Max confirms that Looney Tunes is not leaving the platform, but some Adult Swim shows still are
Despite initially announcing the opposite, Looney Tunes will still be available to stream on Max
Aux News Looney Tunes
Update (11/27/23): In a revised press release, Max has confirmed that the remaining Looney Tunes cartoons that were not removed earlier this year will not be leaving the platform at the end of December, despite initially reporting the opposite in its monthly “here’s what’s coming to Max” post. The company says that “the show will continue streaming on Max,” and it has removed Looney Tunes from the post. Our original story, which now feels a little excessively frustrated, is below.
Original story: At the beginning of this year, Warner Bros. Discovery gutted HBO Max’s library of classic Looney Tunes shorts as part of an enormously stupid licensing agreement between Warner Bros. and itself, with hundreds of iconic cartoons from the studio’s legendary history just getting tossed in the trash. And, because Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav has yet to be visited by three Christmas ghosts (even though we keep begging for that to happen), the streaming service that is now simply called Max will soon be getting rid of the rest of its Looney Tunes shorts as well—plus a bunch of Adult Swim shows, some Teen Titans Go! specials, and who knows how many other things that may soon be unavailable to watch anywhere ever again.
This news was buried in WBD’s regular “here’s what coming to Max” press release for December, specifically the “Titles Leaving Max” section, which says that Looney Tunes, The Looney Tunes Show, and the movie Looney Tunes: Back In Action movie will all be leaving the platform on December 31. That brings David Zaslav one step closer to his apparent goal of murdering Bugs Bunny and burying him in an unmarked shallow grave as revenge for all those times Bugs dressed like an attractive woman and made Zaslav look like a fool (we assume that’s what happened).
But, as mentioned up above, there are more frustrating cuts to the Max library coming in December. The streaming service that Christopher Nolan once called “the worst” will also be losing Frisky Dingo (welcome to you’re “doom”), Tom Goes To The Mayor, The Heart She Holler, Eagleheart, Delocated, China IL, 12 oz Mouse, Lucy The Daughter Of The Devil, Teen Titans Go! See Space Jam (a tie-in with the sequel), and a handful of DC Comics animated movies (because god forbid the streaming service that shares a parent company with DC Comics actually take advantage of that).
Oh, but thankfully Max subscribers will be able to watch Restoring Galveston: The Inn and season three of Marred To Real Estate. Let a century of a animation history burn, the people want(?) to see season five of 90 Day Pillow Talk: The Other Way.
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And, because Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav has yet to be visited by three Christmas ghosts…Two ghosts too many.*starts building Covert Ops add-on
I’m sure they’ll go on the Boomerang streaming app, which I genuinely can’t believe they’re still operating.
Oh, I am interested in a bit of explanation.
They’ve had a Boomerang paid streaming site since 2017, full of various old cartoons (mainly H-B, but a lotta Looney Tunes/Tom & Jerry/etc.). They even made a few original series for it. But I don’t think they’ve added any new things for a long while and when HBO Max launched, I wondered why they even bothered keeping it around.
I mean, it probably makes more sense to have stuff that’s 60+ years old on a FAST service, since very few people are going to sign up for an “all you can eat” service to watch it. But this does sort of point to how the whole subscription based streaming model is broken.
Elmer Fudd couldn’t kill da wabbit and he’s been trying for over 8o years. But Zaslav . . .
They are vaulting it?
Unfortunately, yes. Unless you’re watching Toon In With Me on MeTV, who I understand is still trying to gain access to the rest of Warners cartoon catalog.
I’ve said it before, but I like saying it, so I’ll say it again: Zaslav really needs to be kicked in the dick multiple times.
He needs to, before he runs the company into the ground with his fetish for AEW wrestling. Zaslav’s slowly becoming Ted Turner 2.0.
Zaslav’s slowly becoming Ted Turner 2.0.
He’s going to lose most of his fortune after a disastrous merger with AOL?
He’s going to marry (and divorce) Jane Fonda?
How on earth is AEW at all related to anything here?And you know that Turner actually bought and owned wCw, right? As of right now WBD only has a broadcast deal with AEW. These are completely different situations.
I thought he was dickless.
That’s a common misconception. It’s not that he’s dickless, it’s that his dick is where his head should be.
Well that’s what I heard.
The idea of a streaming service CUTTING content (especially pre-made content) to “improve” seems so counterintuitive. Also, is that an attempt at an APOLOGY at the end of the update?! (I read it as “our original, needlessy harsh article is below”). THIS you half-heartedly apologize for? Sounds like an Onion headline (remember those?)
It was pretty clearly a joke to me
They own it, and there can’t be much royalties issues at this point, so all it could cost them to keep it is a little room on their server, and the bandwidth to actually stream it, so any money they make on them is gravy.I just don’t get it.
Something about residual payment to the voice actor?
They may own it, but I think there are still problems with having to license them from a particular division. Like last year when they took off a bunch post a certain year (I don’t recall), but the explanation was this:The WBD-owned Looney Tunes shorts were licensed to WBD-owned HBO Max as part of an intra-company deal. The licensing agreement expired at the end of 2022 and WBD chose to withhold the cartoons from itself.
This all went terribly wrong when all the studios started thinking they could start their own streaming platforms. Just license out that IP to someone else.
I would like to inform the WBD board that I will gladly do just as good a job as David Zaslav is doing and you can pay me half his salary. Total win for you guys.
I’ll take 1/10th. Call me first.
Translation: So may people yelled at us about this that we’re not doing it anymore.
Now, hold on; they’re getting rid of Looney Tunes, yes.But I saw no mention of Merrie Melodies. There may be hope
“Why do you still have all those DVDs” they asked, “Everything is on streaming” they said
This but for… downloaded files.
They will however be burning all the nitrate originals to free up storage space for some of Zaslav’s odds and ends he cleaned out of his attic and garage.
Delocated is truly one of the most bananas shows that ever existed and Tom Goes to the Mayor opened the door to a new level of madness by introducing Tim & Eric to the masses. I think creatives are going to need to put some end-of-life language into future contracts to ensure shows/films don’t vanish.
Someone save Warner Bros from itself by firing Zaslav yesterday.
Glad Tuca & Bertie is staying up for now at least. God what an awful person Zaslav is.