The veritable history of animals in space begins with the monkey Albert I, who in 1948 climbed thirty-nine miles in a V2 rocket before dying of suffocation. For decades, numerous other monkeys and chimpanzees followed, as well as mice and dogs, in an effort to evaluate the biological effects of space travel on living things.

Space Chimps follows the exploits of Ham III, a fictional grandson of real-life astro-chimp Ham, who was successfully launched into outer space in 1961. Far from probing earth's outer limits like his predecessor, Ham Jr. works at a circus as a cannonball. He's quite happy entertaining the masses with his foolish and daring antics until he's called upon to be part of a NASA mission to recover a probe lost on an unknown planet.

Unwilling at first to be part of something greater than he's always known, Ham Jr. doesn't make it easy on his fellow astrochimps, Titan and Luna. Before he knows it, he's in space, heading through a wormhole and onto a strange planet populated with even stranger creatures. One of them, Zartog, commandeers the space probe that happened to land on his house and uses it to become a frightful dictator over his fellow citizens. Through a series of misadventures, the three astronauts work to recover the missing probe and rescue the citizens of this alien world.

As the story progresses, Ham changes from an insolent, cocky chimp whose main concern is romancing fellow astronaut Luna, to a reluctant hero who learns the meaning of courage and the value of helping others. In letting go of his selfish nature, he ends up with more than he started with. And in being willing to go beyond his comfort zone, he is rewarded with a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Likewise, when we are willing to sacrifice for others or step out of the familiar to be used by Him, God blesses us in ways we might never have known.

The film, from Starz Animation, features the voice talents of Andy Samberg (Ham III), Cheryl Hines (Luna), Patrick Warburton (Titan), and Stanley Tucci (senator). Although the film is rated G, there are a few lines of suggestive dialogue, including "let's chimp this ride," "would you evolve?", "is that a banana in your pants?", "oh my God!", and a reference to being intoxicated. With the advent of digital animation came a more edgy brand of dialogue, geared to giving adults a rise while kids enjoy the eye candy and situational humor. Shrek was one of the first films to do this (the two films are linked through producer John H. Williams).

Space Chimps is an ode to the animals of the space age. Without their successful (and not so successful) missions, there might never have been that "giant leap for mankind"!