Cartoon Network Studios won’t close, Warner Bros.

On Wednesday, Warner Bros. TV Group has laid off 82 employees in the scripting, non-scripting and animation divisions, a Warner Bros. confirm with Polygon. The company will leave 43 of the positions unfilled. While the three Warner Bros. Animation (WBA), Anime Studios (CNS) and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe will remain separate, and the WBA and CNS production and development teams will be brought together as one division.

Based on Limit lineWarner Bros. also back Its original decision was shutting down Warner Bros.’s teleconference., is designed to nurture new talent and provides a path that many in the animation industry have deemed invaluable in helping marginalized creators break into a highly competitive field. The workshop will be moved to Discovery’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion unit.

These changes at Cartoon Network Studios come at a time when some of the studio’s cartoons have become harder to track and watch. The cuts also come after Discovery acquired Warner Media from AT&T. HBO Max and Discovery Plus are set to become a streaming service by 2023. After taking over in April, CEO David Zaslav, who previously ran Discovery, has pledged to cut 3 billion dollars from the company and he took an aggressive approach to getting there.

Zaslav has made good on his promise, and mainly in the entertainment genre. In August, Discovery laid off 14% of HBO Max employees and cancel Bat girl movie. Later that month, beloved animated series were dropped from HBO Max, cover the eyes of the cartoon creator. Dozens Sesame Street episodes have been removed from the streaming platform and other shows have been completely removed – including fan favorites CAN I! – Be a heroas Infinite train, which ran for four seasons and is no longer airing on Cartoon Network. (Fortunately, it can still be found on other streaming services.) Other shows like Summer Camp Island and Victor and Valentino still air on Cartoon Network, even if you can’t find them on HBO’s streaming service.

Based on Diversity, “Output will be flat,” after WNA and CNS merge — but the reaction from denizens and animation industry pundits wasn’t quite so optimistic. Cartoons Brew studio statement “disappeared” inspired feedback from a Cartoon Network employee. Polygon spoke with a representative for Warner Bros., who said that CNS is not going away and that the studio still has many projects in development. The real question is how this general division will set priorities, which more or less depends on what viewers are actually watching and what the company considers profitable.

For the most part, digging into the following catalog of each respective animation studio increases the distinction between the two studios over the years – a distinction many of us who grew up watching and obsessing over. Cartoon Network’s images of different cartoon blocks are easily identifiable, even before merging and firing. It’s hard to know how these two studios will come together, especially after these layoffs left so many talented employees out of work.

Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) created some real gemsespecially during the 1950-1960s, including Tom & Jerry, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, Fire Stone, Scooby-Dooand of course, Looney Tunes. But over the years, the WBA has followed this familiar formula, more or less remaking and refreshing its classic IPs and broadcasting them on Cartoon Network. As a kid, I watched versions of Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes, and Tom & Jerry. As an adult, I can still watch these identical characters – and not just through replays.

While the imprint of Warner Bros. Iconic Animation of the past, Cartoon Network Studios has produced important and groundbreaking shows about course of time has also stood tests of time. Yes, there are reboots, especially Cartoon Network’s hugely popular late 90s and early 2000s series, like Powerpuff Girls and many iterations of Ben 10. But there are bangs and lots of paradigm-shifting shows, too, from shows that have bolstered the all-female action team (Powerpuff Girlsof course), for shows that take cues from anime, like Samurai Jack. And that’s not to mention Cartoon Network’s Toonami block, which introduced a lot of kids in the US to anime before it caught on to Western audiences – and has aired. Pokémon for several years.

Image: Cartoon Network

CNS was also one of the few major animation studios to pay attention to the peculiar characters in the 2010s – especially the sapphic romances – laying the groundwork for other animated shows. Adventure Time, which debuted in 2010 and ran for 10 seasons, was only recently able to repay the “Bubbline” romance that arose between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline; the two flirted in the movie “Go With Me” 2011. Later Princess Bubblegum sleeping in Marceline’s shirt, and the show’s 2018 finale marked the deal with a kiss. 2013 Steven Universe will become one of those Popular and influential contemporary gay cartoons with the cast of non-binary Crystal Gems, many gay characters and amazing wedding episode.

The steady flow of LGBTQ + Animated TV can currently be found on streaming services that owe a lot to these Cartoon Network Studio giants. Warner Bros. private Velma is a lesbian! This was unthinkable many years ago, even when Hayley Kiyoko (known as “Lesbian JesusPortrayed by her fans) portrayed her in dramas that aired in 2009 and 2010.

Although the CNS survived this merger, the layoffs still had very real consequences. Based on The Daily Beast, A large number of HBO Max directors fired in August were people of color. Former employees of Warner Bros. speculated to The Daily Beast at the time that this was due to an ideological shift, with content geared towards a less diverse and more “Central American” audience. Now, we’re seeing changes at an animation studio known for its futuristic thinking program. How the WBA and CNS will work together is an open question – as well as whether unforgettable, envelope-pushing animated films will remain a priority for a corporation whose philosophy is built on real entertainment. economic or not.