Space Jam: A New Legacy Trivia – 9 Looney Facts
Warner Bros
We waited 25 years for a follow up to Space Jam and it’s finally arrived! Basketball legend LeBron James teams up with the Looney Tunes in this long awaited sequel. Here are 8 cool pieces of Space Jam: A New Legacy trivia…
1) Spy Jam
Following the massive success of Space Jam, a few ideas floated around for a follow up movie. One such idea – titled Spy Jam – would see Jackie Chan star alongside Bugs Bunny and the gang! Skate Jam, Golf Jam and Race Jam were also considered. Sadly, all these project were scrapped, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action with Brendan Fraser was the movie we ended up with.
2) Kath Soucie recorded all her Lola Bunny lines
Prolific voice actress Kath Soucie, who voiced Lola Bunny in the original Space Jam, came back on board for the sequel. She even went so far as to record all her lines for the character. However, her voice was swapped out for Zendaya in the final cut – potentially as her name carries more star power.
3) Rick and Morty’s first movie
Although they’ve appeared in hit shows such as The Simpsons, this is the first time that the dimension-hopping duo Rick and Morty have appeared in a feature film! They return Taz to the Looney Tunes after performing some tests on him.
4) Ceyair Wright
Ceyair Wright originally asked if he could audition for the younger brother but was told he was too old. When the opportunity came up to audition for the part of the older brother, he jumped at the chance. When the casting director asked him if he played basketball, Wright lied and said he’d played it in high school. After landing the part, he went away and did a ton of basketball training.
5) A113 features in Space Jam: A New Legacy
When we see Marvin the Martian’s ship, we see it’s numbered A113. This is a code that is used throughout dozens of animated movies – including Disney and Pixar! But why? Well, it’s the number of a class room at California Institute of the Arts, where hundreds of leading animators once studied.
6) Pepe Le Pew was removed on account of #MeToo
The character Pepe Le Pew doesn’t appear in the movie, due to his persistence with the opposite sex. The lecherous nature of the character is not in keeping with today’s culture, and has been said to promote sexual harassment, and so the decision was made not to include the skunk in the sequel.
7) Ditched for Fast and Furious
The director originally attached to the project, Justin Lin, left the sequel when he was offered the gig of directing the ninth and tenth instalments of Fast and Furious.
8) They reference a Nike Air Jordon ad
Around 3 years before the origins; Space Jam hit cinemas, Michael Jordan appeared in a Nike ad for Air Jordons VII alongside Bugs Bunny. When Jordon walks into the court, he says, ‘who’d you expect, Elmer Fudd?’ In Space Jam: A New Legacy, Blake Austin Griffin delivers this same line.
9) Tweety is the only character with the same voice actor as Space Jam
Amazingly, only one voice actor from the original Space Jam ended up voicing the same character in the sequel – Bob Bergen, who voiced Tweety! Although Kath Soucie returned to record her lines as Lola Bunny, she was replaced by Zendaya for the finished film.
There you have it – 9 pieces of Space Jam: A New Legacy trivia!