In recent years, the relevancy of 'Looney Tunes' has very much diminished. The last theatrically released short was in 2012, which was a part of Warner Bros. bringing these characters back in CGI shorts linked to their family titles starting in 2010. But those shorts were also the first theatrical shorts for the characters since 1997. Outside of the shorts, the characters have had constant reboots on TV since 2011, with 'Bugs Bunny Builders' and 'Tiny Toons Looniversity' still producing episodes - both shows I found out about their existence while researching this film, so I can't say they are smash hits.
On the feature film side of things, from 1975 to 1991. 'Looney Tunes' only made it to the big screen in packaged films, and 'Space Jam' was the first time the characters were given a full theatrical story. Even with that film's success, both 'Looney Tunes: Back in Action' and 'Space Jam: A New Legacy' were box office failures and didn't resonate with audiences. 'A New Legacy' felt like an attempt to create relevancy for these characters with modern families, but after that film's failure, it was back to the drawing board. Now for the first time since the characters debuted, they are finally getting their first-ever fully animated theatrical film with 'Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up'.
'LOONEY TUNES: THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP' TRAILER
The film follows Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (Both voiced by Eric Bauza, 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie', 'The Emoji Movie'), who were raised together by Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore, 'Trolls Band Together', 'Scoob!'). When their father figure leaves them, he tells them to "always stick together". Now failing to pass an inspection, they are forced to get their first jobs, leading them to work at Goodie Gum, who are about to release a new flavour. Here they meet Petunia Pig (Candi Milo, 'Spirited Away', 'Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'), and together realise that this new gum is being controlled by an evil alien (Peter MacNicol, 'Ghostbusters II', 'Bean')! This alien uses the gum to control everyone's minds to create a gum bubble around the Earth and blow it up - and the only ones who can save the day are Daffy and Porky!
'The Day the Earth Blew Up' is a stunning return to the traditional 'Looney Tunes' style. The animation is done in the traditional 2D/hand-drawn style, and to see that get a big screen release in 2025 is worthy of celebration.
'The Day the Earth Blew Up' is a stunning return to the traditional 'Looney Tunes' style. The animation is done in the traditional 2D/hand drawn style, and to see that get a big screen release in 2025 is worthy of celebration. It's pure 'Looney Tunes' chaos in the best way possible, perfectly nostalgic for fans while inviting new fans into the franchise. The comedy (minus one influencer joke) is everything you could want from these characters, and in the best way possible feels like a short turned into a feature film.
The pairing of Daffy and Porky allows this to be more focused. Being the first-ever fully animated 'Looney Tunes' movie, you would think it would feel the need to include so many more characters, but by focusing on just these two allows all attention to be on the story. With this being just their film first, that makes it much more exciting for the future of this franchise.
'Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up' is a sheer delight for those longing for new 'Looney Tunes' content. It's wild to think that in their almost 100-year history, this is their first fully animated feature film, but I'm so glad we have it and I hope this is not the end of these films being released in cinemas.
