Space Chimps

Last updated

Space Chimps
Space chimps.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Kirk DeMicco
Written by
  • Kirk DeMicco
  • Rob Moreland
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJericca Cleland
Edited by Debbie Berman
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • July 18, 2008 (2008-07-18)
Running time
81 minutes [3]
Countries
  • United States [1]
  • United Kingdom [1]
  • Canada [1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$37 million [2]
Box office$64.8 million [2]

Space Chimps is a 2008 animated comic science fiction film directed by Kirk DeMicco (in his debut), who wrote the screenplay with Rob Moreland. It features the voices of Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Patrick Warburton, Kristin Chenoweth, Kenan Thompson, Zack Shada, Carlos Alazraqui, Omid Abtahi, Patrick Breen, Jane Lynch, Kath Soucie, and Stanley Tucci.

Contents

The film follows three chimpanzees who go into space to an alien planet. 20th Century Fox theatrically released the film on July 18, 2008, and received mostly negative reviews by critics. The film grossed $64.8 million on a $37 million budget. It received an Artios Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Animation Feature. A video game based on the film was also released in July 2008.

A direct-to-video sequel, titled Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back , was released on May 28, 2010, to cinemas in the United Kingdom by Entertainment Film Distributors and was released on DVD on October 5, 2010, in the United States by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Plot

In outer space, an uncrewed, intelligent life-searching NASA space probe, Infinity, is dragged into an intergalactic wormhole and crash-lands on the other side of the galaxy. It lands on the Earth-like alien planet named Malgor, populated by colorful alien beings. Zartog, an inhabitant, accidentally discovers how to take manual control of the onboard machinery and uses it to enslave the population. Faced with the possible extinction of Infinity and their budget, the scientists hire multiple chimpanzees as astronauts to regain contact with the probe and retrieve it: technical genius Comet, lieutenant Luna and commander Titan. For media attention, the Senator adds to the team Ham III, grandson of Ham, the first chimpanzee in space, who works as a cannonball at a circus in company of Houston, a chimpanzee and friend of Ham III's grandfather. Ham III is uninterested in the mission, but despite his best attempts to escape, he is launched into space with Titan and Luna.

Ham, Luna and Titan enter the wormhole, where the latter two pass out from the pressure, leaving Ham with the task of getting the ship out and landing it. The ship and Titan are taken by Zartog's henchmen, and Titan, unaware of Zartog's agenda, teaches him about the probe's features. Ham and Luna journey to Zartog's palace. Ham reveals that he believes Space Chimps is a joke which makes Luna angry at him. They receive guidance from inhabitant Kilowatt. They go into a valley of the aliens' food where they meet some globhoppers, and then they go into the cave of the Flesh-Devouring Beast. Kilowatt volunteers to distract the beast so Luna and Ham can escape, and was devoured in the process. They then go inside the Dark Cloud of Id in which they fall out of. Once at the palace, they rescue Titan and plan to leave. However, Ham, Luna and Titan alter their course of action after noticing Zartog torturing the inhabitants who are being frozen in a pool of freznar, feeling they owe it to Kilowatt to stop Zartog. They abandon the ship, which returns home on autopilot.

Zartog attacks the chimpanzees with the probe and threatens to freeze them all, but Titan tricks him into activating the probe's ejection mechanism, which launches Zartog into a pool of freznar and freezes him. Kilowatt, who has survived, frees the chimps. The chimps re-establish contact with Houston and Comet to discuss their prospects on leaving. By Ham's suggestion and with help from Malgor's inhabitants, they manage to engineer a ship from the probe's constituents, launching it through a volcanic eruption while using Zartog as their nose cone.

Before they re-enter the wormhole, Titan hands the controls over to Ham. Though Ham becomes skeptical once more, he is reassured by a vision of his grandfather and steers it out of the wormhole. Comet advises to decrease the ship's entry angle, and the ship starts spinning out, though Luna recovers in time to aid Ham. The repurposed mechanical arms soon fail, and the Zartog nosecone detaches in the atmosphere, damaging one of the ship's fins while Comet and Houston appropriate one HEMTT to prepare for the ship's arrival. Since Ham needs to fly and Titan is still out, Luna climbs out to repair it. She succeeds and Ham regains control as it passes a media conference, but loses grip and is presumably killed. Ham nearly crashes the ship and one of the arms break off, but he manages to successfully land it on the HEMTT. He leaves the ship and finds Luna merely knocked out. Moments later, Houston, Comet and Titan catch up with them. Attracted by the commotion, the scientist, Senator and media discover the ship and the chimps. Under pressure from the press, the Senator decides to instead dramatically increase the space program's funding. Subsequently, the scientists celebrate their return.

