70 Fun Facts About Space Jam

Who directed the 1996 film Space Jam?

Pytka was best known for commercials and had directed the Nike ads that inspired the film.

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

Its owner wants the Looney Tunes as new attractions to bring the crowds back.

Which actor voices Swackhammer, the amusement park owner?

He ended up being the only celebrity voice actor in the film.

How many Nerdlucks does Swackhammer send to abduct the Looney Tunes?

One for each NBA player whose talent they go on to steal.

What do the Nerdlucks call themselves after stealing NBA talent?

Each Monstar is voiced by a different actor from the tiny Nerdluck version.

Which of these NBA players did NOT have his talent stolen by the Nerdlucks?

Bird appears as himself on the golf course instead of on the court.

Which sport had Jordan left basketball to pursue when the film's main story begins?

The film mirrors Jordan's real 1993 retirement and minor-league stint.

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

He gets sucked down a hole on the course while playing with Bill Murray.

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

The placebo works and the Tune Squad rallies in the second half.

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

He had only been booked for the golf scene until he saw how the hybrid shots were made.

How does Jordan score the winning basket?

Bugs tells him that in their world he can bend the rules of physics.

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

The Nerdlucks then give the stolen talent back and stay with the Tunes.

Who plays Jordan's publicist Stan Podolak?

Pytka's first choices were Michael J. Fox and Chevy Chase, both rejected by the studio.

Which Seinfeld actor turned down the role of Stan?

The part went to another Seinfeld regular in the end.

Who voices Bugs in the 1996 film?

The producer heard him on The Howard Stern Show and asked him to audition.

Who voices Lola in the 1996 film?

She reprised the role in Tweety's High-Flying Adventure and the Looney Tunes racing games.

Complete Lola's catchphrase: 'Don't ever call me ___'

She was originally written as more of a tomboy before the studio pushed her feminine side.

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

She had been Bugs' girlfriend in Gold Key comics since the 1960s.

Which fast-food chain rejected the interim 'Lola Rabbit' design as looking too young?

The chain had a Happy Meal deal riding on the film and wanted a suitable partner for Bugs.

Who voices Lola in Space Jam: A New Legacy?

She took the role partly because of her family's history with basketball.

The film grew out of Nike Super Bowl ads pairing the Bulls star and Bugs. What was the 1992 ad called?

The 1993 follow-up was called Aerospace Jordan.

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

The ad agency's creative director picked Bugs next because the rabbit was his childhood hero.

Which manager turned down all of Jordan's earlier movie offers, believing he could only play himself?

He later pitched Space Jam to studios with no story or script written.

Why was the Space Jam project shelved in 1993?

It was reopened in 1995 when he came back to the NBA.

Which director wanted to help with the screenplay but was blocked by Warner Bros.?

The studio was still unhappy about how he had funded Malcolm X.

Which actor was originally planned to voice Swackhammer?

Swackhammer was almost a live-action character until the final days of development.

Robert Zemeckis told the film's producer 'Don't do it, it nearly killed me', referring to which of his films?

Both films mixed live actors with hand-drawn cartoon stars.

The animators chose the wilder style of which classic Looney Tunes director over Chuck Jones?

The animators used original cartoons as references throughout production.

Chuck Jones complained that Porky Pig would never say which line from the film?

He also felt Bugs would never have asked others for help solving a problem.

What happened to Chuck Jones at the animators' dinner after he shared his view of the film?

He had been asked to give a congratulatory speech to the animators.

Improv actors from which theatre stood in for the animated characters around Jordan on set?

They wore green suits alongside NBA players so the animators knew where each Tune would go.

Who composed the film's orchestral score?

Carl Stalling's classic cartoon cues were tried first but judged too outdated.

The Space Jam soundtrack was eventually certified how many times platinum?

It reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in April 1997.

R. Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly' peaked at what position on the Billboard Hot 100?

Kelly says Jordan asked him for a song after they played pickup basketball together in Chicago.

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

Miller reportedly called Seal to say it was the best cover of the song he had heard.

Which group performed the film's title song?

The vocals were reportedly recorded in about three hours before the singer went hoarse.

The title song 'Space Jam' peaked at what position on the Billboard Hot 100?

