“Please! What kind of Mickey Mouse organization would name their team The Ducks?” – Bugs Bunny
The internet recently exploded with news of a second Space Jam starring Lebron James (later refuted by Warner Brothers and LBJ himself), but it did ring in new hope for fans of the original. Space Jam itself is an underwhelming movie — the graphics are cheap, the plot ridiculously stupid and it wreaks of the 1990s.
But all that makes it one of the most beloved movies of Gen Y. “Cult classic” is too small a term — Space Jam is a generational classic.
Get ready for one of the weirdest plot descriptions you’ll ever read. Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Looney Toons gang gets abducted by a desperate alien theme park boss Swackhammer (Danny DeVito), they strike a bargain to play a basketball game against his diminutive henchmen for their freedom. Things get complicated when the puny aliens magically steal the powers from basketball stars like Larry Bird and Charles Barkley, so Bugs abducts Michael Jordan, who has recently disgraced himself . Jordan agrees to help them win their freedom, which includes bringing in his eager personal assistant (Wayne Newton) and friend Bill Murray (himself) onto the court.
If your head is spinning at the stupidity of the plot (or epicness, if you’re that kind of sports movie fan), get ready to hear some of the best parts of a movie that’s been haled by 20-somethings everywhere as the best movie of their childhood. The script is actually very good — keep in mind, this is a Looney Toons movie — and includes the usual wealth of cultural references. Everything from sci-fi classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Frankenstein to more recent films like 1994’s Pulp Fiction and The Mighty Ducks get a shout out, perhaps the best being Swackhammer calling Murray “Dan Akroyd” and Murray referring to being friends with the producer (Ivan Reitman, who produced both Ghostbusters and Space Jam).
So no wonder the outlandishness of the 1996 basketball-cartoon-crossover was such a success with the producer of a film like Ghostbusters at the helm. Jordan is surprisingly good in front of the camera, as are the five players (Barkley, Larry Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Muggsy Bogues and Shawn Bradley) whose scenes of panic after losing their talent include a few well-hidden adult references to Freud and impotence. Knight appears as the same pitiful fat-guy persona that he has in Seinfeld and Jurassic Park, but far less devious. Murray is the best part by far, mysteriously popping up in the end to help win the game. But the focus is Jordan, whose talent on the court more than makes up for his less significant talent on the set.
Maybe it’s the throwback soundtrack that includes Salt n Peppa, LL Cool J, Seal, Coolio, R. Kelly and a number of other ’90s R&B and rap names. Maybe it’s the awkwardness of the live-action and cartoon hybrid. Maybe it’s the way it makes fun of sports sponsorship with lines like, “C’mon, Michael! It’s game time! Get your Hanes on, lace up your Nikes, grab your Wheaties and your Gatorade, and we’ll pick up a Big Mac on the way to the ballpark.” Maybe it’s the throwback to great cartoons and even better basketball. Or maybe it’s that one call that echoes in all Gen Y-ers’ heads that make the movie so beloved by pre-millenials:
“Everybody get up, it’s time to slam now. We’ve got a real jam going now. Welcome to the Space Jam.”
2014: A Film Odyssey 
THANK YOU for writing this! I’ll never really be able to explain why this is such a ’90s Kid Classic’, but it’s one of those movies I’ll always love!