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Even before the opening announcement, it’s clear that NBA superstar LeBron James and his Looney Tunes team are out of their depth in the big game that will determine their fate in “Space Jam: A New Legacy”.
The opposing team’s surprising lineup includes the enhanced star players animated by CG White Mamba (Diana Taurasi), Wet-Fire (Klay Thompson), Arachnneka (Nneka Ogwumike) and The Brow (Anthony Davis), as well as LeBron’s son. in the movie, Dominic James (Cedric Joe), who designed the game.
The Goon Squad easily takes control of the game early on, flaunting their talents – along with their mastery of special rules and bonuses – to quickly build up a massive lead.
“I think the most exciting part was watching everyone’s Goon come to life,” said Sparks player Nneka Ogwumike, whose character makes the most of Sylvester, Tweety and even LeBron during the match. “I absolutely loved how they were able to put everyone’s strength into a Goon in villainous form.”
Having to face off against top basketball talent is nothing new for Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and the rest of the Tune Squad, who teamed up with Michael Jordan against a team of aliens in the 1996 original. But the sequel, “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” now in theaters and on HBO Max, has been updated for modern sensibilities, and the Tunes classics take on a more inclusive team in a sport with a video game twist.
The new “Space Jam” sees Dom and LeBron transported to a digital realm called the serverworm by a nasty AI with delusions of grandeur. After Al G. Rhythm (Don Cheadle) challenges him to a basketball game, LeBron finds himself scrambling to build a powerful team out of Warner Bros. ‘ extensive library of entertainment with the help of Bugs Bunny.
Bugs, however, is more interested in a Tune Squad reunion, so LeBron tries to get characters like Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, Wile E. Coyote, and Roadrunner to take the game as seriously as he does.
LeBron James and Bugs Bunny in “Space Jam: A New Legacy”.
(Photos Warner Bros.)
“We wanted to have as much nostalgia for the Tunes as possible,” said director Malcolm D. Lee. “Much respect to Michael Jordan and [the original ‘Space Jam’], but animated films [and] family films have evolved so much over the past 25 years that you had to keep abreast. So we wanted to make sure that we honored the first “Space Jam”, but also gave the audience something that would resonate emotionally with it. “
For Lee, whose previous work includes films such as “Night School,” “Girls Trip,” and “Undercover Brother,” “Space Jam” marks his first hybrid animation project that heavily incorporates special effects. His goal was to take basketball and take it up a few notches into a more immersive, video-game-like experience that audiences now gravitate towards in their choice of entertainment.
Another key update has been the villains, which are basically skillfully crafted video game avatars created by Dom.
“They have to be awesome,” Lee said. “We have some of the greatest players of this generation in Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Nneka Ogwumike and Diana Taurasi. It is about translating their characteristics to create a Goon type character.
According to Lee, turning the stars into scary but family-friendly characters “has been a long, but fun process.”
“They had a focus on wanting to do something with my hair, so my hair went through several stages,” Ogwumike said of his character development process. “Depending on my game and also, like, my aura, they wanted to make sure that I was mean but also ravenous in terms of how I played.”
She was blown away by Arachnneka’s final design “because I think she looks like me. And they paid attention to what was important to me, which was my hair and also my prowess as a Goon.
Plus, “my name is in the villain’s name and that’s huge for me,” said Ogwumike, who watched the original with his growing younger sisters. “Where I come from, and what I stand for, to make it everlasting is pretty amazing.”
Ogwumike is grateful to have been involved in the new “Space Jam”, and she also finds it significant that female athletes are included in the film.
Lola Bunny in “Space Jam: A New Legacy”.
(Images from Warner Bros.)
The original “Space Jam,” released before the WNBA played its first season, really only featured male athletes – aside from Tune Squad’s Lola Bunny. This time, professional female athletes are proving to be just as formidable as the men. Even Lola has been freed from the overt sexist look of the original film, which reflects its time, thanks to an updated design and a story that gives it more agency.
“Representation matters,” Lee said. “We should include and recognize the prowess of female basketball players – they play very well in college, they have played overseas, but they were never recognized in any substantial way until the WNBA plants its flag in the sand. I wish I could have included more, but Diana and Nneka have been great additions to the Goon Squad team. And it was about time.
The inclusion of WNBA stars in family sports comedy can be seen as another marker of the league’s growing cultural footprint. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the WNBA is more popular than ever. The growing media attention around the league in recent years has highlighted its political advocacy as well as the increase in television viewing for their matches.
“It helps the evolution of our game, the evolution of women in sport, the evolution of women in this world, for that representation to be there,” Ogwumike said. “It’s much more than ‘oh, these athletes are in a movie.’ It’s so important, and I really believe that ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ bears its insurmountable name with it.
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