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It’s another year of high-profile animated sequels, led by Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” DreamWorks’ “The Bad Guys 2,” and Nickelodeon/Paramount’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Square Pants” and the “Untitled Smurfs Animated Film.”

But there are plenty of attention-grabbing originals in 2025: “Pixar’s sci-fi “Elio,” DreamWorks’ “Dog Man,” Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol,” and Laika’s highly anticipated “Wildwood” (a tentative release). In addition, Netflix delivers another diverse slate: “In Your Dreams,” “K-Pop: Demon Hunters”, “Lost in Starlight” (the streamer’s first Korean-language animated film), “Plankton: The Movie” (with Nickelodeon), “Pookoo” (with Skydance Animation), and “The Twits” from Roald Dahl. Plus, Crunchyroll/Sony Pictures offer the theatrical anime event of the year with “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” (“Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle”).

Additionally, there are three Oscar-qualifying holdovers from 2024: “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” “The Colors Within,” and “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie...

There are 323 feature films eligible for the upcoming Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday, though a whopping 36% of those – 116 feature films – are not eligible for consideration in the Best Picture category.

The discrepancy between films that have qualified for the top category and films that are eligible in other categories comes either because the filmmakers did not attempt to qualify – likely the case for several documentary, animated or international films. Or because of new eligibility rules that require Best Picture candidates to meet additional benchmarks for diversity and inclusion. This is the second year that Representation and Inclusion Standards (Raise) have been enforced, though they did not appear to disqualify any serious contenders in the category.

Among titles excluded from Best Picture consideration are Andrea Arnold’s “Bird,” starring Barry Keoghan, Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut “Woman of the Year,” Michael Keaton’s directorial debut “Knox Goes Away,...

Despite some excellent movies hitting theaters, 2024 was, to use a sports phrase, a rebuilding year. The 2023 Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes ground Hollywood to a halt before the studios ultimately agreed to some much-needed concessions for the folks who physically make the films and TV shows we all love, and the downstream effects of that unnecessarily drawn-out labor stoppage spilled into 2024. Movies and shows that were supposed to come out needed time to restart production, studios delayed some releases into 2025, and the industry as a whole experienced a contraction. The first half of this year was rough at the box office, but thanks to several major wins near the end of the year, theatrical exhibition managed to stay alive and make up a ton of ground.

While we'll likely be seeing the effects of the strikes and the subsequent contraction for a while, the floodgates are preparing to open for...

2024 really was the greatest year for animation ever.

There was an abundance of outrageously wonderful animated features released over the course of 2024 – all sorts of movies, with all sorts of animation styles and points-of-view. The fact that we left off plenty of wonderful movies, like Naoko Yamada’s brilliant, touching “The Colors Within” (which gets a wide release in January – seek it out), the French sci-fi noir “Mars Express” or mainstream gems like Mike Mitchell’s hellzapoppin’ “Kung Fu Panda 4,” tells you what a stellar year it really was.

But enough with the preamble, let’s chart the very best animated features of 2024 – from melancholic stop-motion to wondrous, widescreen computer animation and everything in-between.

DreamWorks Animation/Netflix 10. “Orion and the Dark”

2024’s most underrated movie is, incredibly, a gonzo animated feature written by Charlie Kaufman. Yes, that Charlie Kaufman. Based on the children’s book by Emma Yarlett, it...

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, the first-ever fully animated film based on the Looney Tunes characters, which hit U.S. theaters Dec. 13, almost didn’t happen. Several times.

“At least three, four times during the production I was waiting for that phone call [to shut down the movie],” says director Peter Browngardt. “It was a rocky journey.”

That’s putting it mildly. Browngardt was brought on in mid-2021 to produce and direct The Day the Earth Blew Up as his feature debut. Browngardt was a writer on the popular, and critically acclaimed, HBO Max Looney Tunes reboot, a series of new original shorts featuring the classic Tunes characters which seemed to prove there was an audience out there for more Looney. Browngardt and his writing team — some 15 writers and story consultants are credited on the movie — came up with an original idea involving Daffy Duck and Porky Pig uncovering a...

Feature films have not been kind to the Looney Tunes. There was a time when the wacky adventures of Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny and their animated pals were the best and funniest shorts on the silver screen, an era that lasted decades. But most of their longer movies were repackaged classic skits, thinly strung together by new bookend material based on whatever movie or TV show was hot at the time, like “Fantasy Island” or “Ghostbusters.” Then of course there were the “Space Jam” films, two of the most creatively bankrupt and shamelessly tacky brand exploitations in the history of [checks notes] everything.

