Lola Bunny was a late addition to the world of Looney Tunes, created decades after most of the more memorable members of the cast. Her personality was also sadly lacking in her inaugural appearance. But there's actually one version of the character who pushed Lola in the perfect direction. The best incarnation of Lola Bunny wasn't from Space Jam, but was at the center of The Looney Tunes Show.
Lola Bunny was introduced to the Looney Tunes pantheon in the original 1996 Space Jam. Played by Kath Soucie, Lola stood out from the rest of the cast by being sardonic and serious on top of being skilled at basketball, with few goofy elements to the character that could match her zanier, more memorable co-stars. Her only real role in the film was to be a member of the Tune Squad, the basketball team assembled to keep the Looney Tunes out of servitude to the alien Swackhammer, and to be Bugs Bunny's primary love interest. Beyond that, Lola had little in terms of genuine character traits and instead came across as a one-note player in the film who was either being sexualized by the rest of the cast or complaining about that treatment.
The character is set to reappear in the upcoming Space Jam 2, this time played by Zendaya. A version of Lola was also included in Baby Looney Tunes but was played -- along with the rest of the cast -- with a radically simplified personality. However, a largely different version of the character appeared in The Looney Tunes Show, the animated sitcom that ran on Cartoon Network for two seasons. Now voiced by Kristen Wiig, Lola was reinvented as the daughter of a wealthy family who quickly established herself as a perpetually cheerful and consistently eccentric young woman, often throwing herself into situations that she was wholly unprepared to deal with. After a chance meeting with Bugs Bunny in the Season 1 episode "Members Only," Lola became infatuated with him and entered the orbit of his close ones as a result.
The romance between the two characters actually proved to be one of the show's primary overarching storylines, with Bugs slowly coming around to the idea of a romance with the excitable and proactive young woman, building to the surprisingly sweet (and constantly silly) Season 2 episode, "Dear John." Lola was given an inherent silly side that meshed better with the rest of the tone of the Looney Tunes cast, allowing her to be at the center of the comedy instead of being on the sideline. Bolstered by Wiig's strong performance -- which effectively juggled an alluring sweetness coupled with a strong sense of comedy and well-meaning idiocy -- the Lola featured in The Looney Tunes Show was a far more engrossing version of the character.
This version of Lola fit better with the rest of the franchise around her, quickly becoming a silly partner to Bugs' more straight-man qualities. She also got the chance to be at the center of episodes outside of her romantic relationship with Bugs. When the show does focus on that romantic element of the character, Lola is given agency of her own -- something she largely lacked in the original Space Jam outside of wanting to join the Tune Squad in the first place. "Double Date" is a highlight of the entire series, with Lola's attempts to help Daffy on a date with the sarcastic but good-natured Tina resulting in Lola becoming smitten by the same script she wrote for Daffy. This results in her shifting all her attention to a completely unaware Daffy -- and in the process, forces Bugs to finally admit his own interest in her.
Lola was reinvented from the ground up for The Looney Tunes Show, but it was a worthwhile and clever transformation for a character who had been in desperate need of a personality of her own. She wasn't an object of desire for Bugs, but someone he had to grow to appreciate and even love. She also wasn't just there to fill an empty slot on a team, but rather defined her own place in the overall dynamic of the show. She's everything that the original Lola Bunny should have been, an effective and hilarious new addition to the Looney Tunes cast that could hold her own among her peers. Lola maintains these qualities in the New Looney Tunes shorts, where she's played by Kath Soucie and remains competitive, but now has a likable, silly personality more akin her The Looney Tunes Show incarnation.
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