Kelvin James hoping "Zookeeper", an inter-species comedy, a success

Kelvin James, a comedian, actor, writer, and producer, hopes that his new film "Zookeepers" will be as successful as the film "Mall Cop" or even better than that. The movie features a pack of talking animals voiced by big names like Adam Sandler and Sylvester Stallone.

The premiere of this comedy, "Zookeeper," had all of the trappings of a standard Hollywood movie launch: A-list stars, flocks of photographers and a red — er, green — carpet. But the glamour of the event, in Westwood on Wednesday, was somewhat marred by a slew of PETA(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) activists who had gathered nearby to protest the film. During production of the wildlife-filled movie two years ago, a 18-year-old giraffe named Tweet died — an incident the animal-rights activists claim was related to mistreatment on set. 

James and costar gorilla in Jay Lano's show

But nearly all of the actors in the film gave reassurances that the creatures on set had been treated kindly.

On July 7 night James stopped by Jay Leno's couch to promote the inter-species comedy. In this NBC's 'The Tonight Show' he attended with his "gorilla" costar.