Reuters News reports that Time Warner and MetroGoldwynMayer have ended initial talks that would see the two companies merge. The overall price for MGM and the “structure of the deal” (read that Warners wanted to suck MGM into its fold, like New Line and Castle Rock, whereas MGM would have wanted “An MGM Time Warner” renaming of the company). What this means for animation fans falls basically to the remainder of MGM’s properties not being re-united with the Turner Entertainment library (pre-1948 cartoons) that was aquired by Warners in the 1990s.

The breakdown in talks also means that Warners (who own the New Line Studio), would not aquire United Artists (an MGM-owned entity), which could have seen an easy way to making Lord Of The Rings prequel The Hobbit, since New Line own the producing rights, but UA own distribution rights. Peter Jackson has expressed interest in completing the cycle of films based on JRR Tolkein’s books, and a deal between the two companies is still in negotiation.