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Thursday, December 17, 2009

A Century In Video - 1924

The MGM lion understood in 1924 that there was no point in roaring. Who's going to hear it?



Except for the roar, the logo hasn't actually changed much over the years:



Leo the MGM lion actually started out in 1917 as the mascot for the predecessor company Goldwyn Pictures.

Here he is in 1923 the year before Goldwyn Pictures, Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures merged. I'm not sure if it's a half yawn or half assed snarl in this clip:



The lion logo has been parodied many times, mostly by MTM Enterprises:

The Mary Tyler Moore Show



Remington Steele



Newhart



St. Elswhere



And the depressing end credits for the last episode:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The most recent rendition of the MGM lion was Bongo - a resident of the Bowmanville zoo. He died of lung cancer a few yeas ago. He was considered one of the most photogenic and well trained lions in show business. They mated him once he was too sick to work. There are cubs they are bringing up now. I guess they are not cubs anymore really. They also have a couple of samples with which they can artificially inseminate a female. Not a job I'd want - jacking off a lion.
Cathy

Britt S. Baker said...

Imagine having that in your resume :)

Presuming the "trainer" is still alive that is.