The current world of 2026 is full of vitriol, judgment and excess, whereas we would all be a lot better served if we took the example of the loonies and focused on things like helping each-other, friendship, and encouragement. No-one ever accused the delirious duo of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (Eric Bauza as both) to be capable of, well, anything really, but that doesn’t stop their enthusiasm in continuing to try. And that’s what we all need right now, when everyone around us says, “No way!” we charge in with a mallet and a “Woohoo!” in broad Daffy style, determined to at least try!
So this unfortunate scientist dude (Fred Tatasciore) who was sky-watching with a telescope and got himself zombified for his trouble, he saw dangerous stuff heading for Earth, one of which just happens to shear the roof clear off of Porky and Daffy’s dear old house. The house was left to them by their adopted papa figure, Farmer Jim (also Fred Tatasciore), who emphasized taking care of their home (?!) and each-other, before he moseyed off into a cheerful sunrise on the Other Side.
Of course the bit with the roof isn’t quite discovered until the pink atrocity that is the inspector lady for the annual “Home Standards Review” points it out to Porky and Daffy, informing our pals that they have ten days to get a roof on there or the place will be condemned and demolished. Because she’s roofless, geddit?!
What follows is a montage of Porky and Daffy trying and getting fired from a whole bunch of jobs, in an old-fashioned style suitably titled ‘Raise the roof money’. And as they take stock of how much time they have left while chillin in Clampett’s diner (a nice little nod to Bob Clampett, the OG creator of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig himself), a pretty little ladypig with jet black hair comes striding in out of the rain and right into Porky’s heart.
Most of us these days have that one friend who is so entirely nerdy and into specialized stuff, like reenacting Renaissance-era times in full costumes, or the mating rituals of the female preying mantis, or making their own period-appropriate gunpowder for clay pigeon shooting, that sort of thing, and the introduction of the updated Petunia Pig (Candi Milo) is no exception. This Petunia is a flavor scientist for the nearby chewing gum factory, and she is on a never-ending quest to find the perfect flavor combination for gum that will make your head explode without actually, y’know, exploding. Obsessed mad scientist nerdy gal she may be, willing to try out flavor combinations like dandelion and squid ink tea for farks sake, but Petunia has always been and always will be kind, one of the nicest characters to ever grace the Looney Tunes gang, and so she offers our down-and-out duo a job at the chewing gum factory. What could possibly go wrong?!
Yet another montage graces our boys as they do the ridiculously easy job of pushing a button and pulling a crank at the Goodie Gum Factory, echoing styles right out of Metropolis but adding their own zany touch. But strange things are also afoot at the Goodie Gum Factory, and after our undercover zombified scientist turns the main gum vat from pink to green, Daffy determines to warn everyone. This of course proves to be much harder than expected, for Daffy, like Chicken Little in the old story, is well known for propagating conspiracy theories and weird happenings as a normal Thursday morning over breakfast. It sure didn’t help that he was trying to take over the podium during the Super Strongberry launch party at city hall, looking very pluck-a-duck too.
A little thing like jail time and a dwindling roof fund can’t break up the dynamic duo, though the strain of Porky’s worries and Daffy’s mindless wackiness is beginning to show. And thankfully, convincing Porky and Petunia both of the impending gum-related zombie apocalypse didn’t involve any actual deaths as yet, so now that we’re all believers, we need to figure out some kind of weapon in response.
Everything comes to a screeching halt when Porky, along with Petunia who have both geared up to fight the gum-chewing zombies infecting their town, tells Daffy to stay behind and lay them the eggs they need as part of the weapon setup they need. As we all know, as Daffy screams at Porky later, “D’you know how hard it is for a male duck to lay eggs?!” But Porky doesn’t feel he can trust Daffy to not go full-on mallet-happy on the innocent townsfolk.
And that’s what makes this delightfully wacky serving of Looney Tunes in a film such a giant knock over the head, of optimism and encouragement and the long-lasting benefits of friendship overcoming seemingly impossible odds. An alien is here to enact a giant gum-related conspiracy to literally, wait for it, “Blow up the Earth!”, you say? If all of humanity are now lip-smacking extra-eyeball-toting zombies, and our cadre of only somewhat eccentric barnyard animals really are the only ones who can save us all, then why not *gasp* let them?
Let people be who they are, encourage whatever skills they might possess, and have some blind freaking faith in the goodness still left in our world. If Daffy’s cheerful cacophony of “WooHOO!”s and seemingly-random mallet-caused chaos can actually save the day, for once finding a need for something he’s actually good at, insane as that may be, we should damn well encourage him to do so! And, given the giant like planet-sized misunderstanding with mister alien (Peter MacNicol), maybe we ought to consider slowing down and talking to each-other a lot more, hmm?
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is now enjoying a run out in UK cinemas as of February 13th 2026, and can be enjoyed with a resounding, “Woohoo!” on HBO Max.
Reviewed by Alicia Glass