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September 3, 2026

Coyote vs. Acme (2026)

By Joe

Certain characters are thought of as film royalty: Charles Foster Kane, Vito Corleone, George Bailey, Wile E. Coyote. Yes, Wile E. Coyote belongs among the stars as do Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and an assortment of colorful, animated, characters that have delighted generations on screens big and small. Animated characters never die, their voice may change a bit here and there, but they endure unlike those fragile humans. And it’s because of my belief in the importance of these characters that I demand that they be respected like any other venerable film franchise. They should be celebrated, but for too long in the case of the Looney Tunes has Warner Bros. done the brand a disservice. They allowed these characters to fade away and become less important. There’s likely a generation of kids in the world right now who might not be able to identify these characters by sight and that’s a shame. Lately, there has been a small renaissance. MeTV and its offshoot MeTV Toons is a broadcast channel that makes classic cartoons part of its regular programming. The Day the Earth Blew Up had a modestly successful run in theaters this past year, and Warner even tried its hand at the Space Jam game again. And here to help further that revival is Coyote vs. Acme.

Or, it nearly didn’t. If you’re reading this then by now you’re likely familiar with the story of Coyote vs. Acme. Based on a 1990 article in The New Yorker by Ian Frazier, the film was pitched to Warner by producer/director James Gunn in 2015 and officially went into development in 2018. Dave Green was hired to direct and Will Forte and John Cena were cast as opposing lawyers for the film, one representing Wile E. Coyote and the other Acme. The film was shot, edited, and set for release on July 21, 2023, but a late change meant the film gave up its slot to Barbie and a rescheduled date was not forthcoming. Then in November of that same year word came out that Warner Bros. Discovery was planning on shelving the film choosing instead to take a tax write-off estimated to “save” the company around $30 million. Movies and television shows get cancelled all of the time for various reasons, but in the case of Coyote vs. Acme the film was done. It was complete. Warner had spent around $70 million on the project, but felt a write-off was worth more to them than whatever profit the movie was likely to make. It was especially painful for those who worked on the film because it screened well with test audiences, anyone outside of the production who saw it had nothing but good things to say, and there was really no reason not to give a movie like this a fair shot. It was pure corporate greed and an insult to the Looney Tunes and Hollywood (as well as the general public) took notice.

It only took a couple of days for Warner to go back on its word and instead opted to pursue selling the film instead. When February rolled around and Warner had rejected all offers, it made people question if they were serious or not or if this was all charade to make them look better before eventually hitting the delete button on a finished film. Finally, in March of 2025 it was reported that Ketchup Entertainment had secured the rights to the film for roughly $50 million. Ketchup, as you may recall, is the company that rescued The Day the Earth Blew Up which could have met a similar fate. Ketchup was apparently happy with that investment and was willing to spend money on a Wile E. Coyote movie. I don’t know how that is going to work out for them when it comes to the dollars and cents, but from an artistic standpoint the move has been an explosive hit.

If you have seen even one Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon then you know this isn’t going to work out well for the coyote.

Coyote vs. Acme is the story of one coyote and his quest to eat a bird, and not just any bird, but the Road Runner. However, standing in his way has been the tools provided by the Acme Corporation which seem to always blow up in, on, or around his face. Wile E. Coyote makes his way into Albuquerque, New Mexico to enlist the aid of a small claims lawyer by the name of Kevin Avery (Will Forte), he of the law firm Avery, Jones, & Maltese (brilliant). Avery is the kind of lawyer who looks to eke out a living suing massive corporations like Acme for extremely small sums. He sees Wile E. as a similar candidate and thinks he can get him a couple hundred bucks, but Wile E. circumvents him and the pair end up suing Acme for several millions. Buddy Crane (John Cena) is the hot-shot lawyer for Acme who went to law school with Avery and knows he’s a failure. Confident he can get a settlement agreed to, Avery is more than willing to go along with such, but his client refuses forcing the issue to trial. It’s David vs. Goliath with the fate of Avery’s firm on the line so the stakes are fairly large. And lurking in the backgroun is a secret operation at Acme, Project Sisyphus, uncovering the origins of which may put Avery and his niece clerk Paige (Lana Condor) in legitimate danger.

