Saw this tonight and smiled the whole time. I loved it so much.
If I’m totally honest, cartoons make up a way, WAY bigger part of my development as an artist/illustrator than picture books do. In middle school I used to wake up at five am every day because Revelstoke (for some weird reason) got a channel from Chicago (WGN) which would broadcast Looney Tunes in the early morning. When I was in high school I bought a copy of Chuck Jones’ biography, CHUCK AMUCK, and read it cover to cover a couple hundred times (later, in college I snuck backstage at a showing of BUGS BUNNY ON BROADWAY and got to meet the famous director). This movie was everything I ever wanted out of a Looney Tunes movie.
The hand drawn 2D animation looks so good and the music was a joy. Hearing a fully orchestrated MERRY GO ROUND BROKE DOWN does something good to my heart. The movie is made for animation lovers (there’s even a SPIRITED AWAY reference) but it’s also really funny. It’s possible the movie is too looney for the average picture book audience but if you have a cartoon-loving kid in your home, you should consider taking them to this.
Seeing it is also, weirdly, a political act. The fact that THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP is in theaters at all is a small miracle. This Instagram reel breaks down how Warner Bros. studios has been shelving their animation projects to claim them (for tax purposes) as financial losses.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHWif2hyWMU/#
Lucky for me, lucky for us, Ketchup Entertainment got the distribution rights. THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE in theaters now.
