Space Jam (film)



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, Joe Medjuck and Daniel Goldberg, and directed by Joe Pytka & Bruce W. Smith (animation). This film was released by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment. Other voices included Dee Bradley Baker as Daffy Duck and The Tasmanian Devil, Bob Bergen as Porky, Tweety, Hubie and Bertie, and Marvin the Martian, Bill Farmer as Sylvester The Cat, Foghorn Leghorn and Yosemite Sam, June Foray as Granny, Maurice LaMarche as Pepe Le Pew, Kath Soucie as Lola Bunny, and Danny DeVito as Mr. Swackhammer. The Looney Tunes crew did not return to movie status afterwards until 2003 in Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Space Jam was also converted into a pinball and videogame by Acclaim Entertainment for P.C.D.O.S., Sega-Saturn, and PlayStation.

Storyline


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, so he can save his business for foreclosure. Bugs Bunny convinces the aliens that the Looney Tunes characters 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 N.B.A. 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, who reluctantly agrees after having been given trouble from The Monstars, who turn him into a basketball and dribble him like one. At the start of the movie, the TuneSquad are banged up until the Bugs, Michael, Lola, and Daffy are left. They are saved from forefeit with the unexpected, but timely arrival of Bill Murray. During that time, Jordan reluctantly makes a deal with Mr. Swackhammer to spare the Looney Tunes in exchange for his own freedom as his newest attraction if the TuneSquad loses. He readily accepts it and and thinks of all the possibilities of what he could bring. Bugs tries to talk him out of it, apparently aware what it means for Michael being subjected to humiliation on Moron Mountain for all time. The Looney Tunes characters manage to win the game and their freedom with Michael extendiing his arm in the toon physica and making the shot. Swackhammer berates The Monstars for losing. Being inspired by Michael, they realize that since they're no longer smaller than him, they don't have to put up with his bullying anymore. They launch Mr. Swackhammer into space possibly back to his failing amusement park, and give back the stolen skills in a basketball. This tranfroms them back to the Nerdlucks again and decide to stay with the Looney Tunes who only agree if they can prove to be looney. Michael Jordan returns to Earth and gives back the stolen basketball talents back to the other players and decides to return to basketball, mirroring his real-life return.

Reviews
Reviews of the movie were mostly mixed. Many reviewers 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. 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 reviewers to give Space Jam an enthusiastic "thumbs up." Some of his readers theorized that Roger 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. Over at the Chicago Tribune, Gene Siskel gave the film 31/2 stars out of 4, while Michael Wilmington gave it 3 stars. 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. 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), For U, I Will by Monica, I Turn to You (by All 4 One), Basketball Jones (by Barry White and Chris Rock), Space Jam (by Quad City DJ's), and I Found My Smile Again (by D'Angelo).

Cast Live Action

 * Michael Jordan as himself
 * Brandon Hammond as Michael Jordan 10 year old
 * Wayne Knight as Stan Podolak
 * Theresa Randle as Juanita Jordan
 * Manner Washington as Jeffrey Jordan
 * Penny Pae Bridges as Jasmine Jordan
 * Eric Gordon as Marcus Jordan
 * Thom Barry as James Jordan
 * Bill Murray as himself
 * Dan Castellanta and Patricia Heaton as a couple whom The Nerdlucks sit next to (in disguise) at a basketball game

Cast of Looney Tunes characters

 * Billy West as Bugs Bunny, Elmer J. Fudd
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Daffy Duck, The Tasmanian Devil
 * Bob Bergen as Porky Pig, Bert and Hubie (cameo), Tweety Bird, Marvin the Martian
 * Kath Soucie as Lola Bunny (debut)
 * Bill Farmer as Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester the Cat
 * Wile E. Coyote
 * Road-runner
 * Sylvester Junior-cameo
 * June Foray as Granny
 * Witch Hazel-cameo
 * Dr. I.Q. Hi-cameo
 * Rocky-cameo
 * The Sleepy Man (from A Pest In The House)-cameo
 * Barnyard Dawg
 * Maurice LaMarche as Pepe Le Pew
 * Penelope Pussycat-cameo
 * Beaky Buzzard-cameo
 * Pete Puma-cameo
 * Speedy Gonzales-cameo
 * Slowpoke Rodriguez-cameo
 * Frank Welker as Charlie Dog-cameo
 * Gossamer-cameo
 * Playboy Penguin-cameo
 * Hippety Hopper-cameo
 * Michigan J. Frog-cameo
 * Mac and Tosh-cameo
 * Colleen Wainwright as Sniffles (cameo), Nawt (also voiced by T.K. Carter)
 * Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier-cameo
 * Giovanni Jones (from Long-Haired Hare)-cameo
 * The Bull (from Bully For Bugs)-cameo
 * Cecil Turtle-cameo
 * The Gambling Bug-cameo
 * Gruesome Gorilla-cameo
 * MacRory (from My Bunny Lies Over The Sea)-cameo
 * The Leprechauns (from The Wearing Of The Grin)-cameo
 * Jocelyn Blue/Darnell Suttles as Pound
 * Charity James/Steve Kehela as Blanko
 * June Melby/Joey Camen as Bang
 * Catherine Reitman/Dorian Harewood as Bupkus
 * Danny DeVito as Mr. Swackhammer
 * Frank Welker as Charles (the dog)

Trivia

 * One scene references Pulp Fiction, with Elmer J. Fudd and Yosemite Sam dressed as hitmen and Misirlou in the background.
 * The movie was inspired by Nikey commercials featuring Michael and Bugs against Marvin. Another Nikey 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.
 * Many minor Looney Tunes characters appear as the auditors at the Looney Tunes basketball game.
 * 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.
 * The early 1930s Looney Tunes stars: "Bosko" and "Beans" makes a cameo appearance.
 * Lola Bunny made her debut appearance here.
 * When the Villains & Nerdlucks turned into the Monstars, they became monster version of the baseball players who talent they have stolen.
 * Pound: An Orange Charles Barkley.
 * Blanko: A Blue Shawn Bradle.
 * Bang: A Green Patrick Ewing.
 * Bupkus: A Purple Larry Johnson.
 * Nawt: A Red Muggsy Bogues.
 * Bugs seem to notice that him and the other Looney Tunes never got any money from the items sold with their pictures on them