Until now the only great “Looney Tunes” feature was the one that completely flopped, Joe Dante’s inspired and hilarious “Back in Action,” which smartly skewered the callow capitalism that made the “Space Jam” movies a cinematic crime. The new film, “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie,...

After working on many Looney Tunes shorts, director Peter Browngardt decided to take on the challenge of bringing the characters into a feature length film with The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. Although he has experience with the characters at this point, Browngardt still says the animation style is one of the trickiest to get right, and even harder to teach to new animators.

The film follows Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, as the pair become Earth’s only hope when faced with the threat of an alien invasion. In traditional Looney Tunes fashion, the story takes comedic twists and turns, from trying to raise money to repair a roof to battling gum zombies, though the longer form storytelling presented the opportunity for character growth in a world where characters never really change from story to story.

Deadline: It’s interesting watching a longer form version of Looney Tunes,...

At this point, Warner Bros. Discovery is as famous for not releasing movies as they are for releasing them. After the non-releases of Batgirl, Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, and especially, Coyote vs. Acme, it’s genuinely shocking to see that a new Looney Tunes movie is actually coming out.

At least it seems to be coming out, judging from the recently-released trailer for The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. It doesn’t hit theaters until February 28, 2025, so there’s still time for CEO David Zaslav to burn every copy in existence as part of a tax scheme to defray the cost of Bill Maher’s massive salary.

As we’ve mentioned before, The Day the Earth Blew Up, which finds Daffy Duck and Porky Pig fending off an invasion of grotesque aliens, has already earned rave reviews from those who have seen it. While it doesn’t come out in the U.

Ketchup Entertainment has released the teaser trailer, poster, and images for Warner Bros. Animation’s The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, which will open in theaters on February 28, 2025. The film has been rated PG for cartoon violence/action and rude/suggestive humor.

From director Peter Browngardt and the creative team behind the award-winning Looney Tunes Cartoons comes a brand new buddy comedy starring one of the greatest comedic duos in history–Porky Pig and Daffy Duck.

With a runtime of 91 minutes, the richly crafted, hand-drawn 2D animated adventure marks the first fully animated feature-length film in Looney Tunes history, told on a scope and scale that’s truly out of this world.

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.

Warner Bros. Animation has released a trailer, poster, and new images from the forthcoming release The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. The film will be released in theaters only on February 28, 2025!

Synopsis: That’s not all folks! From Ketchup Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, director Pete Browngardt, and the creative team behind the award-winning “Looney Tunes Cartoons” comes The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, a brand new buddy comedy starring one of the greatest comedic duos in history–Porky Pig and Daffy Duck! This richly-crafted, hand-drawn 2D animated adventure marks the first fully-animated feature-length film in Looney Tunes history, told on a scope and scale that’s truly out of this world.

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.

For “Looney Tunes” fans, the shelving of “Coyote v. Acme” still hurts. Warner Bros. scrapped the live-action/animated hybrid film’s release last November, another of CEO David Zaslav‘s money-saving write-offs. Stars John Cena and Will Forte tried to advocate for the film’s release on social media to no avail, which led many in months after to speculate if the studio would prioritize the classic cartoon characters moving forward.

Continue reading ‘The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie’ Trailer: A Full-Length Animated ‘Looney Tunes’ Adventure Hits Theaters On February 28, 2025 at The Playlist.

"We're not afraid of nuthin'!" Ketchup Ent. has finally revealed their official trailer for the Warner Bros Animation movie called The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. This wacky, clever, fun sci-fi animated comedy is a new take on the beloved Looney Tunes characters Daffy and Porky. For some weird reason, WB wouldn't release this themselves, so they sold it - now it's getting a full theatrical release in February. "That's not all folks!" From Ketchup Ent, Warner Bros. Animation + director Pete Browngardt, and the creative team behind the award-winning "Looney Tunes Cartoons" comes The Day the Earth Blew Up, a brand new buddy comedy starring one of the greatest comedic duos in history–Porky Pig and Daffy Duck! This richly-crafted, hand-drawn 2D animated adventure marks the first fully-animated feature-length film in Looney Tunes history, told on a scope and scale that’s truly out of this world.

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...

After watching The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, I found it fascinating that there has never been a standalone animated Looney Tunes movie. Yes, three “compilation” films were released during an early ’80s run, including Daffy Duck’s Fantastic Island, The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, and Bugs Bunny’s 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales.

