Anyone who was depressed to see “Coyote v. Acme” scrapped from the Warner Bros. release calendar should take solace in the news that there’s still another Looney Tunes adventure coming to the big screen. Daffy Duck and Porky Pig are set to team up in “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie,” which opens in February 2025 after an Oscar-qualifying run this month.
The film, which was produced by Warner Bros. Animation before selling to Ketchup Entertainment, generated major excitement among animation fans following its premiere at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Festival. If it succeeds at the box office, it could be seen as more evidence that the audience for a film like “Coyote v. Acme” exists among the moviegoing public.
An official synopsis for the film reads: “Porky Pig and Daffy Duck venture to the big screen as unlikely heroes and Earth’s only hope when their antics at the local bubble gum factory uncover a secret alien mind control plot. Faced with cosmic odds, the two are determined to save their town (and the world!)… that is if they don’t drive each other totally looney in the process.”
“The Day the Earth Blew Up” will be the first fully animated, feature-length Looney Tunes movie, though the characters have previously appeared in live-action hybrid movies such as “Space Jam” and “Looney Tunes: Back in Action.” But while the format is new, director and Looney Tunes veteran Pete Browngardt told IndieWire that relying on timeless comedic principles made for a smooth transition.
“It goes to most classic buddy comedies and how it always seems to work, this sort of wacky, out-of-control, off-the-cuff character, and the more grounded, sensible character,” Browngardt said during a recent interview. “And I just was always amazed that it never got old. You can always throw them in a modern situation and figure out how to make them funny. Daffy is just sort of the greatest cartoon character in a way. He can play so many personalities, he’s so versatile. He’s loony. But then he became a greedy asshole when Bugs needed an adversary, and that was relatable. Some people prefer the old one, but I like them both. They both served their purpose.”
A Ketchup Entertainment release, “The Day the Earth Blew Up” opens in theaters on Friday, February 28. Watch the trailer below.