HBO Max Removes Over 250 Episodes of an Iconic Cartoon Series

By Russ Burlingame

Warner Bros. Discovery has removed about half of all Looney Tunes episodes from HBO Max, according to The Cartoon News. A social media account for the animation news site informed fans last night that seasons 16-31 of the classic animated series -- representing 256 of the 511 episodes which had been hosted on the streaming platform -- had disappeared after December 31. The move is the latest big removal of Warner Bros.-owned content from HBO Max, and follows a string of animation and children's programming removals, including Aquaman: King of Atlantis, Infinity Train, and the majority of Sesame Street episodes previously found on HBO Max.

Fans have discussed frustration and disappointment over these removals, since there was an expectation that when Warner Bros. started its own streaming service, it would make Warner Bros.-owned content available more or less indefinitely as part of the subscription. Warner Bros. Discovery management has pushed back, saying that nothing removed from the streaming platform has was being watched enough to provide the company with value.

You can see The Cartoon News post below.

The streamer has also reportedly removed seasons four through six of The Flintstones, a long-running IP that has had bad luck in recent years. A planned second season of the spinoff Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs was cancelled, and the first season split up into two installments, before finally being removed from HBO Max altogether in August.

The Looney Tunes brand started in 1930, and was a consistent presence on TV and in cinemas throughout the rest of the 20th Century. Since then, the characters have struggled to find a meaningful pop culture niche. A recent Looney Tunes revival at HBO Max earned critical praise but failed to really move the needle with audiences. Space Jam: A New Legacy brought the Space Jam branding back to theaters, but turned out to be a disappointment and did little to increase the standing of Bugs, Daffy, and company.

Cartoon Network originally served, in part, to solve the problem of what to do with Warner Bros.' and Hanna-Barbera's vast library of iconic animation, much of which served mostly as nostalgic comfort food. The rise of Cartoon Network original programming and the Adult Swim block has been a boon for young animators, but has once again displaced things like Looney Tunes and The Flintstones, making streaming platforms an obvious destination. But HBO Max has hardly been a comfortable home for animation in the last year.

Warner Bros. Discovery is reported developing a free-with-ads streaming platform to compete with things like Tubi and the Roku Channel. Don't be surprised if Looney Tunes, Flintstones, and other iconic IP find their way there.

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