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This Week’s Exciting Development in Animation

This week, nearly 800 classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts have made their debut on the ad-supported streaming platform Tubi. This move grants fans free access to a treasure trove of American animation history. The shorts, produced between 1930 and 1969, are conveniently organized into 262 half-hour episodes, all under a single “season” for easy browsing.

A Shift in Strategy

This launch comes just months after Warner Bros. Discovery made the controversial decision to remove its entire library from HBO Max in March. This strategy was presented as an effort to refocus the platform on adult-oriented content and newer kids and family properties. However, this decision left many animation enthusiasts and historians puzzled, including those at Cartoon Brew. For many, it exemplified the studio’s tendency to treat its most valuable legacy intellectual property as disposable, despite the enduring popularity of characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig.

Navigating the New Platform

While the migration to Tubi is a significant step, it does come with its challenges. The service organizes the shorts into three-short bundles and places them in a side-scrolling menu, which can make navigation a bit cumbersome. Unfortunately, there’s no straightforward way to search for specific titles like Duck Amuck or What’s Opera, Doc?. Nevertheless, for those who feared these iconic films might disappear behind corporate vaults or become limited to expensive physical media, the sheer volume of content now available is a welcome relief worth celebrating.

A Win for Tubi and Viewers Alike

For Tubi, this acquisition is a major victory. The AVOD platform now features one of the most extensive collections of classic animation online, showcasing one of the medium’s most recognizable properties—all at no cost to viewers, aside from the occasional ad break. Despite some presentation issues, this level of access is a significant achievement in today’s increasingly fragmented streaming landscape, and it’s something that industry leaders should take note of.