Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the original Looney Tunes shorts off Max

The original Looney Tunes animated shorts that aired between the 1930 and 1969 are no longer available to stream on Max, Deadline reports. Warner Bros. Discovery removed them from the streaming service as part of its ongoing shift away from children's shows and towards adult and family programming.

For now, newer Looney Tunes series and spin-offs remain, like New Looney Tunes and Baby Looney Tunes, but the decision still feels odd because Warner Bros. Discovery just released The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Story in theaters on March 14. Of course, the company is no stranger to ill-conceived (frequently anti-art) decision making.

The original Looney Tunes were last on the chopping block in 2023, when a press release covering shows and movies that were being added and removed from Max included the iconic animated shorts. Warner Bros. Discovery walked back that announcement, saying it was an error, but apparently plans change. While it seems strange to remove something Warner Bros. Discovery owns and doesn't have to pay an exorbitant licensing fee to offer, pulling shows and scrapping the release of movies has been the company's recent strategy to save money and earn tax breaks — see another Looney Tunes-related release, Coyote vs. Acme, or Batgirl.

As far as this recent deprioritization of children's programming on Max goes, Warner Bros. Discovery has been working on it for a while. The company shutdown Boomerang, Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming service for classic cartoons, in 2024. Warner Bros. Discovery decided to not renew its distribution deal for Sesame Street last year, too, but removing around 200 old episodes of the show in 2022 was probably a good sign the company had lost interest way earlier.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/warner-bros-discovery-pulled-the-original-looney-tunes-shorts-off-max-190500556.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/warner-bros-discovery-pulled-the-original-looney-tunes-shorts-off-max-190500556.html?src=rss
Creată 2mo | 17 mar. 2025, 20:20:05


Autentifică-te pentru a adăuga comentarii

Alte posturi din acest grup

Doctor Who: ‘The Interstellar Song Contest’ review: Camp!

Spoilers for “The Interstellar Song Contest.”

No, really, spoilers from here on out.

17 mai 2025, 21:20:19 | Engadget
What to read this weekend: A brief history of humankind's many apocalypses

These are some recently released titles we think are worth adding to your reading list. This week, we read Apocalypse: How Catastrophe Transformed Our World and Can Forge New Futures,

17 mai 2025, 21:20:18 | Engadget
Xbox will let you pin up to three favorite games to your homescreen

You'll soon be able to get into your favorite games even faster with the updated Xbox home screen. According to

17 mai 2025, 21:20:17 | Engadget
The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender gets hit with its second delay

When the world needed him most, he got delayed once again. Paramount Pictures announced the second delay for The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, the upcoming movie that follows the jou

17 mai 2025, 18:51:10 | Engadget
Amazon rolls out Alexa+ to more Early Access users

Access to Amazon's new AI-enhanced voice assistant, Alexa+, is expanding. The company has started notifying users who signed up for the Early Access program that they can now activate Alexa+. It's

17 mai 2025, 18:51:09 | Engadget
Microsoft gets its own Spotlight-like feature with the Command Palette launcher

Microsoft has introduced the successor to PowerToys Run, its quick launcher fo

17 mai 2025, 16:40:04 | Engadget
8BitDo's all-button Arcade Controller is almost as thin as a MacBook Pro

Forget the joystick and forgo the D-pad. 8BitDo introduced an all-button arcade controller with an ultra-slim profil

17 mai 2025, 16:40:03 | Engadget