2025 looks to be the year classic animated franchises bring new substance to their material in a fitting fashion. In January, Wallace and Gromit returned with Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, a well-done legacy sequel to the duo’s most iconic Oscar-winning short The Wrong Trousers. Now, Warner Bros. (and the fine folks at Ketchup Entertainment) brings us The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. It’s a delightful return to form for Warner Bros.'s iconic animated franchise, delivering a nostalgic yet fresh experience that both long-time fans and new audiences can appreciate.

The film's narrative is a loving homage to 1950s sci-fi B-movies, seamlessly intertwined with the chaotic charm of Looney Tunes antics. The story starts with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig securing jobs at a bubblegum factory, a setting ripe for comedic mishaps. Their routine bungling leads them to uncover an alien conspiracy aiming for world domination through mind control. Teaming up with Petunia Pig, the duo embarks on a mission to thwart the extraterrestrial threat while navigating their hilarious dynamics.

The plot is both engaging and appropriately zany, capturing the essence of what makes Looney Tunes enduring. It's a buddy-comedy of epic proportions, delivering laugh-out-loud gags and vibrant visuals that have defined the franchise for decades. For decades, casual viewers like me have only seen Bugs Bunny as the leading face of the franchise. Now, Daffy and Porky can share that title with him.

One of the film's standout features is its animation style. The hand-drawn animation is both beautiful and smooth, reflecting a dedication to preserving the traditional aesthetic of Looney Tunes while incorporating modern techniques. The vibrant color palette and fluid character movements create a visual feast that honors the franchise's legacy. The Day the Earth Blew Up is also the first Looney Tunes movie containing original material to be fully animated, theatrically released, and the second to not be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. since the 1975 documentary Bugs Bunny Superstar.

The 90-minute runtime is a blessing, so the pacing isn’t the issue—instead, it’s the structure of the movie's plot. The entire time, we’re to believe Daffy and Porky are trying to stop an alien from taking over the world, but a plot twist in the last 30 minutes contradicts this, making it all suddenly hollow. A quick fix to this would be to flesh out the alien as a character, but the script calls for him to be a one-dimensional “I will rule the world” type of villain. Separately, the movie lacks humor, which can be a bit repetitive. There’s nothing wrong with the zaniness we come to expect from Looney Tunes, but there aren’t many jokes that appeal to both adults and children. However, a montage and a fourth-wall break make up for this effort.

Voice actor Eric Bauza delivers stellar performances as both Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, capturing the unique personalities and comedic timing that have made these characters iconic. His ability to embody the essence of each character adds depth to their interactions and enhances the film's overall humor. While he’s been the overall voice for the two leads for half a decade, he looks to join the ranks of Mel Blanc as a longtime staple to the franchise. In a time when voice actors aren’t as known as they used to be, it’s nice to see someone like Bauza committing to something like the Looney Tunes universe.

One thing to be addressed is that Warner Bros. moved forward with releasing this, but scrapped another Looney Tunes property film, Coyote vs. Acme. I’m glad there’s a new (and better) Looney Tunes film seeing the light of day in the 21st Century, but I can’t help but remember that David Zaslav and the people at Warner Bros. pulled the plug on a film that deserved a shot. Who knows if Coyote vs. Acme would’ve worked as a film, but in a day and age where the Looney Tunes aren’t having content cranked out (unlike Mickey at Disney, SpongeBob at Nickelodeon, the Peanuts gang through Apple TV+, etc.) another Looney Tunes-related theatrical movie would’ve helped everyone.

Regardless of all that, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is a testament to the enduring appeal of classic Looney Tunes antics. Whether you're a lifelong fan or new to the Looney Tunes universe, this film offers a delightful experience that is both familiar and refreshingly new. After all, Looney Tunes knows how to stay true to itself and never fails to make audiences smile when the iconic catchphrase “that’s all, folks” hits.