The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
When Farmer Jim (voice of Fred Tatasciore), who rescued them as infants, heads off towards that big portal in the sky, he tells Porky Pig (voice of Eric Bauza, TV's 'Bob's Burgers,' 'Krapopolis') and Daffy Duck (also Bauza, impressive!) to take care of their home. The two lads who've never worked a day in their life aren't the best at home maintenance and when they are threatened with losing the house because of a big hole in the roof, they're forced to find work, eventually landing jobs at the Goodie Gum factory due to a serendipitous run in with its flavor scientist Petunia Pig (voice of Candi Milo, TV's 'Looney Tunes Cartoons'). But on the day the entire town is celebrating the release of its new Super Strongberry flavor, Daffy realizes the gum is turning everyone into zombies in "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie."
Laura's Review: B-
Making his feature debut, cowriter (with "Brigsby Bear's" Kevin Costello and his TV's 'Looney Tunes Cartoons' collaborator Alex Kirwan)/director Peter Browngardt wows us from the onset with his cheeky, fast-paced, stunningly retro animation, one which embraces Looney Tunes origins yet exhibits more modern influences like John Kricfalusi's 'Ren & Stimpy.' But while one of the films most delightful surprises is a self-referential dip into its short film format, complete with its own opening credits and constricted aspect ratio, the screenplay struggles in feature length format, straining to maintain interest in its second half.
A prologue plunges us into a world of 1950's aesthetics and vibrant color as an observatory scientist (who will become known as Chewy (voice of Keith Ferguson)) views what he is alarmed to identify as a UFO heading towards Earth. It is a beautifully animated sequence, one which sets the tone for what will follow.
We're introduced to Porky and Daffy with a nod to 'Baby Looney Tunes,' Farmer Jim appearing in Kricfalusian stills sounding like Nick Offerman, but once the two, now adult, are left on their own, their idea of lawn care is a green paint cover-up, a broken step fixed with an old pizza box. An exaggeratedly big breasted and bottomed middle-aged inspector gives them a deadline to fix the gaping hole in the roof the two haven't even noticed (along with the suspicious green goo draped along its edges). When a roof repairman gives them a wake-up call regarding their available finances, Porky announces they'll get jobs and the Looney Tunes Logo announces 'Raise the Roof Money,' sequing into a montage of hirings and firings in television aspect ratio. It is Porky's instant infatuation with Petunia when she enters Clampett's Diner, his vision an amusing distortion of reality, that leads the lads into factory jobs at Goodie Gum and an exisential showdown with The Invader (voice of Peter MacNicol, TV's 'Ally McBeal'), the alien hovering in a spacecraft who has mind control over that opening prologue's scientist and who has contaminated Goodie's gum supply.
This is where the film should be reaching fever pitch, but unfortunately it is where it bogs down. The Invader himself, a green goblin-esque creature with a vampire's raised black collar and purple cloak, is an entertaining villain, MacNicol's vocal performance adding a classic quality, although his ultimate agenda, when revealed, doesn't make a lot of sense given his prior behavior. The main conflict is between Porky's more responsible behavior and his condemnation of Daffy's tendency to screw things up, a conflict which ensures we'll see our heroes fight the same battle twice. The use of R.E.M.'s 'It's the End of the World As We Know It,' while appropriate to the action, also yanks us out of the film's retro stylings.
"The Day the Earth Blew Up" holds promise for future endeavors, but while there is no question about the quality of the artistry on display, manic activity alone cannot propel a film's third act.
Robin's Review: B-
An asteroid is on a collision course with the Earth. But, it is not an asteroid. Instead, it hides an alien spacecraft and a mastermind bent on taking over the planet. It is up to our stalwart heroes, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, to put a stop to the dastardly plan in “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie.”
When the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon crashes near the Goodie Gum factory, the astronomer who spotted it investigates. What he finds is green ooze and his mind is taken over by the alien invader (Peter MacNicol). The vicious outlander has one goal in mind: use the bubble gum factory to distribute the mind- controlling ooze to take over the world.
In the meantime, the crashing object scooped out a big part of the roof of Porky and Daffy’s home. The city declares that they must fix the roof, but how? They have no money. What follows is a series of misadventures as they get and lose one job after another, until they meet Petunia Pig. Then, two things happen: she gets them a job at the gum factory and Porky falls in love. Of course, they will foil the Invader.
The first half of “The Day the Earth Blew Up” is the best with its rapid fire humor and innovation as the plot is set up and it becomes clear what the Invader’s heinous plan is. And, that is the problem I have. This first part contains all the cleverness as it pays homage to the classic 50’s science fiction films like “Invaders from Mars (1953)” and “The Day the Day Stood Still (1951).”
Part two goes more conventional as Porky and Duffy must save their home and, in the process, defeat the bad guy and save the world. I am not sure what audience the filmmakers are aiming for. There is stuff to entertain the kids, mostly, but not specifically. And there is enough humor to entertain adults, at least for the first half. But, I think it is a big miss that they did not squeeze Marvin Martian in there.
Ketchup Entertainment releases "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie" in theaters on 3/14/25.