Zartog is later revealed to have landed in front of a suburban residence. Alive but helpless, he can only watch as a Dachshund urinates on him.

Cast

Production

In 2002, Kirk DeMicco conceived a film premise of anthropomorphic chimpanzees on a spaceship from viewing The Right Stuff (1983), a fictional depiction of the Mercury Seven program. It included the line, "Does a monkey know he's sitting on top of a rocket that might explode?" which made him wonder what happened if the monkey knew. Shortly after the lightbulb moment, he saw the famous space chimpanzee Ham on the cover of a 1961 issue of Life magazine; the chimpanzee's smug expression gave him the idea of a self-centered protagonist going on a dangerous space mission. [4] Using the Life magazine issue with him, DeMicco pitched his ideas to John H. Williams, comparing the plot to that of Tommy Boy (1995). Williams was instantly hooked and began working with him from there. [4] They later decided on "a great sci-fi adventure" for children that was also a mocking of science fiction media in the same way the Shrek films, which Williams also produced, parodied fairy tales. [4] De Micco wanted the planet to have the vibe of the Mos Eisley cantina of the Star Wars series. [4]

The project and its title, Space Chimps, were first publicized in a Variety article on June 7, 2004, announcing it was next in Vanguard's production line after Valiant (2005). [5] The film was produced in two years by Williams' Vanguard Animation studio with a team of around 170, a $37 million budget, and DeMicco as director. [4] For the film, a new pipeline was created, as well as a studio constructed in Vancouver. [4] Chris Bacon was chosen as composer, who was recommended to DeMicco by James Newton Howard. The limited budget meant creative choices had to be made for the music to sound interesting; according to DeMicco, beds were occasionally used alongside the orchestra, and the Blue Man Group played PVC pipes. [4]

Release

On April 11, 2006, 20th Century Fox signed a deal with Vanguard minority owner IDT Entertainment to distribute four films, the second in line being Space Chimps. [6]

Space Chimps was originally set to be released on May 2, 2008, but on December 19, 2007, the movie's release date was changed to July 18, 2008. This was mainly because of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. [7]

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes reported that 33% of professional critics gave positive reviews based on 92 reviews. The consensus states: "Space Chimps' cheap animation and overabundance of monkey puns feels especially dated in a post WALL-E world." [8] On Metacritic, the film holds a 36/100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. [10]

Roger Ebert gave a positive review of three stars and said in his review that "Space Chimps is delightful from beginning to end." [11] Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times said that Space Chimps was "hilarious". [12] Lael Loewenstein of Variety called it "fairly fatuous but enjoyably slim family entertainment". [13]

Box office

The film has grossed $30.1 million in the United States, and $34.7 million in other countries, totalling $64.8 million worldwide. [14] The film was released in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2008, and opened on #7, grossing £563,543. [15]

On its opening weekend, Space Chimps was number seven with a gross of $7.1 million in 2,511 theatres, with a $2,860 average; [2] it was a poor opening for the film, debuting on (at the time) the highest-grossing box office weekend ever in the United States. [16]

Awards

List of awards and nominations
AwardCategoryNomineeResult
Artios Award Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Animation FeatureMatthew Jon BeckNominated

Home media

20th Century Home Entertainment released Space Chimps on DVD and Blu-ray on November 25, 2008. [17]

Video game

A video game based on the film was released in July 2008, published by Brash Entertainment and developed by Redtribe, Wicked Witch Software and WayForward Technologies.

Sequel

Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back was released on May 28, 2010, to cinemas in the United Kingdom by Entertainment Film Distributors and was released on DVD on October 5, 2010, in the United States by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It was universally panned by critics and grossed just over $4 million during its theatrical run.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Stargate</i> (film) 1994 film by Roland Emmerich

Stargate is a 1994 science fiction action-adventure film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. The film is the first entry in the Stargate media franchise and stars Kurt Russell, James Spader, Jaye Davidson, Alexis Cruz, Mili Avital, and Viveca Lindfors. The plot centers on the titular "Stargate", an ancient ring-shaped device that creates a wormhole, enabling travel to a similar device elsewhere in the universe. The central plot explores the theory of extraterrestrial beings having an influence upon human civilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ham (chimpanzee)</span> First great ape launched into space (1957–1983)

Ham, a chimpanzee also known as Ham the Chimp and Ham the Astrochimp, was the first great ape launched into space. On January 31, 1961, Ham flew a suborbital flight on the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission, part of the U.S. space program's Project Mercury.

