Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up – Review
For over nine decades on screen the Looney Tunes ensemble of characters have proven to be as malleable and dynamic as the best of them. Each character contains multitudes depending on who holds the pencil, under Tex Avery Bugs Bunny is a wise cracking energetic rabbit, under Chuck Jones, Bugs leans into his non-chalant demeanour, turning to the audience to raise his eyebrow and vitally only called into action when provoked. That elasticity is part of the brand’s genius but also part of the challenge when revisiting them for a modern feature.
This latest outing wisely shifts the spotlight away from Bugs and onto Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. Porky remains his affable self, giving the film its emotional ballast. Contrasting this Daffy is recalibrated to echo his anarchic early incarnation rather than the ego-driven, sputtering blowhard of the “Duck Season, Wabbit Season” years, and giving the audience a screwball character with fizz that they can cheer on.
The film sees Daffy and Porky, lifelong chums met with the task of fixing the roof on their dilapidated house after it is destroyed by an alien invasion. A chance meeting with Petunia Pig (until this point only seen on Warner Bros shop merchandise and Tazos they gave away in packets of crisps in the 90’s) leads to Porky and Daffy finding work at a bubble gum factory where Petunia is their flavour scientist. The pair stumble into uncovering a global conspiracy and are projected onto a course that leads to the trio sent on a messy mission to save the earth from annihilation from both sinister forces and themselves.
This is a film made by people who love the Looney Tunes, each pencil line feels like a tribute to the greats, you can imagine ‘What Would Bob Clampett Do?’ being something of a mantra in the studio. For the films farmyard stars, there are some excellent animation sequences throughout, with model sheets tossed asunder in favour of laughs – exactly as it should be. Early on the pairs adopted father figure Farmer Jim, is rendered exclusively in nostalgic detail, that restricts his activity, where his limited movements are played for laughs. On the other end of the scale, our heroes also find themselves up against energetically animated rubbery bubble gum monsters who twist and squelch their way through the film, delivering horror and hilarity when called upon.
Though the film was penned by an extraordinarily large collection of writers, these characters found themselves in safe hands, with modern references such as being an influencer or being cancelled online being part of such a large rate of fire of gags that if you were to get upset about it, there’s already been 3 more timeless jokes told by the time you manage to cross your arms in a huff.
The main villain is a surprise, an original creation made just for the film. we might have expected Marvin the martian to play protagonist, aside from a few nods here and there the Looney Tunes cameos are largely missing from this feature, with Daffy, Porky and Petunia taking centre stage. Having been given ensemble productions such as space jam two over the years you forget that studios are capable of allowing artists to make standalone films based on favourite characters. In fact, aside from live action hybrid films such as the aforementioned Space Jam, its unfortunate sequel and a collection of short films stitched together to make a feature, this film is the first original, cinematic feature outing for the Looney Tunes characters.
It’s a film that knows it has a multitude of audiences watching, from kids simply wanting a laugh through to nit picking die hard Looney Tunes academics looking for an excuse not to laugh. This film understands the freedom of silliness and allows itself to delve into the archive of cartoon gags and new ideas to deliver a timelessly comic film. It’s difficult not to be won over by the sheer silliness and enjoy each gag as it is thrown our way, some hit their target, others don’t, but they certainly down blow up in their face.
Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up is a funny, frantic tribute to characters who are still screwy after all these years, this explosive new chapter proves the Looney Tunes can charm fresh audiences just as easily as they did nearly a century ago.
Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up is out in UK cinemas from 13 February 2026. Read our interview with Director Peter Browngardt here