Warner Bros.’ recent treatment of the Looney Tunes is a disgusting disservice to the long-lived art of 2D animation and a slap in the face to the hard work of creatives.
Looney Tunes is one of the most iconic animated properties of all time and one of Warner Bros.’ most recognizable and profitable brands.
Despite this, the studio as of late has deleted numerous classic shorts featuring the characters on Max (the most accessible platform to watch the content), dumped their recent animated feature to a third-party distributor ( giving them worldwide distribution rights without helping to market the movie) and suffocated a upcoming live-action Looney Tunes film in post-production drama (with it just recently being saved from deletion by Ketchup Entertainment over the negotiation table), along with the base issue of underpaying their animators.
Natasha Chivv, a PEACE freshman and art student stated, “I think traditional art, especially 2000s and 2010s cartoons, really affected how I view art and my art style.”
In regards to studios undercompensating animators, Chivv voiced her disdain for the practice, saying, “In no way, shape, or form should it be done,” and that it “takes away soul from the projects.”
These actions on Warner Bros.’ part are blatantly disrespectful, and directly diminish the impact traditional hand-drawn artists have had on the industry since its formation.
COMPASS art teacher Tiffaney Gardea believes that humans are “inherent creators,” and that traditional art fills an important hole in society.
“Some people view the arts as not being a fundamental need, when in reality, art has built the foundation of our entire world,” Gardea stated.
By unabashedly denying the decades of work these traditional animators have put into studio-housed projects (which in many cases directly help propel the studios’ reputation in the eyes of the public), companies like Warner Bros. wear their hubris on their sleeve. Traditional Hollywood artists made the industry what it is today, and for them to be tossed aside without corporations putting any real effort into filling the void that’s left in their absence, shows just how blinded by statistics and profits these larger than life studios really are.
