There was a stretch in my youth when I was gung-ho about Looney Tunes.  I’d race home after school and fit in a half-hour of Bugs Bunny and Foghorn Leghorn mayhem before my homework.  My interest in half-hour animation waned as I grew up, but I never seemed to quit the shenanigans of Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, and Marvin the Martian.  Admittedly, I’ve tended to favor the standalone shorts over the full-length features like Space Jam (though give me 1979’s The Bugs Bunny/Road-Runner Movie on a sick day, and I’m on the road to recovery), but I can’t seem to resist the curiosity whenever a new movie does come along. 

Few animated franchises have demonstrated the staying power of Looney Tunes, whose wacky human and anthropomorphized characters have entertained audiences in theaters and on television across nearly a century (yes, 2030 will be the centennail of the first short, Sinkin’ in the Bathtub!) of cultural shifts.  With The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, director Peter Browngardt brings this legacy into new territory, transforming beloved, and I do say it with love, second-bananas Daffy Duck and Porky Pig into unlikely heroes. The result is a peculiar yet entertaining adventure, proving these classic characters are still operating out of their funny farm.

The premise feels like a loving tribute to 1950s sci-fi B-movies filtered through the lens of classic Looney Tunes cartoon mayhem.  After a bit of backstory detailing how the odd pairing of a wacky duck and mellow pig first crossed paths, the true plot kicks in when the duo lands a job at a bubblegum factory.  Here, Daffy and Porky’s typical misadventures lead them to uncover, with the help of Petunia Pig (Candi Milo), a diabolical alien scheme by The Invader (Peter MacNicol) for world domination. It’s a setup that provides the perfect framework for the natural friction between Porky’s straight-man routine and Daffy’s self-absorbed lunacy to shine through.

Eric Bauza’s voice work deserves special praise, capturing both Daffy’s manic energy and Porky’s earnest stammering with precision. The duo’s promotion to leading players feels earned, showcasing how far they have been allowed to evolve from their origins as Bugs Bunny’s easy foils. Daffy has transformed from a simple screwball into a complex mix of ego and insecurity, while Porky moves from an average everyman into an almost accidentally masterful comic straight man. Their chemistry drives the film forward, even when the plot turns unexpectedly curiouser and curiouser.  That the filmmakers take more time to flesh out a relationship between Porky and Petunia (hearing the two stuttering through their meet-cute is LOL-worthy) gives another layer to character exploration that has already gone above and beyond.

That the film came my way with no advanced notice (for Oscar consideration) raised some red flags but the animation quality in The Day the Earth Blew Up represents a clear step forward from the previous productions, with dynamic action sequences and expressive vocal work that honors the classic Looney Tunes style while adding a contemporary polish. At a brisk 72 minutes, the film maintains an energetic pace that rarely lets up, though it sometimes feels more like an extended episode than a full theatrical event. 

While the movie entertains younger viewers with constant slapstick, several sequences venture into surprisingly intense territory. The alien encounters pack genuine tension, and certain sight gags push boundaries that might raise parental eyebrows – did we really need that extended shot of Daffy’s de-feathered posterior and, not that I minded, but was it just me or did Daffy and Porky’s surrogate father have major G-rated Tom of Finland daddy energy? These moments create an odd tonal mashup that makes it challenging to pinpoint the target demographic, landing somewhere between too zany for teens and potentially unsettling for very young children.

The film’s journey to the big screen mirrors its characters’ determination. After being shelved during Warner Bros. Discovery’s 2022 restructuring, it spent years bouncing between streaming platforms and distributors before finally securing a theatrical release in early 2025 from Ketchup Entertainment. This complicated path to seeing the light of day might explain some of its identity crisis, as it straddles the line between streaming casual and cinema spectacular. 

Despite these quirks – or perhaps even because of them – The Day the Earth Blew Up captures the anarchic spirit that has kept Looney Tunes relevant for generations. After all, the best kind of entertainment should involve embracing chaos, even if it means following a duck and a pig as they save the world from an alien invasion which began in a bubble gum factory.  While it may not reach the delirious heights of the classic Warner Bros. cartoons I watched bleary-eyed over my cereal bowl, this oddball adventure indicates plenty of life in these beloved characters.