Max Just Axed 8 Classic Cartoon Series

Warner Bros. Discovery‘s streaming platform Max continues its troubling pattern of animation purges, with eight cartoon franchises suddenly disappearing from the service overnight.

According to X user account Animation on Max, several iconic animated series were removed from the U.S. platform on April 30, including family favorites Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Smurfs, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Be Cool Scooby-Doo!, and Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?

For subscribers seeking alternative viewing options, Animation on Max notes that The Flintstones remains available on both Tubi and Hulu, while Tom and Jerry can be found on Tubi, and The Jetsons continues streaming on Hulu. International Max subscribers fare slightly better, as the platform maintains streaming rights to select titles across different regions – Tom and Jerry persists in Latin America and Asia, while various Scooby-Doo series remain accessible outside the United States.

This latest animation exodus comes less than a month after Max eliminated its entire collection of classic Looney Tunes shorts (1930-1969) from the library. The ongoing cartoon downsizing began following the 2022 merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc., which subsequently rebranded HBO Max as simply Max.

A Warner Bros. Discovery representative previously explained to Deadline that these removals align with a strategic initiative to “prioritize adult and family programming.” However, this justification rings hollow considering many of these departing titles, particularly Hanna-Barbera classics like The Flintstones and The Jetsons, traditionally appeal to family audiences across generations.

Beyond these recent departures, Max’s animation catalog has experienced significant shrinkage over the past three years. The year 2025 began with additional high-profile removals, including the popular DC superhero series Teen Titans and the first seven seasons of Teen Titans Go! – a particularly surprising development given the latter’s consistently strong viewership performance.

Cartoon Network programming has suffered disproportionately during these content cullings. Beloved series like Ed, Edd n Eddy, Infinity Train, and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy previously vanished from the platform. Other fan favorites that disappeared in October 2024 include Ben 10, the 2016 iteration of The Powerpuff Girls, The Amazing World of Gumball, We Bare Bears, Steven Universe, Regular Show, and Chowder.

This animation attrition isn’t limited to Max. Similar content removals are happening across other streaming platforms, with Paramount+ recently eliminating several Nickelodeon properties from its library, including My Life As A Teenage Robot, Doug, and The Penguins of Madagascar.

For animation fans, these ongoing removals represent more than just inconvenience – they signal a concerning diminishment of cartoon content across major streaming services. As platforms continue reorganizing their libraries, viewers increasingly face fragmented access to classic animated series that previously resided under single subscription services.