- Notes provided by 20th Century Fox. -

When a $5 billion Space Agency probe disappears into an intergalactic wormhole, the agency recruits Ham III, grandson of the first chimpanzee in space, to help retrieve the wayward craft. But Ham is a free-spirited circus performer more interested in zero gravity high jinks than living up to his illustrious heritage. The simian slacker becomes a reluctant hero and learns the true meaning of courage as he and his crewmates, the plucky Lieutenant Luna and their by-the-book commander, Titan, risk everything in an effort to save the peaceful inhabitants of a distant planet from an evil dictator.

The Right Stuff meets the wrong stuff in this witty, out-of-this-world adventure. State-of-the-art CGI animation from Vanguard Animation, makers of the avian charmer Valiant, take this tale of a reluctant astronaut into another dimension. The film is directed by Kirk DeMicco, whose screenwriting credits include Quest for Camelot and Racing Stripes. It is written by Kirk DeMicco and Rob Moreland, from a story by Kirk DeMicco.

Space Chimps features the voices of Andy Samberg ("Saturday Night Live"), Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm"), Patrick Warburton ("Rules of Engagement"), Kristin Chenoweth ("The West Wing"), Stanley Tucci (Robots), Kenan Thompson (Snakes on a Plane), Jane Lynch (The 40 Year Old Virgin), Carlos Alazraqui (Happy Feet), Zach Shada (Ice Age: The Meltdown), Patrick Breen ("Boston Legal"), Kath Soucie ("The Replacements") and Omid Abtahi ("Sleeper Cell").

The film is produced by John H. Williams (the Shrek trilogy) and Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black), the latter also serving as creative consultant. Tom Jacomb is associate producer and Curtis Augspurger is the film's co-producer. Executive producers are Neil Braun, Eric M. Bennett, John W. Hyde, Jerry Davis, Steve Brown and Morris Berger. Music is by Chris Bacon and the Blue Man Group. A Vanguard Animation film, Space Chimps is presented by Starz Animation. It will be distributed by Odyssey Entertainment internationally and by Twentieth Century Fox in North America.

Ham (Andy Samberg), the grandson of the first chimp in outer space, has been happily eking out a living as a chimp cannonball in a third-rate circus when the Space Agency makes him an offer he can't refuse. A wormhole has transported the Infinity Space Probe into the farthest reaches of the universe. As a political PR stunt, Ham is recruited to join a team of specially trained ape astronauts assigned to rescue the lost vessel.

His love of flashy acrobatics and aerial maneuvers make Ham a successful high-flyer, but his irreverent antics and goofball humor quickly alienate his professional astro¬chimp colleagues. Ham spends most of his time tweaking the ship's pompous commander, Titan (Patrick Warburton), or flirting with Luna (Cheryl Hines), his fetching lieutenant, but as the only one immune to the effects of the wormhole, he is indispensable to the mission.

After a crash landing on the planet Malgor, Titan is taken prisoner by Zartog (Jeff Daniels), a megalomaniacal alien who has commandeered the Infinity and enslaved the other Malgoreans. In exchange for her help navigating the dreaded Valley of Really Bad Things to rescue their commander, Ham and Luna promise a desperate alien named Kilowatt (Kristin Chenoweth) they will free her people.

Titan is about to be turned into a statue in Zartog's growing gallery-made up of uncooperative minions dipped in molten lava and displayed as a reminder of his omnipotence-when his companions stage a heroic rescue and retake their ship. As they prepare for takeoff, Ham is reminded of his vow to Kilowatt and must decide whether to return home or take a giant step for chimp-kind and live up to his grandfather's legacy.

The Space Chimps Roundtable

From two of "Saturday Night Live's" hottest young performers, to an Emmy® Award nominated alumna of the renowned Groundlings comedy troupe, to a singer trained in opera, each of the cast members brought his or her distinct gifts to the project.

Space Chimps is the story of Ham III, the grandson of the original Ham who went to space and became a national hero. The concept of astronaut primates exerted a strong gravitational pull on the film's voice cast. Andy Samberg, who has established himself as a cutting-edge comedian through his edgy and off-kilter "SNL Digital Shorts," plays Ham, the circus performer turned space traveler. His fellow astronaut and love interest Lieutenant Luna is played by Cheryl Hines, an Emmy Award® nominee for her work on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Commander Titan, the third space chimp, is voiced by Patrick Warburton, who stars on the CBS sitcom "Rules of Engagement."

