Peter Browngardt’s The Day the Earth Blew Up is one of the best Looney Tunes features yet. It’s also likely the last.
From a marketing perspective, the news of The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie could not have hit at a more inopportune time. The very public shelving of the higher-profile Coyote vs. Acme occurred just days after this film’s theatrical release was announced, which meant any discussion about “the new Looney Tunes movie” would be met with an eye roll and a comment about how Warner Bros. is run by idiots.
But The Day the Earth Blew Up has undergone a notable resurrection in its own right. The film was originally intended for a direct-to-video and streaming release but, like much of the (often very good) direct-to-video animation produced by Warner Bros., was put on ice by David Zaslav despite the film having been completed. But Britain-based GFM Animation managed to acquire the film for theatrical release, with Ketchup Entertainment handling distribution in the United States. Now, nearly three years after it was initially canned, it has earned the distinction of being the very first wholly animated, wholly original Looney Tunes film to hit theaters.
Don’t swallow your gum.
The Day the Earth Blew Up introduces a new backstory for Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both voiced by Eric Bauza), revealed to be brothers following their childhood adoption by Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore). There’s a brief flashback sequence with a few solid jokes (Porky’s iconic stutter is revealed to be the result of a Daffy-induced head injury), culminating in an unexpectedly touching moment where Farmer Jim uses his last words to ask his sons to always protect their brotherhood and the family home. But the meat of the story kicks off in the present day as an astronomer (Tatasciore again) pursues a UFO, the path of which damages Daffy and Porky’s roof.
Needing enough money to repair their home before it’s seized for HOA violations, Porky and Daffy get a job at the local gum factory. For Porky, this is an opportunity to win the affections of flavor scientist Petunia Pig (Candi Milo). But things go awry when Daffy stumbles across a plot by a mysterious alien (Peter MacNicol) who plans to use contaminated gum to turn all earthlings into mind-controlled zombies. The brothers must work together to stop the invasion, but their clashing personalities quickly prove just as challenging as the gum-bie apocalypse.
A Looney Tunes movies that’s actually, well…looney.
All previous theatrical Looney Tunes features have either been existing shorts hobnobbed together into a loose narrative or a story about a human character no one cares about with a few of the Tunes in the supporting cast. Since The Day the Earth Blew Up was intended for home video (where the franchise had just kicked off a decent run when it ended up on the chopping block) it actually gets to be a Looney Tunes movie. It’s a welcome turn for a franchise that just shelved a theatrical film people were excited for and prior to that released Space Jam: A New Legacy.
Porky and Daffy shine in their new spotlight and while not all of the gags hit, it lands quite a bit more than Space Jam or Looney Tunes: Back in Action did. Tatasciore’s Farmer Jim is one of the best new Looney Tunes characters in decades and MacNicol scenery chewing demonstrates why he’s such an underrated character. Most importantly, it’s obvious that director/co-writer Pete Browngardt (Chowder, Uncle Grandpa) cares deeply about both Looney Tunes and the 1950s science-fiction films that The Day the Earth Blew Up pays homage to.
The bottom line.
This is a joyful film that posits that animation can be more than billion-dollar box receipts. It was an attitude that Warner Bros. has championed in its direct-to-video efforts for years, and it’s an attitude that was promptly abandoned as soon as the studio came under its current management. Looney Tunes is such a low priority for the current WB regime that they literally removed four decades of Looney Tunes content from Max this weekend despite a new Looney Tunes movie hitting theaters. Tom & Jerry and Scooby-Doo have also been abandoned despite years of home video success. DC and Mortal Kombat have been similarly cut down.
The Day the Earth Blew Up shows that the Looney Tunes have still got it. Unfortunately, it also shows that Warner Bros. cares more about its next earnings call than it does the stories and characters that have allowed it to stick around for over a century. What a shame.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is now playing in theaters. Watch the trailer here.
Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Animation/Ketchup Entertainment.
REVIEW RATING
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The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie - 7/10
7/10
Brogan is a Salt Lake City-based writer and film festival programmer who has watched more Scooby-Doo than the majority of the human population. You can find him on social media at @roboteatsdino or at roboteatsdinosaur.com
