Space Jam 2

[Dacey]

They wouldn't be making Space Jam 2 if there weren't people who liked the first one.

End of story. Love the movie or hate the movie, it's been popular enough for two plus decades as a nostalgia favorite for Warners to decide that a big budget sequel was a financially sound concept.

For that matter, people wouldn't be arguing about Lola Rabbit if the original hadn't left enough of an impact on pop culture for her to even be in the public conscious.

That's why we're getting Space Jam 2 and not Back in Action 2.

End. Of. Story.

[gaastra]

No pepe. He is cut from the film!

https://deadline.com/2021/03/pepe-le-pe ... 234708688/

Pepe was set to appear in a black-and-white Casablanca-like Rick’s Cafe sequence. Pepe, playing a bartender, starts hitting on a woman at the bar played by Santo. He begins kissing her arm, which she pulls back, then slamming Pepe into the chair next to hers. She then pours her drink on Pepe, and slaps him hard, sending him spinning in a stool, which is then stopped by LeBron James’ hand. James and Bugs Bunny are looking for Lola, and Pepe knows her whereabouts. Pepe then tells the guys that Penelope cat has filed a restraining order against him. James makes a remark in the script that Pepe can’t grab other Tunes without their consent.

Upon learning that her scene with Pepe was cut, Santo was upset according to her spokesperson. The actress-singer has been a victim of sexual harassment and has spoken out against it; even recording a debut single “Você Você” back in February 2018 with multi- Grammy-winning producer Humberto Gatica to empower women to stand up to sexual predators and sexual harassment. Santo even has a non-profit, Glam with Greice, which aims to empower victims of domestic violence to change their lives for the better. Santo took joy in shooting the Space Jam sequel scene with Pepe, because the skunk finally gets his comeuppance.

[Dacey]

Oh dear...

[EricJ]

We were going to get just as many cheap deconstructionist jokes in a proposed CGI-hybrid Pepe LePew movie a few years back, but
A) Yogi Bear eventually killed the trend at Warner overnight, and
B) Director Max Landis was reportedly a little too life-imitates-art on the set.

Still listed as in limbo, but I'm guessing it's been "cancelled" in more ways than one.

Me, I'll defend the Chuck-written Pepe we got in "Two Scents' Worth". A true gentleman must be prepared for anything.

[Dacey]

And Pepe's done:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... n-projects

We may as well cancel all Looney Tunes characters at the rate we're going.

And why stop there? Why not cancel Sally and Lucy from Peanuts for the "unwanted advances" they made on male characters? Or does it not work in reverse?

[Daniel]

I very much doubt Warner Bros. would simply drop one of their own intellectual property like that. They'll just retool and update him. Very saddening all the same.

[Dan]

Makes me curious how Fifi gets addressed for the TTA reboot, if they use her at all.

[gaastra]

Funny thing is this is the second time pepe was banned. Around looney tunes back in action he was banned along with porky and speedy for being un pc!

Mexico throw a fit as they loved speed (how ironic) and porky and pepe returned also but they were cut down from roles leading to the joke in back in action.

All three had big scenes in back in action and were cut from the film replaced with cameo scenes!

[James]

Even this week when Speedy was getting mentioned as possibly being cancelled, Mexicans on Twitter were up in arms! Sad that the studio would worry about what Hollywood thinks they would be offended by rather than asking them themselves.

[Ben]

I think a lot of these kinds of questions would be better placed to those that are "offended", instead of do-gooders or those who think they know best being the overbearing voices that get to make all the noise to get things changed.

[Dacey]

Chuck Jones's daughter speaks out:

https://www.joblo.com/movie-news/daught ... ncellation

It should come as no surprise to anyone here that I find this whole thing silly, but some of my friends on Facebook did disagree with me. So, there are differing opinions. For me I think we should enjoy and laugh at Pepe's cartoons for what they were, and not behave as though they were nefarious in nature, even if the character probably wouldn't be created in today's climate (at least not right now). However, I also think the main joke is HE'S A SKUNK who imagines himself as a Casanova while remaining oblivious to why others don't want to be around him. Which is why he's lovable.

And--if we are going to consider Pepe "inappropriate"--we must apply the same rules to Miss Piggy. Think about it: Kermit is actually in a very toxic relationship with her. She's constantly making demands of him, abusing him, and even physically beating him up on a regular basis. And Kermit is terrified of her, yet he sticks with her! That's like some Lifetime movie level-horror! Why are we laughing at this? Are we saying it's fine for men to be on the receiving ends of such behavior?

I kid, but it does seem this "outrage" is very much based off of the gender of the character, for better or for worse. If Piggy were "Mr. Piggy," then it would be a whole different ballgame. And if Pepe were a female skunk, I imagine that the character would be in Space Jam 2 with no headlines.

However, I still hesitate to use the word "cancelled", which has become a greatly overdone and misused term in my book. I also feel like these sorts of decisions are ultimately solutions to something which isn't the actual problem. I have a black friend who LOVES Cleveland Brown, and he's heartbroken that Mike Henry will no longer be voicing him. He's also stated he's offended by the perception that all black people as a whole were offended by default over a white person voicing him--which he said is its own brand of racism in a sense. Again, as I stated in the Seuss thread, not saying these things aren't being done with the best of intentions, and I do respect the opinions of those who feel differently on all of this. But we are also on a slippery slope--one which we can hopefully maintain our footing on once this all boils over.

[ShyViolet]

Well said, Dacey!

[Dacey]

Thanks, Vi!

[EricJ]

However, I also think the main joke is HE'S A SKUNK who imagines himself as a Casanova while remaining oblivious to why others don't want to be around him. Which is why he's lovable.

In one cartoon (albeit not one of Chuck's), Pepe wonders "I must find out what this 'pew' means", looks it up in the dictionary, and...
For the sake of Penelope, he is even willing to make the sacrifice and have himself de-scented. (Of course, at the same time, Penelope was thinking "If you can't beat them..." and jumped into a limburger-cheese vat.)

And I remember one cat-fan who thought Chuck's animation of Penelope struggling to get away from Pepe's embrace was hysterical, because, quote, "If you've ever tried to HOLD a cat..."

[Daniel]

I regret not getting this when I had the chance:



Naturally it's skyrocketing on eBay. Before the hoopla under $10, now $100 and climbing! Same for merch. I already own a few toys and like three plushies, but I've had my eye on the Funko Pop. Kept waiting for a good deal (fluctuated around $40) but now that would be considered a steal! I'm sure the price will go down eventually... hopefully. C'est la vie.