<i>Alien Resurrection</i> 1997 film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Alien Resurrection is a 1997 American science fiction horror film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Joss Whedon, and starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. It is the fourth installment of the Alien franchise, and was filmed at the 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles, California.

<i>Alien 3</i> 1992 film by David Fincher

Alien 3 (stylized as ALIEN3) is a 1992 American science fiction horror film directed by David Fincher and written by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson, from a story by Vincent Ward. Starring Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as Ellen Ripley, it is the third installment of the Alien franchise.

<i>Titan A.E.</i> 2000 film by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman

Titan A.E. is a 2000 American animated science fiction action-adventure film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and starring Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo and Drew Barrymore. Its title refers to the spacecraft central to the plot with A.E. meaning "After Earth". The animation of the film combines traditional hand-drawn created animation with the extensive use of computer-generated imagery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wormhole X-Treme!</span> 12th episode of the 5th season of Stargate SG-1

"Wormhole X-Treme!" is the 100th episode of military science fiction adventure television show Stargate SG-1 and is the 12th episode of the fifth season. The episode was first broadcast September 8, 2001 on Showtime in the United States. It was written by series co-creator and executive producer Brad Wright along with supervising producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie and was directed by Peter DeLuise.

<i>Link</i> (film) 1986 film by Richard Franklin

Link is a 1986 British horror film starring Elisabeth Shue and Terence Stamp along with a trio of simian stars which consist of Locke as Link, Jed as Imp, and Carrie as Voodoo. The title character, "Link", is a super-intelligent yet malicious chimpanzee who lashes out against his masters when they try to have him euthanised.

<i>Supernova</i> (2000 film) 2000 American sci-fi film

Supernova is a 2000 science fiction horror film written by David C. Wilson, William Malone and Daniel Chuba and directed by Walter Hill, credited as "Thomas Lee." "Thomas Lee" was chosen as a directorial pseudonym for release in lieu of Alan Smithee, as the latter had become too well known as a badge of a film being disowned by its makers. It was originally developed in 1988 by Malone as "Dead Star," with paintings by H. R. Giger and a plot that had been called "Hellraiser in outer space." Jack Sholder was hired for substantial uncredited reshoots, and Francis Ford Coppola was brought in for editing purposes. Various sources suggest that little of Hill's work remains in the theatrical cut of the film. The film shares several plot similarities with the film Event Horizon, released in 1997, and Alien Cargo, released in 1999. The cast features James Spader, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Lou Diamond Phillips, Peter Facinelli, Robin Tunney, and Wilson Cruz. The film was shot by cinematographer Lloyd Ahern II and scored by composers David C. Williams and Burkhard Dallwitz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enos (chimpanzee)</span> Only chimpanzee and third great ape to orbit Earth

Enos was a chimpanzee launched into space by NASA, following his predecessor Ham. He was the only non-human primate to orbit the Earth, and the third hominid to do so after cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov. Enos's flight occurred on November 29, 1961.

Vanguard Films & Animation, often named only as Vanguard Animation, is an American production studio founded in 2002 by producer John H. Williams and Neil Braun. The studio has offices in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Ealing Studios in London, England, United Kingdom. Starz Distribution owns a minority stake in the studio.

<i>Monsters vs. Aliens</i> 2009 film by Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman

Monsters vs. Aliens is a 2009 American animated science fiction action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman from a screenplay written by Letterman, Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky, and the writing team of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger based on a story by Vernon and Letterman. Featuring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Paul Rudd, and Stephen Colbert, the film involves a group of misfit monsters hired by the United States Armed Forces to stop the invasion of an extraterrestrial villain and save the world in exchange for freedom.

<i>Planet 51</i> 2009 film by Jorge Blanco

Planet 51 is a 2009 animated science fiction comedy film directed by Jorge Blanco from a script by Joe Stillman. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Seann William Scott and John Cleese, the film follows an astronaut who lands on an alien planet, as one of the aliens helps him return to his ship while evading the military.

