It’s strange to see that the Looney Tunes cast – the crazy
cartoon characters who become identical with the name “Warner Bros” – has never
starred in a fully animated feature-length movie before this new one.
Sean P. Means said in his review, “Then you watch the
movie, which is packed to the gills with inventive gags and features two of the
troupe’s most engaging characters, and see that sustaining the Looney Tunes’
antics for 90 minutes isn’t as easy as it looks.”
The movie tells us the origin story of Porky Pig and
Daffy Duck (Eric Bauza, the current holder of Mel Blanc as the voice of many
characters), brothers from another species who are raised since babies by
friendly Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore). They live together in the house Farmer
Jim left them, which has become the bane in the neighborhood – and is dilapidated
after a sudden meteorite made a huge hole on the roof before landing just out
of town.
An astronomer, voiced by voiced by Tatasciore, sees the
meteorite and follows it to where it crashed, and realizes that it’s not a meteorite
but a UFO. Before he can call the police, the green goo from the UFO turns him
into a zombie, told to spread the brain-altering goo to all of Earth. How he is
able to do that is through the town’s gum factory – where Porky and Daffy just
landed entry-level jobs.
The story, which is a lot, starts when Daffy convinces
Porky that there’s something evil about the factory’s new gum flavor. They ask
the help of the factory’s taste tester scientist, Petunia Pig, voiced by Candi
Milo, who doesn’t like the new gum flavor. The three find themselves going up
against an alien, known only as the Invader, voiced by Peter MacNicol, who says
he only wants Earth’s most precious resource. (No spoilers, but it is funny.)
Director Peter Browngardt and the 11 writers credited
with the screenplay show how much they love the classic Looney Tunes characters
and vibe, and largely succeed in showing that classic feel to a new audience. Means
notes, “The movie opts to show Daffy in his more manic phase — the live wire of
Robert Clampett’s shorts, rather than the cynical con artist of the Chuck Jones
era — to match Porky’s nervous energy.” (One Easter egg comes when Porky and
Daffy eat at a diner named after Clampett, and the waitress is voiced by Clampett’s
daughter, Ruth.)
Means points out, “It’s notable that while Warner
Bros. Animation made “The Day the Earth Blew Up,” Warner Bros. Pictures — who
shelved the already completed “Coyote vs. Acme” as a write-off — turned over
distribution to a smaller company, Ketchup Entertainment. It’s another sad sign
that the corporate overlords at Warner Bros. have no love for the movies.”
Means continues, “The movie’s length exposes a
paradox: The plot requires passages where the action slows down and the
audience can take a break from that manic energy — but it’s that mania that
makes the Looney Tunes who and what they are, so those slower moments expose
the cracks in the facade.” When the Looney Tunes can create perfect stories in
eight minutes, taking 90 minutes feels like a superfluous bonus, no matter how
many jokes they can insert into that realm.
You have to see this on Max. If you’re a Looney Tunes
fan, this is one for you. You will love this film a lot, as this is fully
animated and no live action actors are put into this film. If you have Max, then
find this and put it on because you will have a great time laughing at it,
especially with the twist at the climax of the movie. I promise you, there is
nothing in this movie that will upset anyone, hopefully.
Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Stay
tuned next month to see what I will review next.
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