March 23, 2025, 3:19 PM ·
Could Warner Bros. sell off its Looney Tunes cartoon franchise? That’s the question sweeping through Hollywood at the moment. A report last week suggested that the studio was looking to offload Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and the rest of its iconic Looney Tunes franchise.Warner Bros. losing Looney Tunes seems like insanity. But, as the website Slashfilm said this week, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav “may just be the single worst movie studio head in the entire 100+ years-long history of cinema.”Under Zaslav’s leadership, WBD last week pulled all classic Looney Tunes shorts from its streaming service, Max. The studio previously had killed the “Coyote vs. Acme” feature film that it had completed. A Deadline report suggested that the studio sees Looney Tunes as “children’s programming,” which would by itself be an indictment of Warner Bros. management’s lack of understanding about the franchise, which retains cross-generational appeal.Looney Tunes has enjoyed a long history in theme parks, starting with their appearance in 1976 in the two Marriott’s Great America theme parks, located outside Chicago and the in the San Francisco Bay area. Six Flags’ 1984 acquisition of the Great America park in Illinois also bought the chain the right to use the Looney Tunes characters in its theme parks, which Six Flags still holds.But the best use of Looney Tunes in a theme park exists not at Six Flags, but in the Miral-owned Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi. The park’s Ani-Mayhem is my favorite interactive dark ride in the world and the best use of Looney Tunes IP anywhere. Ani-Mayhem captures the chaotic spirit of the franchise, employing all of its major characters and delivering (pun intended, if you’ve been on the ride) a love letter to its classic cartoon shorts.But if Warner Bros. is to cast off Looney Tunes, where could these characters find a new home? The obvious candidates would be the two entertainment companies that have proven that they know how to grow animation franchises into multi-billion-dollar businesses across multiple media. Time to make some phone calls, Disney and Universal.Universal’s history of embracing irreverent entertainment might make it seem the better fit for Looney Tunes. But when I try to think of a theme park attraction that best embraces the spirit of Looney Tunes, after Ani-Mayhem, my choice is… Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Paul Rudish’s recent Mickey Mouse shorts, upon which the Walt Disney World and Disneyland rides are based, show that Disney can embrace some pretty loony toons, as well. Bringing Looney Tunes to Disney also could get us a Roger Rabbit 2.Disney already has Pixar in addition to its own animation studio. Universal has Illumination and Dreamworks Animation in its stable. So for both, adding Looney Tunes might seem like gilding the lily. But I cannot imagine that either studio would pass on the opportunity to add characters such as Bugs Bunny to their repertoire – especially if that kept the other company from getting the IP. The North American theme park rights to Looney Tunes should remain with Six Flags through 2053, when its license contract expires. Yet if either Disney or Universal bought the franchise, those companies likely would not hesitate to write check to buy back those rights for an amount that would be trivial to them but transformative for Six Flags. What Disney would do with Looney Tunes in its parks, beyond character meets, I don’t know. But Universal would have an easy new theme for the Toon Lagoon land in Islands of Adventure. Still, Disney and Universal might not get the chance to bid. If the reports are correct, and Warner Bros. Discovery is looking to sell Looney Tunes, it could choose to sell the franchise to a smaller company that puts together a leverage deal. After all, former Discovery, Inc. CEO Zaslav got control of Warner Bros. Discovery when former WB owner AT&T decided that it wanted out of the entertainment business. Minnows swallowing whales is WBD’s DNA.Zaslav also is said to be close to selling the cancelled “Coyote vs. Acme” movie to small distributor Ketchup Entertainment, which just released “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie.” WDB originally slated that animated movie for release on Max before shelving it. So a firesale of the whole IP seems possible, given that Zaslav seems to have little idea of the franchise’s true value.If Zaslav opened bidding to companies such as Disney and Universal, he might discover (hah!) Looney Tunes’ true worth. That realization might then keep him from agreeing to sell what could be a billion-dollar asset, if managed properly.But theme park fans can dream, can’t we?
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