The big guy vs. little guy plot is probably strong enough to carry the film, but the sordid details, mysteries, swerves, and an escalation of the trial itself really helps to fuel the plot and keep it engaging all the way through. There are some solid dynamics with Kevin and Paige who as a recent law school grad has an idealized version of what a lawyer can and should be while her uncle embodies all of the bad stereotypes. What also helps push things along is the character development between Kevin and Wile E. Coyote. Given one is played by a human actor and the other is a mute cartoon, that’s a bit surprising, but the two play off each other really well. There are some legitimate heartfelt moments between the two and if you’re the sort of person who never felt sympathy for the coyote then you will here. I was never one of those people. I always rooted for the coyote. Cena’s buffoonish turn as Buddy Crane is the perfect foil for Avery and also along as the head of Acme is Foghorn Leghorn (Eric Bauza) who makes for a natural villain as well. He’s played a bit like his role in The Looney Tunes Show where he was a mayor there. A loud-mouthed schnook like him is perfect as a C.E.O. or politician.

I was pleasantly surprised by the visual effects, but if one character looks a bit “off” it’s Foghorn Leghorn.

The film is a live-action animation hybrid and as such is going to invite criticisms to past Looney Tunes movies like Space Jam as well as much better movies like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The movie is less interested in cameos than both of those, but there are still plenty as this is a world where humans and cartoons interact with regularity as part of day-to-day life. DNEG and Duncan Studios provided the animation to bring these characters to life. Most have a 2D appearance, but they’re clearly 3D models and some are more obvious about it than others. The rather bulbous Foghorn Leghorn moves like a big, CG, ball and has a bit of a video game quality to him. As far as films go, it reminded me of the Rescue Rangers movie in terms of quality. For a character like Wile E. Coyote, the effect was less noticeable. Fairly early in my viewing I stopped paying attention to the visual effects where the coyote was concerned and instead was viewing him as another character. He works wells with the human actors and doesn’t look out of place in most shots. There are, of course, plenty of special effects shots designed to play with the hybrid nature of the film and pretty much all of them work very well. There’s a big action set piece towards the climax of the film that probably accounted for a sizable chunk of that $70 million budget and it’s pretty spectacular. This film isn’t going to rival some of the hybrids that came before it, but the visuals were a modest surprise for me and it didn’t come across as some lesser version intended for streaming or something.

The sound design for the film is also very well done with all of the bangs, explosions, and musical stings one would expect of a Looney Tunes movie. Eric Bauza is on-hand to voice many of the characters he’s inherited over the years and there are also a couple of surprises I won’t spoil. Steven Price composed the film’s score and he understood the assignment. Archival sounds for Road Runner’s classic “Meep Meep” were utilized rather than redone and if you listen closely you will hear from Mel Blanc in this one. The non Wile E. Coyote characters are also utilized well. Porky Pig is kind of a schmuck who has been a client of Avery’s multiple times. Gossamer is the one who delivers subpoenas and the always eager to help Charlie Dog is an employee of the firm. Not every classic character makes an appearance, but chances are you will see your favorite with only a couple of notable exceptions. I also have to give a special shout out to Candi Milo who continues to kill it as a modern day June Foray.

He may not have enlisted the best, but this legal team is probably as good as it’s going to get for Wile E. (L to R): Martha Kelly, Lana Condor, Wile E. Coyote, Will Forte, Tone Bell

It’s rather interesting that a film like Coyote vs. Acme in which an aggrieved party tries to get justice by going toe-to-toe with an all powerful corporate entity was the film nearly destroyed by a similar entity in the real world. The parallels are uncanny and if the executives at Warner Bros. Discovery had any sense they would have seen that right away and opted not to pursue such an avenue with such an obvious film. Acme may be the bad guys of the film, but it reads like a stand-in for the parent company itself. It’s also quite clear that none of them watched the movie before coming to such a decision, and if they did then they not only lack any sense of taste, but also have no appreciation for the characters that built this legendary studio they all grow fabulously wealthy via. Warner Bros. is currently for sale and may very well get sold in the next calendar year as the media landscape in the United States further consolidates into a small handful of conservative voices. Who knows what our entertainment will look like following such, but at least Coyote vs. Acme managed to escape before all of that happens. The movie is legitimately funny and especially so for those who grew up loving the Looney Tunes. It is so much better than Space Jam or Looney Tunes: Back in Action and it feels like the squad finally has that live-action, animation hybrid it deserves. If you have a chance to see this one in theaters I highly recommend it. I was pretty sure I was going to have a solid time with it when I bought my ticket, but it exceeded my expectations in every way. My entire family walked out of the movie, including my daughter who clung to her ratty, old, Bugs Bunny plush throughout the whole thing, feeling that we had just watched the best Looney Tunes movie ever. Hopefully, it won’t be the last.

