July 16th, 2021 
Michael Lyons 
Movies have been inspired by books, TV shows, comics, songs, and toys. But commercials? How could the 30 to 60-second world of product sales give light to a full-length feature? Space Jam, the live action/animated Warner Bros. film from 1996, knew how.
Four years before the film’s release, Nike sneakers debuted two creatively funny TV commercials that featured basketball legend Michael Jordan paired with animation icon Bugs Bunny. The commercials were a hit. They gave way to the thought of green-lighting a live-action/animated feature that would bring Jordan and the Looney Tunes characters together.
The result was Space Jam, released on November 15th, 1996. The movie generated a successful $250 million worldwide at the box office. Thanks to the ever-growing realm of home video and continuous viewings by subsequent generations, nostalgia has become firmly associated with the film by many today.
This nostalgia is so great that a long-awaited, belated sequel, Space Jam: A New Legacy, featuring LeBron James paired with Bugs and the gang, debuts this weekend in theaters and HBO Max.
With this new film about to bow and the original Space Jam on the verge of its twenty-fifth anniversary later this year, it’s the perfect time to look back on what happened when “Air Jordan” and “Hare Jordan” decided to make a movie.
“I knew the potential of the project,” said Bruce W Smith (who co-directed the animation for Space Jam with Tony Cervone) in a 1996 interview. “I worked on Roger Rabbit, so I remember the first time I saw a set of dailies from Roger and imagining how cool it was going to be when everyone saw what the film was going to look like. I basically got the same kind of juices for this film.”
For Space Jam, both traditional and computer-animated elements were combined with live-action sequences (directed by Joe Pytka). More than 700 artists from studios in California, Canada, and London were responsible for bringing the film to the screen. Additionally, Space Jam was produced at an accelerated pace.
“Doing it in such a short amount of time retained the element of spontaneity that I think is often missing in animated movies,” said co-producer Allison Abbate, just before the film’s release. She also added of bringing the iconic Looney Tunes characters to the screen: “We’ve really had to work hard at keeping them in character and going back to that really smart, sophisticated, sarcastic humor that they had. The difference is the updating of the environments that they’re in and seeing how well their personalities play in it.”
In Space Jam, Bugs, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and the rest of the citizens of “Looney Tune Land” (including the introduction of Bugs’ love interest, Lola Bunny) find that villainous aliens (the Nerdlucks) threaten their home. They have been dispatched by their evil leader Swackhammer (the voice of Danny DeVito), who plans on kidnapping the Looney Tunes to help save his failing theme park, “Moron Mountain.”
Bugs challenges the Nerdlucks to a basketball game, with the bet that if the Looney Tunes lose, they go to Moron Mountain. The Nerdlucks siphon strength from major NBA talent and become the Monstars. To challenge this, Bugs convinces his ol’ commercial buddy Michael Jordan to help the “Tune Squad” basketball team defeat the Monstars.
“We’ve never had all the Looney Tunes on screen at the same time before,” said co-director Tony Cervone in 1996. “And, the Looney Tunes have never appeared in a film like this before. So, Bugs really had to become the leader and really had to become the guy who keeps the show on the road, keeps the story moving, and keeps all the other characters in line.”
In addition to Jordan and almost every single Looney Tunes character (including many quick cameos), Space Jam, which Ivan Reitman produced, also featured Bill Murray, Wayne Knight (Seinfeld’s Newman), and actress Theresa Randall playing Jordan’s mom in a flashback sequence. There were also cameos from NBA players Charles Barkley, Shawn Bradley, Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues, and Larry Bird.
When Space Jam was released, its marketing and merchandise were ubiquitous and became one of the prime examples of the 90s “event movie.” In addition to non-stop commercials and other promotions, there were Happy Meals at McDonald’s and an array of products available at the (now defunct) Warner Bros. Studio Store.
Since its release, this attachment to the 90s has only added to the charm of Space Jam for many, as it’s almost a movie version of a souvenir of another time and place. Sequels had been planned and in and out of development for years, but none panned out and eventually led to 2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
All of this ever-growing goodwill for the original led to this summer’s Space Jam: A New Legacy. As far back as 1996, producer Ron Tippe felt that Space Jam would connect with audiences. “Come to this movie and have a good time,” he said of the original. “Certainly, there are enough problems in the world, and for the 90 minutes we have an audience, we want them to share in the joy and the laughter.”
The same could most definitely be said today. Twenty-five years later, it seems it’s the perfect time to Jam again.
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