Recently, there has been a huge uproar on Twitter about the end of the legendary TV channel, but Cartoon Network isn’t actually going anywhere. Their animation department is merging with Warner Bros. Discovery. Although it’s not as big news as the end of Cartoon Network, it’s still a pretty big deal. When Twitter started exaggerating it, memes showed up that listed Cartoon Network’s lifespan of 1992-2022, and they responded, surprised to find out they were dying. But after some quick tweets of their own, Cartoon Network put an end to those intense rumors.Warner Bros. Discovery is still making some controversial choices with the animation station. The company is doing a lot of restructuring under the new management of David Zaslav, and Cartoon Network was not saved from the accountant’s shears. With major layoffs and a changing animation department, the producer of childhood and adult cartoons will be experiencing some major changes.Warner Bros. Discovery’s influence over the channel will likely change how Cartoon Network produces television, meaning that you might see less original programming from the channel in the future. But the good news is that Cartoon Network is not dead. However, their merger with Warner Bros. Discovery will mean significant changes going forward.

Cartoon Network Will Still Create Content

Over the Garden Wall
Cartoon Network

It was announced last Monday that the animation department of Cartoon Network Studios would be consolidated with Warner Bros. Animation. They are two of the three major animation studios that Warner Bros. Discovery owns. The announcement follows a series of controversial changes from the entertainment giant. The company sent massive layoffs through its marketing department and famously canceled its Batgirl movie. Now, Warner Bros. Television Group has laid off nearly 82 of its employees and will eliminate 43 currently empty positions, removing more than a quarter of its staff in preparation for the merger.

Related: These ‘90s Animated Shows Are Getting Rebooted for a Modern Audience

Cartoon Network Studios will still produce animation for Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and HBO Max, and Warner Bros. Animation will still work for their own respective stations. The companies had already shared the same programming, casting, legal, and artist relations teams, so there was already cooperation between the two. But now, the two artistic studios will become one, producing content for their separate channels. That is to say, there will be no changes to the actual Cartoon Network or WB platforms. They’ll be relying on the same studio for their animation needs.

Although this employment shake-up does come with a change in leadership, Variety reports:

Under the new setup, a kids and family series development team will be led by Audrey Diehl, adult animation development will be led by Peter Girardi, and animated longform series development will be led by Sammy Perlmutter, with Bobbie Page leading main production.

But aside from these executive developments, things will remain largely the same for viewers. Cartoon Network responded to the Twitter rumors by posting its own tweets saying things like “Y’all we’re not dead, just turning 30,” and reaction memes like the following:

Does the Merger Mean More Reboots?

The Powerpuff Girls
Cartoon Network

Though there has been a huge reaction from fans, Cartoon Network promises they won’t experience that much of a change. But people have noted that David Zaslav has a different philosophy towards the content his companies are producing over the recent years. Zaslav is a capable businessman and can see the trends in modern media. Specifically, those that show rebooting older intellectual properties are a safer bet than original programming. And for all intents and purposes, he plans to follow these trends. People worry that this is the big change they might see to change their TV programming as they know it.

Related: Best Cartoon Network Shows of the 2000s, Ranked

Cartoon Network is largely known for producing original TV shows, creating shows like Over the Garden Wall, Stephen Universe, and Adventure Time. And Warner Bros. Animation typically keeps making shows that stay within the spheres of things like DC and Mortal Kombat. While Warner Bros. Animation probably won’t experience that much of a change, viewers might see differing content from Cartoon Network.

It’s quite possible that Cartoon Network Studios would work on fewer original shows and might shift more towards reboots and remakes of old shows. For example, there is already a new Powerpuff Girls reboot scheduled to be made. The point is that these animation companies will shift to making more familiar TV shows. It might not be such a bad thing.

Recent years have proven that viewers prefer shows that seem nostalgic and give them new spins on old shows that they loved as kids. As far as a business decision goes, Zaslav is making a safe bet when making TV for an audience that already exists. It motivates Cartoon Network to sell the '90s nostalgia that a lot of millennial viewers are looking for, but it means we might get less creative programming. It’s not a choice an artist would make, but Zaslav isn’t an artist.