Protecting the Portal Since 2024
I am not related to Wegra. Its just a joke.
Wait. HBO Max is part of warner bros. Why the hell would they not put the looney tunes on there right when they released the day the earth blew up....
You have a greater chance in life of experiencing the lazarus phenomenon (Being declared dead and then living again a short brief period later) than making some earth shattering masterpiece of a work.
At 3/16/25 06:50 PM, xeiavica wrote:Wait. HBO Max is part of warner bros. Why the hell would they not put the looney tunes on there right when they released the day the earth blew up....
I don’t know. Tax write offs?
Protecting the Portal Since 2024
I am not related to Wegra. Its just a joke.
Somehow I felt I was the luckiest generation that I grew up with a version of Warner Bros led by an old-school-animation-obsessed Ted Turner. The newer, original Cartoon Network shows from the '90's at the time, like Dexter's Lab and Powerpuff Girls, were of course awesome, but they were made more awesome that I could watch basically all non-Disney American animation history--Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Popeye, Hanna-Barbera, etc.--in between new episodes of the more modern shows.
Clearly the current leadership at WB-Discovery has much less of a passion for animation if we can't even expect any more unique new shows from Cartoon Network or Adult Swim anymore, let alone a preservation of the 100+ year old company's contributions to American cinema in general. Though, to be fair, they also seem to hate the superhero genre (basically killing off what little potential the DCEU still had and also killing off various Batman projects); video game publishing (what they did to the likes of Monolith and its innovative "Nemesis" system, while doubling down on misguided attempts to make the next live-service "Fortnite" rip-off that will ensure more devastating layoffs and studio closures); and even older liberals/progressives (turning CNN into yet another cowardly megaphone for the Republican Party).
TO BE FAIR, they likely still have that MeTV cable TV channel where they show all sorts of classic non-Disney cartoons (FINALLY I get to watch Woody Woodpecker, an American-made cartoon, without traveling to Brazil first!) on a cable television network, but if you aren't lucky enough to have a Boomer parent who INSISTS on still watching and supporting the cable TV business model that you can visit, then I guess piracy is the only real option to experience US animation history, now.
Quite frankly, in practical terms, all it means is that I can watch those unofficial 4-8 hour Looney Tunes cartoon compilations on YouTube without feeling the least bit guilty I may be stealing money from talented animators at Warner Bros, especially since WB-Discovery is clearly pulling back from animation in general and, of course, there's no guarantee it will actually go to the people who actually make the cool stuff as opposed to it being pocketed by the CEO while he fires all the artists regardless if their product was a huge success or failure.
I'm no advocate for piracy, in fact major companies benefit from people like me who are lazy and will happily pay multiple times for old entertainment if it's more convenient and less of a hassle than piracy or other means--for example, that Sonic Unleashed ReCompiled project is really cool, but do you know what would have been cooler than an unofficial PC port that I can only legally access if I happen to have kept both the original game (the Xbox 360 version specifically, the Wii, PS2 and PS3 versions unfortunately don't count) AND the Xbox 360 I originally played it on for the files? An official remaster from SEGA themselves that obviously takes FAR less effort to set up and actually play the game once you give them the money, released on every modern system (not just Xbox One and Xbox Series X, and again requiring the original 360 disc). But this is yet another reminder that these companies do not care about these "old" pieces of media and allowing us to legally give them money for it for all eternity as they would like, and if they can't even be bothered with the relatively-minor cost of allowing us to watch old Chuck Jones shorts in 2025 through legal means, then they shouldn't be surprised that people will find other means to watch these iconic pieces of Hollywood history.
At 3/16/25 07:35 PM, jthrash wrote:Somehow I felt I was the luckiest generation that I grew up with a version of Warner Bros led by an old-school-animation-obsessed Ted Turner. The newer, original Cartoon Network shows from the '90's at the time, like Dexter's Lab and Powerpuff Girls, were of course awesome, but they were made more awesome that I could watch basically all non-Disney American animation history--Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Popeye, Hanna-Barbera, etc.--in between new episodes of the more modern shows.
