You've seen this image hundreds of times - the MGM Lion roaring before each of their movies. This iconic image is almost as old as the movie industry. Started in 1917, the first MGM lion (Slats) was only shot in B&W and never roared. Since Slats there have been six other MGM lions - Jackie, Telly, Coffee, Tanner, George, and Leo. Leo has been used as the MGM mascot image since 1957, the longest of any lion and the one most people have grown up with.
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| Tanner messing around with trainer |
The biggest star of all of the lions was Jackie. Jackie was a full-cast member of MGM and appeared in over 100 films, including all of the Tarzan movies. Jackie was very gentle, or as gentle as a male lion can be. Tanner, who also appeared in many films, was used in the MGM logo from 1934 through 1956 - he is the lion seen in all of MGM's movies during Hollywood's golden years during the 40's and 50's.
In 2012, for the Bond movie 'Skyfall', MGM introduced a 3D animated lion - it was meet with very bad reviews from moviegoers and critics alike and was not used, to my knowledge, again. Several spoof logos have been used throughout the years, as the Tom and Jerry cartoon logo, seen at right.The MGM lion is truly distinct and the best logo/image of any company that comes to mind - very one loves the lions.
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