Space Jam had a deeper meaning? Who would have thought!? Let's be honest, Space Jam is definitely one of the best kids' films of the 1990s but it's not exactly a thinking-persons movie. It's got heart. It's got the entertainment factor. And it's got a stellar soundtrack, but it's not changing the world. After all, the movie was inspired by a TV commercial. However, the film did have a hidden deeper meaning. Thanks to a revealing article by Steven Perlberg at MEL Magazine, we now know precisely what that is...
Space Jam Is Secretly About Union Rights
Although there were a few adult jokes partially-hidden through Space Jam, most fans didn't know that there was actually something far more mature going on underneath its flashy, basketball and Bugs Bunny-filled surface... It's a pro-union film.
How do we know this? Well, according to Steven Perlberg at MEL Magazine, the film is filled with pro-union messages and jokes. Upon re-watch, he appears to be correct. The most specific example is within the character of Daffy Duck who openly advocates for the rights of his fellow cartoon characters and calls out the labor issues within the entertainment industry itself. During Daffy's scene where he calls a"union meeting", there's even a nod to the actual Animation Guild, I.A.T.S.E. Local 839.
"The gag was actually written in the script, but us placing the whole thing at the union was us. That was the artists," Bruce W. Smith, the animation director on the 1996 film, said to MEL Magazine.
Apparently, that reference was included to honor the Disney animation labor strike in October 1945. Their altercation with the police happened right out front of the Warner Brothers studio. Of course, WB is responsible for all of the Looney Tunes characters so this makes sense.
According to Matt Stahl, a professor at Western Ontario University, it's common for animators to use their cartoon characters to voice real-life concerns that they have with their own situations. This also might explain the Moron Mountain storyline, where the creative and athletic characters are forced to work endless hours to entertain visitors and make their employers a boatload of money... Okay, when we think about it, there's definitely a message in Space Jam.
There's also a whole lot of stuff in Space Jam about royalty rights. The topic most famously comes up when Bugs and Daffy are trying to steal Michael Jordan's shorts. This is when Bugs asks about whether or not Michael gets any money from the sale of his merchandise, to which Daffy says, "Not a cent. It’s a crying shame. We gotta get new agents. We’re getting screwed." Following this, Daffy mutters, "If this were a union job…"
As for who exactly wrote all of Daffy Duck's pro-union lines is a bit of a mystery. Co-writes Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod claim they don't remember. After all, they were brought on to do a re-write of the script so the lines could have been added by the original writers, Steve Rudnick and Leo Benvenuti.
Why this was such an important issue for writers and animators at the time is a little confusing, especially since Space Jam came out during a major boom in American-led animated productions. After all, The Lion King earned nearly $1 billion at the box office two years before Space Jam was released. Animation was also huge on TV thanks to the popularity of shows like The Simpsons.
If Things Were Great For Animators In The 1990s, Why Did They Want The Messaging In Space Jam?
So, why the sensitivity to the issue if things were going well when Space Jam was released?
"Almost 40 years [after the big animation strike], the shadow of that strike still echoes," Charles Zembillas, an animator and character designer, said. Apparently, even in the "boom times", many American animators were being laid off and their salaries weren't as high as they thought they deserved.
"What Daffy Duck was talking about was very real, and it’s still happening today," Charles told MEL Magazine.
The biggest problem seems to be that animation writers have unionized under the Writers Guild of America banner, which recognizes them as artists. However, the storyboard artists and other animation workers are part of a "below-the-line" union called Local 839. Therefore, they don't receive the same protection or fees that those in the WGA do, especially those members of the WGA working in live-action entertainment.
Given that Space Jam is set to get a sequel sometime soon, we'd be curious to see if the pro-union messaging from the first movie will be carried over. But that remains to be seen...