“Slats was the first lion used for the newly-formed studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He was born at Dublin Zoo, Ireland on March 20, 1919. Slats was used on all black and white MGM films between 1924 and 1928. The original logo was designed by Howard Dietz and used by the Goldwyn Pictures Corporation studio from 1916 to 1924, when the studio was ultimately absorbed into the partnership that formed MGM. Dietz stated that he decided to use a lion as the studio’s mascot as a tribute to his alma mater Columbia University, whose athletic teams’ nickname is the Lions; he further added that the inspiration for making the lion roar was Columbia’s fight song “Roar, Lion, Roar”. Slats was trained by Volney Phifer to growl rather than roar, and for the next couple of years, the lion would tour with MGM promoters to signify the studio’s launch. Slats died in 1936…”
