In a town called Grandview, an asteroid is heading towards Earth. A scientist discovers this, but also notices something else: a UFO that crashes nearby! He goes to investigate, of course, but ends up vanishing. After this intro scene we go many years back, where a farmer named Jim finds baby Daffy Duck and baby Porky Pig, and decides to raise them as his own. He leaves everything to the now grown-up duo before passing away, while making sure they promise to rely on each other. After this charming flashback-scene we get back to the present where their home is of course in total disarray, which is a bit of a crisis as they’re facing a home inspection by the mean (and very bosomy) Mrs. Grecht. While trying to tidy the place up as best as possible, they still fail the inspection due to a gigantic hole in their roof (caused by the UFO prior to its crashlanding). They get a deadline to have the roof fixed, but of course they haven’t got the money for a costly roof repair. They need to get themselves a job…which keeps failing miserably, of course, mainly because…well, Daffy. Then the duo meets Petunia Pig, Porky’s immediate love interest who is a scientist working at the “Goodie Gum“ factory where she’s trying to find the perfect flavor. She offers them the simplest job ever, where not even Daffy can fuck things up for once. After completing their first shift, Daffy makes a sinister discovery: he notices one of the scientists pouring some green goo into the gum supply. And when he tries to tell people, no one believes him. The gum quickly hits the market, and everyone who chews it turn into bubblegum zombies…and it’s up to the former duo now become trio to save the planet!
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is an animated sci-fi comedy produced by Warner Bros. Animation and directed by Pete Browngardt in his feature directorial debut. It features two of the most well-known characters from the Looney Tunes universe, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. And yeah…I gotta admit I never thought we’d actually have a Looney Tunes movie here on Horror Ghouls, but here we are. The main reason we include this movie is because it’s a spoof of the sci-fi B-movies from the 50’s and even references several horror movies. It can easily be a fun gateway-movie for the youngest while the older audience might get some nostalgia whether it be for the classic Looney Tunes cartoons or the sci-fi and horror movie references which come aplenty.
As always animation productions usually take a long time, but in these days things can to become even more cluttered due to release choices and re-choices. This movie got in the works back in 2019 where Browngardt, who was currently working on the Looney Tunes Cartoons, was asked for any ideas to an upcoming feature film where sci-fi B-movies from the 50’s were the premise he settled on. In 2021, it was planned to be released on HBO Max, but this was dropped due to a restructuring at Warner Bros Discovery. In 2023, it was renamed Looney Tunes: Bubble Brains, but then it reverted back to the original title (thankfully). It was then shown at last year’s animation festival in France (the Annecy), and was then given a limited release in the US before expanding with a wider release in March 2025.
Now, if you’re familiar with Looney Tunes, you know exactly how these cartoons are: looney! They’re wild, ridiculous, and filled with slapstick all over the place. This movie is of course no exception, and watching Daffy and Porky trying to save the planet from bubblegum alien zombies was more fun than I thought it’d be. Amidst the crazy stuff going on, there’s some heartfelt moments throughout, especially the bond between Daffy and Porky, much aided by Jim who is very much the epitome of a strong, loving fatherly figure. The dynamics between the two are centered around how Porky is overall very sensible, while Daffy is, well, the looney toon. Just like the old classic cartoons, the characters have kept their characteristics, like Porky’s shy demeanor and stuttering contrasted by Daffy’s lateral lisp and occasional Woo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoo insanity. As a horror movie fan you’re likely to recognize a lot of the references here, including Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing, They Live, The Stuff and several more, and most likely there’s also a little love letter to Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks here.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is a charm-filled and crazy ride down memory lane with some new flavors of its own, and a fun time for both the young and the ones young at heart.
Director: Peter Browngardt
Writers: Darrick Bachman, Peter Browngardt, Kevin Costello, Andrew Dickman, David Gemmill, and more
Country & year: USA/Canada, 2024
Voice actors: Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Carlos Alazraqui, Fred Tatasciore, Kimberly Brooks, Laraine Newman, Peter Browngardt, Wayne Knight, Rachel Butera
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15352542/
