If you lived in the 1990’s, you could believe men could fly. And that was, partially, true, when you saw Michael Jordanof the Chicago Bulls take the court and dominate the game. The man, simply, defied gravity in so many extraordinary ways. He was a legend and a star that everyone aspired to. Where Michael Jackson was an icon for music, Michael Jordon was an icon for basketball, sports, and the game. So in the year of 1996, Warner Bros. took their animation mascot, Bugs Bunny, and paired him with big Michael himself for a little movie called Space Jam.
In the movie, Bugs and the gang need help as the Monstars (Get it!?) come from another world to take over. Their fate is decided on the court and so Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of the wild and crazy gang recruit Michael Jordan. Despite mixed reviews the movie earned $230 Million for Warner Bros. Also, the accompanying soundtrack, made famous for “I Believe I can fly†by R. Kelly, went 6x Platinum, becoming another overwhelming success. The movie is remembered for its interesting animation qualities, which featured motion capture, along with the general silliness and fun. The movie also spawned a lot of merchandise, including a video game by acclaim.
Announced today, a sequel as been greenlit and will star LeBron James of the Miami Heat. No other details have been given only that a script is being worked on right now as we speak and it is going forward. As a writer, it is starting to sink in that this is coming! As a kid back then, Space Jam was a HUGE phenomena. It was similar to Top Gun and Avatar. Where Top Gun made everyone want to be a fighter pilot and Avatar made everyone want to be the Naa’vi on an alien world, Space Jam made everyone want to be a basketball superstar.
Now, this will not be a simple path for Warner Bros. With the exception of The Looney Toons Show on Cartoon Network, as well as some direct-to-dvd movies, many audiences today probably don’t know who Bugs Bunny, the Tasmanian Devil, or Daffy Duck are. Their cartoons are exceptionally old but they are reran. Granted, they typically are aired during the day, when everyone is at work, or on Boomerang. If this is going to work, Warner Bros. needs to reintroduce this gang. The Hub Network has done a swell job, reairing Tiny Toon Adventures, which is a fun cartoon takes place in the same vein as the rest of the gang.
To get a glimpse of the cheer awesome that was the first movie, hit the trailer below. In the meantime, I think I’m going to jam out to the soundtrack for the next few days. Stay “tooned” and keep an eye out for this one!