Stubs - The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2024) voices by Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Wayne Knight, Laraine Newman Directed by Pete Browngardt. Screenplay by Darrick Bachman, Pete Browngardt, Kevin Costello, Amdrew Dickman, David Gemmill, Alex Kirwan, Ryan Kramer, Jason Reicher, Michael Ruocco, Johnny Ryan, Eddie Trigueros. Produced by Michael Baum. Run time: 91 minutes. Color. USA. Animated, Comedy

Porky Pig and Daffy Duck are back on the big screen in The Day the Earth Blew Up, a Warner Bros., animation film released by Ketchup Entertainment. If you’re expecting the old Looney Tunes from your childhood, this is a good facsimile but doesn’t quite live up to expectations. Some of that may have to do with the fact that there are 11 writers on the film and while the style is reminiscent of the past, the humor is a little cruder.

The teaming of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig is as about as old as Looney Tunes, and they had been paired in such sci-fi themed shorts as Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953) and Rocket Squad (1956). They were on the mind of Peter Browngardt, the creator of Looney Tunes Cartoons, a series based on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, which ran from 1930 to 1969.

Originally made to stream on HBO Max, now just Max, however, the restructuring at Warner Bros. Discovery led to seeking another streamer and then finally Ketchup picking up the North American theatrical rights. Originally released on December 13, 2024 to qualify for the Academy Awards, the film got a second release on March 14, 2024.

A scientist (Fred Tatasciore) observes an asteroid hurtling towards Earth, but then discovers a UFO alongside it. He watches it crash and when he goes to investigate, he discovers a huge hole and then vanishes.

Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore) raising baby Porky and Daffy.

We’re given a backstory for Porky (Eric Bauza) and Daffy (Eric Bauza), who are raised by Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore), who dies and leaves them his house and tells them to stick together. Sticking with Daffy is hard work and it prevents the two of them from keeping a job. And they need one to repair a giant hole in their roof caused by the UFO.

Daffy Duck (Eric Bauza) and Porky Pig (Eric Bauza) observe damage done to their roof.

 

All seems lost until Petunia Pig (Candi Milo) enters their lives. Porky is immediately smitten. Petunia works for Goodie Gum and is on the hunt for the perfect flavor. She helps Porky and Daffy get work and Daffy is there to see the scientist add a goo to the latest gum flavor, which transforms the consumer into a zombie.

The Invader (Peter MacNicol) is really not a bad guy and his motives are misunderstood. Rather than trying to hurt the Earth, he is trying to save it from the asteroid. But Daffy, Porky and Petunia don’t know that and while they’re heroic, their actions leave the Earth vulnerable.

Daffy, Porky and Petunia (Candi Milo) have to save and then re-save the world.

The rest of the film is the trio working with the Invader and the Scientist to right their mistake and once again save the world.

That may seem like a lot of story, but there are times when it feels like The Day the Earth Blew Up is a Saturday Night Live sketch stretched out to feature length. I have no doubt that the makers of this film were fans of the original theatrical shorts, but I’m not sure that updating the humor really worked. While the original shorts were not above slapstick humor, that seems highbrow compared to some of the visuals that passed for humor here; do we really need to know Daffy has a butt crack? There are some real moments of humor but my favorite, an animated member of the audience standing up and leaving, is recycled from previous shorts.

It's easy to see, in retrospect, that the original Looney Tunes are dated, this one seems dated, too, but to now. While the animation seems to recall the original work, there are references to Tik-Tok influencers and boba. Not every story needs to be run through a current-filter in the hopes of making them more relevant to today’s audiences. There can be a false sense that things are so popular now that there is no way they won’t be relevant in the future, at least that’s what I searched for on AOL and read on Myspace.

The animation is good, and as I said, very reminiscent of the older Looney Tunes. My disappointments were Farmer Jim, but he may have been purposefully animated to stand out, and Mrs. Gretch, the head of the homeowners group; I don’t believe the studio would have animated such a top-heavy character during the Hollywood Code years. Otherwise, the animation is as good as any Looney Tunes short.

And while there is no longer one person, Mel Blanc, doing the vocalizations, this voice cast does a really good job of sounding alike. Standouts include Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, and Peter MacNicol. That is not to say the rest of cast doesn’t bring it either, Fred Tatasciore and Laraine Newman, who voices the above-mentioned Mrs. Grecht, also deserve notice. The voices never hit a wrong note throughout.

While The Day the Earth Blew Up was obviously made by people who appreciated the original source material, they didn’t really capture the magic. I liked the film and wanted to support its release, I’m just a little disappointed that it wasn't better.