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The locations of Space Jam
Attacked by miniature aliens in Space Jam, the Looney Tunes decide to challenge them to basketball. Unlucky for Bugs Bunny and his friends, the inhabitants of the planet Moron Mountain have more than one trick up their sleeve, they steal the talents of professional NBA players. The Tunes have only one hope left, to recruit Michael Jordan into their shock team. From New York City to California, the Tunes are scrambling all over the United States to save their skins.
Jordan Family House
The Jordan family lives in this house built in 1916. This is where Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck pick up Michael Jordan’s stuff. The player has agreed to help them in their challenge against the Nerdlucks. The Jordan family residence is directly adjacent to another film location, 1004 Highland Street. The latter is the home of the Reede family in Liar Liar. For Space Jam, the actors took almost four years to shoot the film.
Address: 1002 Highland Street, South Pasadena, California, USA
Baseball field
Converted into a baseball player after an exceptional career in basketball, Michael Jordan plays a game in this stadium. Opened in 1958, it is named after Frank Blair, a sports editor at Long Beach Press-Telegram who spent many hours covering games on the dusty old field at the corner of Seventh Street and Park Avenue. He was the first to suggest building a new, more modern lot to lead the city to acquire a minor league franchise.
When he died in 1953, he never saw his dream come true, but the city paid tribute to him by giving his name to this building. The conversion evoked in Michael Jordan’s film is real. In 1993, the basketball player announced his retirement from basketball. Baseball, his father’s favourite sport after his death in 1993, became a priority for Michael Jordan, who signed with the Chicago White Sox in 1994. After several teams and disappointing performances, Michael Jordan ended his baseball career in 1995 and made his comeback in the NBA.
Address: Blair Field, Recreation Park – 4700 E. 10th Street, Long Beach, California, USA
Space Jam Endgame
The final match between the Tune Squad and the Monstars takes place at the Great Western Forum. Also known as The Forum, this sports hall was built in 1965. Used as the home court of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings until their move to Staples Center in 1999, the building has also hosted major tournaments such as the 1972 and 1983 NBA All-Star Games. The concerts of Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson, Shakira, Prince or Lady Gaga as well as the MTV Music Awards of 2014 took place there. 2021 will be the year of renewal for Space Jam. Indeed, this year will see the release of Space Jam: A New Legacy with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James as the headliner.
Address: The Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, USA
Madison Square Garden, another stadium in Space Jam
Wishing to learn the rules, the invading gnomes travel to Madison Square Garden during a game between the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns to observe the rules of the sport and steal the talent and strength of NBA players. They include Tyrone Bogues, Larry Johnson, Shawn Bradley, Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley. Another character, well known from some cartoons, is in the audience. This is the husband of the spectator, who is taken aback by the behaviour of the gnomes sitting next to her, played by Dan Castellaneta. In addition to being an actor renowned for his many supporting roles, he is also and especially since 1989 the official voice of Homer in the cartoon The Simpsons. As for the spectator, she is Patricia Heaton, known for her role as Frankie Heck in the series The Middle.
Address: Madison Square Garden, 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, USA
Lake Arrowhead Country Club
Michael Jordan plays golf with Larry Bird, Stan Podolak (Wayne Knight) and Bill Murray. Michael’s ball miraculously lands in the hole in one shot. A miracle? No, because Bugs Bunny, armed with a special magnet, manages to slide the ball directly into it. When Michael tries to retrieve it, he is drawn into the world of Tunes, causing panic among his gaming partners.
This scene was shot at the Lake Arrowhead Country Club. Open for more than forty years, the complex includes a golf course, tennis courts, a restaurant and reception rooms. Initially, Bill Murray was only to appear in the golf scene because he didn’t like having to deal with animation. But when the actor saw how it all worked, he wrote other scenes in the film, including the end sequence where he plays basketball.
Address: 250 Golf Course Rd, Lake Arrowhead, California, USA
Warner Bros. Studios
After the success of the commercial featuring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny, Warner decided to launch the production of Space Jam. In order to bring the Looney Tunes to life alongside the sportsman, Joe Pytka decided to set up shop at the Warner Bros. Studios. It is one of the largest and most iconic movie complexes in the world. A real city within a city, in the heart of the Hollywood dream machine. Fun fact, the website launched in 1996 to promote the film is still available online at https://www.spacejam.com/1996/!
Read moreThe Fantrippers Buying Board
By Damien Duarte
Passionné par la culture pop depuis son enfance, ses références vont de Donald Duck à Batman en passant par Marty McFly. Fantripper dans l'âme, voyager sur les traces de Ghostbusters, James Bond ou des héros de romans comme Cotton Malone fait partie d'un séjour idéal et réussi !