Space Jam

Rating: Null/10 (24 February 2014)

What can be said about the one and only, Space Jam? Directed by Joe Pytka, it was released on November 15, 1996 in theatres worldwide. This mix of an animated and non-animated movie was a huge success, which can be proved by its box office success, grossing a total of $90,443,603 ("Space Jam"). But, what makes this movie so great? What makes this movie different from all the other movies out there? The creators of Space Jam craftily combined actors, different audience appeals, and parallelism with reality into a movie adored by critics and the public alike. The actor choice in Space Jam is not something to overlook. Everyone knows and loves Michael Jordan, who played for the University of North Carolina in college and the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards in the NBA ("Michael Jordan Bio."). Besides the great "Air Jordan," there are other famous basketball players in the movie, including Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Muggsy Bogues, Larry Johnson, Shawn Bradley, and the great Larry Bird. Moving away from basketball stars, this film also features Wayne Knight, who played Newman on Seinfeld, and Theresa Randle, who also starred in films Bad Boys and Beverly Hills Cop II. And of course, who can forget the Looney Tunes. Every character from the show appears in this movie, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, the Tasmanian Devil, and introducing Lola Bunny, Bugs' sweetheart ("Space Jam." IMDb). All of these characters are vital in feeding audience's attraction to this movie. The child appeal for this movie is pretty obvious. First off, most kids are going to want to prefer animation in a film than no animation at all. And of course, you have the Looney Tunes. Although they were around more prevalently from 1970s through the 1990s than now, all the kids during 1996 knew who they were because of The Looney Tunes Show. The antics they pull in this movie are hilarious, anywhere from the cleaning the gym with spit to Daffy showing off his curves in a mini fashion show. Although a lot of Space Jam's content is geared toward the young, adults definitely do not have a hard time sitting down with their kids to watch it. Although it is cartoon, adults truly do appreciate Space Jam. The actors, especially the NBA players, are very familiar to the adult audience of the time. Plus, there is a sense of happiness watching MJ, whether he is acting or playing basketball in a cartoon gym. Some adult humor is also present in the movie, like the reference to Ghostbusters, Charles Barkley's relations with Madonna, and a therapist asking Patrick Ewing about being unable to perform in other areas in his life. These small things go unnoticed by kids, but the movie's funny comments and the true parts of MJ's life keep the adults entertained. Like in the classic movie Forrest Gump, Space Jam has real history events embedded in its plot. In the opening credits, highlights of Jordan's years playing for UNC and the Bulls are shown. Then, during the movie, he retired from the NBA and went on to play baseball. This all took place, playing for the Tar Heels from 1981 to 1984, the Bulls from '84-'94, and baseball during the '94-'95 season ("Michael Jordan Bio."). During the entire movie, he plays baseball, which he is terrible at, just like in real life. At the end of the movie, MJ decides to come back to basketball with the Bulls once again. Because of the parallelism with reality, I think that one of goals of Space Jam was to make a story about how playing for the Tune Squad motivated Jordan to quit baseball and play basketball once again. Critically speaking, Space Jam got positive reviews by credible movie reviewers. Peper Stack, a Chronicle Staff Critic, said that "Space Jam" is littered with laughs, partly owing to the interplay among Murray, Bird (Larry, not Tweety) and Jordan, and a giddy on-court pacing that brings brain function to a halt. Bugs has some great lines; inspired jokes take swipes at Warner Bros. rival Disney as well as humans who don't really have a clue about toon life" ("Shooting Hoops"). Even the famous Roger Ebert called it "delightful." He said he thought the movie was funny, especially how it takes a jab at Disney ("Space Jam"). Even though the movie can be cheesy sometimes, the critics seemed to have really enjoyed it. The creators of Space Jam were geniuses. They took famous basketball players and the classic Looney Tunes characters and put them into an 88-minute film with a great American sport ("Space Jam"). Honestly, if you have never seen this movie, you are really missing out. The actors, audience appeal, and parallelism with reality intricately combine into the classic movie Space Jam, a timeless classic that you and the critics will want to watch over and over.
Works Cited Ebert, Roger. "Space Jam." Rogerebert.com. Roger Ebert, 15 Nov. 1996. Web. 21 Feb. 2014. "Michael Jordan Bio." NBA.com. The National Basketball Association, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. Pytka, Joe, dir. Space Jam. Warner Bros Family Entertainment, 1996. Film. "Space Jam." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014. Stack, Peter. "Shooting Hoops With Toons / Jordan, Bugs Team up in Frantic 'Space Jam'" SFGate.com. The Chronicle, 15 Nov. 1996. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.