Update: Max now says the announcement that “Looney Tunes” would leave the streamer on Dec. 31 was made in error. Our updated story follows below.
Cartoon fans, who are still angry about Warner Bros. Discovery selling off upcoming feature “Coyote vs. Acme,” were not happy to hear on Monday that several Looney Tunes titles are leaving Max on Dec. 31. But the streamer subsequently said the announcement was made in error.
According to a press release sent to media, decades worth of classic “Looney Tunes” shorts, as well as the “The Looney Tunes Show,” which ran from 2011 to 2013, were set to leave the streamer at the end of the year. The 2003 movie “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” which starred Brendan Fraser and was co-directed directed by Joe Dante, would also be removed.
A revised press release was sent a few hours later noting that “Looney Tunes” the TV series was included in error and “will continue streaming on Max.” “Back in Action” is still leaving Max at the end of December.
Variations on the sentiment “David Zaslav hates Looney Tunes,” hit social media on Monday after the initial announcement. Fan Jeff Harris wrote, “No one hates Looney Tunes more than Warner Bros.”
“Between this, ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’ almost getting canned and handing out The Day The Earth Blew Up for someone else to distribute theatrically Zaslav has truly shown just how bulls—t his words and this image was with saying that the Looney Tunes were a valuable brand,” wrote @Wierd_o78033920.
“The baffling degree that David Zaslav seemingly hates the Looney Tunes is baffling, it’s like the CEO of Disney wanting nothing to do with Mickey Mouse,” wrote animator @SenorWoberto on Nov. 9 when WBD announced they would be shelving the $70 million feature “Coyote Vs. Acme” as a $30 million tax write-off.
After significant public backlash, the studio reversed gears and decided to sell the movie to another studio. Alas for DC fans, the already finished “Batgirl” movie remains on the shelf.
Among the other WBD titles that are being yanked at the end of the year are the 2002 live-action “Scooby-Doo” and Cartoon Network’s “Teen Titans Go! See Space Jam” from 2021. Also leaving, several “DC Super Hero Girls” and “Lego Justice League” titles, as well as 2014’s “The Lego Movie.”
