Duck Amuck

My thoughts on The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Duck Amuck

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, the first attempt to spin the characters from the iconic franchise into a fully animated feature-length film (not counting the ersatz features comprised of classic shorts with bits of new and usually inferior animation), was originally meant to come out in 2022 until David Zaslav and the other goons in charge at Warner Bros. Discovery decided to put the kibosh on that and other animation projects, a move that shows nothing but disrespect for one of their most venerable and successful properties and which defies any rational explanation. While another project, Coyote Vs. ACME, was shelved for a tax write-off after completion, this one had its rights purchased by the slightly smaller distributor Ketchup Entertainment and is finally making its way into theaters. Although no masterpiece by any means, longtime fans of Looney Tunes can be reassured that it is nevertheless a frequently funny and reasonably inventive work that contains a lot of laughs.

Following a prologue showing the two (both voiced by Eric Bauza) being raised from infancy by a kindly farmer, the story picks up with the two of them struggling to find jobs to help pay for much needed house repairs that are exacerbated by something from outer space crashing through their roof. Whatever it is, it soon makes its way to the local bubble gum factory where they have managed to find gainful employment where it is revealed to contain a mind-controlling technology that, when mixed with the gum, turns those who chew it into mindless zombies. As it turns out, this is the diabolical plan of a alien being (Peter MacNicol) and it is up to our heroes, accompanied by thoroughly competent flavor scientist Petunia Pig (Candi Milo), to stop it before—well, you saw the title. Alas, the biggest problem in that regard proves to be Daffy himself, whose well-meaning attempts to help prove to be even more destructive to birth the situation at hand and his friendship with Porky.

Although the film is technically a spin-off of the Looney Tunes Cartoons series produced for HBO Max that debuted in 2020, Pete Browngrardt, who both directed and serves as one of the eleven credited screenwriters, it is clear from the start that it takes its inspiration from the long-standing dynamic between the two central characters that has been seen from as far back as their first teaming in 1937’s Porky’s Duck Hunt—Porky the decent Everypig trying to make the best of everything and Daffy, the embodiment of the id at its most wildly chaotic. The best moments in the film are the ones that observe them as their wildly different personalities bounce off of each other in ways that usually lead to bedlam and which force Porky to consider that he might be better off without his longtime friend. I should stress that the film doesn’t go overboard in this regard—this is a film involving aliens and mind-controlling gum, after all—but it does add an intriguing subtext to the material, one that becomes even more impressive when you realize that both characters are being voiced by the same performer.

The film has plenty of other charms as well. For starters, while it doesn’t quite hit the heights of the original Looney Tunes masterworks, it is often very funny, combining full-force slapstick with more subtle jokes that seemed aimed at older viewers (including a bit explaining the origins of Porky’s infamous stutter that I suspect might have been cut had it gone out under the WB aegis). Visually, it is interesting throughout and while it takes its primary visual inspiration from the one set by the TV show that it was sprung from, there are a number of moments here and there where it does amusing evoke other eras and styles as well. As for the biggest hurdle—taking characters and a format designed for a seven-minute time frame and plunking them into a feature-length narrative—it does a pretty good job of making use of the additional time, though I confess that there are a few points here and there where it might have benefitted from a little tightening.

Although the best feature-length celebration of the Looney Tunes mythos remains Joe Dante’s glorious 2003 film Looney Tunes: Back in Action, The Day the Earth Blew Up certainly beats the hell out of the odious Space Jam films, not to mention other attempts to place characters from animated shorts into extended narratives, such as the various failed attempts to place Tom & Jerry into features. It demonstrates a knowledge and affection for its characters and their shared histories that Warner Brothers hasn’t bothered to muster for quite a long time. Even though the delay and toned-down release may make it seem like a botch, it is nevertheless an endearing and gleefully goofy film that should prove endearing to viewers young and old alike.