, The Terminator, The Secret of NIMH, SpaceCamp, 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 releases of Hannibal and It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas, the Special Edition of Carrie, 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.
Despite being retired in North America in 2003 and replaced with the next logo, this logo continued to be used on DVD releases internationally until late 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: None.

2nd Logo (2003-2019)

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

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.

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.

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, Intermission, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Touching the Void, Blizzard, Wicker Park, Without a Clue, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, Jeepers Creepers 2, Code 46, Be Cool, Hotel Rwanda, The Yes Men, Bulletproof Monk, Out of Time, A Guy Thing, Uptown Girls, Wedding Daze, De-Lovely, Wicker Park, Zachariah, The Last American Virgin, It Runs in the Family, Little Monsters, Clownhouse, New York, New York, Death to the Supermodels, Hard Promises, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Soul Plane, National Lampoon's Dorm Daze, Bright Lights, Big City, Quantum of Solace, Valkyrie, Material Girls, The Sure Thing, Flyboys, Hoosiers, Igor, The Emperor's New Clothes, Skyfall, Hot Tub Time Machine, Home of the Brave, The Brother from Another Planet, My Summer Story, both Agent Cody Banks films, Walking Tall, The Pink Panther 2, Spectre, RoboCop 2, Beauty Shop, X-15, Sleepover, Submarine X-1, Saved!, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, A Small Circle of Friends, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Prodigy, the remakes of The Amityville Horror, RoboCop, Child's Play, and Carrie, the Special Edition of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, 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 doesn't appear on the Hi-5 volumes that MGM distributed, 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.
Starting in 2012, MGM began using their 2012 logo as a de-facto home video logo on most releases. This logo, however, still showed up on some releases until 2019.

Editor's Note: A fantastic logo.