Welcome back to the whimsical world of Looney Tunes, where entertaining animated adventures await! When Porky Pig (Eric Bauza) and Daffy Duck (Eric Bauza) were abandoned while young, they had no place to call home. Thankfully, a kind farmer named Jim (Fred Tatasciore) rescued them and raised the pair together as his children. As you might imagine, raising Porky and Daffy wasn’t easy for Jim, and there was never a dull moment. These two best friends were always getting into wacky and mischievous antics! But as time passed, Porky and Daffy are grown and brought sadness by Farmer Jim’s passing.
Left to care for the large farmhouse and farm, the pair quickly realise that maintaining their beloved farmhouse is not easy. As the house falls apart, Porky and Daffy must try to prepare for an annual home standards review, and the news is not good. The list of required repairs is long, featuring a massive hole in their roof that is covered in a strange green sticky goo. They are given ten days to fix the roof or risk losing their home forever. As Porky and Daffy start earning money to pay for the repairs, they make a surprising discovery about the extent of the damage to their roof. They realise that the inhabitants of planet Earth are not alone. Now, the pair must work together to save the Earth from an impending disaster known as Aliens!
If you’ve ever watched a Looney Tunes cartoon (and I imagine nearly everyone on Earth has), you’ll know what to expect from this feature-length film. Fortunately, it introduces some fresh ideas and concepts that have never been explored before through Looney Tunes. This film focuses on the pairing of Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, who must join forces to confront the world’s deadliest threat- aliens attempting to take over the planet- along with various playful dramas.
Director Peter Browngardt has a solid background in creating Looney Tunes content. His previous works include Harm Wrestling (2020), Hole Lotta Trouble (2021), and, notably, The Curse of the Monkey Bird (2019), where Daffy Duck and Porky Pig search for a cursed treasure in a jungle—audiences can feel assured of his familiarity with the franchise. Additionally, Browngardt is one of the eleven writers for this film. Considering that the last Looney Tunes film, Space Jam: A New Legacy, was released in 2021, it’s worth asking how this new animated film compares. Compared to the Space Jam movies, this one is a significant improvement.
Firstly, I love the concept of this film, which pairs two unlikely Looney Tunes characters together for its entire duration. If you expect or hope to see many other iconic characters from Looney Tunes, such as Bugs Bunny or Tweety Bird, you will be disappointed. In this film, we see Porky Pig and Daffy Duck encounter new animated characters, including Petunia Pig (voiced by Candi Milo), who quickly becomes a love interest for Porky. The film’s villain is introduced as The Invader, voiced by Peter MacNicol. I appreciated the voice work, especially that of Eric Bauza, who provided the voices for both Porky and Daffy. Given Bauza’s extensive background in animated films, he deserves high praise for his performance. The animation is brilliant—colourful, clever, and filled with wackiness, randomness, and creativity.
As a comedy, the film has some effective gags, particularly in the first and second acts. It includes snappy dialogue and jokes that are relevant today, such as poking fun at social media influencers. However, by the third act, the jokes and the ongoing banter or arguments among the main characters become tiresome, making the finale feel like a slog despite some big reveals and changes to the story. Interestingly, I found that the most significant comedic relief did not come from the leads but from the film’s villain. Additionally, one of the most annoying and disappointing characters was Petunia Pig from the newest range of Looney Tunes. For some reason, she has frequent outbursts and an overwhelming obsession with chewing gum. Overall, I felt the film’s target audience was teenagers, rather than younger viewers, who might not fully grasp the jokes or find the concept of aliens invading and possessing humans quite scary for an animated film.
Overall, fans of Looney Tunes should rush to the cinema to see this film for several reasons. It celebrates all things Looney Tunes and introduces a new type of story, featuring unlikely leads and wacky plots that involve menacing aliens and the use of chewing gum. The animation is excellent, and Eric Bauza’s voice work is truly outstanding. The sound effects and the film’s hilarious villain also steal the show from the main characters. While I had a few good laughs, I found that the gags, rants, and banter overstayed their welcome, making the third act and finale feel like a drag. Additionally, I was surprised that the film is more geared toward teenage audiences than young children, contrary to what many families might assume. I enjoyed the experience and loved reminiscing with some of the most iconic animated characters in animation history, despite minor elements, such as plot details or gags, not hitting the mark as effectively as expected.
Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew (2024) is Now Available in Australian Cinemas!
FILM SCORE: 6.9/10
Published: 27th March 2025
Written by: Peter Walkden
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