Critics called it a near-copy of the group's earlier hit C'mon N' Ride It (The Train).

Who teamed with Chris Rock on the soundtrack's cover of 'Basketball Jones'?

The original was a Cheech & Chong novelty song.

Which rapper is NOT on the soundtrack's posse cut 'Hit 'Em High'?

B-Real and LL Cool J round out the five-rapper lineup.

Roughly how much did Space Jam gross worldwide?

That was against an $80 million budget, making it the tenth highest-grossing film of 1996.

Space Jam held the record as the highest-grossing basketball film until which year?

Its own sequel failed to beat it, taking about $164 million in 2021.

The original spacejam.com website famously stayed online, unchanged, for how many years?

It became a beloved relic of 1990s web design, animated GIFs and all.

The cancelled 1990s Space Jam 2 would have pitted Jordan and the Tunes against which new alien villain?

It fell apart because Jordan would not agree to star in a sequel.

Which unmade spin-off would have starred Jackie Chan?

Race Jam was for Jeff Gordon, Golf Jam for Tiger Woods and Skate Jam for Tony Hawk.

Who directed Space Jam: A New Legacy?

He replaced Terence Nance a few weeks into filming over creative differences.

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

He presides over a Warner Bros. 'Serververse' of studio properties.

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

Its players are super-powered avatars of real NBA and WNBA stars.

In A New Legacy, Damian Lillard's avatar Chronos has what power?

It plays on his 'Dame Time' nickname.

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

The others belong to Diana Taurasi, Anthony Davis and Nneka Ogwumike.

In A New Legacy, Sylvester thinks he has found the original film's star but finds which actor?

Cheadle had teased that Jordan would appear 'but not in the way you would expect it.'

At halftime in A New Legacy, Al-G's team leads the Tune Squad by roughly how many points?

The Goon Squad racks up 'style points' before the Tunes are allowed to use cartoon physics.

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

It was available for one month to ad-free subscribers as part of Warner's 2021 day-and-date releases.

LeBron James won which Golden Raspberry Award for A New Legacy?

The film also won Worst Screen Combo and Worst Sequel.

Which voice actor is the only cast member from the 1996 film to reprise his role in A New Legacy?

He voices Tweety.

Which Tune performs the game-crashing move in A New Legacy and appears to die?

Cartoon physics let him regenerate, and he moves in with LeBron at the end.

The Space Jam franchise, including merchandise, is estimated to have generated how much in total revenue?

Air Jordans, Happy Meals and Muggsy Bogues jerseys all counted toward it.

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

The voice actors were not invited and watched it in a small theater instead.

Jordan sends Bugs and which other Tune to his house to fetch his basketball gear?

His kids help them and promise to keep the game a secret.

The purple Nerdluck Bupkus is voiced by the daughter of which producer?

Catherine Reitman later created and starred in Workin' Moms.

The Nerdlucks reach the Tunes' world through a portal hidden where?

It is the same hole Jordan later gets pulled down on the golf course.

What is the name of Jordan's bulldog in the film?

Frank Welker provided the dog's voice.

Murray refused to commit to the film until who personally asked him?

His part had been in the script from the very beginning.

Pytka wrote and shot a scene, cut from the film, in which Jordan does what after returning to Earth?

Pytka only learned about the project months before filming and revised the script himself.

After the film, Jordan appeared with his 'Space Jam buddies' in ads for which telecom company?

The ads ran for years until the company merged with WorldCom.

Which TNT broadcaster calls the game in A New Legacy?

Lil Rel Howery joins him on the call.

What was the production budget of the 1996 film Space Jam?

It finished as the tenth highest-grossing film of 1996 and the animation was completed by more than 700 workers across 18 studios.

Who plays Michael Jordan's wife Juanita in Space Jam?

Thom Barry plays Jordan's father James in the film's flashback-style opening.

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 A New Legacy, LeBron's son Dom dreams of becoming what?

The villain traps father and son inside the studio's 'Serververse' and recreates Dom's own basketball game, Dom Ball.

Which WNBA star's Goon Squad avatar is the snake-like 'White Mamba' in A New Legacy?

Nneka Ogwumike plays the spider-based Arachnneka, while Sue Bird and A'ja Wilson cameo as themselves.