Throw on your Tune Squad Jersey, and head to the Space Jamas we take you back to the 90s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: Chris Rock & Barry White Song: Basketball Jones Album: Space Jam: The Soundtrack (1996) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: N/A Bonus Fun Facts: Cheech & Chong released the original version of the song "Basketball Jones" in 1973!
This past weekend the movie Space Jam: A New Legacy debuted in theaters. I was a huge fan of Michael Jordan and in turn the original Space Jam movie. When it was released in 1996 I drug one of my New York Knick loving friends to a showing of Space Jam and he pretty much threatened to kick my butt if the movie sucked. We both left the theater and there was no butt kicking to be had. Needless to say, I was super hyped to see this new installment that took 25 years to make! Myself and my 3 kids decided we would head to the drive in this past Saturday and dub the entire day "Space Jam Day".
We started the day by watching the original Space Jam movie and chowing down on some Space Jam: A New Legacy cereal. The movie was great as usual and the cereal was pretty good too. It tasted like a not so sweet version of Boo-Berry.
Next, we had some chores that needed to get done around the house, so we put on the Space Jam soundtracks and got to work. The "Space Jam: A New Legacy" jams are actually not that bad, but nothing can standup to the greatness of the original which includes Biz Markie (R.I.P.).
Chores were done, so we busted out the Playstation and had a Space Jam: The Video Game Tournament! if you have never played this game before, it is sort of like NBA Jam with Looney Tunes characters. You can view a bit of gameplay in the video below.
It was no surprise that I ended up beating my youngest daughter in the championship game, but she put up a good fight and in her defense I've had 25 years of experience with this game.
After playing some video game hoops, it was time to go outside and play some real hoops. Me and the kids decided to play a modified game of horse where instead of spelling horse we had to spell "Space". After that game we played a game of "Jam". It was really hot outside, so we headed indoors after the game was over.
By this time, we were ready for lunch. My wife whipped up a few boxes of Space Jam: A New Legacy Macaroni and cheese with hot dogs and we drank some Kool-Aid Space Jammers! It was delicious!!
While settling down after lunch, I dug through my long boxes and found the kids my old Space Jam comic book adaptation from DC Comics. My son loved it and asked if he could read the Space Jam: A New Legacy comic, but my girls were quick to shut that down to avoid spoilers.
While my son was busy reading my girls made everyone in the family these rubber band bracelets in the Tune Squad uniform colors. We all wore them to the movie that night!
Later that evening we hit up McDonalds for some dinner. I got a Quarter Pounder with bacon meal, the wife got a spicy chicken sandwich and the kids each asked for cheeseburger Happy Meals!
The people working the drive through were nice enough to look for 3 different toys for the kids and they ended up getting Bugs Bunny, Road Runner and Taz. These toys kept them busy for a while until we were ready to get packed up for the drive in!
We all threw on our Space Jam shirts...
packed up our Space Jam snacks and we were on our way!
We arrived at the drive in a little early to make sure we got a prime spot. There were a few cars in front of us, but while we were waiting the kids were getting primed for the movie by watching some old Looney Tunes cartoons I brought for them to watch on our van's DVD player.
Around 9:30pm, we were settled in, had popcorn and snacks in hand and the movie started. We all enjoyed it and some of the cameos in the movie were pretty cool to see. My favorite was the Michael Jordan scene. Overall it was entertaining, but not as good as the original Space Jam. If you were a fan of Space Jam or LeBron James, I would highly recommend you give this movie a watch. My kids actually want to go back to the drive in this weekend to see it again, but I'm thinking we will wait for the home release before we give Space Jam: A New Legacy a rewatch. What a great day full of fun, food and Fog Horn Leg Horn! Can't wait for Space Jam 3 to drop in 2046!!!
For more Space Jam goodness, check out these other posts from the past on 20 Years Before 2000!
Throw on your Tune Squad jersey and head to the Space Jam as we take you back to the 90's! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: Quad City DJ's Song: Space Jam Album: Space Jam: Music From and Inspired by the Motion Picture (1996) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 37 Bonus Fun Fact: This song was part of the Space Jam soundtrack that reached #2 on the US Billboard 200 chart. In 2001 the soundtrack was certified 6x platinum by the RIAA!
