With computer-animated films in the midst of a stylistic renaissance — think Spider-Verse or Wild Robot — it’s refreshing to see something old school. That something happens to be the first fully-animated, theatrically released Looney Tunes film from completely original content. Director Pete Browngardt — and a literal army of writers — brings Daffy Duck and Porky Pig front and center for parents to share with a new generation.
This isn’t the first time Browngardt has brought us a new Looney Tunes story; he also developed Looney Tunes Cartoons for Max. Clearly this served as a warmup where he proved he knew how to handle such tricky and cherished intellectual property, making sure The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is exactly the kind of Looney Tunes movie fans have been waiting for.
A Scientist (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) has discovered an asteroid headed toward Earth, along with a UFO in tow. The asteroid crashes, but not without crashing through Daffy and Porky’s (both voiced by Eric Bauza playing double duty) roof first. Leaving behind the remnants of a green goo, Daffy discovers the same green goo at the Goodie Gum factory where they’ve just taken jobs to pay for their roof repair to avoid losing their home.
Little do they know that the green goo was sent to Earth by The Invader (voiced by Peter MacNicol) amongst the launch of Goodie’s new flavor, bent on mind-controlling the people of Earth with the now-sentient gum. Can Daffy convince Porky that something screwy is happening, or will The Invader take over the planet and enslave us all? Alongside Porky’s soulmate, Petunia (voiced by Candi Milo), it’s up to them to try and save everyone.
If there’s anything working against The Day the Earth Blew Up, it could be its runtime. While even family films are having a hard time keeping things short these days, at 91 minutes, you do start to feel the length. The Invader also causes a slight hindrance in not being as funny, or menacing, as the character thinks it is. And while the what makes sense, the why is a bit of a head scratcher and feels like the 11 credited writers never could decide and just threw a dart at the wall.
But we’re here to catch up with Daffy and Porky and Browngardt brings them into the millenia with ease. While it does have some extremely juvenile jokes, you can’t say Looney Tunes never did. It may have been one of the smarter cartoons — I always preferred Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies over Disney — The Day the Earth Blew Up follows in those footsteps and has some great jokes for the adults to enjoy while the kids are busy laughing at the wacky hijinks ensuing. It also never relies on cramming random celebrity voices into the mix either.
Seeing it in theaters would have been a great treat, with this being the first, it’s a definite milestone, but even so, it sure stands up along the pantheon of Looney Tunes history and hopefully it proves its worth and we see more of them. And may I make one final plea to Warner Bros: please, we beg of you, stop with the exasperatingly unnecessary Space Jams and give us Coyote vs. Acme like we deserve!
