Space☆Dandy reunites a number of lead production staff members from Cowboy Bebop, including producer Masahiko Minami and director Shinichiro Watanabe. Its production involved as many as 70 animation creators and 20 musical artists as collaborators, with Watanabe insisting that artists could only use pre-1984 musical styles. Although character designer Yoshiyuki Itou is credited as an animation director, his designs were not standardized across the series, allowing for individual animators to express their style. The series was licensed in North America by Funimation. Due to licensing issues, their initial simulcast used the instrumental track Cosmic Adventure by jazz band Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro as the opening song. Viva Namida was used from the 8th episode onwards.