The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie Eric Bauza Talks Daffy Duck & Porky Pig in The Day the Earth Blew Up

Hey, I'm Allison with FlickDirect, and I'm here with Eric Bauza to talk about The Day the Earth Blew Up, a Looney Tunes movie. Hello, how are you? You know, I'm fine. I'm doing great. I'm in Miami. You know, I flew south here, so, you know, it's about to fall out up north, so I'll be flying back, but to chat with you, it's great. Are your arms tired?

You know, I actually took American Airlines, so I'm a big star, yeah. So, why do we need this movie right now? I feel like it's hard to decipher what's a cartoon and what's reality these days, so why not? I feel like it's a great chance for you to gather your family, your kids, your nieces, your nephews, with a big bucket of popcorn, of course, and a drink, and enjoy these characters that, again, we've known for 90 years.

Oh my gosh, 90 years, but not you personally. What we see, the secret is to moisturize every day and drink three to a full bottle of water every day. Four or five bottles of water. So, Eric, you play both main characters of this movie, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. Talk me a little bit through the technical process of this. Is it one voice first, and then the other?

Or, as I see, you're switching back and forth really easily. I play characters? I don't even know why I'm here, actually. Just, you know, it's all that L.A. traffic. When you're sitting in traffic by yourself, there's only one way to entertain yourself. Now, again, the great Mel Blanc, who originated these voices back in the 40s, he's the original.

He's the original guy, and there's nothing that I could do to change it other than just to try to get within the bullseye. What it is is the story. When you have a great story like this, and getting to work with Pete Braungardt and Alex Kerwan, Sam Register, who's our main man at Warner Brothers Animation, they believe in these characters and are fans as much as I am.

And when you work with a team like that, you know if I'm, like, you know, lost or angry, or anything like that, they will be there to help guide me back and keep me on track. But do you go to one voice? Oh, yeah. Oh, well, you know, in instances like this where we're talking shorthand, I can go back and forth between Daffy and P.A. Porky. But when we record the film, you know, there's a lot more going on.

There's a lot more scene changes, a lot of stakes, and, you know. So you kind of have to separate the voices, separate the performances, and, you know, I talked to Pete, who directed the film, nine times out of ten, he said when they selected the takes that they liked and they put them together, like an actual conversation, it worked. You did your job.

All that couch potatoing paid off. How many voices do you do? Oh, man, that aren't my own. Let's see. Supposedly, someone did a count anywhere between three and five hundred different voices or something like that. Yeah. What's the most difficult to do? I mean, Bugs Bunny, Doc, because everyone knows what that guy sounds like. Yeah. And, you know, I think I'm getting closer every time I try, because if you're smiling, then I know I'm doing a good job.

For this movie, lots of bubble gum everywhere. Yeah. But what do you really want people to take away? I just think you just, this movie was just made to entertain people. At the end of the day. Sometimes a story like this comes along, you may not grow mentally, but you may grow in your heart with laughter and joy, because that's what these characters are made to do, right?

Like, you know, if you want to learn, go read a book. If you want to just laugh for 90 minutes, go watch this movie. It's hysterical. But you know what, though? There's moments where I'm like, am I about to cry in a Looney Tunes movie? Like, there's some pretty sentimental stuff in here. Stuff that I don't think anyone, who's ever handled these characters, has ever come across or kind of like, oh, we could go this way with them, you know?

So I feel like, yeah, this movie, aside from being the first animated Looney Tunes feature, it's also, you know, something that I feel like is one for the history books. So, you know, people will remember this one, I think. Yeah, we get a lot of Disney DreamWorks, all of that. Which is great. Oh, it's all great. Don't get me wrong. This was so much fun and laughing out loud.

Well, good. And jokes for the kids and jokes for the adults. Yeah. We won't say that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, ask your parents on the ride home, guys. That's what I always say. Don't. Just don't. So, for you, is this fun? Is it work? What? A little bit of both. I feel like I found a passion that I can tell my parents, hey, I'm, you know, keeping the lights on.

I'm going to get the lights on with this job. And it's, you know, these days it's tough. It's tough to keep your head above water in this entertainment industry as we maneuver our way out of the pandemic and two strikes and AI. And, you know, it's a miracle that this one got through. But, you know, thankfully, Ketchup Entertainment was there to make sure that a lot of eyeballs will be watching it on the big screen where they deserve to be.

What would you like to do next if you could do anything? Oh. I mean, stay in Miami like at least one more week. I don't know. We'll work that out for you. Okay. Thanks, guys. I'll talk to the people I know. I know some people. You know some people. I heard there's Cuban coffee here that I have to try before I leave. I don't think Daffy needs any Cuban coffee.

I don't know if that's like the thing I want to do, chug Cuban coffee before hopping on a plane to New York. I think, yeah. Because these two characters are so different and Daffy's all over the place. A little Cuban coffee might not be a good thing for him. Next time. Anyway. Thank you so much for your time today. I really loved this movie. Thank you.

Everyone should go see it. Everyone go watch it March 14th. And that's all, folks. Thanks. you Thank you.