While Space Jam: A New Legacy rebooted the franchise, many fans still look at the original 1996 movie as the best. With Michael Jordan, arguably the most famous athlete in the world, partnering with the equally iconic Looney Tunes, this movie became a classic family-friendly adventure for the ’90s.

With the new movie now out, many people are likely revisiting the original to see how it holds up. But if fans keep a sharp eye out, they may notice some fun details they hadn’t missed before. Space Jam is filled with funny and clever Easter eggs that make the movie all the more run to look back on.

10 Doctor Who Disguise

As if featuring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny in the same movie wasn’t enough, Space Jam also introduces aliens into the story. In an attempt to beat the Looney Tunes in a basketball game, the small aliens plan to steal talent from professional players by visiting an NBA game in disguise.

The tiny extraterrestrials all crowd into a trench coat with a hat and scarf in order to blend in. As a result, their outfit bears a striking resemblance to the classic look of the Fourth Doctor from Doctor Who. Given all the strange aliens on Doctor Who, it feels like an appropriate disguise.

9 Product Placement

In modern studio movies and big crowd-pleasers like Space Jam, product placement is just to be expected. Sometimes it can be quite distracting and damaging to the movie, but there are ways to make it clever.

When Stan (Wayne Knight) comes to pick Michael up for the game he says, “Slip on your Hanes, lace up your Nikes, take your Wheaties and your Gatorade, and we’ll grab a Big Mac on the way to the ballpark.” Jordan did celebrity endorsements for all those products.

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8 Friend Of The Producer

It is not just athletes that have fun cameos in Space Jam as one of the most beloved comedic actors of all time, Bill Murray, also shows up in a smaller role. After being introduced in the first act, Murray returns for the climactic game.

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In a meta-comedy moment, Daffy Duck asks Murray why he is there, and Murray replies that the producer is a friend of his. Space Jam was produced by Ivan Reitman who directed Murray in the 1984 sci-fi comedy classic Ghostbusters.

7 The Monolith

Ever since the first trailer of Space Jam 2 was released, many fans criticized the overblown use of Warner Bros. properties, including a number of franchises that didn’t seem to relate to Space Jam at all.

But the original movie did also sneak in some references to movies that the younger audiences are probably not familiar with. When the alien planet Moron Mountain is introduced, the famous monolith from the opening scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey can be seen floating in space.

6 Dating Madonna

Aside from Jordan, there are a number of basketball players who appear in Space Jam. The most prominent cameo is from Charles Barkley who is one of the players who has their talent stolen by the aliens. However, he might also get another subtle shout-out in the movie.

Though it is never fully confirmed, Jordan’s dog in the movie is named Charles. This appears to be a pun at the expense of his colleague as in Charles BARK-ley. Well played Space Jam.

5 Bosko The Talk-Ink Kid

The Looney Tunes are among the most iconic cartoon characters ever created and Space Jam gives them the opportunity to shine in a big-budget movie. Not only does it give these classic characters a chance to be introduced to a new generation of audiences, but the movie is also filled with homages to the cartoon’s roots.

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The gym the Tunes practice in is called Schlesinger Gym after Leon Schlesinger who founded the production company that later became Warner Bros. Also, when the Tunes first meet the aliens, a poster of Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid can be seen on the wall which was Warner Bros’ first animated character.

4 Larry Johnson’s Grandmother

One of the funniest subplots in the movie involves some of the NBA’s most recognizable stars losing their talent to the evil aliens. The professional athletes are forced to come to terms with suddenly being terrible at basketball which doesn’t go well.

When Michael Jordan meets with his colleagues at the end of the movie, NBA player Larry Johnson says that his grandmother can play better than he can now. This is a nod to a series of commercials for Converse sneakers that shows Johnson playing basketball against his grandmother.

3 Saint Paul Saints

As fun as Jordan is in the movie, Bill Murray really does add a great spark of comedy brilliance when he pops up in the movie. And while the role might really have been a favor to Ivan Reitman, Murray seemed to have another demand with his role.

At the end of the movie, Murray is seen wearing a baseball cap for the Saint Paul Saints. This is an actual professional baseball team of which Murray is part owner in real life.

2 The Ducks

As iconic as Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes have been in the world of animation, they have always had some steady competition with the Disney animation as well. That rivalry appears to have spilled over to this movie as there are some in-jokes towards the competition.

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When the Tunes are trying to come up with a name for their team, Daffy Duck, of course, suggests “The Ducks”. Bugs then replies “What kind of Mickey Mouse organization would name their team the Ducks.” At the time, Disney owned the NHL team the Anaheim Might Ducks.

1 Post-Credit Scene

Nowadays, audiences are well trained to wait for post-credit scenes thanks to the MCU. However, in 1996, post-credit scenes were not that common and there are probably a large number of people who have seen Space Jam yet didn’t know there was a stinger at the end.

Admittedly, the additional scene is not much but it keeps with the classic Looney Tunes tradition. Bugs Bunny appears at the end to deliver the classic “That’s all folks!” line only for Porky Pig to interrupt and remind Bugs that’s his line. Daffy then tries to deliver it himself only for the aliens to steal the line at the last moment. Michael Jordan then appears and asks, “Can I go home now?”

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About The Author


Colin McCormick
(2027 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work as Screen Rant, Colin is also a writer of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-see TV shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humor much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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