Considering it's slightly less than two months until Space Chimps' theatrical debut, it's surprising that Vanguard Animation, Starz Media and 20th Century Fox haven't done more to prime the pump for this flick. However, we now have an official poster, courtesy of the good folks at Cinematical.
Space Chimps Poster
Unfortunately, the word "pedestrian" springs to mind when viewing this one-sheet. It's not stunning, nor is it stunningly awful.
Basically, you have the three main chimp characters sitting in a space shuttle: Ham III (Andy Samberg) at the controls, staring excitedly into the vasty cosmos, while dim-but-macho Titan (Patrick Warburton) looks peeved and love-interest Luna (Cheryl Hines) giving the classic "He's a dork but I'm inexplicably hot for his tail" look that's so common in movies. Add a couple more chimps floating outside, one about to score himself a lovely banana, and you pretty much have a movie poster.
And no, the pitch line: "On July 18th, go bananas!" doesn't thrill.
Production-wise, this film is a bit of a mixed bag. Producer Barry Sonnenfeld has Enchanted, and the Men in Black franchise under his belt, but the other producer, John H. Williams, has more of a mixed resume. For every Shrek to his name, he has a Valiant or Happily N'Ever After in there too. Kirk DiMicco (Racing Stripes) is unremarkable, but scriptwriter Robert Moreland penned Happily N'Ever After. Eek.
Chimps Teaser Trailer: What's the Story?
Back in November, a teaser trailer leaked online for this flick that didn't exactly excite. However, a Suite 101 reader claimed that the aforementioned teaser was actually a reel intended to pitch the flick to investors, and was never intended to show online.
However, it's interesting to note that many animation pros were fooled by the leak, and thought that this was the first Space Chimps' teaser trailer. It's also interesting to note that Vanguard and Fox didn't instantly sic their lawyers on the site, the way Disney or Paramount often do with leaked materials.
Was that initial pitch trailer deliberately leaked in a PR attempt that backfired? Because backfired, it certainly has.
After chatting with some people in the animation business, there's not a lot of love building for this flick. The general consensus appears to be that the animation in Space Chimps is okay, but not stellar, and the story is nothing to write home about, either.
Will Space Chimps surprise us all, or is this summer still a two-horse race between Kung Fu Panda and WALL-E? Find out when Space Chimps opens July 18th.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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