Ah, the ’90s. People say that a decade doesn’t get its identity until midway through, and this is very true of the 90s.
In 1996, I was 14 when Space Jam came out, and it is hard to understate how popular everything associated with this film was. Looney Tunes (the Tasmanian Devil, in particular) was on every piece of clothing you could imagine, usually looking “tough.” Michael Jordan was coming back to basketball after retiring a few years prior to play minor league baseball. Basketball, in general, was unavoidable primarily due to the showmanship and performance of teams like the Chicago Bulls. Trading cards and comics were extraordinarily popular as people discovered cards and comics from the early days were worth money, and companies capitalized on this.
As a side note, pop culture had become bigger than ever. The internet was just starting to reach people’s homes and the future felt exciting. TV shows were experimenting with more intriguing premises like a college student “sliding” between dimensions, action-packed high-adrenaline shows like Hercules and Xena were all the rage, Operation ALF, and even having former lifeguards become private investigators that end up possessed by demons…. seriously. Popular comedy shows included Mad TV, In Living Color, and shows with more silliness than SNL could provide at the time.
Meanwhile, older teens and young adults were getting into more angsty music like Nirvana, Live, and other grunge bands. That wasn’t my style. I was more of a Presidents Of The United States Of America, Weird Al, and fun music kind of person.
Essentially, it was the perfect storm for Space Jam (1996) and for me to love it.
Space Jam is the 90s. That’s the best way to put it.
I won’t recap the movie itself, but more the impact and how it feels to watch it 25 years later.
To be transparent, this is a favorite movie of mine to this day. I get that it is campy and pretty much a shameless marketing gimmick, but I dig it. The soundtrack still gets frequent play when I am driving, and often at work too. Sometimes gamers ask “Why are we listening to Space Jam on repeat?” as they play in Magic: The Gathering tournaments. I pretend not to hear them or respond “Come on and slam if you wanna jam!” They eventually learn to ignore it.
Warner Bros made a big deal of this film, which was inspired by the positive reception to a series of Nike commercials featuring Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan back in 1992-93.
They knew they had limited time to capitalize on the popularity of pop culture and made sure to cast appropriately.
For kids like me, the cast was stellar and included the likes of Bill Murray (an actual Ghostbuster), Wayne Knight (Dennis Nedry from Jurassic Park), and Danny DeVito (The Penguin from Batman Returns) There also were some basketball people, but if they weren’t in NBA Jam, I didn’t care. In fact, I never even cared that Jordan was in the film. I was a Scottie Pippen fan. I couldn’t tell you anything about him beyond that he played for the Bulls and he seemed like a cool dude, but he was my pick whenever I had to join in a basketball conversation at school.
Regardless of the cast, the real attraction was seeing your favorite Looney Tunes character alongside actual people.
This was pretty genius of Warner Bros. They knew that there was plenty of nostalgia on the part of the parents, and they would bring the younger kids. It was a safe choice since the older kids would undoubtedly be excited about the NBA player aspect, and it didn’t feel like a “kiddie” movie. Granted 1996 had some incredible family films release such as Muppet Treasure Island, Jingle All The Way, A Very Brady Sequel, and Kazaam, but none had that whole family appeal.
Unfortunately, while the film did fairly well, it didn’t appease most people. Lots of adults were hoping for something with more of the Chuck Jones-style insanity that they grew up with, and there wasn’t all that much for the NBA players to do. Jordan kind of sleepwalks through the whole thing, far too cool to get as loony as his co-stars. He doesn’t seem to have the urgency that the plot requires nor the intensity we see on the court. He just comes across in his typical “nice guy” persona that he cultivated through the years as the face of the NBA. Murray is only in a few scenes and that certainly disappointed fans that came to see Bill Murray do his Bill Murray thing for much of the film.
However, it certainly hit the spot for some people like me who wanted something zany and weird. It worked and, for me, it still does. There are great moments such as Bugs and Daffy sneaking into Jordan’s home to get his lucky shorts. Anytime the Nerdlucks or deeper cut Looney Tunes characters are onscreen, I can’t help but smile.
I watched Space Jam (1996) twice with my son, 13, in preparation for this article. He doesn’t care when the basketball players are on screen, and he has no concept of who Michael Jordan is. I mean, he recognizes Peter Venkman, but that’s about it for the humans. He finds the cartoon antics funny but doesn’t have that attachment that I did to them. He knows who Yosemite Sam, Sylvester & Tweety, Marvin The Martian et al are, but he takes them for granted.
The movie is a time capsule of the era because it requires an innate knowledge of that moment in time. It doesn’t make much sense to someone who didn’t experience why the movie exists. It just kind of does to them.
I feel that this is what will become of the newest Space Jam film as well. Without knowledge of pop culture, it won’t make much sense. Maybe I will write a retrospective of that film as well in 25 years.
Space Jam (1996) is a fun ride because it hits the right notes for me and likely anyone that was a tween/teen in ’96. With that knowledge, give it another shot and throw the soundtrack on while driving. You know you want to jam!