For more from the Looney Tunes, check these out:

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

For all of the success the cast of Looney Tunes have had on the silver screen, it’s rather surprising that they have never been given the chance to helm a feature in their native medium. Sure, we had Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action, but both were live-action/animation hybrid films with one of…

Keep reading
by Joe

Lego 71030 Looney Tunes Minifigures

When it comes to classic cartoons, few would argue against the merits of Warner Bros Studios’ Looney Tunes. Pretty much all of the major studios were invested in cartoon shorts in the 1930s into the 1960s and Warner was a gold mine for hilarious content. The Leon Schlesinger produced Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes churned…

Keep reading
by Joe

Dec. 23 – Bugs Bunny’s 24-Carrot Holiday Special

Let’s try this one more time for 2023 – can we find a good Looney Tunes Christmas special? And more importantly, a good Bugs Bunny one? We’ve looked at two already that were merely okay. Nothing terrible, but hardly holiday classics. For our final go at this, I’m feeling a little more optimistic and that’s…

Keep reading
by Joe

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March 16, 2025

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

By Joe

For all of the success the cast of Looney Tunes have had on the silver screen, it’s rather surprising that they have never been given the chance to helm a feature in their native medium. Sure, we had Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action, but both were live-action/animation hybrid films with one of those centering on a real life wanna-be baseball player. The Looney Tunes are cartoons, first and foremost. They make the most of their medium with wacky, screwball, antics and while those traits are able to show up in a live-action hybrid, they’re still limited and hamstrung by the technology available at the time. And yes, there was a Bugs Bunny/Road Runner movie, but that was not a true feature. It was basically a package film where some shorts were grouped together to pad out a feature sitting – hardly an honest to goodness attempt at a Looney Tunes movie.

That has all changed with The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, but it almost didn’t happen. The Peter Browngardt-helmed picture was conceived as an HBO Max exclusive back when Warner Bros. was going all-in on making the streaming platform a real Netflix competitor. The announcement came in 2021 and the first look at San Diego Comic Con in 2022, but following that things got murky. If you have been paying attention to the Looney Tunes franchise over the past few years, then you know how the franchise has been jerked around by Warner. A new set of cartoons were commissioned for theaters, but plans were quickly dashed and they were put on Max and Cartoon Network instead. Another live-action hybrid film was announced, Coyote vs ACME, and was allowed to go into production before ultimately getting cancelled. That film, which is finished or nearly finished, sits in limbo as a likely tax write-off for the horribly mismanaged corporation that is more than comfortable with turning its back on the stars that made it a household name.

The Day the Earth Blew Up was possibly heading for a similar fate, but was eventually allowed to be shopped around to find another distributor. In other words, Warner Bros. wasn’t going to distribute it on its own. Oh no, it felt better about taking someone else’s money for the privilege of doing so. The film’s budget is estimated to be at a mere 15 million, peanuts for a company of Warner’s size, but perhaps that’s what saved it. The Coyote vs ACME budget is estimated at somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 million making it a far more enticing tax write-off to the villains running the show. The fact that this little 2D animated film was so cheap is likely what saved it. And riding in to save it is Ketchup Entertainment. I don’t like pumping up corporations as heroes, but I’ll make an exception here. Ketchup acquired the North American distribution rights to the film and is the reason why the Looney Tunes property is getting a shot. I don’t know if it will pay off for them, but I’m doing my part to make sure that it does.

Porky and Daffy are your starts with not a rabbit in sight.