Clearly the current leadership at WB-Discovery has much less of a passion for animation if we can't even expect any more unique new shows from Cartoon Network or Adult Swim anymore, let alone a preservation of the 100+ year old company's contributions to American cinema in general. Though, to be fair, they also seem to hate the superhero genre (basically killing off what little potential the DCEU still had and also killing off various Batman projects); video game publishing (what they did to the likes of Monolith and its innovative "Nemesis" system, while doubling down on misguided attempts to make the next live-service "Fortnite" rip-off that will ensure more devastating layoffs and studio closures); and even older liberals/progressives (turning CNN into yet another cowardly megaphone for the Republican Party).
TO BE FAIR, they likely still have that MeTV cable TV channel where they show all sorts of classic non-Disney cartoons (FINALLY I get to watch Woody Woodpecker, an American-made cartoon, without traveling to Brazil first!) on a cable television network, but if you aren't lucky enough to have a Boomer parent who INSISTS on still watching and supporting the cable TV business model that you can visit, then I guess piracy is the only real option to experience US animation history, now.
Quite frankly, in practical terms, all it means is that I can watch those unofficial 4-8 hour Looney Tunes cartoon compilations on YouTube without feeling the least bit guilty I may be stealing money from talented animators at Warner Bros, especially since WB-Discovery is clearly pulling back from animation in general and, of course, there's no guarantee it will actually go to the people who actually make the cool stuff as opposed to it being pocketed by the CEO while he fires all the artists regardless if their product was a huge success or failure.
I'm no advocate for piracy, in fact major companies benefit from people like me who are lazy and will happily pay multiple times for old entertainment if it's more convenient and less of a hassle than piracy or other means--for example, that Sonic Unleashed ReCompiled project is really cool, but do you know what would have been cooler than an unofficial PC port that I can only legally access if I happen to have kept both the original game (the Xbox 360 version specifically, the Wii, PS2 and PS3 versions unfortunately don't count) AND the Xbox 360 I originally played it on for the files? An official remaster from SEGA themselves that obviously takes FAR less effort to set up and actually play the game once you give them the money, released on every modern system (not just Xbox One and Xbox Series X, and again requiring the original 360 disc). But this is yet another reminder that these companies do not care about these "old" pieces of media and allowing us to legally give them money for it for all eternity as they would like, and if they can't even be bothered with the relatively-minor cost of allowing us to watch old Chuck Jones shorts in 2025 through legal means, then they shouldn't be surprised that people will find other means to watch these iconic pieces of Hollywood history.
I agree with everyone said here but how long did this take you to type
Protecting the Portal Since 2024
I am not related to Wegra. Its just a joke.
At 3/16/25 07:41 PM, Anamonator wrote:At 3/16/25 07:35 PM, jthrash wrote:Somehow I felt I was the luckiest generation that I grew up with a version of Warner Bros led by an old-school-animation-obsessed Ted Turner. The newer, original Cartoon Network shows from the '90's at the time, like Dexter's Lab and Powerpuff Girls, were of course awesome, but they were made more awesome that I could watch basically all non-Disney American animation history--Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Popeye, Hanna-Barbera, etc.--in between new episodes of the more modern shows.
Clearly the current leadership at WB-Discovery has much less of a passion for animation if we can't even expect any more unique new shows from Cartoon Network or Adult Swim anymore, let alone a preservation of the 100+ year old company's contributions to American cinema in general. Though, to be fair, they also seem to hate the superhero genre (basically killing off what little potential the DCEU still had and also killing off various Batman projects); video game publishing (what they did to the likes of Monolith and its innovative "Nemesis" system, while doubling down on misguided attempts to make the next live-service "Fortnite" rip-off that will ensure more devastating layoffs and studio closures); and even older liberals/progressives (turning CNN into yet another cowardly megaphone for the Republican Party).
TO BE FAIR, they likely still have that MeTV cable TV channel where they show all sorts of classic non-Disney cartoons (FINALLY I get to watch Woody Woodpecker, an American-made cartoon, without traveling to Brazil first!) on a cable television network, but if you aren't lucky enough to have a Boomer parent who INSISTS on still watching and supporting the cable TV business model that you can visit, then I guess piracy is the only real option to experience US animation history, now.
