Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up (PG)

Daffy Duck and Porky Pig are raised together by Farmer Jim on the outskirts of Grandview, home to the Goodie Gum factory. Inspector Mrs Grecht conducts an annual standards review of the duo's home and points out a huge hole in the roof, caused by a crash-landed UFO. She gives them 10 days to repair the damage or the property will be condemned, seized by authorities and demolished. They find work at a chewing gum factory and clash with an alien invader.

LondonNet Film Review

Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up (PG) Film Review from LondonNet

Two beloved characters from the Looney Tunes stable enjoy an original, self-contained big screen adventure in a rollicking romp directed by Pete Browngardt. The Day The Earth Blew Up affectionately nods and winks to the brand’s proud history stretching back 95 years, including two-dimensional, hand-drawn visuals that replicate the painstaking, homemade charm of a bygone era…

Daffy Duck (voiced by Eric Bauza) and Porky Pig (Bauza again) are raised together by Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore) on the outskirts of Grandview, home to the Goodie Gum factory. As a piglet, Porky suffers a blow to the head from a falling vase and develops his trademark stutter and the pair become inseparable, often getting into scrapes thanks to Daffy’s hot-headed actions. Inspector Mrs Grecht (Laraine Newman) conducts an annual standards review of the duo’s home and points out a huge hole in the roof, caused by a crash-landed UFO.

She gives them 10 days to repair the damage or the property will be condemned, seized by authorities and demolished. “No roof, no home,” she cackles. Daffy and Porky are sacked from a succession of jobs including paper boys, ride share chauffeurs and house painters. They commiserate in the local diner, where they meet Petunia Pig (Candi Milo), a scientist from the Goodie Gum factory, who is “on a quest to make the world’s most perfect flavour”.

She kindly finds jobs for Porky and Daffy on the production line of the new Super Strongberry flavour of chewing gum and it looks like the best pals might be able to raise the necessary funds to save their home. Alas, an alien invader (Peter MacNicol) meddles with the recipe for the gum to transform townsfolk into zombified acolytes. The Mayor (Wayne Knight) refuses to listen to Daffy’s warnings and the duck joins forces with Porky and Petunia to save mankind from the otherworldly threat.

Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up achieves a pleasing balance between heartfelt nostalgia and contemporary irreverence. The diner in Grandview is named after director and animator Bob Clampett, who was integral to the success of the original cartoons. When the two hurriedly repair cracks in their walkway ahead of the inspector’s visit, Porky draws attention to his duck pal’s builder’s bum, which has been accidentally exposed by feathers slipping down his waist.

A script credited to 11 writers including director Browngardt references classic sci-fi films and some of the droll dialogue is evidently targeted at an older demographic, such as when Daffy suggests the luminescent green goo on the broken roof isn’t mould at all but “interdimensional ectoplasm”. It’s heartwarming and inoffensive fare that elicits a persistent grin. That’s all folks.

– Sarah Lee