Why did Disney drop the MGM name off the studios?

[Dexican]

Just wondering?

 

[disneymom0104]

Not sure exactly but it was MGM when I went in May 2007 and DHS when I went in Sept. 2008.

 

[j&j620]

I just read about this in The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World!

The licensing agreement with MGM ended in 2008.

 

[bicker]

And there is no sense, for either party, to essentially plug their competitor's wares once the agreement was no longer in force.

 

[Reddog1134]

In 1985, Disney and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer entered into a licensing contract that gave Disney worldwide rights to use the MGM name and logo for a yet-to-be-built backlot studio theme park.

Disney's plans for what became the Disney-MGM Studios theme park at Walt Disney World Resort included working production facilities for movies and television shows and a satellite animation studio, which began operation prior to the park's debut. In 1988, MGM/UA responded by filing a lawsuit that claimed Disney violated the 1985 agreement by operating a working movie and television studio at the Florida resort.

In 1989, the theme park opened adjacent to the production facilities as the Disney-MGM Studios. The only affiliation MGM had to the park was the original licensing agreement that allowed Disney to use the MGM brand name and lion logo in marketing, plus separate contracts that allowed specific MGM content to be used in The Great Movie Ride.

Disney later filed a countersuit, claiming that MGM/UA and MGM Grand, Inc. had conspired to violate Disney's worldwide rights to the MGM name in the theme park business and that MGM/UA would harm Disney's reputation by building its own theme park at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

On October 23, 1992, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Curtis B. Rappe ruled that Disney had the right to continue using the Disney-MGM Studios name on film product produced at the Florida facility, and that MGM Grand had the right to build a Las Vegas theme park using the MGM name and logo as long as it did not share the same studio backlot theme as Disney's property.[12] The 33 acre MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park opened in 1993 at the Las Vegas site and closed permanently in 2000.

Disney was contractually prohibited from using the Disney-MGM Studios name in certain marketing contexts like the free Walt Disney World vacation-planning kit; in those instances the park was called The Disney Studios.

 

[ElliBelle]

Thanks, great info.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

and the Indiana Jones attraction isn't even MGM,,,its Paramount

 

[Reddog1134]

and the Indiana Jones attraction isn't even MGM,,,its Paramount

The films were distributed by Paramount but the property is owned by Lucasfilm.

 

[Planogirl]

I've heard that MGM is struggling financially. It would have been nice if Disney had taken over MGM. I love the old Hollywood aspect of the MGM library.

 

[Sassagoula Billy]

I've heard that MGM is struggling financially. It would have been nice if Disney had taken over MGM. I love the old Hollywood aspect of the MGM library.

Me too, and I miss it. Whether or not it meant anything beyond a word above the gate.

 

[Metro West]

Me too, and I miss it. Whether or not it meant anything beyond a word above the gate.

I'm a huge fan of the old MGM (Mayer/Thalberg days) and still get mad when I watch "MGM: When The Lion Roars"...which is excellent by the way. I hated seeing all the drama and bad management decisions that brought about the studio's end.

Oh well...what can you do?

I've heard that MGM is struggling financially. It would have been nice if Disney had taken over MGM. I love the old Hollywood aspect of the MGM library.

Ted Turner owns the MGM classic film library...he bought that from Kerkorian back in the 1980's so Disney would not have been able to get at it.

 

[ilovejsparrow]

It will always be MGM to me! DHS just doesn't sound right..

 

[NYDisneyKid]

The films were distributed by Paramount but the property is owned by Lucasfilm.

and that has to do with? Lucusfilm land?

 

[Brer Brandon]

and that has to do with? Lucusfilm land?

Lucasfilm has a partnership with Disney and since they own the Indy product rights they (Lucasfilm) are the ones to call the shots with respect to merch rights (which could extend to rides, etc.)

 

[MyMagicKingdom]

It will always be MGM to me! DHS just doesn't sound right..

I think its mentally impossible for my brain to grasp that it no longer is MGM. I think I have yet to call it anything other than MGM on my first try.