Kristin Chenoweth, a bona fide Broadway star with two Tony Awards® to prove it, provides the voice of the brave alien Kilowatt and Kenan Thompson, another "SNL" cast member, plays the ringmaster of the circus where Ham III performs as a human, er, chimp cannonball.

We caught up with the cast members during the voice sessions of Space Chimps for a freewheeling discussion, starting off with a surprising revelation from Samberg...

What interested you about this project?

Andy Samberg: What I liked most about the script was probably the space part. And the chimp part. I would say of my many totem spirits, chimp is definitely one of them, so I'm pretty much interested in any project that involves chimps, whether that means actually working with real chimps in the forest or pretending to be one with my voice. I also am a big fan of space. And if you put the two together, I mean, that's like, two full fans' worth of person.

Kenan Thompson: It's true. For some reason, I love to see animals controlling spacecrafts and going to different places. It's kind of like pigs in space. You gotta love it. And it's about monkeys. I always love stuff about monkeys.

Andy Samberg: And I just love comedy and there's plenty of comedy in the film, as there almost always is with an animated movie. It's not exactly like what I do normally. It's a little more for everybody. But they were great about incorporating my ideas and allowing my sense of humor to sort of influence the character, which was important to me. I think it translates well.

Cheryl Hines: Well, I got involved in Space Chimps through Barry Sonnenfeld. He sent me the script, and I read it and I thought it was a cute story. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what the movie's about. The title alone kind of says it. I mean, my first reaction was, am I one of the chimps? Because if it's titled Space Chimps, you at least want to be one of the chimps that goes into space. And did you like how I worked in rocket science with Space Chimps? Thank you. And good night.

Kristin Chenoweth: Like Cheryl, I had done RV with Barry Sonnenfeld. And he called me and said, "I have something that I want you to read, no pressure. Please don't feel pressure. I'm just really thinking of you for it." I read it and I then read it twice. I liked it. And so I called Barry and said "I want to do it."

Kenan Thompson: I think it's a great script. And it's got a great cast. You know what I'm saying? It's energetic. It's funny. Nice people are involved. And it's about monkeys.

Kristin Chenoweth: I'm also one of those freaky women who love the Alien movies, who love anything that has like four heads and 10 arms. So the fact that this kind of thing has been put into an animated feature is right up my alley.

Patrick Warburton: I thought it was time for the subject to be dealt with on the big screen. I've always felt like chimps were the real astronauts. They were the first ones up there. They've never gotten enough credit, really. And it's a crime. This is an opportunity to make that right. Plus my kids are into space and monkeys, so this is perfect. Sometimes I like to just surprise the kids, you know. Here's a little something Daddy did. It's opening in theaters all over the world-I'm shameless when it comes to self-promotion and my kids. That goes back to me explaining to them that that is Daddy's voice on television. They just thought that Daddy was crazy. Apparently Daddy is very needy.

Can you tell us about the parts you each play?

Andy Samberg: I'm Ham III, the grandson of Ham, the original Space Chimp. This Ham's a little down-and-out, although he doesn't think of it that way. He's working at the circus, getting shot out of a cannon. And when the Space Agency loses one of its very expensive satellites, they need to send someone after it through a wormhole. Since it's too dangerous to send humans, they recruit Ham because he's a big name in the chimp world of space travel.

Cheryl Hines: Ham has an extraordinary story because his grandfather was an astronaut, a chimp-naut-I just made that up-and I don't think he really appreciated it until he walked a mile in those space shoes.

Andy Samberg: Ham falls in love. They free a bunch of aliens. There's dancing and joy and romance. Some other crazy stuff. Pure high-octane chimp adventure.

Cheryl Hines: My character, Lieutenant Luna, is second in command on this mission. She's very proud that she gets to go. Then Luna and Ham see sparks, as you often do when you're stuck in a spaceship or on a new planet with someone.

Cheryl Hines: The military aspects of Luna's personality were a challenge for me. She's very straightforward and by the book. I'm usually never like that. And just some of the words that I had to say: all the "space words," as I liked to call them. That was a challenge. "Parsecs" and "wormholes," I still have nightmares about those.

