The Warner Bros. Discovery has been mired in questionable business decisions since the cancellation of the Batgirl and Scoob films. In addition to maintaining a pretty transparent desire to use TheFlash as a cinematic reset, the megacorporation has been on a tear removing series, film, and people from HBO Max.
A lot of Warner Media's animation shows, including 200 Sesame Street episodes, were removed from the service earlier in the week. Summer Camp Island was about to debut new seasons that wouldn't air. The final season of Summer Camp Island will be aired by the Cartoon Network in the near future. While some of these shows can be seen on other services, the creators and employees of those shows didn't know what was happening until the removal was imminent.
WBD's decision to slice it in the name of saving money on residuals is just plain cruel. There are no legal ways to watch some of the shows that were specifically made for the show. It's just twisting the knife to wipe out any trace of these shows from other social media channels.
Warner Bros.' animation is a big part of western animation. The best lineup of animated shows has been on the Cartoon Network for a long time, and they always look forward. It doesn't feel like a good time to celebrate when you have this current stink around it, and the new shows and animated films that were previously announced for Warner Media aren't happening. If the DC animated slate gets caught in the crossfire when those things have generally been allowed to do their own thing, that is not a good sign.
The rest of the year will likely be a continuation of Warner Bros. Discovery's bloodbath. As the animation industry was making strides to being recognized as a vital part of the entertainment machine, David Zaslav has contempt for the company he bought. We have known for a long time that mergers are bad, but what is happening to Warner Bros. has made us realize how bad it is for corporations to have control of everything.
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