It’s one of the most recognizable sounds in the world: A blasting roar that could rattle a jungle.

For film lovers, it means just one thing: a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie is about to roll. And for decades, MGM meant top-quality entertainment. The very best in cinema.

The idea of using the King of the Jungle to kick off every MGM movie was the brainchild of advertising man Howard Dietz. He was inspired by the athletic teams at his alma mater, Columbia University, whose fight song said, “Go, Lions, go!”

Studio execs looked around and found a suitable animal from the Dublin Zoo named Clairbre (Irish for “charioteer”). By the time the hand-cranked camera began filming, he’d been renamed Slats. He made his debut in Goldwyn Pictures in 1916, continuing on after it teamed up with two other studi

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