leo the lion was the original name of the mgm lion.
leo the lion was the original name of the mgm lion.
what was the original name of the mgm lion?
leo the lion
jackie, born in 1915, trained by mel koontz, was the second lion used for the mgm logo. he was a wild lion brought from the nubian part of sudan, and the first mgm lion to roar (recorded long after he was filmed; at least three different recordings of roars/growls were used), which was first heard via a gramophone record for mgm's first production with sound, "white shadows in the south seas" (1928). jackie roared/growled three times before looking off to the right of the screen (the lion's left); in the early years that this logo was used (1928–c. 1933), there was a slightly extended version wherein, after looking off to the right, the lion would return his gaze to the front a few seconds later. jackie appeared on all black-and-white mgm films from 1928 to 1956 (replacing slats), as well as the sepia-tinted opening credits of "the wizard of oz" (1939). he also appeared before mgm's black-and-white cartoons, such as the "flip the frog" and "willie whopper" series produced for mgm by the short-lived ub iwerks studio, as well as the "captain and the kids" cartoons produced by mgm in 1938 and 1939. a colorized variation of the logo can be found on the colorized version of "babes in toyland" (1934), also known as "march of the wooden soldiers"; an animated version (done via rotoscope) appeared on the 1939 "captain and the kids" cartoon "petunia natural park". jackie died on february 26, 1946. he would later make a comeback at the beginning of the film "hearts of the west" (1975).
leo the lion (mgm)
mgm founded mgm records in 1946, but was sold to polygram in 1972 including rights to the mgm records name plus a 10-year license to use the mgm lion logo. mgm records, including its artists, was absorbed into polygram's polydor records in 1976. however, after its absorption, polygram continued releasing mgm soundtrack albums and reissues until 1982. time warner's turner entertainment unit now owns the rights to mgm soundtracks issued by mgm/polygram records, who had licensed distribution to warner music group, a former sister company to turner entertainment. time warner sold warner music in 2004 and warner music's rhino entertainment unit's license to issue turner owned mgm soundtracks expired at the end of 2011. time warner's warner bros. unit formed watertower music to manage time warner owned soundtracks.
mgm music