I suppose I’m the one who’s the fool, for thinking this day would never actually come, even though all signs were pointing in this direction. First Warner Bros. Discovery, under the inexpert stewardship of David Zaslav, took down half the classic Looney Tunes catalog (and the better half, at that) from their all-encompassing streaming app, Max. That was at the beginning of 2023, and by the end of that year WBD tried to remove all the remaining episodes, but backlash was swift so WBD backtracked. And of course there’s the tangential issue of Zaslav canning the completed film Coyote vs. Acme for a tax write-off — twice!! — which star Will Forte is still salty about years later. And well, folks, here we are: WBD has gone and removed all of the last standing classic Looney Tunes cartoons from Max, for a purported reason that’s a real stinker.

Of course you realize, this means WAR!

That’s all folks.

The original Looney Tunes animated shorts, which ran during the golden age of animation from 1930 through 1969, have been scrubbed by Warner Bros. Discovery-owned Max.

Deadline confirmed with a representative that the original shorts are no longer on Max. This is part of a new plan whereby the streamer will prioritize adult and family programming. Children’s programming, such as Looney Tunes and Sesame Street before it, doesn’t fare as well and is no longer viewed as a priority.

Other spinoff versions of Looney Tunes remain on the service, including six seasons of 2020’s Looney Tunes Cartoons, two seasons of 2015’s New Looney Tunes (the third season and some episodes from Season 1 are not available), two seasons of 2002’s Baby Looney Tunes, 2021’s four-episode scripted podcast Looney Tunes Presents: Bugs and Daffy’s Thanksgiving Road Trip, two seasons of 2023’s Tiny Toons Looniversity and its corresponding 42-minute Tiny Toons Looniversity: Spring Break special (thigh its winter spinoff is not streaming), five seasons of 1995’s The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries and two season of 2022’s Bugs Bunny Builders.

This marks a departure from previous maneuvers: In 2023, Max clarified that the classic cartoon was not leaving the platform after an erroneous list of titles being removed in December included the program on it. “Looney Tunes was included in error as a title leaving the platform. This is not the case and the show will continue streaming on Max,” a statement read at the time.

The decision is not a surprising one, as children’s animation has long seen a steady decline. Last year, the parent company shuttered Cartoon Network’s website, just a week after its Boomerang streaming service — which aired mostly classic cartoons from Warner Bros. Animation library — shut down.

The move to scrub Looney Tunes from Max comes amid the March 14 release of The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Story, the first fully animated feature-length project receiving a theatrical opening in the franchise. That movie was originally greenlit for Max. However, when Warner Bros. Discovery took over, the straight-to-streaming movie wasn’t deemed a priority and sold to Ketchup Entertainment out of the American Film Market. The previous David Zaslav-led administration at Warner Bros. also made the Looney Tunes feature film, Coyote vs. Acme. That movie was shelved by the current WBD administration as it was deemed too costly to release, with the pic’s $70M production cost getting a writeoff from the corporation.

[From Deadline]

That’s the last straw for me; I’ve HAD it with the current WBD (and WH) administration! Our country is being dismantled, and now you’re also taking away Bugs Bunny?! This is not a tenable situation!! I am completely unable to ten at this point! Give us our goddamn Looney Tunes, Zaslav, you monster! (I thought of calling him an ultra-maroon, but ultimately decided it would be too great an honor.) Hyperbole Objectively sound analysis aside, what is this cockamamie argument of theirs for why just the classic Looney Tunes have been removed? First of all, will someone please explain to me the difference between “family” and “children’s” programming? Regardless, how are we supposed to take that line seriously, when a dozen other LT spinoffs, many if not most for children, are being kept on Max? And finally, show of hands: how many adults have watched our beloved vintage loonies without any kids present, simply for their own entertainment? Yeah, me too.

Still, I take full responsibility for not heeding the warning signs of this eventual outcome. As the great hare himself once said: “What did you expect in an opera, a happy ending?”

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photos credit: Image Press Agency/Avalon, Getty and screenshot of Max search page