Patrick Warburton: Titan is the alpha male chimp. Commander Titan has been an astronaut for many, many years. And then here comes this chimp, Ham, who's nothing but trouble, a circus freak. He doesn't have much respect for Ham in the beginning, but they eventually become a team and they get a lot accomplished together. Titan's a pretty much no-nonsense kind of guy. In real life, I get bossed around a lot. I have four kids and four dogs and a wife. That's nine and I'm pretty much at the bottom of the food chain. But gosh darn it, Titan is the commander of the ship. Actually, he's always pretty much losing control. He thinks he's in control, but he's not. Just like a daddy.

Kristin Chenoweth: I play Kilowatt, a creature from space. I really didn't do a lot of research because of the space aspect of it and the alien aspect of it. She's this precious little thing that has a big head, a huge head. I picture her as maybe green and she does have light around her. She's got a great heart.

What was it like working with Barry Sonnenfeld and Kirk DeMicco?

Andy Samberg: It was definitely a little bit outside of what I would normally do.

Cheryl Hines: I absolutely adore Barry Sonnenfeld, but he kept telling me the same thing over and over: "More chimp, less Jewish." Which is really odd because I'm not Jewish. And I feel like I'm pretty chimp-like in real life. So most of the time when he gave me direction, I had no idea what he was talking about. I just nodded and I smiled and did it again.

Andy Samberg: If you really want the voice to sound funny, you have to be doing stuff that you're comfortable with. So I've been trying to come up with as many jokes as possible. And Barry and Kirk have been very open to me in that regard, which I appreciate.

Patrick Warburton: I know Kirk and Barry, the great Barry Sonnenfeld, from other projects. Barry and I did a show together called "The Tick" years ago, which is just about the most fun I've ever had in my life. I can't say that wearing the blue suit was all that much fun, but I got to be the Tick, which was just this fantastic character. So it's great to get to be working with Barry again after a few years.

Andy Samberg: And Kirk DeMicco is the best. He's in the top five Kirks I've ever worked with. In fact, we're getting married. That's pretty much the best part that's come out of it. Creatively, we do not get along. But marriage-wise, we're a match made in heaven.

Can you talk about some of the differences between working in animation and live action?

Andy Samberg: Time commitment's a big one. Making an animated movie you don't have to be there for nearly as long. Plus, you don't have to look nice and have haircuts, etc. (Points to his head.) Case in point.

Kristin Chenoweth: It is a relief that it doesn't really matter what you look like. However, I am one of those actresses who really likes to come in feeling like the character. If I'm going to play a squirrel, I want to have maybe a faux fur tail, or if I'm playing Kilowatt, I want to feel light and happy. So I always try to do things for myself that day that make me feel good. Today, it's stupid, but I had a donut. I love donuts. They make me feel good.

Patrick Warburton: For animation, you're sequestered on a sound stage. You're almost never recording with other actors, so you have to use your imagination. You've got to sometimes try to get out of ruts just to give some variation to it all.

Cheryl Hines: Being in the recording booth is like being in a fishbowl. They can hear every little sound that you make. And that's not always attractive. Once you get over the idea that there are 10 people in the sound booth watching you and listening to you, you can kind of let it flow and let it ride and have a good time.

Kenan Thompson: For someone like me, animation is great. My brother was four years older than me, so he got a little too cool for me at some point and I was left to play by myself, you know. It just leaves you wide open to the imagination. And that's kind of like what voiceovers do. You're just in this room and you're picturing all these different things in your mind and the whole situation and breaking down the scenarios. And since its animation, instead of having to just read it in a normal voice, I get to scream and shout and really use the space in the booth.

Cheryl Hines: My background is sketch comedy, and I think it's very helpful to have an improv background for animation, especially when you're doing comedy. It keeps you loose and it keeps you on your toes. If somebody has a suggestion, you can try it right away without having to step outside and rewrite it. You can just try a few different things and whatever's funny, they'll use.

Kristin Chenoweth: I relied heavily on the directors to tell me where we were in the story. They reminded me of who's talking to me and what's just happened. And in a way, there's a freedom there because there is no wrong answer. I mean, there is no wrong reading. And if it is wrong, you can do it 20 other different ways.

Patrick Warburton: Another thing is that, in an animated film, you may not be given an idea of what your character will look like. There's usually a character design that's been preconceived and then they incorporate certain characteristics of the actor. You could be a chimp. You could be a robot. Whatever it is, they'll find something about you and put it in there. It can be disturbing 'cause they always find your least attractive quality or trait.

