Everybody get up, it’s time to slam now.
We got a real jam goin’ down, so welcome to the space jam!
Released in 1996, “Space Jam” is what you get when the best of the NBA is combined
with the best of the “Looney Tunes”.
Though it received mixed reviews from critics at the time of its release, the film has gone
on to become a classic in the eyes of those who watched it as children.
With a sequel coming very soon, the time is right to rewind that old VHS tape and go back
to where it all began.
I’m Brad with WickedBinge, and this is Space Jam: Good to Evil.
For this list, we’ll be starting off with the best of the best, and working our way
down to the villainous.
These characters are good.
Earning another trophy to his name, the gold medal of good goes to Michael Jordan!
Or, the fictional version of Michael Jordan that appears in this film, to be more specific.
Jordan earns this spot because of his everyman persona.
He’s very down to Earth, and puts his family above everything else.
He loves spending time with his kids, and actually takes up baseball for a time to make
his father proud.
Michael is something of a straight-man to the film’s cast of characters.
We’re not just talking about the Looney Tunes characters when we say this!
Even among many of the live-action characters, he is one of the more sane ones.
Michael Jordan is very helpful to those in need as well.
He helps comfort his children, and he of course helps the Looney Tunes in a game of basketball
against the Monstars.
While he is initially skeptical of helping the Looney Tunes, the Monstars bullying of
Tweety Bird encourages to help them out.
What really gets Michael into our top spot, however, is his selflessness.
Near the end of the film, a change is made to the terms of the game.
If the Tune Squad win, the Monstars will give up their powers.
However, if the Monstars win, it will be Michael Jordan who will be taken to Moron Mountain,
not the Looney Tunes.
Jordan accepts the deal, and shows little qualm about it.
This proves that, even in the toughest of situations, Jordan will always put the wellbeing
of his family and friends before his own.
Being the most sane and selfless character in the cast, we had no choice but to put Michael
Jordan as our number one!
The Silver Medal of Good goes to his co-star, Bugs Bunny!
The icon of the entire “Looney Tunes” franchise, Bugs can be seen as the most levelheaded
of his cartoon companions.
He’s also the leader of the Tune Squad alongside Jordan.
We rank Bugs higher than his pals because of not just these reasons, but also because
he takes the most active role of any of the Looney Tunes featured in the film.
He’s the one who seeks out Michael Jordan for help, the one who gets his gear, and the
one who informs Michael that he can use cartoon physics, just like his teammates.
This action allows Michael Jordan to win the game.
Bugs also has a major crush on Lola Bunny, and will do anything to keep her safe.
When the game happens, he saves her from getting flopped on by a Monstar, getting himself squashed
in the process.
He’s an all-around force for good in a way the others just aren’t.
Bugs can be seen as the “leader” of the Looney Tunes, in a way.
He’s always the one they listen to, which shows that he is the most respected and appreciated
of the cast.
Overall, Bugs is a good-natured bunny who can be a friend to anyone, whether they be
animated or live-action.
He even gets along pretty well with the Monstars at the end of the film, as he and the others
allow them to stay in their dimension.
All of these reasons, as well as an amount of screentime other Looney Tunes characters
lack, make him the winner of our silver medal!
The bronze medal goes to the character who has an uncomfortable amount of fan art on
the internet: Lola Bunny!
Lola stands out from the other Looney Tunes characters because she never appeared in any
of the cartoons prior.
This movie was her first debut in the “Looney Tunes” franchise.
However, that’s definitely not the only thing that makes Lola stand out from the others.
She is also a great basketball player, and the only one of the Looney Tunes to have any
experience playing the sport.
This makes her extremely helpful to the team, and she’s one of the few members of the
cast to always be in the game, further showing her skill in the sport.
Helping the Tune Squad win the game is a big reason she’s this high up on the list, but
skills aren’t everything.
Personality is incredibly important, too, and Lola is one of the nicer Looney Tunes.
She’s nowhere near as “loony” as her friends, which makes her into a kind of “voice
of reason” for the team.
Lola’s abilities and level headed personality make her a worthy addition to anybody’s
basketball team.
Next spot goes to the assistant of Michael Jordan, Stan Podolak!
A publicist, Stan is Michael’s right hand man.
