The random Nike commercial that would birth ‘Space Jam’
Apart from Disney’s flagship character Mickey Mouse and the Hanna-Barbera Scooby-Doo cartoon, few animated series were as popular as Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes back in the day. Starring a whole host of memorable names, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety and Sylvester the Cat, such characters have become beloved icons of innocent children’s animation.
Having its heyday from the 1930s through to the late 1960s, the cartoon series decreased in popularity as the century drew to a close, with such aforementioned animated names losing their fame as time passed. However, this all changed in 1988 when the influential animated hybrid flick Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released, winning three Academy Awards for its baffling technological advancements.
Featuring Disney characters alongside Warner Bros ones, the 1988 film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, reinvigorated interest in the iconic Looney Tunes cartoons. It wasn’t long after this that the likes of Bugs Bunny started to crop up once again in popular culture, with their first famous appearance after the feature film being in the 1992 commercial ‘Hare Jordan’ where Bugs featured alongside a live-action Michael Jordan.
Aired during Super Bowl XXVI, fans were ecstatic to see the two stars of entertainment beside each other, with the creation being thanks to the creative duo Wieden Kennedy and Jim Riswold.
The short advert featured the animated Bunny being bullied by a pack of men (who are far too old to be taunting cartoons) before basketball player Michael Jordan saves him. In slick Nike style, the duo then proceed to take down the bullies with a game of basketball with a few fantastical twists. At the end of the commercial, the pair walk away together as Bugs Bunny says, “This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!”. Indeed, it would be.
Hitting popular culture at the perfect time, when Looney Tunes characters were re-entering the mainstream as the ‘cool’, ‘retro’ figures of T-shirts and more in the early 1990s, Warner Brothers were surprised at the popularity of their advert, fast-tracking several others to be made quick-time.
The success of the multiple commercials eventually led the movie executives of WB to the thought of a movie, a decision that would later result in the cult success of Space Jam in 1996.
Going on to make $250 million worldwide as well as becoming one of the most quintessential films of the 1990s, the film, directed by Joe Pytka, brought together several influential names of 20th-century movies and sports, including Jordan and Bugs Bunny alongside Bill Murray, Wayne Knight, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing.
Beloved by fans worldwide, WB’s were foolish enough to think a sequel would instantly work in their favour in 2021, but instead, the dire movie comes across as a pathetic commercial exercise.