Quite frankly, in practical terms, all it means is that I can watch those unofficial 4-8 hour Looney Tunes cartoon compilations on YouTube without feeling the least bit guilty I may be stealing money from talented animators at Warner Bros, especially since WB-Discovery is clearly pulling back from animation in general and, of course, there's no guarantee it will actually go to the people who actually make the cool stuff as opposed to it being pocketed by the CEO while he fires all the artists regardless if their product was a huge success or failure.
I'm no advocate for piracy, in fact major companies benefit from people like me who are lazy and will happily pay multiple times for old entertainment if it's more convenient and less of a hassle than piracy or other means--for example, that Sonic Unleashed ReCompiled project is really cool, but do you know what would have been cooler than an unofficial PC port that I can only legally access if I happen to have kept both the original game (the Xbox 360 version specifically, the Wii, PS2 and PS3 versions unfortunately don't count) AND the Xbox 360 I originally played it on for the files? An official remaster from SEGA themselves that obviously takes FAR less effort to set up and actually play the game once you give them the money, released on every modern system (not just Xbox One and Xbox Series X, and again requiring the original 360 disc). But this is yet another reminder that these companies do not care about these "old" pieces of media and allowing us to legally give them money for it for all eternity as they would like, and if they can't even be bothered with the relatively-minor cost of allowing us to watch old Chuck Jones shorts in 2025 through legal means, then they shouldn't be surprised that people will find other means to watch these iconic pieces of Hollywood history.
I agree with everyone said here but how long did this take you to type
I type a lot because I'm lonely and may or may not be autistic. It took as long as you think it did.
Stuff like this is why I maintain a personal archive. Kind of a bummer that H*R doesn't have DVDs anymore.
It's not a real surprise why they did this, there just wasn't enough of a demand for them among the core audience outside of the usual nostalgia crowd. Knowing WB, they simply need an excuse, no matter how flimsy to ditch something out, tax write off or not.
I'm not going to rule out a possible return of Looney Tunes, in some artificial inflation of demand based on quasi-Machivellin ploy, but I don't think that WB is THAT clever.
Just stop worrying, and love the bomb.
At 3/17/25 09:22 PM, orangebomb wrote:It's not a real surprise why they did this, there just wasn't enough of a demand for them among the core audience outside of the usual nostalgia crowd. Knowing WB, they simply need an excuse, no matter how flimsy to ditch something out, tax write off or not.
I'm not going to rule out a possible return of Looney Tunes, in some artificial inflation of demand based on quasi-Machivellin ploy, but I don't think that WB is THAT clever.
Yeah, to be fair, who would buy an overpriced Max subscription just to continue watching childhood cartoons in a legal way that supports the original IP holders financially? I would imagine anyone that watched Looney Tunes or, say, Dexter's Lab on Max did so as some way to hold themselves over between seasons of Smiling Friends or The Last of Us, or something.
It does, however, highlight the need for literally ANY other business model besides streaming to distribute shows and movies. We no longer have physical media like DVDs and Blu-Rays to allow us to watch old favorites forever, not even digital one-time purchases like we can do with video games (Good Old Games has proven that it is possible for publishers to indefinitely support the ability to download a classic game, at least if they want to allow this), streaming is basically the only way we can hope for these companies to preserve anything, and the nature of streaming means they won't even keep relatively-new shows accessible legally if it's not making them enough money.
It's like, when I first got my Netflix subscription, I thought it was a cool alternative way to watch movies in addition to theaters, cable TV, and physical media like Blu-Rays. I didn't expect streaming to replace ALL those other mediums entirely as viable ways for studios to distribute shows and movies and make a decent profit...
well there a bunch sacks of shit aren’t they? Tbh though I grew up watching these old cartoons Disney included on YouTube
"Give me death!"
CEOs and cancelling are a terrible mix. You know what to do!
CS - Musician, animator, and nostalgia enthusiast since 2020.
- they/she
At 3/16/25 06:50 PM, xeiavica wrote:Wait. HBO Max is part of warner bros. Why the hell would they not put the looney tunes on there right when they released the day the earth blew up....
