This claim is clearly not true, as the trainer of Slats, the lion first used by Goldwyn Pictures in 1917 (and subsequently by MGM) was Volney Phifer, a prominent animal trainer who long outlived Slats and passed away in retirement in the 1970s: This tale was nothing more than an amusing fabrication, one of a number of invented urban legends presented in video form on the JK Cinema web site.Ī similar claim about the original MGM lion's having 'killed its trainer and two assistants' the day after he was filmed for the first MGM logo was promulgated by, one of a number of sites whose raison d'être was passing off fictional factoids as real information. Regina ran out of the warehouse and got run over by a police car heading to the bank he had just robbed. The lion then jumped off the platform and mauled Maninovsky, who died two days later. The lion roared at Regina and Maninovsky as they entered, after which MGM stopped recording. One day, while the burglars' warehouse was normally empty, MGM and their lion were recording there. Supposedly, Regina and Maninovsky would regularly rob banks and stash their loot at a warehouse a few blocks away. The burglars in question were Boris Regina and Karl Maninovsky.

It goes that the lion was originally meant to be standing proud and silent, but roared when two burglars rushed into the warehouse. Lately, I've heard a neat Urban Legend about the MGM Lion's roar. The MGM lion is prominent enough to have featured in urban legends, one of which we first encountered in 2004:

He appeared on MGM's first release 'He Who Gets Slapped,' starring Lon Chaney, in 1924.Īs chronicled at The Silver Screen Affair blog, a number of different lions have been used for the MGM logo over the years, the most well known being Leo, who is MGM's longest-lived lion and has been appearing on MGM films since 1957. Deitz is also credited for writing our motto 'Ars Gratia Artis,' Latin meaning 'Art for Art's Sake.' 'Slats' was the first lion used on Goldwyn Pictures logo from 1917 until 1924, first appearing on the 1917 release 'Polly of the Circus.' After the 1924 merger that created MGM, 'Slats' was retained and continued to appear on our logo until 1928. The inspiration was the school's fight song 'Roar, Lion, Roar.' Mr. Howard Deitz, a Publicity Executive, chose to use a lion as the studio’s mascot, paying tribute to his alma mater, Columbia University.

The logo was first designed for Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, in 1916. Mayer Pictures that created the MGM motion picture studio: According to a history of that logo, the choice of a lion as a mascot preceded the 1924 merger of Metro Pictures Corporation, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. The roaring lion appearing at the beginning of films produced by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio and in the company's logo is one of the world's most widely recognized mascots.

Wizard of legend trainer