And no, the Space Jam movies and the Brendan Fraser effort Looney Tunes: Back in Action do not count. The Orson Welles United Artists documentary Bugs Bunny: Superstar has a special place in my heart.

Since when do the iconic, classic Warner Brothers cartoon characters need anyone to help them? Finally, a wrong has been righted with The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie! It’s hilarious, and the script maintains the timeless comedic aesthetic while incorporating modern-day themes for today’s audience.

Related “What the hell were they watching?...

The new full-length animated feature “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie”, is directed by Pete Browngardt, starring ‘Daffy Duck’ and “Porky Pig’ (Eric Bauza), releasing February 28, 2025 in theaters:

“…’Porky Pig’ and ‘Daffy Duck’ are unlikely heroes, but are Earth’s only hope when facing the threat of alien invasion.

“In this buddy-comedy of epic proportions, our heroes race to save the world…

‘…delivering all the laugh-out-loud gags and vibrant visuals…

“…that have made the ‘Looney Tunes’ so iconic…

“…but on a scope and scale yet to be experienced…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

The new full-length animated feature “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie”, is directed by Pete Browngardt, starring ‘Daffy Duck’ and “Porky Pig’ (Eric Bauza), releasing February 28, 2025 in theaters:

“…’Porky Pig’ and ‘Daffy Duck’ are unlikely heroes, but are Earth’s only hope when facing the threat of alien invasion.

“In this buddy-comedy of epic proportions, our heroes race to save the world…

‘…delivering all the laugh-out-loud gags and vibrant visuals…

“…that have made the ‘Looney Tunes’ so iconic, but on a scope and scale yet to be experienced…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Thanksgiving has long been a deadline of sorts for studios campaigning for Oscar nominations, because it offers the tempting proposition of a holiday weekend in which voters might have free time to catch up on movies. In past years, that meant a steady stream of screener DVDs arriving in voters’ mailboxes in the days before Thanksgiving – but now, with the Academy focusing on its members-only screening platform and placing restrictions on physical screeners, the push is to get new films into the Academy Screening Room before the holiday.

Fifteen new films were added to that room on Wednesday, a departure from the usual weekly additions, which typically come every Friday. The newcomers include Best Picture contenders “Conclave” and “The Piano Lesson,” following a Nov. 22 influx that included “Emilia Perez,” “Joker: Folie a Deux,” “Juror No. 2,” “Nightbitch,” “A Real Pain,” “The Room Next Door,” “Saturday Night” and “September 5.”

But some major films are still missing,...

The Academy has unveiled the list of feature films that are eligible for consideration in the animated feature, documentary feature Film, and international feature at the 2025 Oscars.

In animation, 31 films will vie for one of the five spots, including “The Wild Robot,” “Inside Out 2,” “Memoir of a Snail,” “Flow,” and “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.”

In documentary feature, 169 films are eligible. Among them are “No Other Land,” “Daughters,” “Martha,” “I Am: Celine Dion,” and “Dahomey,” which is Senegal’s submission for international feature.

In international feature, there are 85 hopefuls, including frontrunner “Emilia Pérez” (France), “I’m Still Here” (Brazil), “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Germany), “Kneecap” (Ireland), and “Flight 404” (Egypt).

The shortlists of 15 films for documentary and international features will be released on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

Oscar nominations will be announced on Friday, Jan. 17. The 97th Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will be held on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pulled back the curtain on the films eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature categories for the 97th Academy Awards next year.

The list includes 31 toon features, 169 docs and international pics from 85 countries. Preliminary voting for the 97th Oscars runs December 9-13, and all three shortlists will be revealed December 17. The Oscars will be handed out Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

Here are the animated, documentary and international features eligible for the 2024 Oscars:

Best Animated Feature

Art College 1994

Captain Avispa

Chicken for Linda!

The Colors Within

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Despicable Me 4

Flow

The Garfield Movie

Ghost Cat Anzu

The Glassworker

The Imaginary

Inside Out 2

Kensuke’s Kingdom

Kung Fu Panda 4

Living Large

Look Back

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Mars Express

Memoir of a Snail...

TMZ caught up with Wayne Knight — Seinfeld’s Newman — at an airport recently, but it’s an interaction that almost didn’t happen. Why not? The site’s intrepid reporter almost didn’t recognize Knight thanks to his significant weight loss. “From about Jurassic Park to now,” Knight revealed, he’s lost about 110 pounds.

