‘The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie’ Review: A Delight for Kids and Adults Alike – Hollywood Reporter
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterPorky Pig and Daffy Duck team up for their first full-length, fully animated feature film.
By
Frank Scheck
Persistence sure does pay off. Porky Pig and Daffy Duck have been gracing screens since 1935 and 1937, respectively, but it took until now for them to star in their own full-length film, the first completely animated Looney Tunes feature to ever hit the big screen (how is that possible?). The results were worth the wait: The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is a consistent pleasure that should delight youngsters as well as nostalgic adults. It’s a shame that the folks at Warner Bros. didn’t honor their past but instead declined to release the film. Fortunately, indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment has come to the rescue. That studio has a more fun name anyway.
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Don’t look for appearances by Tweety, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd or any of the other better-known Looney Tunes characters in this effort, which gives Porky and Daffy center stage. Except that Porky does deserve a love interest, who comes in the form of veteran character Petunia Pig (voiced delightfully by Candi Milo).
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
The Bottom Line
Let’s hope that’s not all folks.
Release date: Friday, March 14Cast: Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Wayne Knight, Laraine Newman, Fred TatascioreDirector: Pete BrowngardtScreenwriters: Darrick Bachman, Pete Browngardt, Kevin Costello, Andrew Dickman, David Gemmil, Alex Kirwan, Ryan Kramer, Jason Reicher, Michael Ruocco, Johnny Ryan, Eddie Trigueros
Rated PG,
1 hour 31 minutes
The wacky screenplay, written by no less than 11 contributors (one hopes they were all together in a writer’s room cracking each other up), features an out-there premise that gives the proceedings the feel of a cheesy ‘50s-era sci-fi movie. Porky and Daffy need money to repair their dilapidated house, so they take a job at, where else, a chewing gum factory where Petunia works as a flavor scientist.
There, they come upon a massive conspiracy involving an alien (Peter MacNicol, happily unrestrained) intent on world domination via contaminated gum that turns people into mindless zombies. Add some exotic monsters and paranoia themes into the mix and you’ve got the perfect recipe for lunacy. Not to mention the classic personality clash between the stuttering, anger-prone straight man, er, pig, Porky and the zany, out-of-control Daffy. You also get an origin story, depicting the main characters as youngsters being raised by their adoptive father Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore) in an idyllic pastoral setting.
The Day the Earth Blew Up is thankfully free of the contemporary pop culture references that give so many present-day animated films the shelf life of ripe bananas (instead, you get hilarious parodies of such classic films as Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Thing). The jokes of both the verbal and visual variety flow fast and furious, the pace never slackening throughout the feature-length running time.
The film also has the confidence (or perhaps budgetary limitations) to forego the starry voice credits that look good in advertising campaigns but mean very little to young target audiences. Instead, you have solid comedic performers like Wayne Knight and Laraine Newman voicing supporting characters, and the virtuosic Eric Bauza, who plays both Porky and Daffy (talk about split personalities) and does his predecessor Mel Blanc proud.
Director Pete Browngardt perfectly orchestrates the fast-paced, zany proceedings, having honed his skills on the short-form Looney Tunes Cartoons television series. And the film looks terrific, thanks to the crisp 2D hand-drawn, instead of CGI, animation that’s like the visually soothing equivalent of the warmth of vinyl records compared to digital formats.
In every way, The Day the Earth Blew Up pays homage to and follows in the tradition of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons preceding it. Now, if only Ketchup Entertainment could rescue the apparently stranded Coyote vs. Acme. Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSend us a tip using our anonymous form.
