If you told me 25 years ago there would be a theatrical crossover between the Looney Tunes and an NBA basketball player—well, I would believe you. Because 25 years ago was when the original Space Jam was released. (Also, I was nine years old, and nine-year-olds believe anything!)
Now, 25 years later, the live-action/animated cult classic is finally receiving a sequel. If you told me back then Space Jam would get a second movie, my childhood self would have flipped head over heels in excitement. Now? Can a Space Jam movie even make it big nowadays?
First, we have to ask why Warner Bros. made a movie pairing Michael Jordan with the Looney Tunes. Even back then, the combination seemed as unlikely as peanut butter and pickles. So why put them together into a combo as surprisingly satisfying as peanut butter and chocolate? One word: sneakers!
Four years prior, Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for Air Jordans. The name of the ad was “Hare Jordan.” (Get it? Because pun! Ha!) The ad itself gained so much popularity that another commercial was created. Soon, Michael and the Tunes became so popular, Warner Bros asked themselves, “What if we put them in a full-length theatrical film?”
And so they did.
But why make a sequel 25 years later? Sure, Warner Bros. is banking on the nostalgia of millennial parents, who will no doubt bring along their children to see the film. But will the old formula be able to win over a new generation?
It’s evident why Space Jam prospered in 1996. Michael Jordan was the most popular basketball star at the time, and even though the Looney Tunes had been around for 50 years, the re-runs of their cartoons on Saturday Morning transformed them into a cultural institution. Obviously, Michael Jordan isn’t the big name he used to be, which is why LeBron James is filling the role of the basketball superstar. But are the Looney Tunes still relevant enough to carry a whole movie?
Back in 1996, the Looney Tunes were everywhere on television. They appeared on Saturday morning and weekday afternoons. They aired on ABC, Fox Kids, and Kids WB. They aired on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and even Disney Channel. Whether on syndication or cable, you couldn’t change the channel without coming across Bugs and the gang. So, of course, making a movie about them made sense.
Now? They rarely even appear on Cartoon Network, or even its sister station, Boomerang—which was made specifically for such old cartoons. Most of the classic Looney Tunes shorts are on HBO Max and the Kids WB YouTube channel. Where once the Looney Tunes dominated the cultural landscape, they’ve seemed to have disappeared from television altogether.
To be fair, Warner Bros seems to acknowledge their decline from cultural ubiquity. The sequel is focused less on the Looney Tunes themselves and more on Warner Bros as a whole. The new movie is set in the Sever-verse, the cinematic universe containing Warner Bros’ major IP, including DC Comics, Harry Potter, and The Matrix. Here, the Looney Tunes world is deemed by the main villain to be the world of “the rejects.” So even Warner Bros knows the Tunes aren’t as popular as they used to be.
As for the Looney Tunes themselves, they had long since split up to reside in the other (more popular) Warner Bros properties, requiring LeBron and Bugs to track them down: Lola in Wonder Woman, Coyote and Road Runner in Mad Max, and even Granny and Speedy in The Matrix. They, of course, team up to play a basketball game attended by ever Warner Bros character. Space Ghost. Scooby-Doo. The Flintstones. Even Alex DeLarge and Baby Jane! If the first film sold sneakers, this movie is shilling for HBO Max!
When the Space Jam sequel is leaning less on the popularity of its main Looney Tunes protagonists and more on the entire Warner Bros catalog, one has to wonder how well the movie will fare in theaters (and HBO Max). Will it be a slam dunk like the last movie? Or has its potentially deflated like an old basketball? Only time will tell. Will I still see it? Heck to the yes!
J.C. Alexandre 