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Let's not sugarcoat it: the Looney Tunes have had it rough the past couple of years. Entire movies scrapped, budgets cut, and a general lack of interest from parent company Warner Bros. Discovery have plagued the classic cast of cartoons. Recently, things looked even more grim when the toons' streaming home decided to ditch a bunch of the series old shorts, but not all is lost for Bugs & the Gang. 

Let us explain.

Starting off with the bad news: Warner Bros. Discovery's Max has indeed wiped a staggering amount of Looney Tunes shorts from their platform. Deadline broke the story March 17, citing the disappearance as part of Max's plan to "prioritize adult and family programming," though why the animated shorts don't fall under the latter category is anyone's guess. To get a handle on just how much this deletion entails: the collection of classic Looney Tunes encompassed shorts from 1930 to 1969 - a generation's worth of groundbreaking animation that was disappeared overnight due to the whims of some exec.

I know, it's a pretty dire picture of what's going on for the franchise, which is why we started with that bit (and why we're reminding you, beloved reader, to buy physical media if you can). Now, let's move along to where things are looking a little brighter. That is, in the cinema, with the Porky Pig and Daffy Duck-starring The Day the Earth Blew Up.

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, is a bit of a miracle in animation. Originally given the greenlight in 2021, the scifi spoof was intended to premiere as a Max exclusive streaming film (or HBO Max, as it was known then). However, a year later, the movie was struck from the company's release schedule entirely, with its parent company deciding to shop it around to other platforms, à la Batman: The Caped Crusader. Still, even that bummer was better news than the cast and crew of fellow Looney Tunes project Coyote vs. Acme received - as of this writing, that completed film is being kept behind WB bars for no one to see (NPR has a great piece on why).

But that's an issue for another story. We're talking about good news at this point, right? So let's stay on track.

Fortunately, Warner Bros. Discovery decided in 2023 that The Day the Earth Blew Up would get its time in the green, unearthly spotlight, debuting the comedy at Annecy International Animation Film Festival celebration in June the next year. Premiering to rave reviews, the movie was picked up by distributor Ketchup entertainment, and on March 14, 2025, finally was given limited release in US theaters.

But the story gets even better from here. Posting to BlueSky March 17, storyboard artist for the film Michael Ruocco stated that, due to its small but impressive showing at the box office (BoxOfficeMojo reports it scored a $5.2M weekend), The Day the Earth Blew Up would continue to play in theaters past its rumored cutoff of a one-weekend run. To be entirely forthright, it's not 100% clear if that cutoff was official or just, as we said, a rumor, and Ruocco even clarified that the film was "STILL in a limited release window." The point stands, however, that hearing from the studio means audience's interest in the movie has gotten things moving.

"People ARE noticing," syas Ruocco, "and if the response we got today from the possibility of it getting pulled is any indication of it's worth & demand, it CAN."

Whether or not The Day the Earth Blew Up will have an even wider release (or if Coyote vs. Acme will ever see the light of day) is still very much up in the air, and probably dependent on how the next few weekends go. In the meantime, the best way to make sure that more Looney Tunes are preserved and released is to go see The Day the Earth Blew Up. Having seen in myself, I can promise that you won't be disappointed. Hell, there were enough background jokes I'm sure I missed that I'm considering going again. Maybe you should too?

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