Release Date – 13th February 2026, Cert – PG, Run-time – 1 hour 31 minutes, Director – Pete Browngardt
In order to fix their roof Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both Eric Bauza) get a job at a bubble gum factory, which uncovers an alien invasion plot that soon only they can stop.
The first fully-animated, fully-original cinematically released Looney Tunes film has had a bit of a journey to the big screen, particularly here in the UK where the film will finally grace screens almost a year after its eventual US release. The franchise appears to have been in trouble at Warner Bros, particularly after everything that happened with Coyote Vs Acme, but if The Day The Earth Blew Up is anything to go by that treatment is nothing to do with quality.
There’s a true Saturday morning cartoon feel to this film which, while holding a relatively simple plot, avoids feeling like a stretched out short. Linked to the style of the Looney Tunes Cartoons series the film doesn’t focus on a large ensemble of recognisable characters and instead is led by the duo of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both Eric Bauza) as they try to save the Earth from alien invasion, uncovered by them after getting a job at a bubble gum factory to pay for a new roof for their ramshackle home, or else face eviction.
Linked to the Looney Tunes Cartoons TV series the film fully embraces the chaotic antics that you’d expect from these characters. Slapstick, misunderstandings and pure silliness are all on display in the bright, colourful 2D animation. There’s nothing flashy about the style, seemingly intentionally so as the filmmakers appear to want to simply make a Looney Tunes film, and succeed in doing so.
As the leading pair are observed by antagonistic The Invader (Peter MacNicol) – who seems to be inspired by The Emperor’s New Groove’s Yzma in both look and behaviour – there’s plenty of loud chaos on display from both sides, and chuckles to go with them. Yes, it might sometimes feel like there are beats put in to slightly pad things out to 90-minutes, fellow pig Petunia (Candi Milo) is introduced to help the pair uncover and combat key details about the gum as an insider at the factory trying to develop a new flavour, whilst acting as a love interest for Porky, but early on can feel like a plain aside from the humour in order to move things along. But, overall there’s a consistently amusing nature to the film.
One that takes influence from 50s sci-fi B-movies, as suggested in the title, but doesn’t go towards homage or full parody, the case for this film is more inspiration than anything else. It allows for enough to be happening around the characters to push them forward so that things don’t feel either too distracted or bogged down, or as if the film is full of padding. The plot itself is kept fairly simplistic, and that’s no bad thing, and moves along with a good deal of chuckles and amusement to see it through with its chaotic cartoon style that gets to the heart of Looney Tunes – even with a nod to the shorts that started things off early on as Daffy and Porky search for a job that they can keep. This is pure, silly cartoon entertainment.
Embracing the chaos and antics that makes Looney Tunes what it is The Day The Earth Blew Up manages to avoid feeling like an extended short as it makes for an amusing 90 minutes of Saturday morning cartoon entertainment.
Just A Little Bit Random 