This is a tough one. Before US v. Paramount, I'd say they were both pretty important, MGM being big on spectacle and glamour and WB big on crowd-pleasers. Things get murkier after the 1950s, though.
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Warner Bros seems more relevant today, though M-G-M was more important historically, I think.
Historically, MGM, as far as current success, Warner Brothers.
As for me, personally, It's a hard decision, because I grew up with The Wizard of Oz and the first two Harry Potter movies occupying nearly the same place in my affections.
See, I think MGM is probably the more historically relevant of the two, but the modern movie industry is, for better and worse, indebted to Warners for its current state.
Personally, I feel WB as a brand holds more personal significance. I think of James Bond and The Wizard of Oz when I think MGM, but I don't really hold much nostalgia for either; WB, meanwhile, has the Looney Tunes and The Iron Giant, both of which I consider formative parts of my childhood.
Cartoon Network's adjacency to Warners is also a big factor, though they aren't always considered two parts of a whole and it's frustrating (case in point: WB Games not having much, if any, relationship to CN's presence in the gaming industry).
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Cartoon Network is part of Turner, and Time Warner is hideously dysfunctional so WB and CN hate each other
Also, Hanna-Barbera is why CN exists, but when Turner merged with Time Warner, H-B was detached from Turner and handed to Warner Bros., where it remains to this day
Something that will always be confusing: WB hating CN and both hating HBO to the point where they feel like completely separate things despite not really being unrelated in the slightest
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To me, personally? No fucks given, folks.
Personally, I feel WB as a brand holds more personal significance. I think of James Bond and The Wizard of Oz when I think MGM, but I don't really hold much nostalgia for either; WB, meanwhile, has the Looney Tunes and The Iron Giant, both of which I consider formative parts of my childhood.
Cartoon Network's adjacency to Warners is also a big factor, though they aren't always considered two parts of a whole and it's frustrating (case in point: WB Games not having much, if any, relationship to CN's presence in the gaming industry).