Looney Tunes Returns To TV With Prestige Treatment At Turner Classic Movies

Old school Looney Tunes shorts are headed back to linear TV in a big and long-overdue way. Turner Classic Movies has secured a long-term licensing deal that will make the network a regular broadcast home for the iconic Warner Bros. animated library, restoring a high-profile outlet for some of the most influential cartoons in animation history.

The news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, which outlined the terms of the agreement, describing it as a six-year deal to set up TCM as an “ongoing home” for the shorts. The partnership kicks off in February with a curated lineup of 45 cartoons centered on Bugs Bunny, who will be featured as TCM’s “Star of the Month.”

Under the arrangement, the shorts will be integrated into TCM’s wider broadcast strategy. Additional characters from the Looney Tunes roster, such as Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, and Yosemite Sam, are expected to rotate through future programming blocks in the months and years to come.

TCM senior VP’s comments to THR describe a place of privilege on the network, where they will be placed in a well-deserved historical context. “By making TCM an ongoing home for this iconic library, we’re able to present these cartoons with the care they deserve, alongside the classic films they helped influence.”

Near the end of 2022, Warner Bros. pulled 256 Looney Tunes shorts from its HBO Max platform after electing not to renew a streaming license. Last year, another 255 titles were unceremoniously dropped.

The company’s decision to abandon one of its best-loved properties sparked criticism from animation fans and historians (and this very website) who worried about access to these foundational works of American animation. While the cartoons remain owned by Warner Bros., their visibility has largely depended on licensing and curated exhibition. At the moment, nearly 800 classic Looney Tunes shorts are available on the ad-supported platform Tubi, for free.

No news on the future of the Looney Tunes streaming rights was unveiled in the THR piece, but it seems likely that Netflix will want those in any acquisition deal. That would, of course, put them back behind a paywall. A win for existing Netflix subscribers, but a huge loss for classic animation fans who don’t care to pay for the platform.

For TCM, the deal reinforces the channel’s reputation as one of TV’s most respected channels, a curator of film history beyond live-action cinema. For the animation community, it represents a rare instance of classic shorts being treated as archival works worthy of contextualized presentation.