Lola Bunny Redesign

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Part of a series on Space Jam: A New Legacy. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Lola Bunny Redesign refers to a controversy surrounding the redesigned version of the character Lola Bunny in the 2021 film Space Jam: A New Legacy in which she appears less sexualized compared to her version in the 1996 film Space Jam. The change in the design was followed by a viral debate on social media, particularly on Twitter, in March 2021.

Background

On March 4th, 2021, Entertainment Weekly^[1] published a "first look" collection of promotional images from the upcoming 2021 film Space Jam: A New Legacy, a sequel to the 1996 film Space Jam. Three of the images revealed a new design of the character Lola Bunny (shown below).

In the article, Space Jam: New Legacy director Malcolm D. Lee spoke about changing Lola Bunny's design.

Upon watching Space Jam for the first time in 2019, Lee was caught off guard by the original's "very sexualized" depiction of Lola Bunny. "This is 2021. It's important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters," the Girls Trip filmmaker says of why they "reworked" Lola, a.k.a. the team's best non-LeBron player.

On the same day, TMZ^[2] published an article titled "'Space Jam' Director Reworks Lola Bunny for Reboot… From 'Sexualized' to 'Strong.'" TMZ's tweet^[3] linking the article received over 1,500 quote retweets in one day.

Developments

On March 4th, following the news coverage, "Lola Bunny" started trending on Twitter,^[4] achieving top rank by 1 p.m. EST that day. That same day at 2:27 p.m., Twitter^[5] user @TrendanBrendan posted the earliest viral tweet about the character trending on the platform. Within several minutes, Twitter^[6] user @drakecereal posted an image comparing a fan-art design of Lola Bunny by the artist Spiritto,^[15] which was mistaken for the design from 1996,^[9] and the 2021 movie, with the tweet gaining over 4,300 retweets and 47,600 likes in less than a day (shown below).

Pepe Le Pew Removal

On March 7th, 2021, Deadline^[14] reported that Looney Tunes character Pepe Le Pew, who appeared in the original 1996 Space Jam, will not be returning in the 2021 sequel. Additionally, a hybrid scene shot in 2019 that was set to feature the character was cut from the film.

Online Reactions

On March 4th, multiple viral tweets about the change in character's design were posted online. The tweets included viral comments both defending and criticizing the design change, jokes, particularly about Lola Bunny undergoing top surgery, and fan art. For example, on that day Twitter^[7] user @LuxAlptraum made a tweet that received over 3,100 retweets and 21,400 likes in one day (shown below, top left). On the same day, Twitter^[8] user @ufemmeo posted a fan art that gained over 1,400 retweets and 9,600 likes in one day (shown below, top right).

Lola Chungus

On March 5th, 2021, Twitter^[10] user @uncledoomer tweeted a Which Way White Man using a Big Chungus edit of Lola Bunny. The image received over 7,100 retweets and 66,700 likes in three days (tweet and image shown below).

In the following days, the image of Lola Chungus received viral spread online. For example, on March 6th, Redditor^[11] Notlaugh_didntfunny made a post that received over 11,500 upvotes in /r/Gamingcirclejerk in two days (shown below, left). On March 7th, Twitter^[12] user @Saberspark made a tweet that gained over 450 retweets and 7,100 likes (shown below, center). On March 8th, Twitter^[13] user Cooltastic posted an alternative Big Chungus edit of the character (shown below, right).