Does Anyone Remember The Saturday Morning Cartoon "Snorks?" I Have A Question.

[Mr Flintstone]

It's a Hanna-Barbera show that premiered in 1984. My question is, why hasn't it seen the light of day in many, many years? It's not on any streaming service and it hasn't been on Boomerang in probably over a decade. Even when someone upload an episode of Snorks, it is almost immediately taken down for copyright infringement. Now this is where baffling because the original Smurfs are all over YouTube for absolutely free. There's literally 3 hour compilations of Smurfs and Looney Tunes free of charge. The Snorks doesn't seem to be THAT big of a property that it would be protected that much. Even Amazon doesn't have it for purchase and they have just about every classic cartoon imaginable.

Back to YouTube, there's a lot of copyrighted cartoons that are available for free or purchase, I just want to know what's the deal with the Snorks and why it's so protected?

 

[Pooky]

They were all released on DVD in the 2010s (three sets between 2012 and 2016). Apparently some of the episodes were on Hulu at one point too but I can't confirm that.

I believe Freddy Monnickendam is the rights owner; a former business partner of Peyo (of The Smurfs fame). From what little I know of him it would not surprise me if he's quite protective of his property, and even litigious.

 

[powergate92]

I know in one of the interviews he did (I think it was one he did at Comic-Con last year), Neal Sabin said they wanted to air The Snorks on MeTV Toons, WB couldn't find the masters for it.

 

[powergate92]

Found where Neal Sabin said this. It was the Comic-Con Panel at about 46:30 in.

It's interesting because some things they can't find materials for like The Smurfs they found, but The Snorks they can't find but it's out on home video so it's like what's going on.