The film is introduced with a young Michael Jordan, playing an intimate game of basketball with his father discussing his dreams
The iconic logo that is used as transition from Michaels past fantasies to his successful reality
Cast introduction inspo
More cast introduction inspo
Michael declaring his retirement from the NBA during a press conference
Transition to space pt 1
Transition to space pt 2
Moron Mountain alien amusement park
In need of a new attraction to boost the traffic of the amusement park, Mr. Swackhammer and the Nerdlucks plan to abduct the Looney Toons and use then as the new attraction
After Michael chooses to retire from the NBA, he begins to play for the MLB
The Nerdlucks seen flying over Michael's home field
The Nerdlucks enter the Looney Tune universe
and immediately take Bugs Bunny as hostage
The Looney Toons negotiate a deal with the Nerdlucks and challenge them to a game of basketball
Due to the Nerdlucks small stature, they quickly realize they will going to need more strength to win. So they attend the Knicks vs Suns game in disguise to take the players' "powers"
They secure the "powers" in a basketball
Since the Nerdlucks took the players "powers", the NBA is left hopeless and in distress. After a long discussion, the league declares the season to end early
As Michael is playing a game of golf with his friends, the Looney Toons find Michael and literally lasso him through a golf hole
Bug Bunny begs for help to defeat the Monstars
The Nerdlucks turn into Monstars with their new powers, and officially challenge Michael and team to a game of basketball
The distraught NBA players make various doctor visits
No matter what doctor contact, no ones seems to know what exactly is wrong with them and they cannot figure out a cure
Stan, Michael's assistant, begins to digging holes throughout the golf range in search of Michael
Meanwhile, in the Looney Toon universe, Lola Bunny impressive the team with her skills, and her looks
Michael quickly realizes that in order to begin practice, he will need shoes and work out clothes. He sends Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck to sneak into his house to grab his belongings
Michael's children spot Bugs and Daffy, and help them fight off their dog. This is an important scene because it incorporates the element Humans vs Animations
Stan, follows the Looney Toons into their universe and finds Michael
Although Madison Square Garden stadium is shut down...
The Looney Toon stadium is up for the opening game, with an eager audience waiting outside
The Toon Squad is ready to ball
And the game begins
The Monstars use all their strength and powers against the Toon Squad, including breathing fire
Although the Toon Squad scores some points... It's not enough to win the first half of the game
The Toon Squad is exhausted and appears to be at their breaking point
Bugs Bunny convinces the team that "Michael's secret stuff" is the cure, when it is actually just water
The team is convinced the "juice" works, and begin to get creative on the court. They quickly realize that working together on the court is the key to success
A clear 'Ode to Jordan'
The Toon Squad begins to catch up
The stakes are raised, if the Toon Squad loses, Jordan will be the new attraction on Moron Mountain. But if the Toon Squad win, the Monstars must leave forever
Mr. Swackhammer and Michael Jordan shake hands, and a deal is made
As the Monstars begin to give their all, the Toon Squad begins to literally fall apart
With a player down, Stan begs to be put in the game
Stan scores a point, but is crushed in the process, this scene adds an unrealistic/animated element to human in the film
Michael's golfing partner and famous actor, Bill Murray, appears on the court and volunteers to fill the extra spot
The game is close
Although the opposing team is restraining him, MJ stretches his arm for the winning basket
It is clear that Mr. Swackhammer is the monster, the the Nerdlucks are just his disciples, they finally expose Mr.Swackhammers plan, and shoot him off to the moon in a rocket
The Monstars return their stolen power to Michael
The Nerdlucks return Michael to his home field
Michael Jordan arrives
Michael gives the players back their "powers" as they encourage him to return back into the NBA
Jordan comes out of retirement and continues to play for the Chicago Bulls. Jordan is captured mid-dunk, and the end credits roll. The End
In 1973, a young Michael Jordan tells his father he dreams of playing in the big league. The movie
transitions into a highlight compilation of Jordan's basketball career from his high school years to playing
in the NBA. The scene then shifts into a 1993 press conference where Jordan announces his professional
basketball retirement. Meanwhile in outer space, an amusement park called Moron Mountain, begins to
decline. The owner, Mr. Swackhammer sends his alien minions, the Nerdlucks, to Earth to abduct the
Looney Tunes as a new attraction. Once the Nerdlucks' arrive, Bugs Bunny and the other Looney Tunes
challenge the Nerdlucks to a game of basketball. The Nerdlucks realize they will need better skills and
proceed to steal the talents of “the best players in the world.” The Nerdlucks transform themselves into
the large, muscular and talented Monstars, which leads Bugs in search for help. While golfing, Jordan is
suddenly lassoed down a hole and into the Looney Tunes' world. Bugs explains the situation to Jordan,
and Jordan reluctantly agrees. On Earth, the best NBA players lack skill, which causes worldwide panic
and leads the NBA season ending early.
The day of the match, the Monstars dominated the first half. Bugs tricks the Tunes to drink water
disguised as "Michael's Secret Stuff" to raise the Looney Tunes' spirit. The team begins to dominate,
leading Jordan to raise the stakes with Swackhammer in the final quarter. After finalizing the deal, Swackhammer
orders the Monstars to play as dirty as possible. One by one, the Toon Squad is injured by the Monstars'
rough play until the roster is down to its final 4 players. Nevertheless, the Looney Tunes continue to play
fair throughout this, and are eventually able to come within one point of the Monstars' lead.
With ten seconds left in the game, and the Looney Tunes needing one more player, Bill Murray appears,
and is recruited to fill the spot. In the final seconds, Murray pulls some tricks to help Jordan obtain the
ball. Jordan extends his arm and scores the winning basket for the team. Seeing the Monstars being
scolded by Swackhammer, Jordan helps them realize that they only listened to him because they were
smaller. The Monstars shove Swackhammer in a rocket and blast him to the moon. The Nerdlucks give
up their stolen talen, and are recruited by the Looney Tunes who eventually return Jordan to earth.
Following his return, Jordan visits the incapacitated basketball players and returns their talent, to which
the players provoke a reluctant Jordan into participating in a three-on-three match. An inspired Jordan,
returned to the Chicago Bulls two years later to resume his basketball career.
5 WORDS : space, basketball, mix-media, unity, aspiration
The film, Space Jam, brings animation and reality together to create a motion picture that is out of this world. By fusing comedy, sports, and sci-fi into one family friendly movie, this film brings together the opposing worlds of virtual animation fanatics and American basketball lovers; specifically the fans of Michael Jordan. It is clear to see why this innovative 90's movie is considered an American classic.
A study of fonts that I may include within my credit reel
Comp 1_1 from UIC DESIGN on Vimeo.
In order to understand the film Space Jam, one needs to understand the strategic interaction of the human actors and cartoon characters. In order for me to represent the film with my own version of a title sequence, I knew it was important to make sure that realistic elements as well as the animated elements were balanced yet distinguishable. Multiple sketches of a basketball hoop, a basketball court, as well as the skeleton of a basketball were used for the background. The background resembles a chalkboard that coaches use to organize their teams positions during a game. Having a static background gave me more freedom to animate the sequence by incorporating a moving camera. The camera angles were chosen after the placement of text was established, this strategy emphasized the focus on the text.
The sequence ends by erasing the previous sketches on the board and drawing out the final movie logo. After the logo is drawn, the shapes and text float away, as it would if there was no gravity.