The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

We’re five years away from the centenary of Sinkin’ in the Bathtub, the first Looney Tunes cartoon, and decades removed from the likes of Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Wile E. Coyote might not exactly be top of mind these days, but who isn’t happy to see them when they do show up? So while The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie seems to have come out of nowhere, at least it’s arrived more gently than a fake road in a wall.

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This welcome burst of nostalgia directed by Peter Browngardt presents Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as lifelong besties who grew up on an idyllic farm together, with the manic waterfowl accidentally causing his porcine pal’s trademark stutter by dropping a porcelain cup on his head one fateful day. In most movies based on well-established characters, that kind of retcon would be eyeroll-inducing — need I remind anyone of “Han…Solo”? Here it’s a genuinely funny throwaway gag that’s emblematic of the film’s screwball sense of humor.

The premise is simple enough, until it isn’t: Porky and Daffy’s childhood home is about to be condemned due to a massive, unexplained hole in their roof that shows up during their annual property inspection. They have 10 days to raise enough money to have it fixed, with their attempts to start a horse-drawn rideshare company and become social-media influencers going about as well as you’d expect. All of this is, of course, complicated by an evil alien’s plan to take over the planet via mind-controlling chewing gum.

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Everything about the movie is pleasingly old-fashioned, from its animation style to a narrative clearly inspired by 1950s sci-fi. The voices behind the beloved characters are professional voice actors, not A-listers padding their resumes, and there’s no hint of a shared universe on the horizon. A follow-up would be more than welcome, given how fun this one is, but The Day the Earth Blew Up ultimately being a standalone project would only serve to make it more special. This is the Looney Tunes movie your parents (or even grandparents) always wanted. What higher praise can you give it than that?

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Browngardt, who developed the Looney Tunes Cartoons revival that aired 82 episodes between 2020 and 2023, has no shortage of affection for these characters and the world they inhabit. Anyone who grew up on Looney Tunes will be inspired to rewatch their favorite shorts after the credits roll, and those who didn’t will have good reason to seek them out. Longtime fans hoping for an ensemble giving equal time to Bugs or Tweety Bird will be disappointed, however, as this is very much a two-hander. The only other character from the stable to appear is the considerably less well-known Petunia Pig, here playing a flavor scientist at the chewing-gum factory.

All of this is, of course, complicated by an evil alien’s plan to take over the planet via mind-controlling chewing gum.

The good news is that Daffy and Porky remain perfect foils for one another, as anyone who’s seen Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century and Rocket Squad already knows — and anyone who isn’t familiar with their dynamic will likely be surprised by how invested in it they become. The Day the Earth Blew Up is appropriately silly, but it’s also sweet.

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However joyful watching this movie is, its very existence is a sad reminder of another movie’s nonexistence: Coyote vs. Acme, the live-action/animation hybrid that was axed by Warner Bros. after it was completed in order to obtain a $30 million tax write-off. This was one of many cynical, anti-art decisions made under the current regime led by David Zaslav, which also scrapped Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt for bottom-line reasons.

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If there are more animated Looney Tunes movies on the way, let’s hope it doesn’t take them another 95 years — and that it’s spared the same fate as Coyote vs. Acme. For while The Day the Earth Blew Up is old-fashioned, its zany energy is a reminder of how much more these tireless characters have to offer. If you remain unconvinced, allow me to quote Porky himself: “Did I stutter?”