It turns out that Warner Bros. Discovery actually won’t be pulling Looney Tunes from Max.
On Monday, in a 4:02PM ET email with the subject line “What’s New on Max This December,” Warner Bros. Discovery listed Looney Tunes and The Looney Tunes Show among the titles leaving Max on December 31st. Even though Looney Tunes is a signature Warner Bros. franchise, removing episodes of the cartoon wouldn’t be unprecedented; Warner Bros. Discovery pulled seasons 16-31 of the show from HBO Max at the end of last year. The company also recently shelved the nearly finished Coyote vs. Acme film, though that movie is now reportedly being shopped around.
But a few hours later, the company announced that Looney Tunes’ inclusion on the list of Max removals was apparently an error. In a revised version of the email sent on Monday at 9:43PM ET, Warner Bros. Discovery said that “‘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.”
Warner Bros. Discovery already has a reputation for cutting streaming content, including the nearly completed movies Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt, so potentially losing Looney Tunes both felt like a major blow and another disappointing reminder of the ephemerality of content on streaming services. There still is one Looney Tunes loss from Max, unfortunately: the updated list says that the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action will be removed from the platform on December 31st. But, at least for now, you’ll still be able to watch classic Looney Tunes cartoons into 2024.