It's been crazy cold all over the United States these last few weeks, so hopefully taking a look at these retro Valentines Cards from the 80s & 90s will help to spark some warm memories of years past. When you handed out cards of your favorite cartoon characters to your friends, teachers and special someone. I love seeing the faces of my kids as they fill out their cards for their classmates. It brings me great joy to know the tradition of handing out Valentines still gives kids joy today. A few years ago the fine people at the website Top Hat Sasquatch wanted to bring back that fun to it's readers and wouldn't you know it, I was one of the lucky ones to receive some Valentines! They sent a great selection and now I am sharing them with you. ENJOY and HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
You can check out all the fun at Top Hat Sasquatch by clicking HERE!
It's that time of the week again here at 20 Years Before 2000...It's time for the THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK! These are the jams currently on my trusty Creative ZEN MP3 player and they encompass everything from Motown R&B classics to hip-hop and rap from the 90s! I would like to share them with you in the hopes that they can get you on your feet and bring back some sweet nostalgic memories! So throw on your Nike Visor, cut your hair in the fresh gumby style and slip on your KangaROOS as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...
Bonus Fun Fact: This song never made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the U.S, but it went all the way to #1 in Norway in 1997! The music video was directed by Hype Williams!
I have a fairly big collection of loose figures from the 80s & 90s. I would like to share a few of my faves with you at this time. You ready? Here we go!
Bartman: The Simpsons (Mattel, 1990)
I purchased this figure just recently off ebay for a few bucks in an action figure lot sale. These 1990 Mattel Simpsons figures have been on my wish list for a long time. I remember seeing these on the shelf at toys stores back when I was a kid, but unfortunately for me I chose Beetlejuice toys over them. I am a huge Simpsons fan, so I am always looking for early products from the 90s and these are on the top of my list. Only 8 figures and the "Sofa & Boob Tube" play set were released from Mattel.
Prince Adam: Masters of the Universe (Mattel, 1984)
I was 4 years old when I first laid eyes on this Prince Adam action figure. I remember to this day because I met a friend at the park while my older sisters were playing a soccer game. He brought his Masters of the Universe figures and when he opened his case...out came Prince Adam. I had never seen him before and had to have him. Well, pretty soon my taste in toys changed over to the Thundercats and Ghostbusters and Prince Adam was forgotten. Then there he was, in a thrift store grab bag with some McDoanlds toys and plastic dinosaurs for the low price of $5! I grabbed him up and he stands in a special spot on my shelf of collectables in the basement and will stay there forever!
Snoopy aka Joe Cool: Peanuts (Schleich, 2015)
There is not too much to say about Joe Cool here. He was in the clearance bin at Barnes & Noble after the 2015 holiday season, he looked cool and I picked him up. I am always a sucker for cheap Peanuts merch!
Wilykit: Thundercats (LJN, 1986)
Thundercats ruled my world from 1985-1988. Me and my brother accrued quite a collection of the action figures and even had the Cats Lair and Mumm-Ra's Tomb play sets! I even dressed as Lion-O for Halloween in Kindergarten. We never had this Wilykit action figure though. We had the PVC figure of her that was included with the Cheetara figures in 1985. I stumbled upon this 1986 Wilykit figure by pure luck. I found an old green McDonalds pencil box at Goodwill. It was taped shut, but I could kind of see what looked like action figures inside. I bought the pencil box for a few bucks and opened it when I got home. To my surprise there was Wilykit along with Cheetara, a Mario figure and some Berenstain Bears & Muppet Babies Happy Meal toys. I call that a score!
Lola Bunny: McDonalds Happy Meal Toy (McDonalds, 1996)
The smash hit movie "Space Jam" starring Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes characters was all over the place in 1996! There were candies, posters, clothing items, video games and best of all a McDonalds Happy Meal dedicated to the film! Not only was this the film debut of his Airness, Michael Jordan, but an all new character was introduced by the name of Lola Bunny. I find these spinning figures at thrift stores all the time for around a quarter a piece. I loved this movie and anytime I see anything Space Jam related out in the wild, I grab it. Still looking to complete this Happy Meal set 20 years after it's release.
If you missed the first few parts of the 20 Years Before 2000 "My Faves: Figure Collection" series you can view them at the links below!
I know I'm a little late, but I hope all the dads out there had an amazing Fathers Day this past weekend! I know my kids did a great job of planning out my day and made me some fantastic art for my office!
My pick was Troll Hunters! This DreamWorks cartoon is a Netflix original adapted from the books written by Guillermo del Toro. I love this cartoon! It features a great cast that includes Anton Yelchin, Kelsey Grammer, Ron Perlman and Tom Hiddleston. Each Saturday me and the kids watch a new episode of the show. We are almost finished with the first 26 episodes of season one and are looking forward to season 2! I highly recommend watching it!
