August 29, 2025, 4:01 PM ·
What should Six Flags do about Peanuts?The license that the former Cedar Fair signed for the characters expires this year, though there is an option in that deal to extend it to 2030. Given the resurgence in popularity of the IP and the company’s recent investment in new Peanuts-themed attractions at several parks, I cannot imagine that Six Flags would not exercise that option, should the merger not have invalidated it.Here is out story about the license deal, from when it was last extended in 2017: Snoopy stay home – Cedar Fair extends its ‘Peanuts’ license dealPeanuts is not the only kid-focused IP that Six Flags licenses. The legacy Six Flags parks license Looney Tunes, thanks to those parks at one point being owned by the same company as Warner Bros. Last year, Theme Park Insider readers voted that the new Six Flags ought to license Looney Tunes over Peanuts, should it have to choose one or the other. Yet the current license for Looney Tunes characters extends for many more years, so it does not appear in any danger of going away, at least at the legacy Six Flags parks.The new Six Flags does not seem nearly as obsessed with homogenized park experiences as the old Six Flags management was. So perhaps the solution here will be to keep extending Peanuts at the legacy Cedar Fair parks rather than paying to extend the Looney Tunes license to them. But with Six Flags facing an obvious cash crunch, is that the best deal for the company? Peanuts Worldwide likely stands in a much better negotiating position now than it was in 2017, thanks to Apple TV’s investment in the brand. And Looney Tunes is reeling, thanks to Warner Bros.’ mismanagement of (if not contempt for) the franchise.Could Six Flags save itself some cash by dropping Peanuts in favor of Looney Tunes? Or is exercising the option the best deal for the company at the moment, given the expense of stripping the Peanuts IP from its current lands and attractions? That way, Six Flags can kick the can down the road for another five years, when everyone’s business may have changed.If I were to guess – and I am – I suspect that Six Flags already has chosen to exercise the option and keep Peanuts for another five years. And that, afterward, Peanuts might be going away from the parks unless Six Flags’ financial position improves dramatically, or Peanuts Worldwide is willing to extend with favorable terms because there is no other good option for them.But what if – and yes, I am stirring the pot here – Universal decides that it wants the Peanuts rights in the US as well as in Asia? Or if the expanding Herschend decides to get into IP with what would be perhaps the most compatible franchise for that company? Or if United Parks breaks up with Sesame Workshop and needs a new partner?Any competition for the Peanuts license might push Six Flags out of the bidding. Again, it all depends upon Six Flags’ financial standing in five years, which we cannot know at this point, given the swift changes happening across the industry.That said, not having Peanuts might turn out to be a blessing of opportunity for Six Flags. To me, Looney Tunes has one of the highest ceilings in entertainment. Not in kids’ entertainment – all of entertainment. “What’s Opera, Doc?” And “One Froggy Evening” are two of the best short films ever made – just perfect examples of what movie entertainment can be. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. has not invested in refreshing its Looney Tunes franchise the way that Disney has with its core IP, or even Peanuts Worldwide has in recent years. Current Warner Bros. management even has floated the idea of selling off the IP, it cares so little about it. That’s not just a shame for existing fans, it’s a foolish, myopic business decision given the power of these characters to resonate with audiences across multiple generations.But if Warner Bros.’ indifference means that Six Flags can extend its theme park rights to the characters to all parks for cheap, that’s an opportunity for Six Flags. Now, Six Flags would need to hire or outsource a creative shop to chart an engaging direction for these characters in its parks – one that remans faithful to the characters’ core attributes while extending their relevance to new audiences. I can name at least a dozen creators working in this field who might offer to commit unspeakable things for the opportunity to do just that. So finding that talent would not be an issue, provided that Six Flags managers were willing to use some of the its savings in not extending a Peanuts deal to hire these creators. With Six Flags now searching for a new CEO, who knows what that management will see as a priority in just a few years? But I would love to see the company quit resigning itself to being a low-cost, thrills-only second choice for people who think that they can’t afford Disney or Universal. There is opportunity for Six Flags to get back into storytelling – and to use its kids’ franchise to do that. It’s just up to Six Flags to see that opportunity and then to go after it.* * *
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