‘The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie’ Review: Children’s Animation Done Right
Animated icons Daffy Duck and Porky Pig leap onto the big screen for their first fully animated feature film that will give those who grew up with the characters plenty of nostalgia.
At the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, Warner Bros. revealed a clip and concept art of a fully 2D animated Looney Tunes film that would debut on Max, however, due to the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, the film was kicked to the curb and was to be sold off to other distributors. While this isn’t the only Looney Tunes film affected by the merger (Coyote V.S. Acme), I can’t help but feel grateful that after its year-long worldwide rollout, Ketchup Entertainment has finally released The Day the Earth Blew Up in theaters nationwide.
The Day the Earth Blew Up follows Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (Eric Bauza) after their adopted father, Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore) leaves the now-adult brothers to fend for themselves in a rundown farmhouse. One night after a UFO crash lands and takes a chunk of the duo’s roof with them, Daffy and Porky must take up odd jobs so they can repair their roof and avoid their home being demolished by real estate agent, Mrs. Grecht (Laraine Newman). After Daffy’s “looney” behavior causes the pair to lose job after job, they run into a flavor scientist at the local gum factory, Petunia Pig (Candy Milo) who offers them a job. As soon as they find a job that suits them, Daffy discovers the gum is being controlled by an alien, named The Invader (Peter MacNicol) who uses the sticky substance to mind control those who chew it. What follows next is a parody of B-movie horror flicks and a surprisingly poignant look at Daffy & Porky’s dynamic.
The animation is as expressive as ever, I couldn’t help but smile watching Daffy stretch and pull himself all over the screen. Director of the film and showrunner of the now canceled Max original Looney Tunes Cartoons, Peter Browngardt, clearly understands these characters, crafting a story where Porky & Daffy undergo drastic character development. While I’ve only seen a select handful of the Max shorts my little brother adored, Browngardt has returned these characters to their golden age as they feel ripped from the older shorts I grew up watching. Hell, earlier in this film while Daffy & Porky search for jobs, the movie becomes a classic Looney Tunes short as the aspect ratio shifts and even is accompanied by a title card.
Not only is the animation and humor extremely well done, but I also felt pleasantly surprised with how this film was paced. Recent animated films like Dog Man & The Super Mario Bros. Movie take off like a rocket ship and don’t give audiences a chance to breathe, process what they’re watching, or understand these characters on a deeper level due to their incessant need to keep children from turning on their iPads by flying through story beats and gags, on the other hand The Day the Earth Blew Up’s main conflict doesn’t introduce itself until around thirty minutes in and lets audiences experience the day to day lives of our protagonists until all hell breaks loose.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is a great time in the theater for animation fans, its gorgeous visuals, hilarious gags, and touching story are all more than plenty of reasons to support this film in a theater. As of writing this, Max has removed the original Looney Tunes shorts from their platform, so please go support this film, and don’t let Zaslav massacre this franchise so he can get more tax writeoff money.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie was directed by Peter Browngardt and written by Kevin Costello, Alex Kirwan, Andrew Dickman, Peter Browngardt, David Gemmill, Darrick Bachman, Ryan Kramer, Johnny Ryan, Michael Ruocco, Jason Reicher, and Eddie Trigueros. The film stars Eric Bauza, Candy Milo, Peter MacNicol, Fred Tatasciore, Larraine Newman, and Wayne Knight.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie was released in U.S. theaters and distributed by Ketchup Entertainment on March 14, 2025.
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