MGM Kids

Background
MGM Kids was a kids and family division of MGM Home Entertainment that was created in 2003 and remained in use until 2008, with a brief return in 2010.

It is the predecessor to the MGM Family Entertainment (formerly MGM/UA Family Entertainment) and "MGM/UA Family Classics" labels, created in 1994 and 1988, respectively.

(1995-1998)
Nicknames: "Leo's Family", "Leo the Lion and his Children", "Leo and the Cubs"

Logo: The standard MGM logo is posed against a light blue shaded background, Without "TRADE MARK" sign and the drama mask, the lion cubs stay in place. We see Leo inside a filmstrip circle with four filmstrips. The text "MGM/UA FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT", with two lines above and below the name, is at the bottom of the lion cubs. Leo roars twice.

Trivia: This was initially introduced as a print logo on the VHS reprints of The Black Stallion, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, All Dogs Go to Heaven, and The Secret of NIMH, which were released on August 31, 1994.

Variants:
 * There is a high-quality golden variant without any animation used in some video games. The lines and text are white-colored.
 * On All Dogs Go To Heaven Activity Center and Babes in Toyland, the frame rate of MGM lion roaring is uneven.
 * Some trailers have the logo shortened, using the lion's first roar.

FX/SFX: Leo roaring.

Music/Sounds: Leo's 1994 roar. However on the second roar, it's the same first roar, only edited.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the PC software titles such as Babes in Toyland, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Adventure in Tinker Town and All Dogs Go To Heaven Activity Center, the 1995 roar is used.
 * On Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Adventure in Tinker Town, the roar is in a lower tone.

Availability: Uncommon, found on material released under the MGM/UA Family Entertainment division.
 * One example of this is the 1995 VHS release of The Pebble and the Penguin.
 * It also appears on promos for releases released under the division.
 * Also survives on some interactive child-oriented games based on some animated films such as All Dogs Go To Heaven Activity Center.
 * Was also seen on a 1998 print of The Princess Bride as well as early VHS releases of All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
 * Also appeared on several international releases from Warner Home Video.

Editor's Note: Why even bother to edit the roar track to replace the second roar with a repeat of the first one?

(1998-2003)


Nicknames: "Leo's Family Reunion", "Leo the Lion and his Children Reunited", "Leo and the Cubs Reunited", "Promo Lions"

Logo: We have the same MGM lion and the cubs (added with two) as before, inside a half dark teal oval-cut on an shaded background. Underneath the lion is a golden drama mask. Above the logo is a golden engraved bar that reads "MGM FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT". Leo roars once.

FX/SFX: Leo roaring.

Music/Sounds: Leo's roaring, along with the beginning of the promo.

Availability: Rare. Even though the logo appears on certain VHS releases, don't expect a full on-screen version to exist. Only the 1998 MGM Home Entertainment logo will appear.
 * It was only used on a promo for releases released under the division.

Editor's Note: This would have been a suitable fill-in for the previous logo. Too bad it was weakened as being only used in promos.

(2003-2008)
Nicknames: "Young Leo", "Little Leo", "The MGM Kids Cub", "Leo Jr."

Logo: On a background, we see the white words "MGM KIDS" zooming out on a  shadow effect zooming out to the bottom of the screen. We see a lion cub,, who is Leo Jr.., inside a golden filmstrip circle, which starts growling and roaring and pushes the name. "MGM KIDS" starts wiggling twice. The cub roars again and the last M in MGM moves lightly, the right side of the ribbon then pushes back the M to it's normal place.

Variants: A short version exists.

FX/SFX: The lion cub roaring and wiggling of the text.

Music/Sounds: A cheerful tune reminiscent of Nickelodeon's Rugrats theme with a child giggling and Leo Jr. roaring.

Availability: It is still somewhat easy to find, although the division is no longer used. Some releases are still in print.
 * Like with the previous two logos, it can be seen at the end of some trailers of material that was released under the division.
 * On actual material, this can be found on early DVD releases of All Dogs Go to Heaven and All Dogs Go to Heaven 2.
 * It also appears on DVD releases of Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater.
 * It appears on all three volumes of the US version of Hi-5 that MGM distributed.
 * It was also seen on the DVD release of The Adventures of the American Rabbit, Stellaluna, as well as the VHS and DVD releases of It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie and Christmas Carol: The Movie.
 * The 2003 DVD of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang also used this logo on the full-screen side of disc 1 and on disc 2. The widescreen side of disc 1, which was also used for subsequent reprints, uses the 1998 MGM DVD logo.
 * European DVD releases of MGM Kids products don't have this logo whatsoever, instead just using standard MGM DVD logos and branding.
 * Australian releases feature the branding and logo on the packaging, they too also don't feature this logo, once again just having the MGM DVD logo on-screen.

Editor's Note: A cute logo all around.