“That’s All Folks!”: Warner Bros Animation and the Disappearance of the Animated Short

There’s no doubt about it. Animation, generally, is more popular than ever. Indeed, the most recent animated movies have reeled in an unprecedented amount of cinemagoers, with Disney’s most recent feature even managing to knock 2010’s Toy Story 3 off its most deserved but short-lived pedestal as the highest grossing of all time; it was so well-received, in fact, that I don’t even need to mention the title (… It’s Frozen, in case you’d been living under a rock). Yes, the animated feature is as popular as it’s ever been, that much is pretty clear. But something’s missing. Something doesn’t quite sit right with me about the state of animation today. Rest assured, that ‘something’ does not revolve around the animated feature at all. But rather, my discomfort harkens back to the good old days – the so-called Golden Age of animation, when the carefree cartoon reigned supreme. Whatever happened to the animated short?

Now, obviously, it’s necessary to specify precisely what I mean by this. Sure, studios such as Pixar have always distributed shorts, though they have increasingly been utilised as accompaniments or preliminaries to their features, with Disney also jumping on the bandwagon in recent years. But what about classic animation? What happened to Warner Bros and their Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts? Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig – they’re names we all know, characters we all love, but where are they? Together, the cartoons comprise the longest-running series in the history of animation. They were responsible for raising people’s spirits in the Second World War, providing innovative and inspired comedy, appealing to all generations for years, decades even, and yet they’re helplessly plunging down the rabbit hole.

Maybe I’m just being nostalgic. Perhaps the 21^st century has no place for the animated short. It’s a sorry sight to see the characters I grew up with suffer at the hands of corporate giants. Evidently, it’s difficult to compete with the likes of Disney or Dreamworks, and it’s plain to see I’m not the only one feeling for them. Warner Bros have attempted numerous times to revive a certain carrot-chomping wascally wabbit and his ‘dethpicable’ feathered counterpart, their most notable attempt being the 2011 spin-off sitcom The Looney Tunes Show which, while flawed, seemed to give the 70-plus-year-old characters more life than they’d had since the early 1960s. But it clearly had problems. Though a decent programme overall, the format didn’t suit them – it was just too ordinary and not very, well, Looney.

Yes, these characters are heavily dependent on the short, which has, admittedly, seen several attempted low-key revivals. Some have even been computer-animated to keep up with the trends. That’s the problem. Attempts to ‘update’ them seem to take precedence over quality writing, and they therefore nonetheless feel dated in comparison to their competition. Any more recent offerings seem to represent a tribute to the classic short, in the form of a reminiscent ‘those were the days’-style call-back, rather than a revival as such. Regardless, it’s nonetheless nice to see these characters at all, even if their more recent outings have proven somewhat rather disappointing and sporadic.

So, the future of the animated short, as I remember it, doesn’t look too promising. They were tremendous works of art, filled with witty quotable dialogue and memorable catchphrases. And yet, while they are sorely missed, it’s equally painful to see such characters that have enjoyed such a long and lauded time in the spotlight crawl wearily in the shadows of the box office blockbusters of other studios. One thing is certain though, regardless of what becomes of them: They may be fading from our television screens, but not from our memories. And although I may sound negative, I do genuinely believe the animated short still has potential. It’s a little while yet before the iris completely closes on our cartoon comrades. They just need to find an appropriate and less ‘forced’ way of introducing it to this generation; a way for the short and the feature to sit side-by-side, unperturbed by the other’s imposing, overarching success. It’s been done before. So maybe, just maybe, I’d like to think, that’s not all, folks.