Max Removes Major Cartoon Network Show Without Warning

There’s a bit less nostalgia in Max’s streaming library. Codename: Kids Next Door, the hit Cartoon Network series that aired in the early and mid-2000s, was abruptly removed from Max around the start of the new year, despite not having been listed on either the December 2023 or January 2024 list of titles exiting the streamer.

Before the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, several Max subscribers noticed that both the Codename: Kids Next Door series and Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation: Z.E.R.O. movie were tagged in the content catalog with a message indicating they would be exiting the streamer on Jan. 1. The two titles entirely disappeared from Max’s streaming options on Jan. 1, sparking plenty of upset among fans. On a Reddit thread discussing the removal, one person wrote that “it’s stupid to remove it as long as they own the rights to the show,” adding the decisions like this “is why Streaming stopped being attractive to me.” Many others agreed, with one person writing, “I still believe this is one of the stupidest decisions was made,” as somebody else added, “I’m so mad because I just started the first episode.”

The Codename: Kids Next Door library is just the latest Cartoon Network title to get the boot from Max, formerly HBO Max. In July, the streamer removed Over the Garden Wall, as well as the Adult Swim series Squibillies, from its streaming catalog. The departures followed a purge of Cartoon Network content the previous year prior to Max’s rebranding. In December 2022, Clarence, created by Skyler Page, was removed from Max without any prior notice. As Warner Bros. Discovery continued cost-cutting measures ahead of the Max rebranding, which brought discovery+ content to the Max library, everything from Infinity Train to Victor & Valentino, Summer Camp Island, and more were also removed.

For fans wanting to stream Codename: Kids Next Door, the series is currently available to stream on Boomerang. Created by Mr. Warburton for Cartoon Network, the animated series follows the adventures of a group of ten-year-old friends known as Kids Next Door. Headquartered at a mysterious treehouse hidden from adults, the group takes on adults to get out of going to the dentist or summer camp by using “2×4 Technology.” The series voice cast featured Benjamin Diskin, Lauren Tom, Dee Bradley Baker, and Cree Summer, among others.

Codename: Kids Next Door ran for six seasons from 2002 until 2008. It spawned two television films, Operation: Z.E.R.O in 2006 and Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S., which aired as the series finale in 2008.