HBO Max is Now Max, but Cartoon Network Shows Are Still Missing

HBO Max has now officially become just Max, but their Cartoon Network hub doesn’t look any different – which is unfortunate news for fans of shows like Ben 10: Alien Force, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, and Dexter’s Lab.

Here's the new look for the Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Studio Ghibli, and Kids & Family hubs on Max pic.twitter.com/4TWdnK734J

— Animation on Max (@AnimationOnMax) May 23, 2023

Netizens have been all too ready to meme-ify the transition of HBO Max into simply “Max,” a new streamer that offers all of the same shows and movies that HBO Max did, combined with the offerings of Discovery+.

HBO Max becomes Max tomorrow https://t.co/wk4ArUnBc4 pic.twitter.com/qmSm73Zk5m

— Grogu's Babysitter (@lalatinamerican) May 23, 2023

HBO Max becomes Max tomorrow https://t.co/rRlukhm6LT pic.twitter.com/w0lIlf3EPd

— Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) May 23, 2023

Unfortunately, all is not the same as it once was.

Earlier in the month, HBO Max removed several shows without warning, including a host of Cartoon Network favorites. Some fans hypothesized that these shows had merely disappeared because their rights on the original app had lapsed, and they would be back once the app updated to its new Max branding.

However, the update has come and gone, and the shows are still conspicuously missing from the app’s dedicated Cartoon Network tab.

As @JasonSt77097165 said:

There’s no chance of us seeing any of the removed Looney Tunes shorts, The Flintstones, Dexter’s Laboratory, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Ben 10 or Flapjack return; and there’s CERTAINLY no hope that any of the shows that got purged from Max this past Summer (Infinity Train; OK KO!; Close Enough: etc.) will ever come back to the platform.

…and there’s CERTAINLY no hope that any of the shows that got purged from Max this past Summer (Infinity Train; OK KO!; Close Enough: etc.) will ever come back to the platform.

— Jason the Cartoon Fan (@JasonSt77097165) May 23, 2023

Removals like these are happening across streaming apps as their owners scramble to turn a profit in a post-pandemic climate where people are watching less TV than they have in the past three years.

In the face of dropping subscriber numbers, streamers have been removing content left and right to try and save on residual costs: Disney+ recently landed itself in hot water when their leaked list of upcoming removals included the documentary Howard, about their own late composer Howard Ashman, who died while working on Beauty and the Beast.

An all-out campaign has also begun to save Willow, a fantasy series that revived a popular 80s film and included a gay romance.

The shows that HBO removed from Max are, in essence, gone now. They’re not gone like the Batgirl movie is gone – HBO didn’t just delete the files – but they are now impossible to watch without paying for Hulu’s expensive Live TV package or buying them outright.

This is especially tragic for newer shows like Infinity Train, which was beginning to grow a cult following and is now completely unavailable, as it was made specifically for the streaming service.

Removing shows in this manner denies residuals to the artists who made them, which is how the platforms are saving money; however, given that the original pull of these platforms was that one could watch any show in their libraries at any time, the sentiment is spreading that streamers who do this – especially in the haphazard and disrespectful way that HBO has done time and time again – are breaking promises that they made, both to audiences and to creators.

No wonder HBO CEO David Zaslav was booed when he gave a commencement speech yesterday: All of the shows he’s deleting were the ones those kids grew up loving. If he wanted a litmus test on how his reign is going in the eyes of the public, he got it – and it’s not good.

What do you think of the offerings on the new Max app? Was this the right move? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments.