68 Fun Facts About Space Jam

Who directed the 1996 film Space Jam?

Joe Pytka made his name in TV commercials and had already directed Jordan and Bugs Bunny together in a Nike Super Bowl spot, which is why the studio hired him.

What is the name of the failing outer-space amusement park in Space Jam?

Moron Mountain is losing its crowds, so its owner Swackhammer sends his minions to kidnap the Looney Tunes as the park's new star attraction.

Which actor voices Swackhammer, the alien amusement park boss in Space Jam?

Danny DeVito. Animators recall that Swackhammer was nearly a live-action villain, with Dennis Hopper expected in the part, before he was redrawn as a cartoon like the Tunes.

In Space Jam, the Tunes choose basketball because the Nerdlucks are what?

Tiny: after a spelling bee and a bowling tournament are floated, the Tunes pick the game short legs can't win, only for the aliens to steal NBA talent and grow into giants.

What do the Nerdlucks call themselves after stealing NBA talent?

The Monstars even change voices: as Nerdlucks the five aliens are all played by women, as their transformed selves by men.

Which NBA legend appears in Space Jam with his talent untouched by the Nerdlucks?

Larry Bird, who had retired from the Celtics in 1992, turns up as a friend of Jordan's, while the Nerdlucks take their talent from stars still playing in NBA games.

Which sport has Jordan quit basketball to play when Space Jam's main story begins?

Baseball. Jordan really did leave the NBA for minor-league baseball while the film was being planned, so the writers put it in the script.

What is Jordan doing when the Looney Tunes pull him into their world?

Playing golf. Jordan has just hit a hole in one, and when he reaches into the cup for his ball the Tunes suck him down the hole.

What was actually in the bottle Bugs passed off as Michael's 'secret stuff'?

Water. The Tunes rally after drinking it, and when they beg for more they learn the truth: they had the special stuff inside them all along.

Who unexpectedly shows up to join the Tune Squad in the final seconds?

Bill Murray came in for a single early scene, the director recalls, but once he saw how the cartoon shots were staged, extra scenes were written to bring him back for the finale.

How does Jordan score the winning basket in Space Jam?

Stretches his arm to dunk: held back by the aliens as time runs out, he takes Bugs's advice that cartoon physics work for him here too and reaches all the way to the rim.

What happens to Swackhammer after his own team turns on him?

Launched to the moon in a missile, once Jordan makes his henchmen see that they no longer have to take his bullying; they then hand back the stolen talent.

Who plays Jordan's publicist Stan Podolak in Space Jam?

Wayne Knight, Newman from Seinfeld, got the part only after the director's first choice, Michael J. Fox, fell through.

Which team name does Bugs dismiss in Space Jam as the idea of a 'Mickey Mouse organization'?

The Ducks. A teammate floats it as the Tunes' new name, and Bugs's put-down is Warner Bros. taking a dig at Disney, which then owned hockey's Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Who voices Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film Space Jam?

Billy West recalls that he was working on The Howard Stern Show when one of the film's producers, there to make Stern's own movie, heard his voices in the studio and asked him to audition.

Which Rugrats voice actor plays Lola Bunny in Space Jam?

Kath Soucie had no earlier voice to copy, because Lola was a brand-new character created for the film as a match for Bugs.

In Space Jam, Lola Bunny tells Bugs 'Don't ever call me' what?

Doll. Bugs uses the word while challenging her to a game of one-on-one, and she delivers the line only after showing him up on the court.

Which earlier comic-book girlfriend of Bugs was reportedly dropped from Space Jam for looking too much like him in drag?

Honey Bunny had been Bugs's comic-book girlfriend since the 1960s, but an artist is said to have scrawled 'Bugs in drag?' on her new model sheet, and Lola was created instead.

Which college's shorts does Jordan send the Tunes to fetch in Space Jam, having worn them under his Bulls uniform?

North Carolina. The joke was true to life: Jordan really did keep wearing his old college shorts under his Bulls uniform, and in the film he has to promise the disgusted Tunes that he washed them.

Who voices Lola Bunny in Space Jam: A New Legacy?

Zendaya's Lola was redrawn with a less curvy look because the director found the 1996 version 'very sexualized', a change that set off a loud debate online.

Space Jam grew out of which 1992 Nike Super Bowl ad pairing Jordan with Bugs Bunny?

Hare Jordan took about six months and $1 million to make, partly because Warner Bros. fought Nike's plan to modernise Bugs before giving way.

Before Bugs Bunny, Nike ads paired Michael Jordan with Mars Blackmon, a character from which film?

She's Gotta Have It gave Nike its fast-talking Jordan fan; the adman behind those spots then chose Bugs as the next partner because the rabbit was his childhood hero.

Why did Jordan's agent turn down dozens of film offers before Space Jam?

He couldn't act, David Falk says he told his client: when Jordan joked about becoming the first Black James Bond, Falk replied that the one role for him was Michael Jordan.

In Space Jam, a desperate Charles Barkley prays in church, vowing never again to date which pop star?

Madonna. Begging for his basketball skills to come back, Barkley also promises never again to swear, trash-talk or pick up another technical foul.

Which director offered to polish Space Jam's screenplay but was kept off the film by Warner Bros.?

Spike Lee, the film's director recalls, offered to polish the script, but the studio had not forgiven him for getting friends to put up money to finish Malcolm X.

Why did Warner Bros. build Jordan a full basketball court on the Space Jam lot?

To train for the NBA season: only months after rejoining the Bulls, Jordan worked out between takes in the 'Jordan Dome', whose evening pickup games drew NBA stars and Hollywood onlookers.

Robert Zemeckis reportedly warned Space Jam's producer 'Don't do it, it nearly killed me', speaking of which of his films?

Who Framed Roger Rabbit had also put live actors beside cartoon stars, and Zemeckis is said to have called it the hardest thing he had ever done.

In A New Legacy, which cartoon duo returns the Tasmanian Devil to the Tunes after experimenting on him?

Rick and Morty hand Taz back because Bugs and LeBron are touring the studio's other fictional worlds to round up the Tunes, who had scattered across them.

Chuck Jones complained that Porky Pig would never say which line from Space Jam?

'I wet myself', Porky's reply when a giant alien says 'Boo', was not Jones's only complaint: he also said Bugs would never need to recruit help to see off a few aliens.

What happened to Chuck Jones after he told Space Jam's animators what he really thought of their film?

Escorted off the lot: invited to give a congratulatory speech at a studio dinner, the veteran Looney Tunes director is said to have torn into the film instead.

Which improv troupe supplied the green-suited stand-ins for the Tunes on Space Jam's set?

The Groundlings' comedians wore green suits and played each Tune in character, voices included, so Jordan had someone real to act against before the animators drew over them.

Who composed Space Jam's orchestral score?

James Newton Howard was reportedly brought in after classic Carl Stalling cartoon cues, tried as a temporary soundtrack, sounded dated against the film's modern look.

Which Space Jam ballad won Grammys?

I Believe I Can Fly began, R. Kelly has said, when Jordan asked him for a song for his film after the two played pickup basketball at a Chicago athletic club.

Seal's contribution to the Space Jam soundtrack was a cover of which Steve Miller Band song?

Fly Like an Eagle went top ten again in Seal's hands, twenty years after the original, and he slips a line from his own hit 'Crazy' into the fade-out.

Which group performed Space Jam's title song?

Quad City DJ's first built the theme around a sample of the stadium chant 'Rock and Roll (Part 2)', but it was pulled at the last minute and the track worked without it.

Which Looney Tunes character was cut entirely from Space Jam: A New Legacy after a scene with him had been shot?

Pepé Le Pew was reportedly to be slapped by a woman he pesters in a Casablanca-style bar and then told about consent, but the scene was dropped after the film changed directors.

Which deep-voiced soul star joined Chris Rock on the Space Jam soundtrack's cover of 'Basketball Jones'?

Barry White croons a 1973 Cheech & Chong parody whose original backing band, pulled together on the spot at the studio, included George Harrison and Carole King.

Which Looney Tune takes the mic for a rap battle during the big game in A New Legacy?

Porky Pig. His teammates hype him as 'the Notorious P.I.G.', and he turns his stutter into record-scratch sounds before launching into his verse.

Which Space Jam side business took in over $1 billion, several times the film's box office?

Merchandise. Jordan's agent had pushed the film as much for its retail potential as for its box office, and he was right: the tie-in products sold more than $1 billion.

The First Slam Dunk, which broke Space Jam's basketball box-office record, is from which country?

Japan. The 2022 film of the hit manga Slam Dunk took the record with almost all of its earnings coming from outside the US, after Space Jam's own 2021 sequel had failed to beat the original.

Which 1996 Space Jam relic lasted almost unchanged for 25 years?

Website: the 1996 site kept its galaxy-themed look and animated GIFs until 2021, when the sequel took over the address and the original moved to an archive page.

Which comedy legend was reportedly in talks to voice the alien villain of the canceled 1990s Space Jam 2?

Mel Brooks. The villain's designer recalls redrawing Berserk-O! to look like him after studying freeze-frames of his films, only for the sequel to be scrapped within weeks when Jordan would not star.

Which unmade Space Jam spin-off would have starred Jackie Chan?

Spy Jam. Chan's management opened talks with the studio in 2001, but the project fell through and Warner Bros. made Looney Tunes: Back in Action instead.

Who directed Space Jam: A New Legacy?

Malcolm D. Lee took over a few weeks into the shoot, after first director Terence Nance and the studio found they had different visions for the film.

What is the name of Don Cheadle's villainous AI in A New Legacy?

Al-G Rhythm, a pun on 'algorithm', is the studio's own software gone rogue: craving recognition, he traps LeBron and his son inside the Warner Bros. servers.

What is the name of the villain's team in A New Legacy?

