The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie - The Merrie Melody that Survived: A Review

 The Day the Earth Blew Up:  A Looney Tunes Movie

The Merrie Melody that Survived:
A Review

The Looney Tunes are a franchise that need no introduction, an iconic band of chaotic misfits that were the antithesis to the more “sweet” and saccharine shorts of the golden age of animation – despite starting out as one of said sweet short series. The Looney Tunes is a franchise that has managed to keep its iconic branding and popularity, well into the modern era

Dave Alvarez is such an underrated Looney Tunes artist

                                                  

So it is surprising that for a franchise that’s over 90 years old, it wouldn’t be until 2024 (or 2025 depending on the region this feature is coming out) , that the Looney Tunes would finally have a fully animated big screen venture. While the Looney Tunes are no strangers to the big screen, having a history that dates back to the late 70s, their prior big screen ventures have been…not quite what one would expect when you use the phrase “Looney Tunes” and “movie”. From the compilation movies that blended shorts together, to the live action/animated trilogy of features. Even as far as recently, the idea of doing a fully animated Looney Tunes feature has never been something Warner Bros have ever committed to for theaters – they were too focused trying to greenlight a live action Marvin the Martian movie or that Speedy Gonzales feature with George Lopez that never went anywhere.


That said, the Looney Tunes have had full feature animated features however they were all relegated to direct to video status – something that this feature was supposed to be  but corporate circumstances wound up allowing this feature to make Looney Tunes history and finally break the string of live-action/animated hybrid features with the iconic cast.


So while these are all impressive firsts, including the fact that the movie managed to survive the creative purges going on at Warner Bros, how does this hold up. Does this movie live up to the hype, is it a disappointment or is it the Looney Tunes feature the characters have long since deserved for many many years now.

Regardless of the quality of the film, I do want to clarify that I am glad that it was able to come out – I will take glee in a creative vision surviving a corporate shakedown, regardless of the quality as there is a certain point where production wise, the time has passed to pull the plug on a movie and this alongside many other WB features that have fallen victim to the purge were long past their cancellation dates.

                      

The PLOT – (Daffy’s arse not excluded)

"Daffy! No! You can't suck up like this in front of the kids"

Many comedians from the era that the Looney Tunes originated from, as well as a fair number of the original directors believed that with comedy, there is no room for earnest emotion, that everything, even the emotional bits need to be done in a farcical nature. I bring this up, as I feel The Day the Earth Blew Up, not only honors that general statement, but also acknowledges something that comedies since then have done too – being that you can do both.

From the general plotline alone, the story, in a nod to 1950s/1960s z tier sci fi features – follows Daffy and Porky who while in the midst of saving their home, end up in the middle of an alien invasion of chewing gum proportions. With the world under extra-terrestrial mind control, the duo, with the help of mostly forgotten Looney Tunes character, Petunia Pig, work together to save the Earth – chaos, intentionally weak plot twist and all.

As one can pick up, the plot itself is farcical by nature – deliberately invoking absurd ideas for the sake of comedy to which the film absolutely succeeds. This is probably the funniest feature I have seen in a very long time; the movie embraces the coherently absurd nature of the franchise (if such phrase sounds like a contradiction, welcome to your first example of absurdism) and does not hold back.

The team behind the feature lean full into the creative freedom that they were allotted and in turn we have a movie that contains some of the most creatively outrageous visuals and gags without needing to use crazy fast pacing as a crux. Even gags that in theory would evoke a groan out of me or a mental sigh wound up being so outrageous in their humor that it looped back to being ludicrously hilarious. Almost every gag hits home and the ones that don’t, they just come and go, they don’t leave a lingering bad taste. Like any good Looney Tunes production, the crew were not afraid to hold back on some of the more gallows styled humor – one in particular from the get go got a shocked laugh out of me and I applaud them for pulling it off.

Same goes for them embracing classic wordplay that the franchise has always had without relying on it as a desperate crux too.

So from a humor perspective, the movie hits the bullseye and for many that is all you would need from a Looney Tunes feature – but admittedly I am the type that does like a little more to my comedies, as a movie that relies merely on humor does run the gambit of feeling more like an extended episode of a short – something that admittedly many pure comedies do fall into, especially if they take the anthology route. But at the same time, with a comedic based series , especially one based on the Looney Tunes, you also can’t get too sappy – most of the time when these characters get the feature film treatment, any attempt at a more “emotional touch” will often be played off as a cheap joke, it doesn’t feel earnest and it doesn’t work in the intended humorous way, especially since one often sees the joke coming from a mile away (this is one of the reasons why the emotional bits in Space Jam 2 didn’t work, they didn’t feel earnest and from a comedic point of view, the punchline was more than obvious).

