In the latest Pitch Meeting video, Screen Rant’s Ryan George takes us back to the ’90s and reveals how the zany Michael Jordan/Looney Tunes mash-up movie Space Jam was (probably) born.
Directed by Joe Pytka and produced by Ivan Reitman, Space Jam was inspired by a commercial for Nike Air Jordans, in which Bugs Bunny teamed up with Michael Jordan to take down a group of basketball bullies. Though critics weren’t totally enamored with Space Jam, generally viewing it as a shameless cash-in packed with product placement, the sheer weirdness of the movie has ensured its enduring appeal as a classic ’90s movie. Right on cue for the usual nostalgia cycle, a reboot starring LeBron James in the lead role is expected to begin filming this summer.
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As we look forward to Space Jam 2, let’s also take a trip back in time to the original pitch meeting for Space Jam. It was a movie made in a time when Hollywood movies still used 2D animation, Michael Jordan was still the hottest basketball player around, and R. Kelly still seemed like a pretty cool dude. That said, even back then the decision to include a sexy cartoon lady rabbit and have Bugs Bunny get uncontrollably horny around her was a little questionable.
It’s hard to criticize Space Jam too much for its plot holes and occasional breaks in logic, since it does after all have the blanket excuse of taking place in a cartoon world. In fact, having Marvin the Martian serve as the referee because of his bipartisan role as both an alien and a Looney Tune is really more solid logic than any movie about Michael Jordan teaching cartoon characters how to play basketball has any right to include.
Space Jam ultimately grossed more than $230 million worldwide, making it the the highest-grossing basketball movie of all time (take that, Air Bud). While Jordan did return to his basketball career after a brief stint in baseball, he didn’t continue to pursue acting roles – though it’s possible that he might show up in the upcoming Space Jam reboot.
Amazingly, the official website for Space Jam is still live and has remained unchanged since it was launched in 1996. The day it dies will be the end of an internet era, but for now you can still explore the website and test your knowledge with the Looney Tunes trivia quiz.