He always tries to do what is best for Jordan, and wants to be of service whenever he can.
Stan will drive Michael home, accompany him to golfing sessions, and do whatever he thinks
will make him happy, his main priority.
Stan is a rather eccentric figure, even compared to some of the Looney Tunes.
When Michael is sucked into the Looney Tunes world through a hole, Stan spends the entire
rest of the day digging for him.
He even keeps going well into the night!
While he may just seem like a quirky fan of MJ, Stan does have a lot of good deeds under
his belt.
We’ve discussed his loyalty to Michael, but we haven’t explored how far his help
goes.
He is actually the one who learns the Monstars have stolen the talent of NBA players, which
he then relays to Jordan.
When the Tune Squad is in need of a player near the end of the big game, he comes in
to help.
While he doesn’t last long against the Monstars, it shows that he really will do anything to
help his friend.
His injuries also lead Michael to make a great discovery, that being that humans actually
have the abilities of cartoon characters.
This realization soon leads to the Tune Squads victory over their opposition.
Stan Podolak is far from the most athletic or intelligent character in the film's cast,
but he has a bigger heart than most!
Our next choice is everyone’s favorite yellow canary, Tweety Bird!
Tweety in this film is quite similar to the majority of his other incarnations: sweet,
calm, and gentle.
With a mind clearer than other characters, that is already one reason to put him this
high on our list.
He’s a good team player, and is on pretty good terms with the others in the film.
That is, except for Sylvester, of course.
He may also be one of the more formidable characters on the Tune Squad.
When his button gets pressed by the Monstars, he loses his cool and unleashes his karate
skills onto them.
He completely demolishes them, making him possibly the strongest member out of the whole
team!
Furthermore, Tweety is a much more confident player than many of the others on his team.
He believes that the Monstars will wish they’d never mess with them, a large shift from other
Looney Tunes, who think the game is a lost cause.
Next up, we have Porky Pig!
Porky is undoubtedly one of the kindest Looney Tunes, and always tries to be a good voice
within the cast.
He is the character who holds a meeting with all the other Looney Tunes in the opening
of the film, as they try to figure out what to do about the Nerdlucks.
Beside that, he helps when creating the challenge the Nerdlucks have to partake in.
And, obviously, he is a member of the Tune Squad and tries to help his friends stop the
Monstars from winning.
Unfortunately, there are several elements to Porky’s personality that cost him a higher
spot.
He is easily scared, most notably when the Nerdlucks transform into the Monstars.
He becomes deathly afraid of them, even to the point of wetting himself!
During the game, he actually believes the squad should forfeit, feeling there's no chance
they could possibly defeat the Monstars.
Also, he’s far from the greatest member of the Tune Squad.
By the end of the game, Porky only scores one basket.
Porky is more friendly than a lot of his friends, but his cowardly attitude unfortunately cost
him a higher position on our list.
Our next pick goes to a comedy legend, Bill Murray!
Fun fact: Murray’s appearance at the end of the film was not originally in the script.
Bill Murray only wanted to show up in the climax after becoming fascinated by the film’s
blend of animation and live action.
But let’s get back to fictional Bill for a second.
In the movie’s universe, Bill Murray is a good friend to Michael Jordan.
When the NBA starts losing players, Murray truly believes he would make a good pick to
fill the void.
While this just seems like bragging on his part, his appearance in the film’s final
moments might prove that he wasn’t exaggerating.
He appears during a crucial time in the game, as the Tune Squad are in dire need of a fifth
player.
As he arrives, he soon helps organize the team, and they begin formulating a strategy
to take the Monstars down.
His strategy partly helps the team finally gain the upper hand and win the game.
Murray does pretty well in times of pressure, too.
This makes his decision making skills even more impressive, as there is so much riding
on them.
Besides being a good player, Bill is also a good cheerleader for the other team members.
He continuously gives them words of encouragement, and has tons of confidence in them.
Overall, Bill Murray makes for a great member of the Tune Squad.
One can only hope he’ll be back to help out in the sequel!
We’re finishing off the “good” category with Bugs’ occasional rival, Daffy Duck!
If you’re one of the five people who have never seen a “Looney Tunes” cartoon before,
Daffy’s first moments in this film will perfectly tell you what his personality is
about.