Now, most folks would have probably assumed that if a Looney Tunes movies was to happen it would be either helmed by Bugs Bunny or presented as an ensemble. It’s not. The Day the Earth Blew Up is a Porky Pig (Eric Bauza) and Daffy Duck (Bauza) vehicle that also brings Petunia Pig (Candi Milo) along for the ride. And it’s a smart premise to start from. Out of all the characters in Looney Tunes, the best, most logical, duo to center a film on is Porky and Daffy. Sure, they started out as adversaries with Porky in a hunter role and Daffy his would-be prey, but they would evolve over the years into unlikely partners. Often, Porky was the everyman of the group while Daffy was the instrument of chaos. His unpredictable nature would get Porky into trouble and foul things up. Later, Daffy would transition away from his looney roots to a schemer and Porky would be his sap. Sometimes, Porky got to be more of the comedic relief with Daffy a hapless protagonist as seen in the Duck Dodgers cartoons. For a sequence of cartoons that exist in increments of about 8 minutes, it’s pretty incredible how the relationship between these two has been presented over the years.

For this film though, we’re going back to basics. The Looney Tunes Cartoons which Browngardt oversaw were not shy about their affinity for Bob Clampett’s style. And it makes sense because the guys who outlived everyone (namely Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng) got to see their interpretations of the characters become the more recognized. Now, with everyone long gone, the animators of today are able to shine a spotlight on the guys who were left behind like Clampett and Tex Avery. Porky and Daffy are very much their Clampett interpretations with Porky a bit of a worry wart and Daffy his more looney self (and they get a lot of use out of that word in the movie). They’re given a backstory where they were found by a man named Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore) who raised them and eventually left his house and property to them with the advice to always stick together and take care of their home. In the modern day, they have stuck together, but have mostly let that house fall into a state of disrepair. A wayward asteroid puts a hole in their roof which proves a major problem for the pair as the local HOA rep (Laraine Newman) was due that day to come by and inspect the property.

We have ourselves an alien invasion plot, which gives the film a 50s vibe despite its modern setting.

Things do not go Porky and Daffy’s way and they’re given ten days to repair the roof or see their home condemned. The problem there is not only do they not have enough money for repairs, they don’t have jobs! This leads to a series of job failures by the duo until they eventually happen upon Petunia Pig who, as a flavor inventor for a local gum company, is able to get them factory jobs. Unfortunately, the hole in their roof was caused by an interstellar being (played by Peter MacNicol) who plans to use the factory’s gum and its much celebrated rollout of a new flavor as a way to seize control of the population! Daffy, Porky, and Petunia are the only beings on Earth capable of saving it, a prospect likely not to give anyone much confidence.

It’s an honest to goodness plot for the film rooted in 1950’s sci-fi movie tropes. If you were expecting something more scatter-brained and suited for their usual format, this isn’t it. This is a real feature that has real conflict, character growth, and a proper resolution. At 90 minutes, there are times when the film starts to feel a little long, but smart use of musical bits help break things up. No, this isn’t an actual musical, but it’s not afraid to use some licensed music to help speed things up and it’s usually done in a humorous way.

The movie does a great job of inventing characters that take advantage of the medium.

And humor is the film’s main goal as it never forgets its roots. The Day the Earth Blew Up is a very funny movie and it’s able to pull it off without an overreliance of recycled gags from the shorts. If you’re expecting a classic misdirection bit to occur between two characters then you may be surprised to hear there isn’t one. Less than 24 hours removed from seeing the film for myself, I’m having a hard time coming up with a bit lifted directly from an old short. There’s a reoccurring spit-take joke, but the spit-take is not a uniquely Looney Tunes gag so I’m not sure I’d count that. You’re going to get stutters from Porky and Daffy’s “hoot hoot” routine, but that’s expected. Instead, the film just relies on good timing and creative gags to induce laughter. It’s about as fresh as one could expect Looney Tunes humor to appear in 2025.

