Make This Make Sense

There is a very, very stupid rumor out there right now about how Discovery, the second most poorly run entertainment company on the planet (Paramount Global is far, far, far worse, but you'd never know that if you only paid attention to the animation side of social media or only read entertainment rags), is thinking of selling off the entire Looney Tunes brand.

I still believe it's a stupid rumor created by someone looking for (and getting) a lot of clicks from an already paranoid fanbase who has seen Discovery take the 300+ Looney Tunes shorts (not even the entire 1000 golden age theatrical shorts was on the site) off of the service that has no problem clogging the once-premium streaming platform with 249 seasons of House Hunters with over 1900 half-hour episodes (seriously, check that link, there are 249 seasons of that show and counting), 26 seasons and nearly 350 episodes of Curb Appeal, 51 seasons and nearly 550 episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, or every season and spinoff of 90 Day Fiancé and Naked and Afraid for all to ignore. Really, none of those shows make it in the Top 10 lists, and doubt they have that much of a viewership on MAX, and yet, you will never see a series from a Discovery network removed from the site.

And while Looney Tunes-adjacent spinoffs like The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, New Looney Tunes, Looney Tunes Cartoons, Tiny Toons Looniversity, and Bugs Bunny Builders are (at the time of this writing, March 2025) still on the site, many have looked at this removal, the recent purge of half of the Looney Tunes shorts MAX previously had on the site, the removal of The Looney Tunes Show, the cancelation of many Looney Tunes-related projects like Coyote vs ACME and Bye Bye Bunny, the cancelation of the Multiversus video game and the Looney Tunes comic book from DC, and the casual tossing of a made-for-TV movie, The Day The Earth Blew Up, to a small indie distributor who put it on the big screen in a very, very limited release window with no advertisement at all, and this very stupid rumor as proof that Discovery wants to get rid of Looney Tunes forever.

Never mind that it's still a global moneymaking property (seriously, the United States is not the end all and be all of the entertainment industry, and Discovery is a global company). Never mind the perpetual licensing deals Looney Tunes has with theme parks including Six Flags and various consumer goods companies. Never mind that there's still a pretty successful stand-alone Looney Tunes game, World of Mayhem, that (at the time of this writing, March 2025) is still being updated and currently on season 38. Never mind the fact that Looney Tunes is on television every day of the week in the United States on various networks, including over-the-air on MeTV and MeTV Toons, the latter of which has been debuting newly-restored shorts that weren't even found on MAX. Never mind the fact that Warner Classics has been putting Looney Tunes shorts and compilations on its YouTube channel.  Never mind the fact that they're still restoring Looney Tunes shorts for the home media market and even restoring the original primetime episodes of The Bugs Bunny Show, a series whose original incarnation hasn't been seen in over 60 years.

To a certain portion of the "animation fandom," this company just HATES Looney Tunes and are ready to sell it off and more than convinced by a rabble-rouser whose only proof and source of such a sale is "trust me bro." 

Two things wrong with that thought.

• One, I honestly believe they're not making such an actual investment in something like the new Blu Ray sets, the Warner Classics uploads, the Bugs Bunny Show restoration, or the restorations for MeTV Toons if they didn't believe in the Looney Tunes brand. Yes, the domestic marketing of the Looney Tunes brand has been horrendous in the 21st century largely because Time Warner, AOL Time Warner, TimeWarner, WarnerMedia, Warner Bros Discovery has pretty much decided that Looney Tunes is a kids brand on the marketing and broadcast level while, truth be told, it has become more of an all-audiences brand with products aimed towards older viewers and the collectors' market. The popularity of the MeTV airings of Looney Tunes and other classic cartoons has only grown in the nearly five years they've aired on the channel. Not only has Looney Tunes been ingrained in the classic TV channel's identity, but its success spawned the creation of a spinoff channel, MeTV Toons, which is an over-the-air classic cartoon channel aimed towards OLDER viewers, not explicitly kids. That channel's reach of nearly 75% of the country in under a year is pretty nice for a first-year channel, and it's only growing. By discounting the adult draw of Looney Tunes, MAX has foolishly undermined the studio side of the company that still believes in the universal draw of the brand, let alone the most significant and public face of Warner Bros' collective legacy. And while I'm on the subject of that legacy...

• Two, I believe that people are missing the bigger picture when it comes to what a separation of Looney Tunes from the studio would mean and how stupid even thinking that would happen really is. You take away Looney Tunes, a nearly 100-year-old franchise that's just as much a part of the studio's history and the first thing people think about when they think Warner Bros. What would be left? For starters, Hanna-Barbera, and aside from Scooby-Doo, they barely touch that side of the company. Heck, they recently licensed the Hanna-Barbera characters to Dynamite Comics where they are making incredible, updated, and faithful adaptations of characters like Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, Wacky Races, and The Herculoids that showed more respect to them in two years more than Warner Bros has done in 30. You also have Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, and that brand has definitely seen better days. With so many cancelations, setbacks, write-offs, and the closure of the original Cartoon Network Studios building, there hasn't been a lot of love or positivity there. The main network has seen a decrease of three hours on its daily lineup while the Adult Swim side of the network has dedicated every open primetime slot to shows made by Disney's Twentieth Television Animation division, many of which are also on FXX, Comedy Central, and Freeform. And don't ask me how Toonami's faring. Finally, the last thing that would be left is the MGM shorts, particularly Tom & Jerry, which are on par with Looney Tunes in terms of its theatrical legacy and universal appeal. If you look at the big picture, without Looney Tunes, Warner Bros Animation would be comprised of properties from outside studios that WB acquired rather than the marquee brand that has been around since 1930 1933. And those properties make only a FRACTION of what the Looney Tunes brand generates, so why get rid of those and keep brands that are, honestly, lesser by comparison? Make that make sense.

It's weird how many fans' brains have turned into goop largely because of one man who lives rent-free in their heads. So many of them have lost their common sense when it comes to animation at Discovery. Yeah, it's a frustrating time for fans of Looney Tunes, but I'm going to repeat what I've said in many places.

If you like Looney Tunes, SUPPORT the brand. I know it's a little hackneyed and cynical to be so consumer-minded, but BUY the home media releases when they come out so they'll know there's a market for them and make even more of them (and yes, buy The Day The Earth Blew Up when it comes on home media and watch it when it makes its streaming premiere, and tell your friends to do the same). BUY the merchandise that's out there and convince them to create more of them, especially for the adult market. WATCH Looney Tunes programming on OFFICIAL outlets, especially on Cartoon Network (especially if you're in a household with kids), Boomerang, MeTV, and MeTV Toons (and if your market doesn't have MeTV Toons, contact your local MeTV affiliates and your cable/satellite operators as ask them to bring it to your part of the world). 

I feel like a broken record when it comes to talking about Looney Tunes. I just want people to stop being so pessimistic about the future of the brand. I know it's hard considering everything that has happened in recent years, but don't lose your heads over it. The world's already on fire right now, and that's more important than cartoons. Really, check on your friends right now, ask how they're doing, and, if you can, help them out. Cartoons are supposed to be a break from the norm, a bit of diversion from what's happening in the world today. 

Have faith in the Looney Tunes, and watch 'em when you can, Doc.