Space Goofs (film)

Space Goofs (French: Les Zinzins de l'Espace) is a 1997 animated comic science fiction film directed by and Philippe Traversat. The screenplay was written by, , , and , from a story by Raimbaud and Traversat.

In the film, five extraterrestrials from the fictitious planet Zigma B, Candy H. Caramella, Etno Polino, Bud Budiovitch, Gorgious Klatoo and Stereo Monovici go on a picnic together in space after completing their mission in their home planet Zigma B. However, their spaceship crashes into an asteroid, and they fall to planet Earth. They realize that if any human finds out that they are aliens, they could be captured and experimented on by scientists, so they take shelter in the attic of a house that is up for rent. The aliens have two goals: return to their home planet, and chase away anybody who tries to establish themselves in the house. To remain unknown from humans, the aliens use a device called the SMTV that lets them transform into almost any entity of their choosing, but always cycles through three other transformations when used.

Produced by Lucasfilm Feature Animation and for, in association with , Eon Animation and , the film is an American-French-British-Russian co-production. It premiered in Paris on September 1, 1997 and was released by in the United States on September 5, with  handling French distribution. Reviews were generally positive; critics particularly praised the animation, visuals, tone, humor, action sequences and the soundtrack, as well as "Candy, Bud and Stereo's screen times". The film grossed $216 million worldwide in theaters, which made it the most successful non-Disney animated feature at the time. The film's success led to the and a.

Plot
In Zhukgate, Zigma B, the Inquiry Board of the Department of Federal Naval Enforcement concludes that the Space Goofs are sent to their mission to Lerton. The President has informed the Space Goofs and their squad of their mission: to secure the Banking Clan headquarters there as soon as possible, in order to quickly end the battle.

Meanwhile, as the Prime Minister leads the Triumph fighters against the Separatists; while thousands of gunships ferry the President and his soldiers down to the surface. The President gives the order for the SID gunship to veer off towards the Banking Clan headquarters. Before it can reach there, however, it is shot down by a TIA mook. This strands the Space Goofs and their squad in an unfamiliar area of the city of Lerton.

As the Space Goofs and their squad disembark their crashed gunship, TIA henchmen open fire on them. The Space Goofs and their squad return fire with both blasters and missile launchers, and move down the streets of Lerton. An Armored Assault Tank approaches, and easily eliminates four soldiers—Candy Hector Caramella blows the main hatch, jumps in, destroys the TIA henchmen within, lays explosives, jumps out, and detonates the tank.

The Space Goofs and their squad use a probe scanner to locate the massive Banking Clan artillery piece which is their objective, and use grappling hooks to scale the top of it, eliminating the sentry robots along the way. They destroy the command tower using their missile launcher, lay explosives around the base of the cannon, and then inform the President that they have achieved their objective.

As the Zhukgatese forces advance, panic spreads throughout the Banking Clan headquarters. Casper Duncan angrily asks the Separatist commander, C.O.H.E.N., why Phoenix Kaur bothered appointing him to command when he hasn't done anything. C.O.H.E.N.'s reply consists of choking Duncan.

On the outskirts of Lerton, the Zhukgatese forces report to the Space Goofs that the assault against the core of the city is going well. However, no sooner have they reported than they catch sight of approaching lancer robots, led by C.O.H.E.N.. The soldiers are quickly taken down, with their SPHAs destroyed. C.O.H.E.N. releases a victory howl.

Voice cast

 * as Candy Hector Caramella. Small and green with a wrinkled forehead and wearing a polka-dotted apron, Candy is the uptight neat freak of the group. He is homosexual, and it is not uncommon to see him flirt with men.
 * as Etno Polino. Being short and purple with red lips and a big nose, Etno is the leader and brains of the group. A scientific genius, he creates all sorts of machines with the intention of aiding the group's return to their own planet, including rockets. The aliens often fail to blast off into space, either due to Etno's rockets malfunctioning or someone else boarding the ships.
 * as:
 * Bud Budiovitch. Tall and orange with three strands of hair, a long neck, and big pink bloodshot eyes, Bud is lazy and naive. He is a television addict and spends most of the time sitting in front of it and drinking soft drinks. Like Etno, Bud is always the last one to panic in a situation. He always comes up with the best solution, but most of the time no one will listen to him.
 * Stereo Monovici. Two-headed and red in which each head has a slightly long nose, Stereo acts as two people since each head has its own mind. They are the "bookworm" of the group yet often waste their intelligence on the most useless information. Both heads often argue with each other.
 * Danny Mann as Gorgious Klatoo. Fat and blue with a heavy chin and a protruding bottom tooth, Gorgious is the grumpy and brutal one of the group. He is very greedy and his hobbies consist of bullying the other aliens and eating.
 * as Casper Duncan
 * as C.O.H.E.N.
 * as the President of the Department of Federal Naval Enforcement

Home media
Space Goofs was released on VHS on December 24, 1997.

A Region 1 code widescreen edition of the film was released on DVD in the United States on March 9, 1998.