The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Film is among the many newest releases on the 2025 films schedule, with this marking the primary fully-animated and theatrically launched flick from the franchise. Whereas The Day the Earth Blew Up didn’t precisely make waves on the field workplace, it has been getting numerous constructive important reception, together with CinemaBlend’s The Day the Earth Blew Up overview stamping it with 4 out of 5 stars. Sadly, this success has additionally been accompanied by some unlucky information concerning the Looney Tunes that’s critically annoying me.
For these of you who’ve used your Max subscription to stream the basic Looney Tunes shorts because the Warner. Bros Discovery-owned streaming platform launched as HBO Max in 2020, sorry, that’s completed. All of the franchise’s shorts launched from 1930 to 1969 have been faraway from Max. In keeping with Deadline, that is a part of a plan to have Max prioritize grownup and household programming over easy kids’s content material. That features Looney Tunes and Sesame Road, the latter of which is now airing its final season on the streamer.
Whereas it’s a disgrace that the Sesame Road/Max deal is coming to an finish because it nonetheless has but to be introduced what the brand new distribution plan will probably be for the beloved kids’s TV present, this Looney Tunes resolution simply infuriates me. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and the remainder of these wacky characters have been Warner Bros. staples for almost a century. It was one factor to take away choose shorts from Max, however to not have any of those classics out there is simply flawed.
Now, I might be remiss if I didn’t point out that Max received’t be solely devoid of Looney Tunes content material. As Deadline’s article mentions, there are choose seasons/episodes of reveals like Looney Tunes Cartoons, New Looney Tunes, Child Looney Tunes and extra. However, not having any of the basic Looney Tunes shorts is a obtrusive omission. Assuming this plan of action isn’t reversed sometime, I can solely hope that these shorts can discover a streaming dwelling elsewhere, as these should be accessible on-line for the individuals who don’t need to spend money on bodily collections.
Nonetheless, I shouldn’t be solely stunned by this transfer contemplating how Warner Bros. Discovery has handled the Looney Tunes franchise lately. The scrapping of Coyote vs. Acme for a tax write-off nonetheless stings, and whereas not less than The Day the Earth Blew Up received to see the sunshine of day, Ketchup Leisure dealt with releasing the film stateside. Hopefully the good word-of-mouth that film is getting will result in Warner Bros. being keen to indicate these zany characters extra of the respect they deserve.
In the meantime, don’t overlook that House Jam, which paired the Looney Tunes with Michael Jordan in 1996, can presently be streamed with a Netflix subscription. The LeBron James-led House Jam: A New Legacy, alternatively, can solely be bought or rented digitally as of this writing.