The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2025) - Film Review

Many folks online are fed up with Disney's endless parade of live-action remakes of their past animated features, and I don't blame them a bit. I dare say that some folks are guaranteed to protest the upcoming Disney release later this week, and I've got the perfect solution to provide them with. True animation experts will recall one of Disney's direct competitors/rivals in the form of Warner Brothers. Best known for their "Looney Tunes" shorts and films like "The Iron Giant", WB seems to respect their back catalog much more than Disney lately.

That's all the more reason why you should go out and see "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie" right now. This applies double to anyone who appreciates 2D animation and wants it to have a future going forward. Anyone who does so will be in for a good time, even if either they've only occasionally watched "Looney Tunes" or not at all. Daffy Duck and Porky Pig have to find a job to fix their home before being evicted. After instantly failing at all their prior jobs, they land a gig at a gum factory thanks to Petunia Pig.

The plot thickens however when an alien invasion directly affects the workplace, and their gum infects all inhabitants on Earth. Now it's up to Daffy, Porky and Petunia to work together in sabotaging the plans of their oppressor. While we're on the subject, the villain is actually pretty funny. I had Dr. Nefarious from the "Ratchet and Clank" game series in the back of my brain when watching the antagonist in action. They had a similar vein in how they clumsily approach world domination, and that's what makes villains like these fun to watch.

This film fully embraces its cartoonish style in a manner that we haven't seen from the animated film genre in awhile. That became apparent right away with the constant and consistent physical gags unleashed at our lead's expense. Porky's tidy part of the bedroom versus Daffy's crumbling bathtub for example. WB's style of animation isn't as detailed as Disney, but it utilizes its trademark zaniness to its advantage. "If Disney is classical, then WB is jazz", was a quote once used by a critic or historian to describe each studio's respective style.

Its bewildering on-screen credit of 10+ writers notwithstanding, "The Day the Earth Blew Up" does come together as a cohesive whole. It's a basic space invasion story at its core with three "Looney Tunes" stars front and center. The film has some familiar story beats, a few of which are quite tired. Let's be real though, the reason this film comes into its own is because of the fast-paced humor and its delivery. We know that Daffy and Porky are reliable as ever. Don't leave Petunia out of the equation either, with her swift line delivery and timing.

Not all of the gags work. Specific gags with Daffy twerking or anything modern along those lines aren't my thing. I'm also sure that no one in this era is that obsessed with gum for the record. Anyone who's been a fan of "Looney Tunes" from the beginning will feel right at home with "The Day the Earth Blew Up", even with only a few regular cast members. The trademark savage humor fans have come to expect from the franchise is present once again here, with an aggressive landlady and judgmental co-workers combating our lead's goals.

I can see the score for this film earning a solid 8 from literally anyone, and it certainly earns that much at least. But I'm personally feeling more generous with the final verdict score on this title. The timing of this being released a week in advance of another live-action Disney remake helps alot. Also, the hard fact that 2D animated works of any kind are hard to come by, especially in the 2020's. For those reasons, "The Day the Earth Blew Up" is an easy film for me to endorse for kids and especially adults craving something more from family films.

Final Verdict: 8.5/10