What if I told you … that @KingJames and Bugs didn't exactly see eye to eye while on the Tune Squad 😬
And that was just the START of the drama that surrounded the Tunes vs Goons showdown.@spacejammovie #ad pic.twitter.com/fe9LsxelbW
— ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2021
The first clip for Space Jam: A New Legacy dropped Sunday – but it was Zendaya that had fans talking. The actress is voicing the role of Looney Tunes’ character Lola Bunny, who first appeared in the 1996 film Space Jam and is Bugs Bunny’s girlfriend.
The six-minute clip was delivered as a mockumentary-style piece, as Bugs and LeBron James argue over who is the best player on their team. “So cute to watch them bicker, when everyone knows this is Lola’s team,” Lola shares.
Originally voiced by Kath Soucie, Lola Bunny was known for her line, “don’t ever call me ‘doll.'” But some fans were not sure on the new voice work by Zendaya, with many wondering what had happened to the “sultry” tones Lola is known for.
“Love Zendaya but for some reason the voice just doesn’t seem right,” commented one fan as another added: “She’s missing that sultry “don’t call me doll” attitude.”
“Just look at the clip without any sound. Really take in how you would expect the voice to sound based on the animation and how the character moves and expresses herself….then play the sound. It’s actually a little jarring. Absolutely respect Zendaya, but this is just not it,” tweeted a third fan.
However, it seems like it was always the plan for Lola Bunny to be slightly different than the original, with director Malcolm D. Lee revealing that he never felt Lola was “politically correct.”
“This is a kids’ movie, why is she in a crop top? It just felt unnecessary, but at the same time there’s a long history of that in cartoons,” he said in March.
“This is 2021. It’s important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters. She probably has the most human characteristics of the Tunes.
“We reworked a lot of things, not only her look, like making sure she had an appropriate length on her shorts and was feminine without being objectified, but gave her a real voice. For us, it was, let’s ground her athletic prowess, her leadership skills, and make her as full a character as the others.”
