Warner Bros. Discovery's latest move under CEO David Zaslav signals another blow to the company's rich animation heritage. The entertainment giant has announced plans to demolish Building 131 on its Burbank studio lot - the final home of the original Warner Bros. Animation studio from 1955 to the late 1960s.
The historic building, custom-designed for the animation department, was the birthplace of numerous beloved cartoon classics including "Robin Hood Daffy," "Three Little Bops," "Birds Anonymous," "Tabasco Road," and the iconic "What's Opera, Doc?"
According to reports from Deadline, the demolition will make way for additional base camp space to accommodate HBO show productions. No replacement structure is planned for the site.
This decision follows a pattern of recent actions diminishing Warner Bros.' animation legacy. The company recently removed classic Looney Tunes content from its Max streaming platform and has withheld the release of two completed Looney Tunes features - "The Day the Earth Blew Up" and "Coyote vs. Acme" - opting instead to seek third-party distributors.
The dismantling of animation landmarks continues with the recent vacation of the Cartoon Network building in Burbank, coinciding with Cartoon Network Studios' merger into Warner Bros. Animation.
While Building 131 hasn't served as an animation studio for several decades, its planned destruction represents another step in the systematic erosion of Warner Bros.' animation history under current leadership. Industry observers remain uncertain about the ultimate direction of these sweeping changes to the studio's animated legacy.