On Friday, Paramount Skydance announced the name of the newly merged (as of this upcoming Tuesday) Paramount and Warner Bros.: “Skydance.” Specifically, Skydance will be the parent company of Paramount and Warner Bros.
CEO David Ellison (who’ll run Skydance alongside co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, who previously was CEO of toy giant Mattel) also sent out a video as part of his press release:
My thoughts
First of all, some on Bluesky noted the irony that the opening clip in the video is from “Titanic,” which sums up the pending disaster of all this.
As for the name “Skydance,” it’s a generic choice (the existing name of the Ellisons’ own production company that bought Paramount), but better than some Paramount/Warner Bros. mashup (“WarnerMount?” “Paramount Skydance Warner Bros.?”), or reviving “Viacom.”
The video shows what’s apparently a priority for the company: lots of franchises and action films (apparently a favorite genre of David Ellison). The clips shown also aren’t racially diverse (to nobody’s surprise, given the new owners)—the only non-white people shown, as far as I can tell, are in a clip of “Sinners” and clips from football/basketball games.
Warner Bros. and Paramount will keep their separate names and identities for at least the next five years, per the settlement agreement. As such, the Skydance name will probably just be put below the Warner Bros. logo, similar to how Universal movies put “A Comcast company” below the famous globe logo in their movie openings.
SpongeBob (and Nickelodeon): The animation face of Skydance?
Also of interest is the title reveal screen, for the Paramount/Warner Bros. divisions specifically highlighted: Warner Bros.; DC Comics; CNN; HBO Max; Paramount; Paramount+; CBS; and Nickelodeon. A second screen quickly follows, showing the other major divisions of Skydance. Oddly, the only specific franchise mentioned is “Harry Potter” (*sigh*).
The first screen is meant to show what the Ellisons and Skydance view as the main faces of the company. While most aren’t a surprise, I note that Nickelodeon is considered one of the major properties. It’s also the only animation-related one listed—Cartoon Network is only listed on the second screen, alongside Cartoonito, Boomerang, Nick Jr., Comedy Central (home of “South Park”), Skydance Animation, Paramount Animation, and Adult Swim.
Nickelodeon’s flagship show is “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and SpongeBob is considered the animation face of Paramount as a whole. As such, I suspect the Ellisons view SpongeBob as also the animation face of Skydance overall—not Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, or any of the other Warner animated characters. Still, given everything involved with this merger (and the layoffs that’ll be inevitable), I wonder how the animation departments at both Warner Bros. and Paramount will fare.
As for who represents Skydance in animation, SpongeBob is certainly popular, and I like him. However, I hope they also equally acknowledge the Warner side and show Bugs. Scooby, etc. when it comes time to promote Skydance’s animated properties.
My feelings on this merger (again)
For my feelings about this merger, see my previous posts. TLDR: No good will come of this merger; it’s bad for journalism, diversity on and behind the screen, Hollywood jobs, and content choice; the funding for all this is shaky; it’ll be inevitable before Warner Bros. is sold again; and between my Jellyfin media server and having bought my favorite Warner Bros./Paramount stuff on DVD, I’m set for anything related to those two companies for now (Paramount+ and HBO Max won’t see a dime from me anytime soon).
Image: “Warner Brothers tour” by Alan Light is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Flickr / cropped from original) and “Paramount Studios Los Angeles” by Tips For Travellers is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Flickr)
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