After HBO Max removed Looney Tunes from its streaming library, fans were rightfully upset that one of the most iconic animated properties of all time was going away. However, that disappointment was reversed when Looney Tunes arrived on another popular streaming service, and to no one’s surprise, it has now become a massive hit in its new home. Bugs Bunny and the rest of his crew have made it big time on the free-to-use platform.
Per Vulture, Looney Tunes has become one of Tubi’s top 10 most watched series in their library of free content. Samuel Harowitz, the head of acquisitions at Tubi, declared the classic cartoon a “huge win” for the streamer, revealing that they are in “active negotiations to ensure that Tubi can be the home of Looney Tunes for quite a while. Likely years.” As of August, the streamer has made 789 shorts available for consumption, while around 200 remain in a vault due to “cultural sensitivities.” Nevertheless, the cartoon has been surging in popularity, as the mid 1900s comedy has remained timeless for multiple generations of viewers.
With free, ad-supported features on deck, and organized by Tubi in an episodic format, Looney Tunes is being watched in a very familiar format as it did when it aired on television. The Saturday morning cartoon routine may be different nowadays, but fans of Looney Tunes, and its many iterations, consumed them as children as a tradition on the weekend with a block of curated shorts. It was really the only way to watch cartoons, as streaming was not an option until the late 2000s (and even then, still not as accessible as it is today). The removal of Looney Tunes from HBO Max was a shocker, but its arrival on Tubi has led to a revival of interest across different generations.
The Latest ‘Looney Tunes’ Movie Was Jettisoned by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. is having one of the greatest years of all time for a studio at the box office, but that doesn’t mean they have made some questionable cost-cutting decisions in the past few years. Among those are The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, an animated film originally set to premiere on HBO Max. It was then shopped to several other services, before being acquired by Ketchup Entertainment for theatrical release. It made $15 million worldwide before heading to streaming, ending up on the very platform it was planned to debut on to begin with.
With an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and equally glowing ratings from audiences, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie was eventually released on HBO Max, becoming a streaming hit in the process. The voice cast of The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie features Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Wayne Knigh, and Laraine Newman. Read the official plot synopsis:
Porky Pig and Daffy Duck venture to the big screen as unlikely heroes and Earth’s only hope when their antics at the local bubble gum factory uncover a secret alien mind control plot. Faced with cosmic odds, the two are determined to save their town (and the world!)… that is if they don’t drive each other totally looney in the process.