As the Looney Tunes hold a union meeting, Daffy pushes and shoves everyone out of his
way.
He refers to himself as the “top duck” highlighting his egotistical nature.
In fact, he’s pretty rude to the whole cast.
Predictably, he clashes with Bugs a lot throughout the movie.
When the two travel to the real world in search of MJ’s gear, Daffy almost jeopardizes the
whole mission when he tries to get Bugs to follow him into their “house”.
In actuality, this is the house to the family dog, who proceeds to make a mess out of Daffy.
Daffy also calls Stan a “dork” in the movie, and has little in the way of praise
for the rest of the cast.
He’s quite the pessimist, too.
When the match takes place, Daffy spends most of it believing defeat is inevitable.
He’s even unpopular among the audience in the game, who are totally silent during his
entrance!
Despite all these negative traits, we still feel Daffy is helpful enough to keep him in
this tier.
While he doesn’t really believe they’ll win, he tries his best during the game against
the Monstars.
He’s also one of the few to see the match through to the end, making him one of the
more active members of the Tune Squad.
Daffy is certainly a rude and grumpy duck, but there’s still plenty of bravery inside
him, getting him the last spot on our “good” list!
We’re through with the “good” entries.
Now, we move onto the characters who are not exactly good, but are definitely not evil,
either.
This is the Grey Area!
Starting things off, we have Bugs’ greatest enemy, Elmer Fudd!
Now, Elmer has some good things going for him.
As one of the more prominent Looney Tunes featured in the film, we see him do a decent
amount of help for his team during the big game.
He even manages to score for his team at one point!
Unfortunately, Elmer still has a lot of things that end up holding him back from being in
the “good” category.
Elmer is one of the few straightforward antagonists in the Looney Tunes cartoons.
He is utterly obsessed with hunting down Bugs Bunny, which we see even in the opening of
this film.
While he does put his differences aside and end up helping Bugs and company, we know this
is not to last.
As soon as the credits roll, we know Elmer will be back to his old, mischievous ways.
On top of that, he can be pretty cowardly, as he is one of several players in the Tune
Squad to expect defeat by the Monstars.While Elmer’s nastier side prevents him from being
in the “good” area, his willingness to help the rest of the cast is still enough
to keep us from calling him “evil”.
Besides, he gave us the amazing “Pulp Fiction” reference in the movie!
How could we call him evil after that?
Right in the middle of the “grey area”, we have Marvin the Martian!
Marvin sits perfectly in the middle of this area because he is absolutely neutral.
He shows no allegiance to either the Tune Squad, or the Monstars.
This does make sense, considering he’s both a cartoon, and an alien.
When the big game happens, he acts as the referee.
Marvin’s tenure as a referee is another reason we’re putting him here.
Why, you ask?
To put it mildly, Marvin is an awful referee!
Throughout the game, utter chaos is happening.
Guns are going off, players are attacking each other, and even Granny gets crushed on
the sidelines when the Monstars collide into her.
Yet, through all of this, he never stops the game to issue any penalties, or anything like
that!
A referee’s main goal is to make sure a game is safe and fair, a task Marvin completely
fails at.
Marvin even somewhat adds to the pandemonium happening.
When he calls half-time, he shoots a laser gun as a signal.
It just so happens that the blast goes right through Sylvester, putting a giant hole in
his chest!
While Marvin does mean well, and is rather polite to others, his incompetence seals his
fate into the grey area!
Wrapping things up for the “grey area”, it’s Sylvester!
While this cat does try his best to help out the Tune Squad, he comes off as more of a
hindrance than a helper.
Sylvester is best known for his obsession for Tweety Bird, a character trait that even
seeps its way into the basketball game.
During the game, there’s a point where he seems more interested in trying to eat the
little bird, than he does trying to help his team win.
His goal of trying to apprehend Tweety often clouds his judgement.
When the Looney Tunes begin to devise a plan to get rid of the Nerdlucks, Sylvester’s
mind wanders toward making a plan to catch Tweety instead.
Besides a failure to get his priorities straight, Sylvester is hardly the bravest of the Tune
Squad.
He is one of the characters who is shown to be terrified of the Nerdlucks’ transformation
into the Monstars.
In addition, he is another Looney Tune who feels it is best to forfeit the game.