The voice cast and music do a great job of uplifting the movie. Eric Bauza has basically made himself a modern day Mel Blanc with how many characters he’s able to voice. I’ve seen some criticism of his Porky voice on the internet that I mostly don’t agree with. His Porky is not going to be mistaken for any other cartoon character. The stuttering has been toned down slightly, but I think that’s for the best since we’re talking 90 minutes vs 8. And his Daffy is just plain terrific. Do these characters sound exactly like they did in 1950? No, of course not, how could they? Mel Blanc is dead and has been for over 30 years. It’s my personal pet peeve when people criticize a film or show when the characters sound different either because a new actor took over or an existing one is aging. It’s what happens, folks. These characters get to outlive us all and it’s part of their appeal. The alternative is stitching things together with old tapes or A.I. which strikes me soulless. Or there’s recasting in the case of someone who is just getting old, but that’s taking away someone’s job. In short, yes, these characters sound different. Get over it!

The movie may star Porky and Daffy, but Petunia makes a mark as well.

In addition to Bauza we have Candi Milo as Petunia Pig. She does a fantastic job with the character, and unlike Porky and Daffy, she practically gets to start with a blank slate. Petunia was seldom used in the golden era, and when she was, she didn’t have much personality of her own. This film rectifies that making her a very ambitious scientist with a bit of a quirky side to her. The chemistry between she and Porky feels genuine and not tacked on and she’s allowed to be funny, just like the boys. MacNicol’s invader character, who is never given a name, is an interesting antagonist in that it’s allowed to remain somewhat mysterious while also getting to join in on the comic relief. Often with things happening to it as opposed to a result of something the invader does. Joshua Moshier’s score lives up to the reputation of the brand. He was able to record with a live orchestra and the film is all the better for it.

The star of the show is not really the characters or the voices, but the animation. Glorious 2D animation! If you have seen the more recent Looney Tunes Cartoons or the Animaniacs reboot on Hulu then you have a pretty good frame of reference for how The Day the Earth Blew Up looks. In my reviews of some cartoons from those respective shows, I’ve often come to the conclusion that they look as good as they possibly can for a modern production. Everything is digital, but with a hand-drawn flourish. This isn’t the puppet-like animation you find with adult animated sitcoms like Bob’s Burgers and The Simpsons. There’s actual squash and stretch animation here with exaggerated movements and excellent effects animation. Since this is a feature, it does look better than the TV counterparts, but not dramatically so. It’s a very interesting movie to look at and in some of the faster paced sequences it made picking out the visual gags and little touches more fun. I look forward to being able to watch this at home some day so I have the benefit of being able to linger on a scene a little longer than I could in a theater.

Hopefully, this won’t be all.

We had to wait a long time for a proper Looney Tunes movie, but The Day the Earth Blew Up was worth the wait. It’s another feather in the cap of this venerable franchise and it does nothing to harm its legacy, it only adds to it. It’s a funny, engaging, film that’s a treat for the eyes and should find little trouble in appealing to both kids and adults, provided both have at least some affection for Looney Tunes styled animation and humor. My two kids loved it, but I’ve also raised them on Looney Tunes (the Looney Tunes Golden Collection is one of the best purchases I ever made) and my daughter brought her well worn, much loved, Bugs Bunny plush to the theater with her so he could see his buddies in action. Unfortunately, the franchise is in the hands of Warner Bros. who can hardly be trusted as proper caretakers. For that reason, I’m skeptical we’ll get a sequel or another Looney Tunes movie in this style, but at least we have The Day the Earth Blew Up. If you’ve ever loved the Looney Tunes or 2D animation, then I urge you to check it out while it’s playing in theaters because who knows if we’ll ever get this chance again?

Love the Looney Tunes? Then we have some more reviews of things that may interest you:

Lego 71030 Looney Tunes Minifigures

When it comes to classic cartoons, few would argue against the merits of Warner Bros Studios’ Looney Tunes. Pretty much all of the major studios were invested in cartoon shorts in the 1930s into the 1960s and Warner was a gold mine for hilarious content. The Leon Schlesinger produced Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes churned…

by Joe

Dec. 23 – Bugs Bunny’s 24-Carrot Holiday Special

Let’s try this one more time for 2023 – can we find a good Looney Tunes Christmas special? And more importantly, a good Bugs Bunny one? We’ve looked at two already that were merely okay. Nothing terrible, but hardly holiday classics. For our final go at this, I’m feeling a little more optimistic and that’s…

by Joe

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