That’s great for Knight’s health, but not necessarily fantastic for his career. When asked if his weight loss was affecting his career in a good way or a bad way, Knight candidly replied, “In a bad way. But it takes time for people to accept you as you are. Then they find out whether or not you can still do things without being fat.”

Knight joked that he’d lost about 7,000 pounds over the years — just not all at once. “I lose 10, I gain 50,” he explained. “I lose 100, I gain 12.”

However you do the math,...

The Academy has unveiled its list of eligible films for the 97th Oscars in the animated, documentary, and international feature categories, spotlighting various blockbusters and critically lauded works. Submissions span major studios and independent filmmakers alike, and the competition promises to be one of the most competitive as films seek nominations.

A total of 31 animated feature films are in contention this year, including DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot,” IFC Films’ “Memoir of a Snail,” and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” which recently became the highest-grossing animated movie of all time. While this year’s number is slightly down from 33 submissions in 2023, it marks an increase from the 27 entries in 2022, reflecting a robust year for animation. Among the list also is Janus Film and Sideshow’s “Flow,” which will also compete in the international feature race for Latvia.

Nominees in the Animated Feature category are determined by the Academy’s Animation Branch members,...

There are 31 animated films, 85 international films and 169 documentaries competing in the 2024 Oscar races for Best Animated Feature, Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature, the Academy announced on Thursday.

In the animated feature category, contenders include “Flow,” “Inside Out 2,” “Memoir of a Snail,” “Piece by Piece,” “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rorhirrim,” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” and “The Wild Robot.”

In the international category, the list includes “Emilia Perez,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” and “I’m Still Here.” The list of eligible films was reported exclusively by TheWrap in October.

In documentaries, the field includes “Sugarcane,” “Dahomey,” “No Other Land,” “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” “Black Box Diaries” and “Daughters,” among many others.

In all three categories, Academy members are given lists of films that are required viewing, but are eligible to view and vote for films outside their lists as...

A total of 31 animated features, 169 documentary features and 85 international features are eligible for Oscar nominations this season, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed on Thursday.

In the animated feature category, high-profile studio films like Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 and Universal/DreamWorks’s The Wild Robot and acclaimed indies like Memoir of a Snail are joined in the running by longer shots like The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, a film jettisoned by Warner Bros. that wound up with the distributor Ketchup Entertainment.

The documentary feature race, meanwhile, includes titles that have dominated at the doc community’s precursor awards, including Nat Geo’s Sugarcane, Netflix’s Daughters and MTV’s Black Box Diaries; two that count Malala Yousafzai as an executive producer, Apple’s Bread & Roses and The Last of the Sea Women, and two that count Jennifer Lawrence as an EP,...

The wizards behind several of this year’s biggest animated films that are jockeying for awards consideration sat down recently with Gold Derby. They discuss various topics, including the animation that inspired them to pursue that field, the recent pieces of animation that blew their minds and where they’d like to see animation go in the future. This was all part of Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts panel on Film Animation that included Josh Cooley (“Transformers One”), Chris Sanders (“The Wild Robot”), and Peter Browngardt (“The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie”).

You can watch the film animation group panel above with the people behind these three films. Click on each person’s name above to be taken to each individual interview.

When remembering the animation that first influenced them, Cooley was quick to remember both Looney Tunes cartoons as well as the groundbreaking movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?...

Plot: Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Petunia Pig are Earth’s only hope when facing the threat of alien invasion.

Review: During a time when moral compasses are pointing anywhere but up, and on a day when you find your credit card is beyond its limit, it sure is nice to feel like a kid again. Few things could bring me back to when Sesame Street’s “12 and Pinball” animation was the hottest jam of the Summer, like Looney Tunes. Every morning, and sometimes on Saturdays, Bugs, Daffy, Porky Pig, and their eclectic cast of friends molded my sense of humor, gave me a fondness for classical music, and invited sunshine into even the rainiest days.

I lost my mind when I heard Daffy Duck and Porky Pig would reunite for an unconventional 2D Looney Tunes movie. The news helped lick the wounds of losing the shelved Coyote vs. Acme,...

“The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” is one of the animated delights of the year. In the franchise’s first fully 2D-animated theatrical feature, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both voiced by Eric Bauza) discover a secret alien plot to take over the world via mind-control and chewing gum, gumming up the works with their inimitable antics in the process.