Textbook case of sinking the ship to spite the captain. Writers and VAs are still fighting for worker's rights? We'd better take down anything they might've been even vaguely involved with in case they come to a union agreement that nets them royalties or something.
At 3/16/25 07:35 PM, jthrash wrote:Somehow I felt I was the luckiest generation that I grew up with a version of Warner Bros led by an old-school-animation-obsessed Ted Turner. The newer, original Cartoon Network shows from the '90's at the time, like Dexter's Lab and Powerpuff Girls, were of course awesome, but they were made more awesome that I could watch basically all non-Disney American animation history--Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Popeye, Hanna-Barbera, etc.--in between new episodes of the more modern shows.
Clearly the current leadership at WB-Discovery has much less of a passion for animation if we can't even expect any more unique new shows from Cartoon Network or Adult Swim anymore, let alone a preservation of the 100+ year old company's contributions to American cinema in general. Though, to be fair, they also seem to hate the superhero genre (basically killing off what little potential the DCEU still had and also killing off various Batman projects); video game publishing (what they did to the likes of Monolith and its innovative "Nemesis" system, while doubling down on misguided attempts to make the next live-service "Fortnite" rip-off that will ensure more devastating layoffs and studio closures); and even older liberals/progressives (turning CNN into yet another cowardly megaphone for the Republican Party).
TO BE FAIR, they likely still have that MeTV cable TV channel where they show all sorts of classic non-Disney cartoons (FINALLY I get to watch Woody Woodpecker, an American-made cartoon, without traveling to Brazil first!) on a cable television network, but if you aren't lucky enough to have a Boomer parent who INSISTS on still watching and supporting the cable TV business model that you can visit, then I guess piracy is the only real option to experience US animation history, now.
Quite frankly, in practical terms, all it means is that I can watch those unofficial 4-8 hour Looney Tunes cartoon compilations on YouTube without feeling the least bit guilty I may be stealing money from talented animators at Warner Bros, especially since WB-Discovery is clearly pulling back from animation in general and, of course, there's no guarantee it will actually go to the people who actually make the cool stuff as opposed to it being pocketed by the CEO while he fires all the artists regardless if their product was a huge success or failure.
I'm no advocate for piracy, in fact major companies benefit from people like me who are lazy and will happily pay multiple times for old entertainment if it's more convenient and less of a hassle than piracy or other means--for example, that Sonic Unleashed ReCompiled project is really cool, but do you know what would have been cooler than an unofficial PC port that I can only legally access if I happen to have kept both the original game (the Xbox 360 version specifically, the Wii, PS2 and PS3 versions unfortunately don't count) AND the Xbox 360 I originally played it on for the files? An official remaster from SEGA themselves that obviously takes FAR less effort to set up and actually play the game once you give them the money, released on every modern system (not just Xbox One and Xbox Series X, and again requiring the original 360 disc). But this is yet another reminder that these companies do not care about these "old" pieces of media and allowing us to legally give them money for it for all eternity as they would like, and if they can't even be bothered with the relatively-minor cost of allowing us to watch old Chuck Jones shorts in 2025 through legal means, then they shouldn't be surprised that people will find other means to watch these iconic pieces of Hollywood history.
Actually, MeTV Toons and it's parent channel MeTV is an Over-the Air network, so you don't need to pay for cable in order to have it. Plus, it's actually not available on most cable providers.
Man that sucks, It's crazy when you realize Max is owned by Warner Bros. the executives must've been on something when making that dumb decision.
At 3/16/25 05:39 PM, Anamonator wrote:Sigh
Genuinely this is awful, and it's the weekend of TDTEBW, something ain't adding up. Genuinely looney tunes has been improving in quality for a while now but damn it sucks that like all that effort has been disregarded.
At 3/16/25 06:50 PM, xeiavica wrote:Wait. HBO Max is part of warner bros. Why the hell would they not put the looney tunes on there right when they released the day the earth blew up....
They did it because
I really wonder at this point.
How much time Warner haves left? My guess it's maybe 2026 or 2027 when we see the downfall if things are still going that way.
