This Live-Action/Animation Crossover Was Shockingly Smart

gamerant.com:

In this age of filmmaking driven heavily by intellectual property, studios are always trying to find new spins on age-old media. One method that has somewhat fallen out of favor is taking classic cartoon characters and putting them into cross-overs that draw attention to their animated origins.

When most people think of an animated/live-action cross-over, they think of 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. That masterful classic was as heavily praised for the then-groundbreaking technique as it was for its stellar storytelling, but later attempts at the format were much more hit or miss. Perhaps the most underrated example of the tiny genre was 2003's Looney Tunes: Back In Action.

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The history of this film is inextricable from the history of the other big cross-over project, 1996's smash-hit Space Jam. The classic that saw Michael Jordan meet Bugs Bunny and friends in a comically bizarre narrative that fans are only just now realizing was terrible. The film was huge, but it was a troubled road to get the thing made. The inspiration behind the film came directly from a couple of commercials, and the sudden increase in scale was a challenge. Developing a movie surrounding an iconic athlete and some of the most beloved cartoon characters ever made is somehow a terrible and brilliant idea at the same time. After the enormous box office profits, Warner Bros. set to work developing sequels. None of which ever really came out in the form they intended.

When it came time to craft a sequel to Space Jam, the big question was obvious. Which sports activity will the Looney Tunes luminaries take on this time? Warner Bros. tried basketball, but Michael Jordan swiftly