Hey, if all the Looney Tunes are stuck on another planet, maybe he thinks it’ll give
him the chance to take out Tweety!
Although Marvin ended up creating more chaos on the court, Sylvester is ranked higher because
his actions have more of an impact on the team.
Marvin doesn’t align himself with either team, but Sylvester is supposed to help the
Tune Squad.
Instead, he spends much of his time trying to fill his stomach, and that puts him in
our grey area!
This may be one character who’d be better off sitting on the sidelines!
We’re calling it quits on the grey area.
Now, we introduce you to the most dangerous characters a cartoon could ever encounter!
These characters are evil.
First, we have the monstrous Monstars!
These aliens actually start off as the “Nerdlucks”, a group of five tiny aliens that work for
Mr. Swackhammer.
After the Looney Tunes challenge them to a game of basketball, they rush out to learn
what the sport is.
After realizing they have a major size disadvantage, the Nerdlucks begin to steal the talent out
of the NBA’s top performers.
The talent turns them into the giant and terrifying Monstars, who easily give the Looney Tunes
a run for their money.
The Monstars are here because they are undeniably evil.
Their stealing of players' talent shows that they will do whatever needs to be done in
order to please their boss.
With this talent, they are able to completely wipe the floor with the Tune Squad.
By the end of the game, they have actually managed to put the vast majority of the Looney
Tunes out of commission.
Many of them are covered in bandages, and poor Tweety Bird resides in an iron lung!
Despite their chaotic nature, there are a few aspects to them that pull them away from
getting first place in wickedness.
For one, they are far from the sharpest tools in the shed.
When they are in their Nerdluck form, Bugs completely makes up the rule that they must
compete in a challenge before they are abducted.
Although it is quite obvious that the rule was made up on the spot, they still fall for
it!
After becoming the Monstars, they don’t get any smarter.
We can only assume intelligence wasn’t included in the players' talent.
We must also take into account their “redemption”, of sorts.
As the game ends and the Tune Squad wins, Jordan doesn’t understand why they continue
to listen to their abusive boss.
With their newfound sense of height, they easily dispose of the CEO.
With him out of the way, they decide they want to join the Looney Tunes in their dimension,
even after all the trouble they gave them.
The Looney Tunes are accepting of them, especially after seeing them prove how “looney” they
are.
Even though the Monstars are one scary quintuplet, their status as henchmen only gets them second
place in the game of villainy.
If the henchmen are second, then first place can only go to their boss.
That is why the award for “most evil” goes to Mr. Swackhammer!
A Danny Devito voiced alien, Swackhammer is the character that puts the whole plot of
the film into motion.
His theme park, Moron Mountain, has begun to see a decline, forcing him to find new
ways to generate business for the park.
He soon learns of the Looney Tunes, who he feels would make great comedic acts for Moron
Mountain.
He sends the Nerdluck off, setting off the events that will eventually culminate in a
game between the Monstars and the Tune Squad.
Swackhammer is an incredibly abusive boss.
He’ll have the Nerdluck do anything and everything for him, from getting him food
to cleaning his sandals.
We already covered how unkind he is to the Nerdluck, but he is this way to pretty much
everyone.
When Marvin calls time, he furiously grabs the martian, demanding he get out of his sight.
Swackhammer is a very opportunistic villain as well.
When he realizes Michael Jordan is the star player of the Tune Squad, he makes an amendment
to his deal.
In this new agreement, if the Monstars win, they will take Jordan to Moron Mountain, instead
of the Looney Tunes.
In the end, the Tune Squad manage to win, prompting Swackhammer to send a flurry of
insults toward the Nerdluck.
Even the Nerdluck begin to see how nasty of a person he is, and break free from his leadership.
While his employees show remorse for their actions, Swackhammer doesn’t.
This, coupled with his bossy and abusive personality, make him the perfect choice for the most evil
character of the movie.
If you’re struggling to find the best vacation destination this year, we can only tell you
one thing: Don’t go to Moron Mountain!
That’s all, folks!
But what do you think?
Do you agree with our list, or is your list different?
Let us know in the comments below!
Also, make sure to hit the notification bell, and check out our Good-to-Evil playlist, where
we analyze the morality of the characters from your favorite cartoons, show and movies!
Bust most importantly: stay wicked!