Kristin Chenoweth: I'm always a little nervous to see what the character looks like because I don't want it to influence me in any way. I always find something in the script about my character that I fall in love with and I want to be able to hold on to that.

Cheryl Hines: What really set this project apart for me was having to do chimp noises. When you're recording for animation, a lot of times you have to do just noises. Walking noises. Jumping noises. Drinking. I had to do kissing once, which was real attractive. In this particular case, not only am I running and jumping, but I'm doing it as a chimp. So I had to do some running and jumping and literally scratching under my arms. Just to get me in the mood. And that's when you feel really special in your little fish bowl-doing your chimp noises while everyone's laughing and pointing in the booth.

Kristin Chenoweth: I was able to create some interesting sounds for the character. I did a lot of my own vocal warm-ups as my character. My background is in opera and I'm a singer. So I started thinking of some of the vocal exercises that we did when I was taking voice. My teacher would always say, "Let's do the siren," and that ended up in the movie. And Kilowatt goes to just a flat-out high C when she's nervous or scared or excited.

Patrick Warburton: Every now and then, if I've had enough coffee, I may get physical. Although I'm more likely to go to sleep in these rooms because it's incredibly quiet and it's a perfect temperature. You might get an odd look or two from the outside if you do. "What's he doing?" "He's taking a nap. He has four kids. He should sleep. Let's go get a coffee and we'll come back and then we'll wake Mr. Warburton up." Everybody calls me Mr. Warburton-'cause I make them.

Kristin Chenoweth: Oddly enough, the challenge of acting without another actor doesn't bother me. I get great response from the booth. I relate it to being on stage in concert, singing a song to a mass of people I don't know. It's not like I'm singing to one person. I'm singing for myself. So you find ways to make it true within yourself. If you can do that successfully, it will be true for the audience.

Cheryl Hines: Well, Barry was on the other side of the glass prompting me sometimes with lines. I don't know if he knows this or not, but he's a terrible, terrible actor. So as much as it's helpful to have someone read the lines, you have the voice of Ham being played by Barry Sonnenfeld going, "I love you, too." Sometimes, I had to stop and just laugh out loud and then continue. So I don't know if it was as helpful as it might be, actually.

What's your favorite part of Space Chimps?

Cheryl Hines: Don't ask me why, but I really enjoyed Ham saying, "You can't blame a chimp for trying." It's just the idea that you can't blame a chimp for trying. I don't know why, but I say that all the time. But it's usually "you can't blame a lady for trying" when I say it.

Patrick Warburton: I love a good film, a good animated picture that's entertaining for kids but has enough stuff happening on more of an adult level. Space Chimps is clever enough that they can get a little naughty, but not be offensive or cross the line. As a parent, I want to be able to take my kids to a movie and not worry about stuff that will affect them in a negative way.

Cheryl Hines: I think when I saw Finding Nemo, my idea of animation changed. I'd always thought it was for kids or immature men. But to see a compelling story so well done gave me a much deeper appreciation for it. This script, I think, will appeal to parents who watch it with their children. There are some jokes that the kids probably aren't going to get and there are others that five-year-olds are going to find hilarious.

Kristin Chenoweth: I just love Kilowatt so much because she really does have a good heart. I view her a little bit as the heart of the show because it is her story. She's not the lead but it's about helping each other. And I think that's the greater message in a world in which that's not what's forefront on our minds. This movie is truly about community, as silly as it sounds. And that's one of the reasons that I love her, and it, so much.

Cheryl Hines: I watch a lot of children's movies and family movies because I have a three-year-old. So when I read a script in that genre, I have a different point of view about it now. And I think, "Would my daughter like to watch this? Would my nieces and nephews like to watch this?" Usually, my daughter doesn't care about my work so much. I guess not every three-year-old loves Larry David-understandably so. It'll be very exciting to see her watch it again in a few years, when it'll seem different to her because she'll see it through a different pair of eyes. And then when she's 10, I'll make her watch it again. I'm going to make her read this interview, too.

Does anyone have any closing thoughts?

Andy Samberg: I think I speak for everyone when I say that the appeal-o-meter for Space Chimps is going to go through the roof. (Not to be confused with the peel-o-meter, like on a banana.) Space and chimps every time.

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