It's been 30 years, but this movie is still my 'Jam'

Jim Riswold, the creative director and writer of the famous “Hare Jordan” Super Bowl commercial by Nike and Widen + Kennedy in 1992 that put Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan together explained his reasoning behind the ad like this: “I couldn’t think of a bigger star to team [Jordan] up with than Bugs Bunny.”

Forward four years, we kinda all know what happened next.

This Sunday marks the 30th Anniversary of the seminal film experience called “Space Jam.” The highest-grossing American basketball film (or film centered around basketball) of all time. The singular, stand-alone vehicle that elevated Jordan into a stratosphere above any layer of fame any athlete had ever been and turned Bugs into the one thing he’d never been: a movie star.

An inspired by true events (MJ making fun of, providing levity to his real life/professional saga), over-simplistic kids movie that catered to the child-nature and obsession adults at the time had (still have) over Jordan that over time turned into something that exceeded cult-classic status.

One of those “things” that over the run of its existence transcended everything it was intended to be. It found an audience and in it the audience found depth. It found aspiration and inspiration.

We too drank “Michael’s Secret Stuff.”

Howard “H” White, Jordan’s Yoda, long-standing Nike executive who was on the set with Jordan while filming “Space Jam,” furthered then’s truth. “‘M’ grew up with Bugs Bunny. Hero. I remember in a conversation someone said to him, ‘That’s easy for you to say, you’re Michael Jordan’ and he responded, ‘Well I haven’t always been this.’ In movies? Do you think he thought he was going to be this? But you never know what you can be, not even him. He knew the one thing you can’t do is stop believing in what you can be before you ever get there.

“He never let anything deter him from what he was trying to create.”

The advanced technology of live-action film and the ability to manipulate the virtual aspect of film back then (with the exception of “Roger Rabbit”) was revolutionary. The co-existence of everything currently Jordan with everything historic to Bugs became an appetency come true.

Add to the fact that by the film’s release Jordan had come back to the NBA and won what would be the first of the Bulls’ second three-peat creating an almost biblical BC/AD dividing line of his basketball career. Jordan pre-shooting “Space Jam” versus Jordan after finishing “Space Jam” became the poor people’s ‘‘First Take’’ debate that was closer to the core of accuracy then anything anyone at ESPN would talk about.

Post-“Girl 6” Theresa Randall. Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing with personalities. Newman acting against type playing Jordan’s Stan. Danny DeVito as Red Auerbach, my bad, Mr. Swackhammer. Nerdlucks-turned-Monstars preluding the original Minions. Only thing missing: David Stern playing David Stern in the actual movie.

From a sneaker culture perspective, the film still to this day remains famed. The fight between the AJ IX that Jordan practiced in when he was first sucked down into Looney Land and the all-black AJ XI that literally became one of the most grail’d sneakers in the history of the game due to the fact that the ones he wore in the film weren’t released until four years after the movie came out.

The Jordan Brand and Warner Bros. decided to collaborate to make sure the film gets the 30th celebration it has earned. Invite-only, interactive events in LA and NYC; celebrity-hosted discussions with major-players in the music, fashion, film, sports and entertainment worlds; an upgraded product line rooted in the original merchandise that gives 30-year-old fits a whole next life.

As Jordan Brand senior manager Terrance Harvey explained to me, “ ‘Space Jam,’ MJ’s legacy and everything connected to it, has really shaped this culture that we love. They gave me the opportunity to dream, to believe. I was 2-years-old when the movie came out, too young to even understand what was going on, to even see MJ play. But just to have something that transcended time for 30 years resonated. When I saw the film for the first time, seeing MJ stretch his arm to score at the end, it gave me hope.”

Hope that don’t stop as there’s also a six-part “Beyond The Jam” YouTube mini-doc headed our way to keep the fascination fresh, but not to death. Just enough to recapture the nostalgia that once was. Tap into our “still is.” Extend the film’s three-decade placebo effect.

Multiple releases and re-releases on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray over the post-box office years. It was one of those movies that destroyed too many VHS rewind buttons. A soundtrack that stacked bangers and is still considered one of the most iconic urban/pop/dance soundtracks ever. A merchandising and product behemoth, a commercial appeal case study, a historical incubator of all things and everything 90’s.

Until someone decided to make a sequel.

Funny how you can turn $80M into $250M ($520M adjusted to 2026) and multi-billions worth of influence when you attach a couple of global icons to a project and change the landscape of basketball, film, marketing, merchandising, music, sneaker and pop culture at the same time. As Bugs said at the end of the original commercial: “This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Hella genius Easter egg, ya’ think?