There’s monkey magic galore in the colourful new CG comedy Space Chimps. The movie tells the epic story of three fun loving apes who blast off into the depths of space and end up trying to save a planet from a seriously evil dictator. Writer/director Kirk DeMicco tells Matt McAllister about his space-bound simians.

Where did the idea for Space Chimps come from?

The idea came from watching the movie The Right Stuff. In the film Chuck Yaeger (Sam Shephard) says, “Monkeys? You think a monkey knows he's sittin' on top of a rocket that might explode?” And I thought, well what if he did? Then I did some research and became more and more interested and amazed in the role that chimpanzees played in the early space missions.

Were you inspired by any space movies in particular?

Two words. Star Wars. I was eight years old and I saw it eight times. And of course being named Kirk I have a love-hate relationship with the Captain. Love the show, hate the nickname.

This was your feature directorial debut. Was there a lot of pressure overseeing such a large crew and was the experience everything you thought it would be?

Animation is an iterative and collaborative process. I was very lucky that I had two producers on site, Curtis Augspurger and Tom Jacomb, who had made the animated film Valiant in London a few years before. They had been in the trenches and brought all their wisdom and quite a few new tricks they learned from making a previous movie to Space Chimps.

I heard that producer Barry Sonnenfeld became something of a mentor to you. How did you meet him and did he pass on any directing tips?

Barry and I met developing another film based on the Elmore Leonard children’s book Coyote in the House. Barry was brought on board to Space Chimps by John Williams, the producer. He immediately became a guiding light for the entire crew. Coming from live action (big time live action) Barry is used to making quick decisions, and in animation there is no shortage of decisions. Choices such as who we cast to how thick the dust should be outside the circus wagon in the opening scene are an everyday occurrence. Nothing comes for free in animation. Everything has to be evaluated.

Do you think there’s a lot in the movie that will appeal to adults as well as kids?

We were very fortunate to have such a diverse and talented group of actors who bring so much to the table. This will help make the film appeal to both adults and children. Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenoweth, Patrick Warburton and Stanley Tucci all share an offbeat, quirky sense of comedy that I love. Not to mention we shoot monkeys in a rocket through a wormhole, which is always good for a giggle.

What marks Space Chimps out from other CG comedies?

I think our tone has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek.

What do you think are the differences between writing and directing for animation and live action?

The biggest difference between animation and live action filmmaking is that the process of animation is slow…slow…slow. Animation is like one very long post-production. Whereas in live action you write a script, build the sets, shoot the film and then spend months editing and adding things like animation and effects. In animation we do all those things simultaneously. Sometimes we will build a set for the third act a year after we built and shot (animated) in a set the year before in the first act.

What were the cast like to work with? Was there much ad-libbing?

Each cast member had his or her different style. Andy [Samberg] is a writer and he would have many alternate lines written before the sessions. Whereas, Patrick [Warburton] who is a master of voice acting would be able to give completely different spins to any line just based on his delivery. Cheryl [Hines] comes from an improv background so she would be more comfortable riffing in the recording studio.

The amazing thing is that the actors were all so generous with their work and their time. We (the filmmakers) would return to Vancouver where we made the movie from Los Angeles or New York where we did the recordings with the actors. We would bring everyone in to listen to the takes, and it just energised the studio. The animators would fight over who would be able to animate certain lines.

You are working with John Cleese on Crood Awakening, is that right? What can you tell us about that project?

I wrote the first few drafts of Crood Awakening with John Cleese, but I am now co-writing the script with the director Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch). It’s being made at Dreamworks Animation and we’re only in the early stages. The prehistoric world of Crood Awakening is such a ripe backdrop for an animated film that it’s all very exciting.

I’ve heard that you are also developing a version of The Twits. What stage of development is that at?

The Twits by Roald Dahl is one of my all time favourite books and my all time favourite script that I wrote, as it was the first script I wrote with John Cleese. You can just imagine John’s take on a warring married couple as deliciously insane as Mr. and Mrs. Twit. We wrote the script for Disney, but after executive/regime changes at the studio the project was put into turnaround and is now set up at Working Title and Universal where I’m sure it’s in great hands. I look forward to the day we see the MuggleWumps take revenge.

Space Chimps is released in US cinemas on 18 July 2008 and in UK cinemas on 1 August 2008.