If the WB/TBS Merger Never Happened...

[Pooky]

...how do you think it would have affected the distribution and continued cultural presence of the Golden Age Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies shorts?

To be clear we're only talking about a scenario where Turner Broadcasting Systems is still around as a unique organisation and thus Warner Bros/Time Warner never acquired, as they did in our 1996, the MGM (Tom & Jerry, Droopy, Tex Avery etc.) and Hanna-Barbera cartoon libraries from them, nor odds and ends like the Fleisher and Famous Popeye shorts, and in particular the pre-1948 library of LT/MM shorts. Any wider matters concerning either company is not relevant here.

On the whole I think Warners getting the rights to the full collection of their own shorts has been a good thing but I can think of a couple of ways this scenario might have been better:
- Wider Distribution of the shorts; there was about a 15-20 year period prior to MeTV where LT and MM shorts on US television were pretty much confined to the company's own Boomerang and the acquired-in-the-same-merger Cartoon Network, if even them. At one point in the 90s, the pre-48 shorts were on Cartoon Network, while the Post-48s were on Nickelodeon, in syndication, on the then new WB network and ABC (in the heavily censored but very popular Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show); I don't think this kind of range of outlets did their popularity any harm, nor did having two different companies releasing classic LT/MM shorts on home video
- Greater company attention; there have been times when Warners seem to have focused more on promoting, for example, Tom & Jerry and Scooby-Doo than they have "their" characters; obviously this would not have been the case if the merger had never happened.

I started thinking about this in the wake of some of the discussion around the choices made for the Collector's Choice series, which got me wondering if there ever would have been a chance that in this scenario WB might have released their entire (or close to it) post-1948 library in chronological order? I know it sounds fanciful, even for a theoretical scenario, but I will explain my thinking. From the Golden Collections through to the current Collector's Choice series, there's always been a difficult balance attempted between ensuring each set has enough shorts starring the studio's marketable characters to be commercially viable, while not depleting the stock of such to the point there won't be any left for future releases, but featuring a broad enough selection from all 1,000+ shorts to keep alive the collector dream of one day ultimately having everything released. Keeping the balance right has proven very challenging with the entire 1930-1969 library. However, if Warners only had 1948 onwards at their disposal the equation would have kind of taken care of itself; for a lot of this time every third of fourth cartoon was a Bugs short, and most of the interim shorts starred other recognisable characters ranging from the other big names like Daffy and Tweety to the "bigger than Bosko or Buddy at least" likes of Sam Sheepdog. There are also far fewer "too problematic to release" cartoons, arguably only one or two by the c.00s "disclaimer approved" standards of the Golden Collection, or at least nothing as insurmountable as the Censored 11 or some of the Wartime shorts. Admittedly you might have started getting into tougher sell territory once you get to 1961 onwards, even more so if they went into the DFE and 7 Arts eras, but I can see them at least keeping public interest for longer than the Golden Collections did

(To be clear I personally love the Golden Collections and am perfectly happy with the balance of 30s, 40s and 50s shorts, but I'm not the average consumer here).

Of course this would still leave all the B&W shorts Warners never sold off; perhaps they would have had Porky 101-style releases from Warner Archive? What TBS might have done with their library is anyone's guess, maybe re-released their Golden Age of Looney Tunes Laserdiscs on DVD for a start.

What say you, toonsters?

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

Sorry for the late response, but I think that is a good, succinct way of covering the classic-era WB cartoons in such an alternate timeline. Any loose ends from the studio (i.e. non LT/MM) could easily be covered as bonus material. Or perhaps if large enough (e.g. Private Snafu), have the Porky Pig 101 approach. As long as we're talking the potential for completeness, anyway.

According to the Bugs Bunny Video Guide, back when the first Golden Collection set was released, there were some complaining that it wasn't in chronological order, apparently unaware of how long it would take to get to the most desired shorts. Little wonder that it wasn't until the end of the Golden Collection series that it included a disc focused on the early part of the 1930s.

But in the above scenario where Turner and Warner are still separate, that seems not as much of a problem if the WB Cartoons library are divided into the Sunset, a.a.p. and post-48 catalogs. If all three were in strict chronological order (at least for the sake of argument), the post-48 slice of the pie could blunt complaints of waiting for Looney-Tunes-as-we-know-it. Of course, it'd still be a while before the release of something like "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery", hence an argument for DVD versions of The Golden Age of Looney Tunes on part of Turner.

 

[Tacomaster]

Good pitches. Of course, I have a ton of ideas for an alternate timeline where Turner never merged with WB. Some related to Looney Tunes, many not.

 

[Moe]

If TBS and WB hadn't merge at first place, LT/MM shorts likely continue to run on Nickelodeon, WB, ABC and syndication for while, so ABC likely end after 2006, Nickelodeon may end before or during rebrand in 2009 and new rebranded The CW continue to air LT/MM until 2012. MeTV could pick up in 2012 or 2013 after The CW withdraws.

I'm wonder if TBS and WB haven't merge, so Boomerang may not launch at first place.

WB would make new cartoon shows to be shopped to multiple networks, including Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Toon Disney/Jetix, ABC Family and others.

 

[Review Metabee]

I think WB would probably stop airing LT all together on Nick in 2001 in favour of ABC Family... LT would find moderate success there, this is all happening while the Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show is airing on ABC every Saturday morning. Kids WB would probably air it until 2005....


WB would probably seek the CW4KIDS, Nick, Disney and ABC Family among other things.