Last week, Cartoon Network Studios (CNS), an animation studio considered to be a core component of many childhoods, merged with Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) resulting in drastic restructure of management within the companies.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), both studios’ parent company, saw major adjustments after laying off 82 employees and removing 43 vacant positions in the Warner Bros. Television Group unit last week. The former employees made up around 26% of the unit’s staff, consisting of both the animation and television production teams.

“I’d say it’s the end of an era. Cartoon Network brought some of the greatest storytelling in animation history and now it will be subject to more commercial appeal,” senior Shahroze Malik said. “The future cartoons will be more censored and unfunny.”

This announcement, coupled with the removal of nearly 30 WBA shows on HBO Max last August, has led many to believe the end of CNS has arrived. Fans predict the original, creative content – a trait that led to Cartoon Network’s success – will be almost nonexistent, seeing as Warner Bros. traditionally reuses their Intellectual Properties (IP), like Looney Tunes, DC Comics, and Scooby Doo, to name a few, for many of their productions. David Zaslav, president and CEO of WBD, further exemplifies this theory by explaining how Warner Bros.’ direction has pointed more towards reboots and spin-offs ever since he took the position earlier this year.

“RIP Cartoon Network,” former general manager of CNS tweeted in response to the recent news.

The future of CNS is unclear as of now, but whether the studio is corporately killed off or lives to air another program, many can agree that the countless hours of childhood entertainment it provided will not be forgotten.