Peter Browngardt (“Looney Tunes Cartoons”) captures the essence of the wacky odd couple with wit and warmth, channeling the outrageous style of Bob Clampett. But were it not for Ketchup Entertainment, “The Day the Earth Blew Up” would’ve been killed off by Warner Bros. Discovery for tax purposes like the live-action/animated Looney Tunes hybrid “Coyote vs. Acme.” Thankfully, “The Day the Earth Blew Up” will receive a Best Animated Feature Oscar campaign from Ketchup (with a qualifying run starting December 13) ahead of its theatrical opening February 28, 2005.

For Browngardt,...

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation teases a brand-new Looney Tunes project during this year's Lightbox Expo. The next Looney Tunes film, The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, is set to release in February 2025. It will be the first theatrically released film starring the Looney Tunes characters since 2021's Space Jam: A New Legacy. This comes a year after the studio faced backlash for shelving the reportedly finished Coyote vs Acme movie. Despite that, Warner Bros. clearly has plans in motion for the franchise.

The panel at the Lightbox Expo (via Collider) was moderated by the president of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Bill Damaschke, who, together with the studio's group of filmmakers, discussed what fans could expect to see from them in the future. While discussing the new Flintstones reboot co-directed by Todd Wilderman and Hamish Grieve, Meet the Flintstones, Damaschke revealed that the directors are also already...

Warner Bros. had much to show at this year's Lightbox Expo, including the first update on the next Flintstones movie. The news surrounding the new animated project, Meet the Flintstones, had been quiet for over a year, leaving many to wonder about its progress. The upcoming movie will reintroduce audiences to the beloved prehistoric family while giving it a modern twist to appeal to new generations. With the directorial team and first look now revealed, anticipation is growing for what could be a major revival of The Flintstones franchise.

At the Lightbox Expo's Animation Panel (via Collider), Todd Wilderman and Hamish Grieve were confirmed as co-directors for Meet the Flintstones. While speaking at the panel, Wilderman said that the project would be a mix of "silliness and emotion," adding that the story will not only focus on Fred Flintstone, but also the rest of the typical cast. In the teaser footage shown at the panel,...

The 7th Annual Animation Is Film Festival wrapped up with the announcement that Gints Zilbalodis’ “Flow” took the Grand Prize, while “Memoir of a Snail” won the Special Jury Prize and tied with “The Colors Within” for the Audience Award. In the Shorts section, the Grand Prize went to “Wander to Wonder,” and the Special Jury Prize went to “A Crab in the Pool.”

The feature competition titles also included “Boys Go to Jupiter,” “Ghost Cat Anzu,” and “Sultana’s Dream.”

“Flow” is a wordess fantasy adventure about a world inhabited by animals, in which a black cat is forced to survive the aftermath of a flood on a boat with a capybara, lemur, stork, and golden retriever. Animated in the open-source Blender with its real-time engine, the CG animals have a soft quality while the environments are sharper. “Without a word of dialogue, Gints Zilbalodis weaves sound, music and...

As we get closer to the end of 2024 and various critics and voting bodies collate their year-end lists and ballots, the question of what is eligible for such selection often crops up. It’s become common practice for distributors to give a quiet, one-week awards-qualifying run divorced from the standard promotion a theatrical rollout will earn, instead saving that for a window early the following year.

To help keep better track of these releases, we’ve started a feature detailing films designated in this category. As we begin our year-end coverage in the coming months, here at The Film Stage we consider any feature that receives a one-week qualifying run in a U.S. theater to be a release in that year, so expect a number of these to be featured soon.

Check out the list, in chronological order based on the qualifying run, below. If you are a reader...

Peter Browngardt is currently the creative director of Looney Tunes Cartoons, and his first feature as a director, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, is set to be released theatrically in 2025 after initially being dropped from a planned Max release and being acquired by Ketchup Entertainment.

The Day the Earth Blew Up follows Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (both voiced by series regular Eric Bauza) as they uncover a conspiracy involving an alien invasion. It’s a delightful sci-fi romp that will appeal to both young audiences who are discovering Looney Tunes for the first time and older audiences who have grown up with the characters.

We at FandomWire got to speak with Browngardt timed to the film’s North American premiere at the Animation Is Film festival in Los Angeles, CA. Check out the interview below!

The Day the Earth Blew Up Interview

FandomWire: The Day the Earth Blew Up...

Ketchup Entertainment founder Gareth West has partnered with Zero Gravity Management and Ozark producer Mark Williams on a new television division.

The venture will operate as a division of Ketchup Entertainment dedicated to producing and acquiring premium series, with Ketchup also serving as the US distributor.

The partnership will focus on shows across multiple genres, ranging from thrillers and historical dramas to sci-fi and crime. The first slate of original projects is in development, while the acquisitions team is looking at completed shows. The partners anticipate releasing the inaugural series by mid-2025.