Goon Squad players are supercharged avatars of real NBA and WNBA stars, made from scans that LeBron's son had taken of the players.

In A New Legacy, what power does Damian Lillard's supervillain avatar have?

Time control. The avatar, a golden clockwork robot called Chronos, is built on Lillard's own nickname: in the film he asks for a special mode and says to call it 'Dame Time'.

What is Klay Thompson's avatar called in A New Legacy?

Wet-Fire switches between a water form and a flame form, a nod to the 'Splash Brothers' nickname Thompson shares with Stephen Curry.

In A New Legacy, which Tune claims to have found Michael Jordan but brings back an actor instead?

Sylvester. He comes back with the actor Michael B. Jordan, explaining that after 25 years he assumed His Airness had simply aged gracefully.

In A New Legacy, what kind of points let the villains lead the Tunes by about 1,000 at halftime?

Style points. Showy moves earn extra under the game's rules, so the half ends 1,039 to 37, and LeBron finally lets the Tunes fight back with cartoon physics.

A New Legacy was released in theaters and simultaneously on which streaming service?

HBO Max streamed it for its first month, because Warner Bros. answered the pandemic by putting its entire 2021 slate online and in cinemas on the same day.

Which voice actor is the only cast member of the 1996 Space Jam to reprise his role in A New Legacy?

Bob Bergen came back as Tweety, though the other characters he voiced in 1996, Marvin the Martian among them, went to a new actor.

In A New Legacy, Lola Bunny has left the Tunes to train alongside which DC superhero?

Wonder Woman. Lola abandons her final trial to rescue Bugs and LeBron and thinks she has failed, but is made an Amazon anyway, judged on her values as much as her skills.

Which cartoon superhero team sat down to watch and heckle Space Jam in a 2021 Cartoon Network special?

The Teen Titans: in their special, the Nerdlucks drop in on a watch party where Cyborg supplies the fun facts and Raven and Starfire talk over the film.

Where did Space Jam hold its premiere on November 10, 1996?

Grauman's Chinese Theatre got the red carpet, but the film's voice actors say they were not invited into the main house and watched from a smaller theater next door.

In Space Jam, Jordan sends Bugs and which other Tune to his house to fetch his basketball gear?

Daffy Duck. The pair tunnel up outside Jordan's house and run into the family bulldog, but his children help them and promise to keep the game a secret.

In Space Jam, the purple Nerdluck Bupkus is voiced by the daughter of which producer?

Ivan Reitman's daughter Catherine got the part, years before she created and starred in the sitcom Workin' Moms.

In Space Jam, the Nerdlucks reach the Tunes' world through a portal hidden where?

The center of the Earth: Looney Tune Land lies deep underground, which is why the Tunes sent to Jordan's house have to dig their way up to the surface.

Which Tune cleans the squad's filthy practice gym in seconds in Space Jam and declares it 'lemony fresh'?

The Tasmanian Devil whirls through after Jordan calls the place a mess and the Tunes reply that it is nothing a little spit shine wouldn't fix.

Space Jam's producer had earlier directed which comedy hit?

Ghostbusters: its director was no hands-off producer on Space Jam, and once the live-action scenes were shot he personally steered the animators through the rush to finish the film.

Space Jam's director wrote and shot a cut ending in which Jordan does what after returning to Earth?

Hits a home run: the director added the scene as a tribute to Robert Redford's famous home run in The Natural, but it was dropped from the finished film.

Which 7-foot-6 center is one of the five NBA players whose talent the Nerdlucks steal in Space Jam?

Shawn Bradley and the other four suddenly can't play, and the film sends them to doctors and a psychiatrist in a vain search for their lost skills.

Which sportscaster calls the big game in Space Jam: A New Legacy?

Ernie Johnson is among the real people the villain pulls into the virtual arena, and he tells viewers that if the Tunes lose, everyone there will be trapped for good.

Space Jam was shot by Michael Chapman, Oscar-nominated for photographing which Martin Scorsese film?

Raging Bull: the man who lit its black-and-white boxing matches spent Space Jam filming Jordan in an empty green room, with his cartoon co-stars drawn in afterwards.

Which Bad Boys actress plays Michael Jordan's wife Juanita in Space Jam?

Theresa Randle is one of the film's stand-ins for real people: Jordan and the NBA stars play themselves, but his wife and three children are all played by actors.

Which voice actor plays Daffy Duck and the Tasmanian Devil in the 1996 film?

He was cast for his convincing improvisation skills; Joe Alaskey, one of Mel Blanc's successors, quit after months of auditions.

In Space Jam: A New Legacy, LeBron's son Dom dreams of becoming what?

A game developer: Dom would rather design basketball video games than play the sport, and the showdown with his father is fought inside the game he built.

Which WNBA star's avatar on the villain's team is the snake-like 'White Mamba' in Space Jam: A New Legacy?

Diana Taurasi lent the avatar her own nickname: her clutch scoring and fierce competitiveness had already made her the WNBA's White Mamba.