After HBO Max decided to remove Looney Tunes from its streaming library, many fans expressed disappointment seeing such a classic animated series disappear. That reaction changed when Looney Tunes became available on another service. The show found new popularity on Tubi, a free, ad-supported streaming platform. Bugs Bunny and his fellow characters have become major attractions among Tubi’s viewers.
According to Vulture, Looney Tunes is now among Tubi’s top 10 most watched series. Samuel Harowitz, who leads acquisitions at Tubi, called it a “huge win” for the company. He said Tubi is “in active negotiations to ensure that Tubi can be the home of Looney Tunes for quite a while. Likely years.” Since August, Tubi has offered 789 classic cartoon shorts. About 200 others remain unavailable due to “cultural sensitivities,” but the titles that are streaming have gained strong attention from both children and adults.
The amount of the licensing fees have so far been undisclosed, but it’s a safe bet that Warner Bros. Discovery is very happy with the arrangement.
Tubi groups the shorts in an episodic format, similar to how television networks aired Looney Tunes many years ago. While Saturday morning routines have changed, families and longtime fans can now watch blocks of cartoons for free, recalling the way these shows were once a major part of weekend traditions.
Warner Bros., the studio behind Looney Tunes, is seeing success at the box office with several major films this year, but they have also made some choices that raised questions among viewers. One example is The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. The studio originally planned to release the film on HBO Max, but it was later sold to Ketchup Entertainment for a theatrical run, earning $15 million worldwide, before moving back to streaming.
Later, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie returned to HBO Max, where it became a hit and received strong reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film stands at 85% and audiences have responded well. The voice cast includes Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Wayne Knight, and Laraine Newman.
The original Looney Tunes cartoons continue to attract new viewers many decades after their first broadcast. For anyone unfamiliar with these classics, Tubi thankfully remains an accessible way to experience them today.
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