“This partnership allows us to create and distribute entertaining,...

Quick Links The Day The Earth Blew Up: Further News & Info

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is the upcoming feature-length Looney Tunes film starring Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. The sci-fi-themed outing will be the first fully animated Looney Tunes theatrical movie and will focus on Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as they must learn to work together to save the world from nefarious aliens who use mind control. With Tom & Jerry writer Kevin Costello on script duties and Looney Tunes veteran Pete Browngardt directing, The Day the Earth Blew Up is a momentous occasion in the nearly century-old franchise.

The Looney Tunes have made the jump to theatrical movies in the past, but films like Space Jam and Looney Tunes Back in Action blended live-action segments with the cartoons. Despite the franchise's grand theatrical debut, the development of The Day the Earth Blew Up...

Assuming the Earth doesn’t blow up before February 28, 2025 — not a complete impossibility given our political climate — you’ll have an opportunity to watch “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” in theaters. It almost didn’t happen.

The Warner Bros. Animation-produced “The Day the Earth Blew Up” was one of those movies that Warner Bros. Discovery blew up for tax purposes. Distributor Ketchup Entertainment back in August picked the animated film’s carcass up off Wbd’s (cost-)cutting room floor, aka the floor in David Zaslav’s corner office.

That other Looney Tunes film, “Coyote vs. Acme,” wasn’t so lucky — or it was simply too attractive a write-off to pass up. Warner Bros. Discovery still has roughly $45 billion of debt to pay down, and Zaslav and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels have been brutal about the content cuts.

In “The Day the Earth Blew Up,...

The new full-length animated feature “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie”, is directed by Pete Browngardt, starring Daffy Duck’ and “Porky Pig’ (Eric Bauza), releasing February 28, 2025 in theaters:

“…’Porky Pig’ and ‘Daffy Duck’ are unlikely heroes, but are Earth’s only hope when facing the threat of alien invasion.

“In this buddy-comedy of epic proportions, our heroes race to save the world…

‘…delivering all the laugh-out-loud gags and vibrant visuals…

“…that have made the ‘Looney Tunes’ so iconic, but on a scope and scale yet to be experienced…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

The upcoming Looney Tunes film The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is set to be released in 2025. The film will star Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, who must stop an alien invasion. The movie was directed by Pete Browngardt, who also developed the Looney Tunes Cartoons TV series for Max.

According to Deadline, The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie will be released in theaters on February 28, 2025. Unlike previous Looney Tunes films, which were distributed by Warner Bros., this one will be distributed by Ketchup Entertainment. A statement from Ketchup Entertainment's CEO Gareth West about the film can be found below:

For generations, the Looney Tunes have held a soft spot in the hearts of fans the world over, including my own. It's a true pleasure to bring into theaters Peter Browngardt's hilariously smart, emotional, and gorgeously rendered story for fans and...

Exclusive: Ketchup Entertainment’s pickup of Warner Bros Animation’s The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie will be debuting in theaters on February 28, 2025.

The movie, which was originally conceived for Max, made its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June, when it received high praise from critics. Deadline told you first about Ketchup’s acquisition.

The movie will make its North American premiere Friday at the Animation Is Film festival, where it will qualify for the Best Animated Feature Oscar race.

The pic was directed by Pete Browngardt and follows Porky Pig and Daffy Duck teaming up again, this time faced with the threat of an alien invasion.

“For generations, the Looney Tunes have held a soft spot in the hearts of fans the world over, including my own,” Ketchup Entertainment CEO Gareth West said. “It’s a true pleasure to bring...

While it’s easy to get stuck in the muck of “Joker: Folie à Deux’s” underperformance or the continuation of Lionsgate’s losing streak, there was a bright spot at this week’s box office that marked a historic first — five of the Top 10 movies were animated features.

The animated movies that made the Top 10 are so varied, too, which speaks to the fact that animation as a medium is just as versatile and bespoke as live-action filmmaking. These films also came from a variety of studios, showcasing how important animated features are to every company’s bottom line. At one point, the marketplace was dominated by a handful of players. Not anymore.

The movies were DreamWorks’ painterly adventure “The Wild Robot” (No. 2); Focus Features’ animated music documentary “Piece by Piece” (No. 5); Paramount’s sci-fi spectacle “Transformers One” (No. 6); Crunchyroll and Sony’s domestic release of Japanese anime “My Hero Academia: You’re Next” (No.

