#RIPCartoonNetwork began trending on X on Monday, but there is no evidence that the TV channel will be shut down.
The hashtag is part of a campaign started by Animation Workers Ignited, a community-run account that advocates for workers in the animation industry. The account is encouraging fans to post about their favorite Cartoon Network shows to “spread the word about what’s at stake.” A representative for the group has not yet responded to Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.
Is Cartoon Network dead?!?!
Help spread the word about the animation crisis!!! Post about your favorite shows on Cartoon Network #RIPCartoonNetwork
Active members of TAG can help by completing the survey. Today (7/8) is the last day. pic.twitter.com/dHNMvA1q0A
— Animation Workers Ignited (@AWorkersIgnited) July 8, 2024
In a post by X that launched the #RIPCartoonNetwork campaign, Animation Workers Ignited shared an animated video that claims Cartoon Network is “effectively dead” and that other animation studios will “follow suit soon.”
“When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, animation was one of the few entertainment industries that could operate fully remotely and continue production without interruption,” the video states, “but studios decided to punish them by canceling projects, outsourcing work, and laying off artists en masse.”
The video states that mass unemployment in the industry is the result of “greed.”
“Major studios are trying to make their finances look better by cutting spending and reducing staff,” the video continues. “Animation is under attack. Which side are you on?”
CN was completely absorbed by WB and then almost every project that was in development but on the air was cancelled, Cartoon Network is dead and only exists as a “brand” on television.
— Andre⚡︎Lamirza (Lookin-4-Work!) (@Viruul) July 9, 2024
Marge Dean, president of the nonprofit Women in Animation, wrote in a 2023 letter to members that “long before writers and actors started striking, all the major streaming companies were making significant cuts to projects” in the animation industry. She said the “explosion of production” in the streaming era was disproportionate and “was bound to collapse.” The resulting cuts are a “course correction.”
While some X users shared posts that made it seem as though the channel would be shutting down, Animation Workers Ignited clarified in a post that both the network and the brand still exist: Cartoon Network Studios technically no longer exists, having been folded into Warner Bros. Animation in 2022.
A Cartoon Network spokesperson told Yahoo Entertainment that “speculation about the network or studios being closed is untrue.”
“With a number of recently announced green lights, we remain committed to continually investing in innovative content that entertains and inspires audiences around the world,” the spokesperson said.
A photo that has been repeatedly shared and discussed on social media of the Cartoon Network Studios logo being removed from an office building in Burbank, California, was taken in 2023 after the studio had relocated.
Fans used the hashtag #RIPCartoonNetwork to pay tribute to past series that aired on the channel, referencing shows such as: Ed, Ed, Eddie and Ben 10.
Cartoon Network isn’t gone, but the spirit of the animation studio that employed so many dedicated workers is no longer as hopeful as it once was. Animation Workers Ignited has reposted several testimonials from users whose livelihoods have been affected by the lack of work in the industry.
“With record unemployment across industries, and countless people already at risk of losing their insurance, homes and livelihoods, people are arguing over the use of the word ‘death,'” one X user wrote in a post that was also shared by Animation Workers Ignited.