After cartoons we got ready and the kids took me out to the bagel shop for some breakfast and they surprised me with a CGC graded copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1!
With our bellies full of carbs and cream cheese we headed off to play 18 holes of mini-golf and some sweet arcade games! The wife and myself kind of kept score and we decided it was a tie, due to some circumstances involving kid interference. One of which blocked me from a hole in one! We hit the arcade and played some Skiball, air hockey fishing games and Fast & Furious racing! The kids won a whoopee cushion, some pull back cars, a mini basketball hoop, hackey sack and a ton of Tootsie Rolls!
We got home and played some crazy games of catch, badminton and Nerf Guns outside while I barbecued up some teriyaki & jerk chicken and beef kabobs. These were marinated for over 24 hours and tasted great! Stubbs Beef Marinade is AMAZING!
My wife also surprised me with a 6-pack of Zima to go along with our dinner. It tasted just like I remembered from the 90s. It had a citrusy, muted lemonade flavor. I've heard people compare it to a lighter version of Mike's Hard Lemonade and they are correct. This brought back so many memories!
The night was capped off by a viewing of Space Jam! This has become one of my kids favorite movies and I must say I'm okay with that! I had a great day with my wonderful kids. Now it's Monday and back to the grind...UGH! Why can't every day be Fathers Day?
After watching Space Jam with my kids recently, I checked out IMDB to see if there were any Easter eggs or facts about the movie I may have missed. While reading the entry in the "Did You Know?" section, I saw this, "The movie's original promotional website can still be found online, exactly as it appeared in 1996". I immediately had to check it out and see if this was true. After a quick Google search it was confirmed. This is the same exact site from 1996. Unchanged, not updated and still as AWESOME as ever. Here are a few screen shots:
Space Jam Home Page
Bios of "The Bad Guys"
Printable posters
Daffy Duck Bio
Junior Jam page filled with coloring pages, b-ball tips & more!
Behind the scenes photos
Cast photos
Character Animation Sketches
Downloadable Sound Clips from the movie
Space Jam Soundtrack info
Stellar Souvenirs page with posters, icons & backgrounds
And that's just a few of the features on this website! For a movie that was released over 20 years ago, this website is AMAZING! It has a ton of content, unmatched by most blockbuster movies today! But, why is this site still around? Did Warner Bros. plan on a sequel? Did someone forget the site was still around? Is the president of Warner Bros. a huge Michael Jordan fan? We'll never know, so you need to check it out for yourself before it's gone. Follow this link and be taken back to the days of grunge, gangsta rap and no Star Wars prequels: http://www.warnerbros.com/archive/spacejam/movie/jam.htm
While we wait for LeBron to lose another NBA Championship and begin filming Space Jam 2, I just re-watched the original Space Jam with my kids. They loved it...and so do I! Michael Jordan was at his peak of popularity, Bugs Bunny and crew were looking for a way to regain their star status and then came a campaign of Nike ads to help them out. Space Jam was born!
Space Jam was released in November of 1996. The Chicago Bulls were world champs again, Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record, Oprah started her book club, Bone Thugs blew up with "Tha Crossroads", Seinfeld was still popular on TV and Tupac, Jerry Siegel & the great Tiny Tim had passed away. The world needed a savior. The world needed Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Michael Jordan and Wayne Knight.
I remember seeing this movie in theaters. My friends (Knicks fans) were skeptical that it would be any good. In the end all of us enjoyed it. A few years ago, while shopping a yard sale, I found a copy of Space Jam on VHS for $0.50. I would have paid that for the movie itself, but on the back, tucked into the sleeve was...
The limited edition Space Jam collector's coin! Holy crap! I grabbed this up immediately and took it home. I never did watch this VHS tape since I already owned the movie on DVD. So, to my surprise as I was cleaning the basement yesterday, I opened the VHS clamshell and found...ALL THE ORIGINAL COUPONS! These were included in every VHS/DVD release and were thrown away pretty quickly. Here they are in all their 90s glory:
I wish I could go back to 1997 and take advantage of the offers from Dole, Ballpark, Rayovac & Warner Bros. I would have entered the "Meet Mike" contest, scored a Special edition Space Jam Streetball & Mini-Pocket basketball game and saved about $1,000,000 in rebates! Unfortunately that will never happen, but it's still fun to see these 20 year old ads. I suggest you dust off your copy of Space Jam and watch it today!
