The Western animation industry is in a rough state at the moment, pretty much across the board. I constantly see people from a range of specialisations struggling to get work, because the work just isn’t there, despite anime being more successful than ever. I’ve been feeling a bit extra sad about it recently because I’ve been rewatching Infinity Train, a special little show that only managed to run for four seasons, that really felt like the beginning of the end for animation at Warner Bros.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the signs had been there for years beforehand as well. Steven Universe was constantly getting shafted by Cartoon Network, mostly because of its explicit LGBTQ themes, and despite how good it was OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes was cancelled before it had the chance to tell all the stories it wanted to. The writing was on the wall, and only the biggest of hits could survive in the modern era. I think it’s what happened to Infinity Train, though, that really highlights how animation would go on to be treated at Warner Bros.
For one, there’s how the show was released. The first couple of seasons aired on Cartoon network, in August 2019 and January 2020 respectively. But then, in May of 2020, Warner Bros. finally launched its streaming service, at the time dubbed HBO Max. August 2020 saw the release of the third season of Infinity Train, now moved to HBO Max, probably because its tone was potentially slightly too mature for Cartoon Network’s slightly younger-skewing audience (even though shows like Adventure Time had plenty of somewhat adult themes).
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