Leo the Lion | |
---|---|
since 1957 | |
Amazon MGM Studios | |
Style | Mascot of MGM |
Status | Mascot of MGM |
Member of | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Reports to | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Residence | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc, Beverly Hills, California, United States |
Seat | Mascot |
Appointer |
|
Formation | September 16, 1917 |
First holder | Unknown (1917–1921) |
Website | MGM official site |
Leo the Lion is the mascot for the Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and one of its predecessors, Goldwyn Pictures. The iconic logo was created by artist Lionel S. Reiss, who served as art director at Paramount Pictures.[1]
Since 1917, and through the time Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was formed in 1924 by the merger of Marcus Loew's Metro Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn's Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer's company, several different lions have been used for the MGM logo.
Although MGM has referred to all of the lions used in their trademark as "Leo the Lion", only the lion in use since 1957 was actually named "Leo". In 2021, MGM debuted a new logo which utilizes a CGI-animated render of Leo. This version of the logo remains in use as of 2023 by Amazon MGM Studios, mainly for film productions following their acquisition of the studio in 2022.