Warner Bros. may now be looking to sell the entire Looney Tunes brand.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Warner Bros. Discovery may finally be selling the distribution rights for Coyote vs. Acme to Ketchup Entertainment. The move comes after Warner Bros. decided to shelve the completed movie for a $30 million tax write-off rather than release it to the public.
…
According to Jeff Sneider’s The InSneider, Warner Bros. may be looking to rid themselves of Looney Tunes entirely.
Sneider said, “I’m told that part of the reason WB decided to sell Coyote vs. Acme to Ketchup rather than take a tax credit a month before Tax Day (April 15) is because the studio is trying to sell off the Looney Tunes altogether.”
There’s been no official comment on the matter from Warner Bros. at this time; however, it is worth noting that the original Looney Tunes animated shorts, which ran from 1930 through 1969, were recently taken off Max. Deadline reported that the show is “no longer viewed as a priority” as “the streamer will prioritize adult and family programming.”
…
In addition to Coyote vs. Acme, Warner Bros. sold The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie to Ketchup Entertainment following some internal restructuring in 2022. That movie was released in United States theaters on March 14, 2025. It has received generally positive reviews from critics but has so far only grossed around $6 million at the worldwide box office.
What is WB even doing? With the Discovery merger they’ve destroyed HBO as a brand, and now they want to sell the most iconic thing about their studio
I worked for their music distribution division, WEA, in the 90s, and they had been the #1 record company in America for 25 straight years. It was a cool company to work for, and my dream job.
Then they let the accountants get control, and they started cutting costs. One of the first things they did was close a bunch of branches, and thousands of people, including myself, were out of jobs. Within a year, they had fallen to #4, out of the 5 major labels at the time, and they never recovered.
Now it sounds like the accountants have come up with the idea of selling off the catalogue that has literally defined the company for decades. Every Warner Bros division had its own mascot. WEA’s was the Raodrunner. Those cartoons and characters are the DNA of Warner Bros.
Never let the accountants make business suggestions or decisions. If upu own or run a company, and an accountant tries to make a suggestion, yell at them rudely, and tell them shut up and go back to their hole and count the money like they are paid to do. Nobody is interested in creative ideas from an accountant.
That would be a daft thing to do as it seems so tied to WB but:
it is worth noting that the original Looney Tunes animated shorts, which ran from 1930 through 1969
A lot of these are public domain already because their copyright wasn’t renewed. For those under copyright the public domain wall is approaching:
The earliest currently copyrighted Warner Bros. cartoon, “Ride Him, Bosko!”, is set to enter the public domain in 2028.
So, while some later cartoons are PD, some first appearances of classic characters (albeit often in unnamed and prototype form) aren’t but the wall approaches:
- Porky Pig - first appeared in “I Haven’t Got a Hat” (1935) - PD in 2031
- Daffy Duck - first appeared in “Porky’s Duck Hunt” (1937) - PD in 2033
- Elmer Fudd - first appeared in “Little Red Walking Hood” (1937) - PD in 2033
- Bugs Bunny - first appeared in “Porky’s Hare Hunt” (1938) - PD in 2034
The movies themselves are out of copyright, but I believe the characters themselves remain trademarks.
No, the movies with their earliest appearances in are copyright, so they aren’t public domain until those films are.
I can only imagine Disney buying it.
