There's little reason to arrive early at the cinema these days, now that filmgoers are forced to endure as many advertisements as movie trailers. Once upon a time, though, the animated Looney Tunes were essential viewing before the main movie event. Now, 90 years after the first Looney Tunes short appeared, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig star in the franchise's first full-length feature.
Surprisingly, The Day the Earth Blew Up is neither an exercise in nostalgia nor a cynical reboot, but an anarchic blast of 2D cartoon mayhem that will please adults and their kids. Even without Looney Tunes' biggest stars, Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote, the film may inspire a new generation of very young fans.
Director Pete Browngardt, working from a script by no less than eleven writers, draws inspiration from the original Golden Age 'toons but also recognizes that children schooled on YouTube clips and Cartoon Network fare expect a lot more jokes if they are to keep watching.
Fortunately, the film's silliness begins early, with baby Daffy and Porky being raised as foster brothers by an uncanny-looking human called Farmer Jim. "Stick together," he advises them before Porky and Daffy make a shambles of their attic bedroom.
In the movie's most inspired scenes, Porky and the ever-inventive Daffy scheme to earn back their inheritance from Jim – and home-repair fund – via a series of gig-economy jobs. "I think we've finally found our calling as entry-level factory workers", Daffy sputters.
Trouble arrives in the form of a rogue asteroid and an extraterrestrial plot for world domination that uses, of all things, free bubble gum to turn the world's population into sugar-addicted zombies.
In no time flat, the alien invader wraps the earth in bubbly pink goo just waiting to go "Pop!" Though Porky and Daffy are taken as prisoners aboard the alien spaceship, they have to find a way to strike back. The movie has great fun riffing on everything from Invaders From Mars to Independence Day.
Less amusing are nods to current-day trends, including the aliens' obsession with boba tea and Daffy's transformation into a big-bottomed TikTok influencer. Despite a few flat-footed gags, The Day The Earth Blew Up is still a cut above most kiddie films. This summer, the Looney Tunes revival will continue with Coyote vs. Acme – a movie that won't be afraid, one hopes, to drop a few giant anvils.