The Animation Is Film Festival has announced its 2024 lineup, with films including “The Colors Within,” “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” and “Memoir of a Snail.”

The seventh edition of the annual festival runs through the weekend of Oct. 18-20 with three major features each day, along with filmmaker master classes, extended showings and plenty of premieres. The festival is held at the Tcl Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.

The festival opens on Oct.18 with the North American premiere of the melodic and bold feature from the Japanese animation studio Science Saru, “The Colors Within,” directed by acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Naoko Yamada, known for “A Silent Voice.”

On Oct. 19, the centerpiece will be the North American premiere of Warner Bros. Animation’s “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie,” directed by award-winning filmmaker Pete Browngardt. The film is distributed by Ketchup entertainment.

The festival will conclude Oct.

The Animation Is Film Festival returns to Los Angeles for its 7th edition of theatrical presentations, special events and shorts showcases, taking place Oct. 18-20 at the Tcl Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

The festival’s opening night begins Friday, Oct. 18, with the North American premiere of the vibrant and musically driven feature film by critically acclaimed Japanese director Naoko Yamada (“A Silent Voice”), “The Colors Within,” from groundbreaking Japanese animation studio Science Saru and distributed in the U.S. by Gkids. The Centerpiece on Saturday, Oct. 19, features the North American premiere of Warner Bros. Animation’s “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie,” which TheWrap saw earlier this year at Annecy and loved. Aif closes its annual event with the Los Angeles premiere of IFC Films’ “Memoir of a Snail” from acclaimed director Adam Elliot, who won this year’s Cristal Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

The seventh Animation Is Film Festival (Aif) will open October 18 at the Tcl Chinese Theatres in Hollywood with the North American premiere of “The Colors Within,” the acclaimed anime from director Naoko Yamada (“A Silent Voice”), Japanese animation studio Science Saru, and distributor GKids. The prestigious festival (which runs through October 20) is produced by GKids in partnership with the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and is considered an Oscar predictor.

“The Colors Within,” which had its world premiere this year at Annecy, concerns a high school student who forms a band with the ability to see the “colors” of others.

The centerpiece on October 19 will be the North American premiere of Warner Bros. Animation’s “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” from award-winning director Pete Browngardt (“Looney Tunes Cartoons”) and distributed in the U.S. by Ketchup Entertainment, which acquired it from Warner Bros. Daffy Duck...

Sorry, millennials, but Warner Bros. Discovery does not care about your nostalgia. A week after announcing the sunsetting of the Boomerang website (effective September 30), Wbd has quietly shut down the Cartoon Network website. It now invites visitors to subscribe to Max for $9.99 a month.

Those who still have a cable subscription, however, can blithely continue watching Boomerang and Cartoon Network programming, making us question why we ever cut cords to begin with.

“We are focusing on the Cartoon Network shows and social media where we find consumers are the most engaged and there is a meaningful potential for growth,” a Cartoon Network spokesperson told IndieWire on August 9. “While we have closed some digital products, fans can continue to interact with Cartoon Network via the Cartoon Network app as well as select TV providers apps on platforms including mobile and connected devices like Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon and via social platforms YouTube,...

The new full-length animated feature “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie”, directed by Pete Browngardt, starring Daffy Duck’ and “Porky Pig’ (Eric Bauza), has found theatrical distribution with Ketchup Entertainment:

“…’Porky Pig’ and ‘Daffy Duck’ are unlikely heroes, but are Earth’s only hope when facing the threat of alien invasion.

“In this buddy-comedy of epic proportions, our heroes race to save the world…

‘…delivering all the laugh-out-loud gags and vibrant visuals…

“…that have made the ‘Looney Tunes’ so iconic, but on a scope and scale yet to be experienced…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Warner Bros has reportedly handed Fixed, an animated comedy from the director of Hotel Transylvania, back to Sony Pictures Animation.

In the wake of Warner Bros Discovery announcing its startling $10bn quarterly loss, a report has emerged that the company has decided not to release Fixed, an adult animated comedy from Hotel Transylvania filmmaker Genndy Tartakovsky.

Under its original deal, Warner Bros Pictures was distributor for Fixed, with the film itself being a joint venture between production companies New Line Cinema and Sony Pictures Animation. Work on Fixed was completed in September 2023 and it was even submitted to the MPAA (which gave it an R rating) but little had been heard from the production in the months since.

Co-written and directed by Tartakovsky, Fixed follows the exploits of Bull, a bloodhound who, on discovering he has a matter of hours before he’s dragged off to the vet to be neutered,...

