First they came for the transphobic space commando, then for the proud potato people, but now they’ve gone too damn far. That’s right, folks, the monsters at Warner Bros. have – I hope you’re sitting down for this – made Lola Bunny’s breasts slightly smaller. The assault on our cultural heritage landed the other week, when Entertainment Weekly posted one of the first official images from Space Jam: A New Legacy.
All our favorites were there: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and, of course, Tweetie Pie, posing with basketball star LeBron James. But alongside them was Space Jam‘s Lola Bunny, who has a new uniform that covers her midriff and makes her look like she’s wearing a sports bra. Heresy!
Now, you could point out that getting upset over the size of a cartoon rabbit’s chest is a little embarrassing, but that hasn’t stopped a right wing commentariat that’s constantly craving the next thing to be offended by. Radio host Jesse Kelly recently said, “I can almost hear the one on the right scolding me to wear a mask as she drives by in her Subaru,” while the deputy editor of the Daily Caller compared the situation to the (also ridiculous) Potato Head controversy. But they’re merely the tip of the iceberg, with fans taking to social media to accuse Warner Bros. of “bending the knee” to liberals, arguing that the breast reduction was caused by SJWs with an “anti-furry agenda” and claiming that the whole affair is “Orwell 1984 fascism censorship Chinese propaganda.”
Director Malcolm D. Lee, meanwhile, commented on the change and explained the redesign, saying:
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; she doesn’t have a thing like a carrot or a lisp or a stutter. So 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.”
Fortunately, if you really want to get off to a cartoon rabbit, the internet more than has your back. Since the reveal, the LolaBunnyNSFW subreddit has exploded in popularity, providing an avalanche of explicit images of Lola in all manner of positions. We kid you not.
Space Jam: A New Legacy lands in theaters and HBO Max on July 16th, 2021.