Cool, sweet and catchy!
At 3/18/25 06:09 PM, BlueKnightSkeleton wrote:I really wonder at this point.
How much time Warner haves left? My guess it's maybe 2026 or 2027 when we see the downfall if things are still going that way.
Before all this happened, wanted to work for Warner bros when I grow up. But that was when Jason Kilar was in charge. Now Zaslav is and now I hate Warner bros because of all of the shit they are doing now. If the Warner Bros (and Sister) were real, I wish they would make Zaslav’s life miserable.
Protecting the Portal Since 2024
I am not related to Wegra. Its just a joke.
god the entertainment industry has become such a monopoly now hasn't it?
"Give me death!"
At 3/18/25 06:37 PM, skull31 wrote:god the entertainment industry has become such a monopoly now hasn't it?
Yeah but we always have the indie studios!
Protecting the Portal Since 2024
I am not related to Wegra. Its just a joke.
At 3/18/25 07:12 PM, Anamonator wrote:At 3/18/25 06:37 PM, skull31 wrote:god the entertainment industry has become such a monopoly now hasn't it?
Yeah but we always have the indie studios!
That's a serious debate worth another thread, just in case this one goes off-topic.
Also, CartoonNetwork.com is more.
It now redirects to the Max site.
At 3/19/25 07:19 AM, JerseyWildcard wrote:Also, CartoonNetwork.com is more.
It now redirects to the Max site.
Fuck you Zaslav I used to love that website
Protecting the Portal Since 2024
I am not related to Wegra. Its just a joke.
It's not the most important factor by far, that would obviously be the arbitrary specifics of the situation Warner finds itself in, but there's been a transition from viewing older media as dated camp to being actively dangerous. That inherently changes the economics of library or filler programming. Whereas in the 80's you could get by just removing the most egregious minstrel references and still have hours of cheap content for insomniacs, now you're looking at having to invest actual resources into "localising" for modern audiences or foregoing younger audiences by requiring "discretion" or warning labels. The juice of having to drop or heavily edit episodes of "Gilligan's Island" that feature comical drag just isn't worth the squeeze much of the time.
It's a shame because while cartoons were most kids first exposure to Sambo stereotypes or the oriental riff, it was also their first introduction to Cab Calloway and "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms", not to mention classical and experimental instrumental music. Would anyone remember Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" without Looney Tunes?
Sorry, a bit of a rant. As someone composing this in a text editor first released in 1976, presentism is on of the few things in life for which I allow myself the full indulgence of hatred.
Would this counts as negative advertising for their movie The Day the Earth Blew Up, which is in theaters?
At 3/19/25 12:09 PM, hazlenaut wrote:Would this counts as negative advertising for their movie The Day the Earth Blew Up, which is in theaters?
I don't think WB is clever enough for that.
You have a greater chance in life of experiencing the lazarus phenomenon (Being declared dead and then living again a short brief period later) than making some earth shattering masterpiece of a work.
At 3/19/25 08:42 AM, alsoknownas1 wrote:It's not the most important factor by far, that would obviously be the arbitrary specifics of the situation Warner finds itself in, but there's been a transition from viewing older media as dated camp to being actively dangerous. That inherently changes the economics of library or filler programming. Whereas in the 80's you could get by just removing the most egregious minstrel references and still have hours of cheap content for insomniacs, now you're looking at having to invest actual resources into "localising" for modern audiences or foregoing younger audiences by requiring "discretion" or warning labels. The juice of having to drop or heavily edit episodes of "Gilligan's Island" that feature comical drag just isn't worth the squeeze much of the time.
It's a shame because while cartoons were most kids first exposure to Sambo stereotypes or the oriental riff, it was also their first introduction to Cab Calloway and "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms", not to mention classical and experimental instrumental music. Would anyone remember Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" without Looney Tunes?
Sorry, a bit of a rant. As someone composing this in a text editor first released in 1976, presentism is on of the few things in life for which I allow myself the full indulgence of hatred.
this going to be a hot take but its not like kids being exposed to that are going to turn into raging bigots what turned kids into bigoted adults was the adults they grew up around
"Give me death!"