Of the many crimes the Animaniacs' notorious nemesis, David Zaslav, has perpetrated during his reign of terror as CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, his blatant disrespect for the Looney Tunes ranks high on the list. As if doing little to promote the terrific modern "Looney Tunes Cartoons" series that are available exclusively on Max wasn't bad enough, Zaslav's regime has also yanked a whole lot of golden age "Looney Tunes" shorts from its streaming service and killed the live-action/animated hybrid feature "Coyote vs. Acme" solely for the sake of a tax write-off. Sadly, it seems we'll never know if Dave Green's New Yorker-inspired legal satire was an entertaining as the early buzz suggested. Nevertheless, 2024 is shaping up to be a major year for Bugs, Daffy, Porky, and the rest of the Looney gang.

As of today, Ketchup Entertainment has officially acquired the North American rights to "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie...

The Looney Tunes fandom won’t be dropping any anvils on Ketchup Entertainment anytime soon! We’re in the studio’s debt after it swooped in and acquired the North American rights to Warner Bros. Animation’s The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie for a theatrical release. The upcoming animated feature stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both voiced by Eric Bauza), with Petunia Pig (Candi Milo) rounding out the trio. The film finds Daffy and Porky learning that aliens are plotting to overtake the planet, which leads the pair to put their differences aside and help save the world.

Pete Browngardt directs The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie from a script he co-wrote with Alex Kirwan and Peter Browngardt. The Day the Earth Blew Up will got a world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. At the time, The...

Exclusive: Ketchup Entertainment has acquired the North American rights to Warner Bros. Animation’s The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie from Gfm Animation, which handles worldwide distribution sales. The sci-fi comedy adventure film following the adventures of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig will be released theatrically nationwide; a date has yet to be confirmed.

Directed by Pete Browngardt, the film stars two-time Emmy Award-winner Eric Bauza reprising his roles as lifelong friends Daffy Duck and Porky Pig who uncover a sinister alien invasion plot while working at the local bubble gum factory. Together with Petunia Pig, the unlikely heroes embark on a high-stakes mission to fight off zombies and aliens while delivering all the gags and visuals recognized by Looney Tunes fans.

Franchise vets Candi Milo and Fred Tatasciore also lend their voices to the film as do Peter MacNicol, Wayne Knight and Laraine Newman.

“The Day the Earth Blew Up...

It’s no secret that Warner Bros. Discovery has treated some of the company’s most iconic characters with as much care and respect as Sylvester the Cat gives to Tweety Bird. After shelving a completed Batgirl spin-off and a new Scooby-Doo movie, just so that they could be used as tax write-offs, the corporation made headlines for similarly scrapping the release of the promising, and 100 percent complete, Looney Tunes feature Coyote vs. Acme.

Man, this company would sell off Humphrey Bogart’s bones if they thought it would save them a few bucks.

One silver lining to this depressing turn of events: Warners still had another feature length Looney Tunes project in the pipeline: The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, a sci-fi parody in which Daffy Duck and Porky Pig battle mind-controlling aliens.

The Day the Earth Blew Up made its world premiere...

“The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie”, is a new animated feature, directed by Pete Browngardt, starring ‘Daffy Duck’ and “Porky Pig’ (Eric Bauza), with additional voice work by Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Fred Tatasciore and Laraine Newman, releasing October 2024 in theaters:

“…’Porky Pig’ and ‘Daffy Duck’ are unlikely heroes, but are Earth’s only hope when facing the threat of alien invasion.

“In this buddy-comedy of epic proportions, our heroes race to save the world, delivering all the laugh-out-loud gags and vibrant visuals that have made the ‘Looney Tunes’ so iconic, but on a scope and scale yet to be experienced…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Despicable Me 4 got the crowd going bananas over big moments at its French premiere during the Annecy Animation Festival.

Director Chris Renaud and co-director Patrick Delage took the stage Thursday to introduce the latest installment in Universal Pictures’ popular film series. The franchise is clearly special to the nation; Delage is a French filmmaker, as is Pierre Coffin, who directed 2010’s initial Despicable Me movie with Renaud and continues to voice the mischievous Minions.

“I’m actually here thinking I’m hoping I don’t get emotional,” Renaud told the attendees. “About 14 years ago, my introduction to Annecy was premiering a film called Despicable Me, and the reaction Pierre Coffin, the other director, and I got in this room is something I’ll never forget and something I carry with me to this day. It’s always a thrill to be able to share our movies with such huge...