Warner Bros.’ Mishandling of ‘Looney Tunes’ Under David Zaslav Is Nothing New — Just Extremely Silly (2025)

While it looks like there may yet be some justice in the case of “Coyote Vs. Acme” — if it indeed finds a new home and a theatrical release with Ketchup Entertainment — fans of the “Looney Tunes” still find themselves at the mercy of far greater forces than Bugs Bunny behind an animator’s desk.

Warner Bros. Discovery pulled its catalog of the original “Looney Tunes” cartoons, a collection of animated shorts that stretch from 1930 to 1969, beginning on March 16 as part of a wider effort to rebrand the streaming platform as a place much more for adult and family content as opposed to children’s programming. One consolation is that there are some iterations of “Looney Tunes” made between 1995 and 2022 that are still available. Another is that this isn’t the first time Warner Brothers has decided to vanish “Looney Tunes” content.

Back in the early 2000s, Warner Bros. pulled “Looney Tunes” off of Cartoon Network. Where previously the likes of Elmer Fudd and Foghorn Leghorn had shared programming space with Batman and Fred Flintstone, Warner Bros. left a void that they themselves then tried to fill with different “Looney Tunes” cartoons. “[It was] a year or so before ‘Looney Tunes: Back In Action’ was released. That move really hurt the franchise,” animation historian and CalArts professor Jerry Beck told IndieWire. “And of course, ‘Back In Action’ tanked.”

In August of 2024, Warner Bros. also put the kibosh onGenndy Tartakovsky’s R-rated, Looney Tunes-inspired 2D film “Fixed,” from New Line and Sony Pictures Animation (made by Renegade Animation and Lightstar Studios), about a dog that has 24 hours to have fun before getting neutered — that may be another rescue mission for Ketchup Entertainment if “Coyote Vs. Acme” goes well.

Whatever the streaming performance numbers on Max, “Looney Tunes” has always been a very healthy IP and the top studio brass’s dismissal of Duffy and his chums hasn’t stopped non-stop licensing and merchandising of “Looney Tunes” characters. But it’s a bit of a lonely echo of the standard operating procedure a couple of decades ago when a young Eric Bauza, now the voice of Daffy and Porky in “The Day The Earth Blew Up,” would spend all of his allowance money on “Looney Tunes” merch at the mall while watching the cartoon and practicing his Mel Blanc impression.

“You look at our competitors from across the street and they’re just cranking out shows left, right, and center with these characters — multiple shows with these beloved characters. Granted, they do have a nice theme park and we have a small section of Six Flags,” Bauza told IndieWire. “I wish it were different.”

Beck told IndieWire that Warner Bros. Discovery seems much more comfortable placing their bets on Batman and DC Comics IP, with Hanna-Barbera stalwarts like “Scooby-Doo” filling the gaps, when it comes to animation. “They can never go wrong with those,” Beck said.

DC and “Batman,” in particular, also have the benefit of playing far more into the darker fantasy worlds that anchor HBO’s favorite live-action children, “Game of Thrones” and “Harry Potter.” Even if the “Looney Tunes” put their spin on more operas, there’s a lighthearted, clever playfulness that doesn’t quite fit the current grim-dark brand.

“Looney Tunes” also fights against a tide that is currently running away from 2D animation. “The industry seems to have moved on — but 2D will exist and continue. There are always rumors that Pixar or Dreamworks have a 2D feature in development and my animation students at CalArts, Woodbury, and UCLA are chomping at the bit to join a hand-drawn project. There is a lot of talent waiting in the wings for a revival,” Beck said. “ I believe that will happen at some point.”

In fact, the beauty of 2D is something that “The Day The Earth Blew Up” hopes to use “Looney Tunes” to prove. “[2D is] kind of a lost art form and hopefully a movie like this will [revive interest],” Bauza said. “It’s a very art deco style and that’s all [writer/producer/animator] Alex Kirwan’s part in this film. He’s a big Art Deco guy and harkens back to a Mary Blair-type style, very simple shapes. We also have an artist named Nick Cross who did some of the art direction on this and a lot of the paintings. Just some really renaissance artists worked on this, I believe.”

A true revival will need the success of more than one feature film and some willingness on Warner Bros. Discovery’s part to reinvest in the inventive mayhem that “Looney Tunes” represents. “The cartoons just need to be out there on some platform to support it,” Beck said. “If they will be back, Warner Bros. Animation (Sam Register and crew) understand the characters — the company on high doesn’t. It’s pretty sad.”

But the good news is that, even if they aren’t on Max anymore, the iconic characters aren’t yet in danger of fading into the Merrie Melodies title card in the sky. “All the ‘Looney Tunes’ are available on a free broadcast channel that anyone can pick up: MeTV TOONS. All you need is an antenna,” Beck said. “In New York and LA, MeTV TOONS is on Spectrum Cable, the Frndly TV and Philo apps, and multiple broadcast sub-channels. And Warner Archive Collection has released numerous Blu-ray collections of the best of the best Looney Tunes (a new one, ‘Looney Tunes Collector’s Vault Collection,’ comes out in June).”