MGM Videotape Distribution

Background: MGM Videotape Distribution started up in 1976 releasing Betamax tapes and a few very early videotapes until 1979 when they changed their name to MGM Home Video and then to MGM/CBS Video.

1st Logo

(1976)

Logo: Same as the 1957 movie logo, but the filmstrip is blue and the words "MGM VIDEOTAPE DISTRIBUTION" are below the logo.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1957 movie logo.

Music/Sounds: The lion roar track from the 1957 movie logo.

Availability: Extremely rare.

Scare Factor: Low, but it could get awful with the next logo.

2nd Logo

(1976-1979)

Nickname: "Abstract Lion Head of Doom"

Logo: We see an abstract lion head moving across a blue background leaving a residue trail of colored lion heads. The colors respectively are red, green, yellow, black, white, and orange, coming to a stop in the middle of the screen when it turns purple. The words "An MGM Videotape Presentation" appear in yellow to the right of that.

Variant: There is a version in which the logo zooms in too fast and the end of the fifth roar.

FX/SFX: The animated lion head and colored residue trail, and the text fading in. The zooming in on the variation.

Cheesy Factor: Leo the Lion would not be pleased. The abstract lion is barely recognizable as one, and the movement looks like someone is sliding a piece of construction paper. Worst of all, they don't even bother making the "An MGM Videotape Presentation" text do anything fancy when it comes in, it just appears.

Music/Sounds: An awful moog synthesizer fanfare which would later be used as a more orchestral and majestic version on later MGM video logos. When the music stops, Leo's roar is heard five times.

Availability: Rare, appeared on very early MGM video tapes. Some of them have since gone out-of-print.

Scare Factor: Nightmare. The awful moog synthesizers and too-loudly played roaring can be frightening. The weird colors of the abstract lion head are also scary and eye-hurting. The zooming in variant of this logo just makes things a lot worse.