News of Cartoon Network shutting down is fake
News of Cartoon Network shutting down is fake
(Web Desk) - A hashtag from an animation workers' group referencing the closure of a historic studio building led some social media users to share false reports that the Cartoon Network was shutting down. Both the network and the advocacy group have since stated that is not true.
Facebook and X posts shared #RIPCartoonNetwork, along with message, “It’s the end of an era, Cartoon Network has officially shut down.”
The hashtag #RIPCartoonNetwork originated from “Animation Workers Ignited,” a community account, on X advocating for workers' rights in the animation industry.
A July 8 X post by the account kicked off a campaign with #RIPCartoonNetwork, new tab, sharing an animated video with the claim that “Cartoon Network is dead,” with a survey link for members of the Animation Guild.
The video highlights challenges faced by the animation industry and its workers such as “canceling of projects, outsourcing jobs, and laying off artists en masse” and includes a shot showing a cartoon version of a historic studio building formerly occupied by Cartoon Network Studios.
A year earlier, on July 8, 2023, former Cartoon Network Studios’ general manager Brian A. Miller shared photos of the studio building in Burbank, California in an X post, that said the site would no longer be operational because Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. animator groups would merge and work at a different site.
The decision was part of belt-tightening at Warner Bros Discovery, Variety reported, in October 2022.
