A Looney Tunes Movie Blasts Into Theaters
Just don't go looking for the classic shorts
You can still see The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie in theaters. I wholeheartedly suggest you make that trip. The Day the Earth Blew Up is the first Looney Tunes adventure since the forgettable Space Jam 2 came out. It doesn’t feature ALL the Looney Tunes characters— only Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and Petunia Pig. Maybe that’s why parent company Warner Bros. unceremoniously shelved the movie. You see, this is the first time that the Looney Tunes have ever had an entirely original, feature-length movie to themselves. The previously released films were either tie-ins to bigger projects or live-action/animation hybrids like the aforementioned Space Jam movies and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Warner Bros. never intended for The Day the Earth Blew Up to be a theatrical experience. They bankrolled the project as an HBO Max exclusive, and when the company turned into Warner Bros. Discovery, it was decided that the film would be a write-off for the company like the unreleased Batgirl movie.
Thankfully, another company expressed interest in acquiring The Day the Earth Blew Up from Warner Bros. and gave it a shot at the multiplexes.
First, The Day the Earth Blew Up is not the best Looney Tunes project that Warner Bros. has ever made. That honor, in my opinion, belongs to the 1957 cartoon What’s Opera, Doc? featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. Secondly, it’s not some kind of new take on Porky Pig and Daffy Duck; rather, it’s a loving tribute to these characters. Finally, I know you hear the phrase “they don’t make them like they used to” plenty in reviews of animation. The Day the Earth Blew Up brings back that classic Looney Tunes slapstick and humor like no other cartoon can. If you love the Looney Tunes, you owe it to yourself to see this movie.
Following a hilarious prologue that showcases the upbringing of Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (both voiced by Eric Bauza) from their surrogate father, Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore), the boys have to prepare their house for an inspection. Their late father always drilled into them how important their home is and how they must strive to take care of it. Well, the house has certainly seen better days. After failing their inspection, Porky and Daffy take on odd jobs to earn the money to fix their home.
After a chance meeting with Petunia Pig (Candi Milo), the boys find work at a chewing gum factory that’s on the cusp of creating a new sensational product. But after their first day of work, Daffy notices that the chewing gum has been contaminated with some alien slime, turning whoever chews the resulting gum into brainless zombies. Now, Porky, Daffy, and their new friend Petunia must work together to uncover this secret and stop an alien invader (Peter MacNicol) from taking over the world.
The movie is directed by Pete Browngardt, who has been shepherding the tunes along since the “Looney Tunes Cartoons” came out a few years back. It’s obvious that he loves these characters and has a reverence for their history with how they’re depicted on screen. While the opening credits reveal a great number of writers for this feature, 11, in actuality, the storyboard artists were given writing credit. It’s a nice gesture, and thankfully, there weren’t that many people involved with writing this story.
It’s so rare to see an entirely two-dimensional movie in the theaters nowadays. Watching the movie, I was struck by how rare of an opportunity it was to see something like this. Most children’s cartoons these days are 3D abominations (yes, that includes you, Baby John), and watching The Day the Earth Blew Up feels like the audience is getting away with something. What is that something? Watching a long-lost artform in the local theaters.
There’s a lot to love about The Day the Earth Blew Up. Whether it was Farmer Jim who made me laugh uncontrollably from his facial expressions, to the respect given to these classic characters, all the way to the movies’ love for body horror, it was simply a joy to see. It’s not perfect, as it loses a bit of momentum in the last act, but the good outweighs the bad. The Day the Earth Blew Up is a love letter to Looney Tunes, old and new. [B+]
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is currently playing in theaters.
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Warner Bros. Removed Looney Tunes from Max
Following the theatrical release of The Day the Earth Blew Up, Warner Bros. decided to remove all the classic Looney Tunes shorts from Max. That includes the era of animation from 1930 through 1969. In a comment to Deadline, Warner Bros. Discovery shared that they will prioritize adult and family programming. Children’s programming like Looney Tunes and Sesame Street doesn’t perform well for them and is no longer viewed as a priority.
Having learned of this news, I was pretty upset. I have a few of these classic Looney Tunes shorts on DVD and was able to pull a few of them up to show my child. This was the first time she ever saw a Bugs Bunny cartoon, which left me not only surprised but disappointed. I remember watching Cartoon Network and Nickleodeon as a child and watching these classic shorts. There was even a special that Cartoon Network aired, which was an 8-hour marathon of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time (I found the interviews, excerpts, and bumpers from that period).
Honestly, I don’t think that people have grown tired of these classic shorts, but rather Warner Bros. Discovery has done a terrible job of promoting them. There’s still an audience for the Looney Tunes— Look at the Amazon Most Wished For list over a week after the announcement that the Tunes were removed from Max. If you love the Looney Tunes as much as I do, you might want to look into owning some of the box sets listed below. You might not be able to watch them in the future.
So, what Looney Tunes can you still watch on Max? (via CNet)
Two seasons of Baby Looney Tunes (2002)
Two seasons of New Looney Tunes (2015)
Six seasons of Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020)
Looney Tunes Presents: Bugs and Daffy's Thanksgiving Road Trip (2021)
Two seasons of Tiny Toons Looniversity (2023)
If you want to watch the classic Looney Tunes shorts, your best bet is going to be to either purchase Warner Bros. releases of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection or Looney Tunes Collectors Choice. There might be some of the shorts on YouTube, but they’ll range in quality.
For now, these are your best bets for streaming Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.
Warner Bros. Classics on YouTube (compilations like Daffy and Porky)
Cartoon Network (on YouTube TV, Hulu, etc.)
WB Kids (YouTube TV, Hulu, etc.)
MeTV (via Frndly TV, Philo, and DirecTV Stream)