With The Earth the Day Blew Up, it is clear that these character and emotional moments are supposed to have a comedic edge to them, but the movie pulls it off in a way that feels earnest. It doesn’t feel overly sappy, contrived or forced for the sake of “It’s a movie, time to be dramatic”, the creative crew were able to pull these off in a way that maintains the comedic aspect of the franchise, but by being earnest, it helps the viewer stay invested in the feature and the ongoing events. Let the mantra show, if the characters are invested in what’s going on, the audience will be invested too – and I say this in spite of the 4^th wall jokes that the movie loves to do, but hey, that is another staple of the Tunes.

"I can accept evil bubble gum but I draw the line at them needing helmets to breathe"

Where the plot does falter a bit in my opinion is the little twist it tries to spin at the end. While it doesn’t ruin the movie, it does feel like a bit of a copout for the sake of a joke that I’m on the fence about as while I don’t think it particularly landed, it wasn’t particularly painful either and the climax still lands, bringing the whole experience in a positive circle – though someone’s hand got a little wobbly while drawing said circle.

"Look, drawing a circle isn't straight forward aight?"

The Animation

OH IT’S GOREGOUS (don’t think I didn’t see some of the shortcuts though)

The animation is absolutely fantastic, surpassing even that of the hand drawn segments in Space Jam 2. The use of lighting, shading and character movement is absolutely masterful, same with the camera staging and angles.

These were concerns I initially had, as originally the movie was slated to be a direct to streaming feature (and made for TV). Now while this wouldn’t have necessarily meant the quality would’ve suffered in terms of the writing and general animation, it didn’t particularly guarantee that this movie would look like it belonged on the big screen – this was the case I felt with WB’s Teen Titans Go to the Movies where the animation just did not feel as if it belonged on the big screen, even with the more out there sequences.

These fears were mitigated when trailers for the movie were finally dropped, my initial reaction being – THIS ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IT’S FOR THEATERS!!!

"We got a 15 million dollar budget and we're burning it all to the ground!"

Granted there is a bit of caution to still maintain, after all, trailers are supposed to show off the best of the movie correct?

So with the final feature, I can safely say that this absolutely felt like it deserved to be on the big screen…………………….barrriiiiiiiiiiing a few moments where the movie’s initial origin as a straight to streaming movie crop up with some shots that feel very….direct to video – a vibe I did feel from time to time as yes, while this does feel like a proper theatrical Looney Tunes movie, there are times where it does feel like a long lost direct to video feature WB would’ve put out in the 2000s.

"Quick, reuse some footage and tone down the detail in some shots. The budget's gone to ashes"

But I mean that in the best way – a lot of those features were actually good and deserve to be looked at again and the movie again, makes up for those moments with drop dead gorgeous visuals that make it worth the watch theatrically. On top of that, the movie lets the animation compliment the humor in an absurd nature – it does not hold back and the artistic direction shines through. Every bit of over the top visual the film has to offer is delightfully chaotic and well thought out – it’s not just random visual thrown for the sake of a cheap laugh, it’s planned out and flows coherently with the environment, vibe and aesthetic the creative team were going for with this feature.

This is flatout, the best Looney Tunes movie period and the one most authentic to the characters and the style of humor the franchise has had. And while authenticity may not guarantee quality, especially since it’s easy to play the same beats over and over again, adding a variation that leaves it feeling fresh and new requires an extra amount of effort and dedication and the crew behind this feature pull that off perfectly. It’s faithful to what the Looney Tunes are and were, it’s a celebration and it’s a new spin that can stand on its own.

Consensus:

The Day the Earth Blew Up, is a fantastic comedy and an immediate classic that I can see maintaining life after it finally hits American theaters end of February. Backed up by great animation, humor, and creatively chaotic writing, it is also one of the most unique experiences from a theatrical western animated feature you will have.

That high five is more than earned

Extra Thoughts:

I must applaud Koodoo.co.za for their job with distributing the movie – while they were a little late to the party – I had admittedly only seen promotions for the film begin at the beginning of December – the effort they’ve put in to capture South African interest in the movie is appreciated , especially during this day and age where local distribution and marketing is rather lackluster.

Be it the silly little hopscotch or the popcorn boxes, an attempt being made is always welcome, on top of being part of the band of international distributors that have helped save this feature from being written off.