Space Jam
| Space Jam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Joe Pytka |
| Written by | Leo Benvenuti Steve Rudnick Timothy Harris (screenwriter) |
| Produced by | Ivan Reitman |
| Starring | Michael Jordan Bugs Bunny Wayne Knight Bill Murray Daffy Duck Charles Barkley Patrick Ewing Shawn Bradley Larry Johnson Muggsy Bogues Larry Bird Billy West (voice) Bob Bergen (voice) Bill Farmer (voice) Dee Bradley Baker (voice) Danny DeVito (voice) |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates | November 15, 1996 (USA) |
Running time | 87 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80,000,000 US (est.) |
Space Jam is a 1996 American live-action/animated film starring Michael Jordan opposite Bugs Bunny (voiced by Billy West) and the rest of the Looney Tunes characters. It was produced by Ivan Reitman, and directed by Joe Pytka (live-action) and Tony Cervone & Bruce W. Smith (animation). This film was released to movie theatres by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment in November 15, 1996.
Other voices included Bob Bergen as Porky, Tweety, Hubie and Bertie and Marvin the Martian, Bill Farmer as Sylvester and Dee Bradley Baker as Daffy and Taz.
The Looney Tunes crew did not return to movie status afterwards until 2003 in Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
Space Jam was also converted in a pinball and a video game by Acclaim Entertainment for PC-DOS, Sega Saturn and PlayStation.
Plot
In this movie, aliens called Nerdlucks arrive on Earth to capture the Looney Tunes characters and take them back to Moron Mountain, an outer space theme park belonging to their boss, Mr. Swackhammer, voiced by Danny DeVito. Bugs Bunny convinces the aliens that the Looney Tunes must be allowed to defend themselves. Since the aliens are very short the Looney Tunes challenge them to a basketball game.
The aliens steal the talent of 5 NBA stars (Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Muggsy Bogues, Larry Johnson and Shawn Bradley) and use it to transform themselves into the tall and muscular Monstars. Fortunately, the Monstars haven't stolen the talent of Michael Jordan because he has retired from basketball to pursue a career in baseball (and play golf) (which was a real-life event). Bugs Bunny gets Jordan to help them in their basketball game. The Looney Tunes manage to win the game and their freedom. Swackhammer berates the Monstars for losing, but then they realize that since they're no longer smaller than him, they don't have to put up with his bullying anymore. They launch Swackhammer into space, and give back the stolen skills, becoming Nerdlucks again. Michael Jordan decides to return to basketball, mirroring his real-life return.
Many major and minor characters from Looney Tunes shorts make appearances in the movie, and are even joined by Lola Bunny, a female hare that acts as Bugs' love interest.
Notable cameos include Wayne Knight (as Michael's new manager, Stan), Bill Murray (as himself, but mistaken by Swackhammer in the movie for Dan Aykroyd), Jim Rome, Larry Bird and Scottie Pippen.
The movie ends after the credits with Bugs, Porky, Daffy, the Nerdlucks and Michael saying the famous quote "That's All Folks".
Critical response
Reviews of the movie were generally negative. Many critics compared it unfavorably to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a popular film in which cartoon characters and live-action humans coexisted in the same film as well.[1] Basketball fans thought the movie to be demeaning to the sport, and to Michael Jordan himself. Many of them also claim it was not canon, despite referencing real-life events.
Those who liked the film praised the visual effects, which were groundbreaking at the time. Roger Ebert was among the few major critics to give Space Jam an enthusiastic "thumbs up." Some of his readers theorized that Ebert did so because he works in Chicago, and therefore would be supportive of any of Michael Jordan's endeavours. Leonard Maltin also gave the film a positive review.
Despite the negative press, the film served as a high point for musical artist R. Kelly, whose song I Believe I Can Fly became a hit after it was featured on the film's soundtrack, and became Allegra's favorite song. Other notable musical numbers appearing in the film include a cover of Fly Like an Eagle (by Seal), Hit 'em High (Monstar's Anthem) (by B-Real, Coolio, Method Man, LL Cool J, and Busta Rhymes), and For You I Will (by Monica).
Cast of Looney Tunes characters
- Bugs Bunny
- Daffy Duck
- Lola Bunny
- Porky Pig
- Elmer Fudd
- Yosemite Sam
- Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
- Sylvester
- Sylvester Junior
- Thomas
- Tweety
- Granny
- Witch Hazel
- Rocky and Mugsy
- Foghorn Leghorn
- Barnyard Dawg
- Sam Sheepdog
- Pepe Le Pew
- Penelope the cat
- Taz
- Beaky Buzzard
- Marc Antony and Pussyfoot
- Claude Cat
- Pete Puma
- Speedy Gonzales
- Slowpoke Rodriguez
- Hubie and Bertie
- Miss Prissy
- Gossamer
- The Three Bears (Looney Tunes)
- The Crusher
- Playboy Penguin
- Egghead Junior
- Hippety Hopper
- Michigan J. Frog
- Mac and Tosh, the Goofy Gophers
- Marvin the Martian
- K-9
- Sniffles
- Henery Hawk
- Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier
- Charlie Dog
- Giovanni Jones from Long-Haired Hare
- The Bull from Bully for Bugs
- Cecil Turtle
- The Gambling Bug
- Mr. and Mrs. Gruesome Gorilla
- The Three Little Bops
- The Dover Boys
Trivia
- Daffy asks about a team called "the Ducks". Bugs replies with "what kind of Mickey Mouse organization would call a team 'The Ducks'?"- a reference to Disney's The Mighty Ducks (who are also a real team), as well as Wayne Gretzky's comments concerning the New Jersey Devils in the 1980s.
- Dan Castellaneta and Patricia Heaton make a cameo as a Wife and Husband Fans at the New York game.
- One scene references Pulp Fiction, with Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam dressed as killers and "Misirlou" in the background.
- The movie was inspired by Nike commercials featuring Michael and Bugs against Marvin and an alien. Another Nike commercial is referenced when Larry Johnson says that his grandmother can play better than him (he played his grandmother in an ad).
- When sending Bugs and Daffy to pick up his basketball gear, Michael Jordan tells them that he wore his UNC basketball shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform in every game he played. Jordan really did do this, as a good luck charm.
- Bugs and the other Looney Tunes are shown to reside in Looney Tune Land, a realm located beneath earth's surface. Only two known portals to Looney Tune Land exist, one lying beneath a Piggly Wiggly parking lot in suburban Birmingham, Alabama (also the home of Michael Jordan's minor-league baseball team the Birmingham Barons), the other accessible from a tunnel beneath an unspecified hole on a golf course in the Birmingham metropolitan area. Each portal consists of a membranous elastomer imprinted with the Warner Bros. studio shield (anywhere from 20-50 feet in diameter). The portal can be stretched and punctured by a projectile, admitting persons or vehicles into the skies of Looney Tune Land. Basically the Looney Tune Land to the average intelligent viewer was obviously underground.
- The song that Foghorn Leghorn was singing on the basketball court (oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton...) was "Dixie" .
- Mr. Swackhammer, the antagonist of the movie mistakes Bill Murray for Dan Aykroyd during the basketball game.
- This was the first live-action/animated film ever to be based on various classic Warner Bros. animated cartoons.
- A sequel is rumoured starring Emma Watson.
- In The Simpsons episode Children of a Lesser Clod, Homer says the line "I believe you can fly!"
