Warner Bros. removes nearly 40 years of Looney Tunes shorts from streaming service Max, a year after the studio canned Coyote vs. Acme

Warner Bros. has removed all its original Looney Tunes animated shorts from its streaming service Max. The shorts ran during an almost 40-year period, between 1930 and 1969.

This is part of the streamer’s new plan to prioritize adult and family programming, as children’s entertainment doesn’t drive as much viewership.

That doesn’t mean everything Looney Tunes-related has gone from the streamer, though, as there are some more recent iterations of the franchise still available to watch (but even with these spin-offs, there’s not a complete catalog).

These include six seasons of 2020’s Looney Tunes Cartoons, two seasons of 2015’s New Looney Tunes, two seasons of 2002’s Baby Looney Tunes, two seasons of 2023’s Tiny Toons Looniversity, five seasons of 1995’s The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, and two seasons of 2022’s Bugs Bunny Builders.

The removal of the original shorts comes just over a year after Warner Bros. scrapped courtroom comedy movie Coyote vs. Acme, despite the fact that production was fully complete. The film was set to see Wile E. Coyote take Acme Corporation to court after every product he orders from them backfires on him in his vendetta against the Road Runner. A down-on-his-luck human attorney (Will Forte) takes on the case, who in turn discovers that his intimidating former boss (John Cena) is now Acme’s CEO – so he’s even more determined to win it.

“My thoughts were that it’s fucking bullshit,” Forte recently said about the film getting shelved. “It is such a delightful movie. It deserves so much better than it got. I can’t tell you possibly why the decision was made to not release it. But it makes my blood boil.”

For more, check out our guide to the best shows on HBO Max.