<i>Space Chimps</i> (video game) 2008 video game

Space Chimps is a platform video game based on the film of the same name. It was published by Brash Entertainment and was released for the PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, and Windows in 2008.

<i>One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps</i> 2008 documentary film

One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps is a 2008 documentary film produced and directed by David Cassidy and Kristin Davy which aired on History Channel UK and CBC Television. The film chronicles the real story behind the early use of chimpanzees in space exploration. The film was released on DVD in April 2008, after several delays. Cassidy is best known for co-producing the 2006 documentary Shut Up and Sing on the Dixie Chicks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirk DeMicco</span> American filmmaker

Kirk DeMicco is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on animated films, such as writing and directing Space Chimps (2008), The Croods (2013), Vivo (2021), and Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023).

<i>Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back</i> 2010 American animated science fiction film

Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back is a 2010 American animated direct-to-video comic science fiction film directed and produced by John H. Williams and written by Rob Moreland. It is the sequel to Space Chimps (2008). Zack Shada, Carlos Alazraqui, Cheryl Hines, Patrick Warburton, Stanley Tucci, Patrick Breen, Omid Abtahi and Jane Lynch reprise their roles from the previous film; Andy Samberg, Jeff Daniels, and Kristin Chenoweth were replaced by Tom Kenny, John DiMaggio, and Laura Bailey, respectively. Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back was released to cinemas in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2010 by Entertainment Film Distributors and was released on DVD in the United States on October 5, 2010 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It received universally negative reviews by critics, including a rare 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

<i>Dawn of the Planet of the Apes</i> 2014 American film by Matt Reeves

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a 2014 American science fiction action film directed by Matt Reeves and written by Mark Bomback and the writing team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. The sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), it is the second installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot film series and the eighth film overall. It stars Andy Serkis as Caesar, alongside Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. The film takes place 10 years after the events of Rise and follows a group of human survivors as they battle to stay alive in the wake of a deadly pandemic, while Caesar tries to maintain control over his expanding ape community which could lead to an all-out war between apes and humans.

<i>Independence Day: Resurgence</i> 2016 film by Roland Emmerich

Independence Day: Resurgence is a 2016 American science fiction action film co-written, directed, and co-produced by Roland Emmerich and co-written and co-produced by Dean Devlin, serving as a sequel to Independence Day (1996). It stars an ensemble cast that consists of Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Maika Monroe, Travis Tope, William Fichtner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Judd Hirsch. The film takes place twenty years after the events of the first film, during which the United Nations has collaborated to form the Earth Space Defense, an international military defense and research organization. Through reverse engineering, the world has fused the power of alien technology with humanity's and laid the groundwork to resist a second invasion.

<i>Get Squirrely</i> 2015 film by Ross Venokur

Get Squirrely is a 2016 American animated heist comedy film produced by John H. Williams and Dan Krech and directed by Ross Venokur. Released on November 4, 2016, the film was Vanguard Animation's first theatrically released feature film since 2010's Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back to avoid competition with 2014's The Nut Job. However, the film received mixed reviews.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Space Chimps". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Space Chimps (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved December 11, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Space Chimps (U)". British Board of Film Classification . July 10, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strike, Joe (July 18, 2008). "The Rise of the Primates: 'Space Chimps' Takes Off". Animation World Network . Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  5. ↑ Harris, Dana (June 7, 2004). "'Jungle' beat for Vanguard". Variety . Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  6. ↑ Fritz, Ben (April 11, 2006). "'Chimps' ride Fox's rocket". Variety. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Space Chimps". boxofficeprophets.com. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Space Chimps". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  9. ↑ Space Chimps Reviews, Metacritic, retrieved May 22, 2022
  10. ↑ "Home". CinemaScore. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Space Chimps Movie Review - Roger Ebert". Chicago Sun-Times. July 17, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  12. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (July 18, 2008). "Space Chimps Movie Review - New York Times". New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2008.
  13. ↑ Loewenstein, Lael (July 16, 2008). "Review: 'Space Chimps'". Variety . Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Space chimps (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 25, 2008.
  15. ↑ "Weekend box office 1st August 2008 - 3rd August 2008". www.25thframe.co.uk. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  16. ↑ Bensinger, Ken (July 21, 2008). "Box-office records no match for 'Batman'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  17. ↑ Gibron, Bill (November 6, 2008). "Space Chimps". DVD Talk . Retrieved February 7, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.