Lola Bunny
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Lola Bunny
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| Lola Bunny in her normal appearance. | |
| First appearance | Space Jam, 1996 |
| Voiced by | Kath Soucie |
| Background Information | |
| Friends | Bugs Bunny, Michael Jordan |
| Rivals | Nerdlucks/Monstars, Mr. Swackhammer |
| Catch phrases | "Don't ever call me 'Doll'." |
Lola Bunny is a fictional cartoon character from Warner Bros. Studios. She is a female rabbit and has been established as having a romantic involvement with Bugs Bunny.
She somewhat resembles Babs Bunny, a (conceptually earlier) character from "Tiny Toon Adventures". In the episode "Fields Of Honey" Babs complained that she didn't have a mentor like the other characters- Buster Bunny had Bugs Bunny, Plucky Duck had Daffy Duck, Hamton J. Pig had Porky Pig etc. Some have suggested that Lola might even be based (retroactively) on Babs Bunny, although aside from a physical resemblance they have little in common.
Lola's first appearance and only major role (as an adult) was in the movie Space Jam, in which she was voiced by Kath Soucie. Lola's impressive basketball skills got her a spot on the Tune Squad, in which the Looney Tunes characters battled the villainous Monstars for their freedom, with help from Michael Jordan. The Tune Squad was victorious, and Lola kindled a romance with Bugs. Although she had turned down his earlier advances, she saw him in new light after he heroically saved her from injury by shoving her out of the path of a belly-flopping Monstar, getting himself painfully squashed under the Monstars belly.
Lola's presence in Space Jam sparked a considerable amount of controversy amongst Looney Tunes purists. Many argued that the entire movie was a failed attempt to "update" the classic characters to the tastes of modern audiences. Another argument is that Lola's character as a "strong, independent female" who was at the same time excessively seductive, and has no place among the fallible human characteristics of the rest of the Looney Tunes. (Throughout the entire movie, Lola suffers no injury, reverse or misfortune of any kind, on the court or off.) Also, some argue that Bugs already has an established sweetheart in Honey Bunny, and that Bugs' boorish and competitive behavior towards Lola are against his character.
The controversy surrounding Lola is indirectly addressed in the film Looney Tunes: Back in Action, which was touted by director Joe Dante as repairing the damage done to the characters' personalities in Space Jam: Bugs pointedly asserts that he has no need for a female co-star, as he is fully capable of playing both male and female roles himself.
After Space Jam, Lola has made several appearances in video games (in fact, she even replaced Honey Bunny as the damsel in distress of the Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle series), and she regularly appears in solo stories in the monthly Looney Tunes comic published by DC Comics. Lola was also seen as the reporter in the 2000 direct-to-video movie "Tweety's High-Flying Adventure". An infant version of her is among the regular characters of Baby Looney Tunes. (Her relative obscurity was mentioned in the original commercial break cards, where the announcer says things like "Yes, Lola is cute, but I'm not sure who she is.") Also, in the cartoon series Loonatics Unleashed, the character of Lexi Bunny is a descendant of Lola and possibly Bugs.
