The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Christian Movie Review)
With excellent animation and a delightfully wacky plot, The Day the Earth Blew Up is a fun throwback that recalls the charms (and some of the rougher edges) of a bygone era of children’s entertainment.
About the Film
In recent years, the beloved Looney Tunes characters have had as much success in films as Wile E. Coyote has had catching the Roadrunner. Space Jam: New Legacy (2021) was a botched layup, and despite being filmed and ready, Coyote vs. Acme was shockingly shelved by Warner Brothers as a tax write-off ahead of its planned 2023 release. The Day the Earth Blew Up hopes for a better fate as the first fully animated Looney Tunes film ever released in theaters (bucking the trend of live-action hybrids). The decision to return to its animated roots pays off with arguably the best Looney Tunes installment in decades. With excellent animation and a delightfully wacky plot, The Day the Earth Blew Up is a fun throwback that recalls the charms (and some of the rougher edges) of a bygone era of children’s entertainment.
The subtitle may say A Looney Tunes Movie, but don’t expect to see Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, or many of the other iconic characters from the expansive cast. Instead, the film focuses exclusively on Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. Despite its limited cast, The Day the Earth Blew Up is a Looney Tunes movie through and through. While many recent animated films have followed Pixar’s lead in telling more mature stories, The Day the Earth Blew Up is an unapologetic throwback to the days of unrelenting slapstick that is equal parts amusing and exhausting.
Many parents have bemoaned the current state of children’s entertainment (for valid reasons) and yearned for a return to simpler times. In some ways, The Day the Earth Blew Up is just that. It’s also a reminder that entertainment wasn’t “problem free” even back then. The Looney Tunes have always been the more abrasive sibling to Disney’s Mickey Mouse, and that sharper tone makes a return as well. The film steers clear of many hot-button issues (LGBTQ representation, profanity, etc.), but parents may not appreciate some of the edgier moments, such as when a woman with comically large breasts struggles to squeeze herself into her car or Daffy Duck inflates his backside like two balloons and then twerks for a camera like an “OnlyFans” influencer.
A vintage element that should be applauded is the animation style. With beautiful, hand-drawn 2-D animation, The Day the Earth Blew Up is a reminder of what we’ve lost in the shift to computer-generated 3-D animation. The gorgeous animation offers more than merely nostalgic charm. In several brilliant sequences, the animators experiment with alternative styles and approaches, such as during an opening montage that utilizes a storybook-like watercolor aesthetic.
Narratively, The Day the Earth Blew Up takes the mold of an alien/zombie invasion story. A plot about a UFO-flying alien infecting the world’s most popular bubblegum as a form of mind control is suitably looney, and the film is filled with playful nods to the B-movie genre. At the same time, some of the horror-inspired elements, even when watered down in a Looney Tunes aesthetic, may be too intense for the youngest viewers. Occurrences like eyeballs sprouting out of the gum in the mouths of the zombified gum-chewers or a “gum monster” hunting the heroes (a possible ode to the famous Jurassic Park kitchen scene) are not necessarily “scary,” but they may be disturbing for sensitive audiences.
Overall, while not without a few warts, The Day the Earth Blew Up offers a refreshing throwback to an older era of animated entertainment. The Looney Tunes’ sharp humor and hyper antics won’t suit everyone’s taste, but in a world of annoying yellow Minions, this film shows that the pioneers of that zany genre are not ready to ride off into the sunset just yet (but when they do, they’d better make sure that sunset isn’t just a painting the Roadrunner hung in front of a brick wall).
For Consideration
On the Surface—(Profanity, Sexual content, violence, etc.).
Language: There are multiple uses of filler words like “heck” and “jeez,” as well as two uses of “God.”
Violence: There is plenty of cartoonish “Looney Tunes” violence (characters exploding, being flattened like a pancake, etc.). There is one moment of darker humor that implies that Porky Pig’s famous stutter is actually the result of Daffy-induced head trauma. But given that fellow pig Petunia has a matching stutter, that may not be the case.
Sexuality: Daffy Duck appears to make crude sexual remarks toward a female pig, implying that Porky “wants some” of that “delicious” and “tasty dish” (he is actually referring to an apple pie beside her). There is a repeated gag about a human character that has disproportionately large breasts. In a spoof on Winston Churchill’s famous speech, Daffy declares all the places an alien abduction will result in him being “probed,” including “probing in the truck stop bathroom.” When Daffy fights off an alien tentacle using his tongue, he remarks, “We hardly know each other!” Referring to a new tea flavor, Porky inadvertently tells his romantic crush that she can “tickle his tastebuds any time,” before awkwardly adding, “…for science.”
Engage The Film
Persevering Friendship
Beneath all the zany cartoon hijinks, the film shares a touching message about the importance of brotherhood and friendship. Daffy and Porky are presented as adopted siblings, both raised by Farmer Jim. As they get older, their relationship morphs to account for their increased desire for independence. But they ultimately come to understand that despite their differences, they are better together. There are several significant moments in which they embrace their own limitations and recognize each other’s strengths. The relationship dynamic echoes Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
