REVIEW: ‘The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie’ Is the Looney Tunes We’re Missing

The Day the Earth Blew Up, directed by Peter Browngardt, shouldn’t exist in today’s animation landscape. It’s a 2D, hand-drawn feature-length movie about Daffy Duck and Porky Pig of Looney Tunes fame with no connection to any other movie, franchise, or bunny named Bugs. Yet, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is here, and it deserves its place in the Looney Tunes canon. Perhaps even the animation canon.

Yes, The Day the Earth Blew Up is historic for being the first feature-length, fully animated Looney Tunes movie in its 94-year history. And yes, it is the first major American-made hand-drawn feature-length animated film since The Princess and the Frog in 2009. But on its own merit, The Day the Earth Blew Up is a good-looking, fun time at the movies for all ages. It takes classic characters and a tried and true form of comedy they helped originate. It gives them a modern sensibility without overindulging in the time-bound humor, niche references, or cameos that typically ravage a legacy project like this.

It’s just a fun movie. The film opens with an introduction to Daffy and Porky (both played by Eric Bauza) as children raised by Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore). The movie creatively blends art styles as the butt of its own joke throughout this intro while making the movie’s only real pastiche of classic Looney Toons cartoons. It’s an effective way of drawing familiar viewers into the production without ostracizing newcomers with overt references. Meanwhile, everyone is introduced to the comedy style of the two characters and the movie overall.

Daffy and Porky are a fun odd couple pairing. They have a similarly naive and incomplete view of the world but their approaches are polar opposites. Porky takes the world on with sincerity while Daffy is a total loose cannon. Both characters offer moments for big laughs, whether it involves Porky pining after Petunia Pig (Candi Milo) or Daffy hitting himself in the face repeatedly.

The Day the Earth Blew Up doesn’t rely on nostalgia to make a good movie.

Farmer Jim implores the boys to always stick together no matter what. This includes a threat that their house will be taken away from them—a plot point that seems like it may go over many younger viewers’ heads—and through a bubble gum-induced alien invasion. Things start to get all over the place plot-wise by the middle of the movie, muddling things a tad and slowing the pace down. But just when the movie starts to slow down too much, a great, big twist livens the whole affair again through its final act.

The Invader (Peter MacNicol) is a fun new character to the world of Looney Tunes. He has a distinct look that isn’t over the top. Perhaps he’s derivative and not an instant classic new character, but he services the plot perfectly while feeling like a fully realized character. The main plot is joyfully absurd and yet feels like something you can’t believe a movie hasn’t thought of before. The Invader’s role in it all hits all the tones from menacing to absurd to sincere.

Drama is The Day the Earth Blew Up’s weaker point. While its comedy is spot-on, the dramatic moments where Porky and Daffy are arguing or where Porky is pining after Petunia don’t land as hard. It’s clear the movie feels they’re necessary for moving the plot and characters forward but wants to get past them as quickly as possible. Driving home some of the emotional bits would have served the movie better. It would be more well-rounded. Instead, the pace feels uneven whenever the main hard-driving plot is paused to take care of some dramatic developments.

The Day the Earth Blew Up is a cry for the return of hand-drawn animation.

More than anything, the triumph of The Day the Earth Blew Up is its animation. The animation looks incredible. It’s a reminder that hand-drawn animation still deserves a place on our big screens—perhaps even more so than many of the same-y 3D animation or computer-generated 2D animations that are most prevalent, especially in the U.S. There are moments in this movie that are indistinguishable from CGI animation.

Some moments feel as lived-in as the most classic hand-drawn cartoons. The opening of the movie feels especially artistically reminiscent of The Iron Giant, ironically the last fully hand-drawn feature film Warner Brothers Animation produced in 1999. This movie is a cry for the return of this art form to prominence.

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is proof that legacy characters don’t have to rely on nostalgia, callbacks, or cameos to have successful modern movies. With hardly any reference to older Looney Tunes affairs, the movie manages to capture exactly who these two characters are and how they could have a modern yet timeless romp together. While not everything about it is universally memorable, it all makes for a family-friendly, fun time at the movies.

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is in theaters everywhere March 14.