Looney Tunes/Warner Bros. Discovery: Shorts Returning to HBO Max

We have an update on yesterday’s news that Warner Bros. Discovery had removed 256 of the 511 “Looney Tunes” shorts that were currently available on HBO Max, representing Seasons 16 through 31. Based on WBD’s animation-crushing moves over the past few months, many expected this to be yet another move on the company’s part to find billions of dollars in savings prior to this year’s HBO Max/Discovery+ streaming merger. But based on what The Cartoon News reported earlier today, it appears the episodes were “removed temporarily due to a maintenance check to fix the photoshop titles.” That means that while they might still be gone, they will be returning to HBO Max at some point. Stay tuned…

Here’s a look at the update that was posted by The Cartoon News earlier today:

Here’s a look back at the tweet from The Cartoon News sharing the initial news about the shorts being removed:

All of this comes more than a month after DC Studios co-head James Gunn reaffirmed his & Peter Safran‘s commitment to having the DCU stretch across a number of different mediums. “Yes, most definitely, the DCU will be connected across film and TV (and animation),” Gunn wrote in response to a DCU fan’s question. But that wasn’t all, as Gunn also shared a little clarity on the direction of the new DCU. First up, Gunn confirmed that some animated films will fit into DCU canon and that there will be some animated & live-action projects that exist outside of the main DCU (with 2D & 3D animation planned). In addition, Gunn confirmed that he “will continue writing & directing select DC projects.” For a perfect example of how sometimes just a few words can say a whole lot, here’s a look at Gunn’s tweet reaffirming a commitment to having the DCU connect across film, television, and animation: