Written by Christian Garcia
While I did not watch a lot of Chip ‘n Dale’s Rescue Rangers as a kid, I was always aware of it and a lot of the Disney Afternoon Classics. When I saw the initial trailer for this film, I was intrigued. The casting of Andy Samberg and John Mulaney as Chip ‘n Dale got me more interested. After seeing advertisements for it all over social media, I finally decided to give it a watch.
How does this film fair? Is it another case of nostalgic pandering? Or does it pay off more ways than expected? Let’s take a look.
The Heroes:
Chip:
Played by John Mulaney, Chip has a charm yet cynical attitude that makes him a great detective and fun to watch. Mulaney brings his charming and cynical personality to the role to give Chip more dimension from just being the smart one of the two.
Since the show ended, Chip has gone on to become a successful insurance salesman. He lives alone with his dog, Millie and lives a quiet and simple life.
Dale:
Played by Andy Samberg, Dale is a lovable goofball who can be full of himself and over-the-top but also wholesome and sympathetic. Samberg brings the same charm to Dale as he has to Jake Peralta on Brooklyn 99.
After the end of Rescue Rangers, Dale spends his time going to conventions trying to relive the glory days and has even updated his look getting CG surgery.
The Heroes' Journey:
As the poster says, this film is not a reboot but rather a comeback story as Chip and Dale are portrayed as Chipmunk actors who acted in the beloved animated series, rather than being a retelling of the Rescue Rangers show.
The film opens with the duo meeting in school and bonding over their shared sense of humor. They become a comedy duo and move to Hollywood and end up starring in the beloved animated series, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. The two end up having a falling out after Dale announces that he is getting his own show, Double-O-Dale and both shows up end up getting canceled. After the show’s end, Chip and Dale split up and went down different paths, but after both receive a message from their former Rescue Rangers former co-star, Monterey Jack, the team are reunited to solve another case and find their friend.
Chip's Journey:
Chip has always been the smarter and craftier of the two both portrayed on the Rescue Rangers show and in their real life. He reveals in the climax that when he first met Dale in school, he was lonely and looking for a friend and someone to make him feel like first fiddle. His meeting with Dale made him feel better about himself for having a friend and having been able to bring someone else up along with himself. After Dale decided to leave Rescue Rangers for his own show Double-O Dale he and Chip have a falling out with each other.
In the years since the show’s end, Chip is now a successful insurance agent and lives a quiet and simple life with his dog Millie. Chip is more cynical about life and clearly is unhappy with how he turned out, but his pride won’t let him admit such. This causes him to avoid Dale as much as possible yet after receiving a call from his former Rescue Rangers co-star, Monterey Jack, he is brought face to face with his former best friend. In their initial encounter, Chip is quick to dismiss Dale by keeping their conversation limited to small talk. After Monty is kidnapped, Chip unwillingly teams up with Dale to investigate and their chemistry reemerges quickly. Chip’s cynicism comes into great contrast with Dale’s upbeat positivity. Dale’s overenthusiasm irritates Chip who is quick to mock him for his ridiculous ideas.
As their journey continues, Chip begins to soften up and let more of the silliness of Dale into his life. When they go to steal Sweet Pete’s Fitbit from his locker at the gym, he is forced to rap for a fan. Earlier in the film, he voiced his opposition to old cartoons rapping to seem hip and at first refuses. But seeing how it will benefit the mission, he finally gives in, and he and Dale throw together a fun little rap which also shows that their chemistry is so strong that they can work off each other with ease. After their rap, Chip begins warming up more to Dale and lets his guard down more.
However, after the police bust of Sweet Pete’s warehouse goes array, Chip falls back into his cynicism and takes it out on Dale. His cynicism makes him resentful of Dale’s constant self-promotion and brings up his feelings of being abandoned by Dale that broke them up in the beginning. However, the film does not take the route of the partners blowing up at each other and splitting up and sulking alone only to reunite later. Dale admits to Chip that he never wanted to really do Double-O Dale and that he really just wanted Chip to admit that he needed him. Before Chip can process this, Dale smells the Rescue Rangers cologne and the two leave the station together realizing that more going on than they think. They get chased by Sweet Pete and his henchmen through the convention and Chip ends up captured.
Sweet Pete attempts to bootleg Chip but he is saved in time by Dale. In the climax, Sweet Pete takes one last shot at Chip, but Dale throws himself in the way and takes the bullet for Chip. Fearing his friend is dead, Chip finally apologizes to Dale for his years of resentment and admits to Dale that he needed him and that their friendship helped him feel found and that he was nothing without him. Chip resents how he treated Dale like second banana and finally let’s go of his harsh feelings towards him. Thankfully Dale is alive, having been saved by a golden Pog Chip had given him earlier.
The film ends with Chip and Dale reunited with the rest of the Rescue Rangers and having created a successful reboot. Chip’s journey ends with him reuniting with his best friend and getting a second chance to relive the golden years, not only of success, but of happiness being brought back together with his best friend and the rest of the Rescue Rangers family. He has a newfound appreciation for Dale and sees him as his equal rather than second banana.
Dale's Journey:
Dale’s story begins at his first day of school where he just wants to find a friend. He tries to make the class laugh with a pencil gag but instead freaks them out which leads to him sitting all by himself at lunch. His fortune turns around as he meets Chip who liked his joke and the two bond and become best friends and eventually successful TV stars.
Despite the success of Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Dale has always felt that he has been second fiddle to Chip and feels as though everyone sees him as someone that was helpless without Chip. So to break this notion, he leaves to star in his own show Double-O Dale which doesn’t get off the ground and causes a falling out between him and Chip.
Now Dale is stuck trying to relive the glory days going from convention to convention promoting himself there and on his social media platforms. His characterization as of a has-been looking to reclaim the glory is a funny and sad commentary on how Hollywood can be cruel to its stars of the past and how easily one can be tossed aside and forgotten. Despite his situation, Dale always maintains a positive and kind attitude. He could have easily been portrayed as a bitter star of yesterday, like Sweet Pete, but he maintains an upbeat attitude and tries to manifest that he will one day get his day again. His personality and positivity make him fun to follow and makes you root for him.
The dynamic between Chip and Dale has always been that Chip is the smarter of the two and Dale is the more comedic relief. While Dale is the main source of comedy throughout the film, he does have him moments of being smart and street savvy. Samberg’s portrayal of him reminds me a lot of Jake Peralta from Brooklyn 99 where he is goofy and unorthodox most of the times but when given the chance he can shine and show how smart he is. The film also acknowledges how the dynamic between Chip and Dale has always been that Chip is the smart one and Dale is the goofball which serves as Dale’s motivation to go out on his own to prove his worth. In the film’s climax, Dale’s ultimately put to that test after Chip and Ellie are captured and he must figure out how to rescue them. He begins to doubt himself without Chip but then is able, in his own goofy way, piece together Ellie’s message and figures out a plan to rescue them.
Dale’s main flaw is that he is selfish. Thankfully he is not selfish enough that he is unlikable like say Oscar from Shark Tale. He means well but is often ready to jump on any opportunities that will benefit himself. In the opening scene, he proves his selfishness by choosing to answer a call from his agent over talking with Chip. In the climax, he receives a call from his agent about a possible reboot but instead of jumping on the opportunity, he hangs up on him and throws his phone away to put saving his friends over the opportunity that he’s been longing for. After Sweet Pete is defeated, he takes one last shot at Chip and Dale sacrifices himself and jumps in the way to save his friend.
In the end, Dale not only gets the chance to relive his glory days for the sake of fame and fortune, but he also gets to relive the good times by being reunited with his best friend, Chip, and the rest of the Rescue Rangers family.
The Villain:
Sweet Pete is the former Disney star, Peter Pan who has now turned to a life of crime making bootleg films. Pete got the opportunity of a lifetime when he starred in Disney’s Peter Pan, playing the boy who never grew up. However, once he got older, he was tossed aside and out of work. After losing his career, he started a new venture creating bootlegs of popular films and became rich and famous again. Now he gets to determine who gets stored and who gets tossed aside.
The Film's Pros:
The Humor
The biggest strength of this film was in its humor. This film had me laughing from beginning to end with its great mix of corny puns, self-mocking, Lonely Island-style humor, and satirical commentary. The comedy styles of Andy Samberg and John Mulaney are a great fit for this film, and they have great chemistry that one would expect between Chip and Dale.
There are so many easter eggs in this film that had me laughing and too many to list. The film has fun with the world that it creates by spoofing trends such as mock film posters like Batman vs. ET and a LEGO Les Mis movie poster. One silly joke that got a laugh out of me was when the cops bust a crime scene and the captain yells “Use the battering rams,” and then it cuts to actual rams bursting the door down. Very corny and silly yet it made me laugh so hard just for how silly it was.
The idea of Sweet Pete taking beloved cartoons and redesigning them to make bootleg films is a funny concept and a clever way to mock all the bootleg Disney films that have come out over the years. The use of Ugly Sonic was a great touch especially since he factored into the plot later and was not just a cameo. I even love the concept of characters getting CGI surgery to poke fun at the all the live action reboots.
I am not sure how much input Disney had in the script but the fact that they released a film that pokes fun at them, and Hollywood is impressive. If they’re being good sports with this one, I say kudos. Of course, they’re only going so far so it’s not a satire on the level of a South Park but the fact that they allowed the writers to poke fun at them in any capacity makes it something to be admired.
This movie made me laugh a lot more than I would have ever expected and for the bizarre world it creates, it has fun with it and keeps the jokes rolling with just the right amount of cheesiness and cleverness.
World Building
This film builds a fun world for Chip and Dale to inhabit as it is like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? where toons and humans live amongst each other. I mean we even see Roger Rabbit himself in the opening. The world feels like a wacky cartoon come to life and pays homage and even pokes fun at different trends of animation throughout history. It does a good job of blending the live action stuff with the animated characters (for the most part, more on that later..)
When Chip and Dale go to the Valley to talk with Monty’s cheese dealer, they walk past a bunch of colorful characters who are revealed to be involved in illegal activities. I love the fact that Monty’s cheese dealer is a puppet showing that this world is more imaginative and can have any type of character in it. I also loved the dig at the uncanny valley style of animation, especially with Seth Rogen’s character, and even the fact that they call the area the Uncanny Valley.
An issue I have seen in many animation-to-live-action translations is that the animated characters are often limited in what they can do in the real world. Thankfully that’s not the case with this film, as Chip and Dale are able to move around the world in funny and creative manners like how they would in a 2D animated film. This film takes the concept of animation and live action blend that was established in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and plays off it in fun and creative ways and helps make this film as fun as it is.
The Film's Cons:
Not a lot of the Rescue Rangers
If you’re coming into this film expecting to see the whole Rescue Rangers team back together on a grand adventure, you’re going to be disappointed. The concept of this film is not a reboot and the world establishes that Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers is a TV show and that our favorite characters were all actors portraying characters on said show. The focus of the film is on Chip and Dale, as I believe it should be, while the other Rescue Rangers are not given much screen time. We do get to see them of course but they don’t play as big of a role as some fans may have wanted. Monterey Jack does play a role in the inciting incident that brings Chip and Dale back together as they team up to find and rescue him. Gadget and Zipper do play a role in the climax but again the focus remains on Chip and Dale. As someone who didn’t watch Rescue Rangers much as a kid, I don’t have a problem with the small roles the other rangers play but I can imagine longtime fans who wanted a reunion of the Rescue Rangers coming away from this film disappointed.
Bobby Driscoll controversy
Since the film’s release, many have pointed out that the backstory of Sweet Pete is eerily similar to the story of the late real-life Peter Pan actor, Bobby Driscoll. Some critics have criticized the film for poor taste in mocking the late actor’s story. I do agree that the parallels are there, and if they were making fun of Driscoll’s story then it would be in bad taste.
However, I do not think it was the case nor done intentionally and was coincidental. I think the conception of Sweet Pete’s character probably came from the idea of what would happen if the boy who never grew up actually grew up. If Sweet Pete is based on Driscoll, I do not think it was done with the intent to make fun of Driscoll’s tragic story but if anything, to bring light to it and acknowledge how unkind Hollywood, and even Disney, has been to child actors.
Weird looking 2D animation
While I said that the live action and animation stuff mostly blends in together smoothly, I cannot ignore that the 2D animation looks a little weird for my personal taste. The animation on Chip and other 2D animation characters looks a little off and was a little distracting for me at some points. It seems that they took 3D models and then had 2D animation put over them to have them blend in the real world but for, it just looks a little too weird, awkward, and even cheap looking.
I would have preferred if they had blended the 2D animation like they did in Roger Rabbit or in Mary Poppins where it was straight up 2D animation. It would have been nice to see a return to such a classic form of animation that isn’t really used as much these days and it would have made for an even greater contrast in designs for Chip and Dale to acknowledge how much animation has evolved since the original Rescue Rangers aired.
This is more of a nitpick than a serious issue that drags the movie down, but it was noticeably distracting for me, and I can imagine it being distracting for others as well.
Final Thoughts:
Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers is a bizarre and funny film that pays homage to the Disney Afternoon classic as well as the current culture’s obsession with nostalgia and reboots. It is not the typical reboot or remake that Disney has been putting out which makes it stand out beyond their latest releases. In a time where it seems like most Disney films are feeling formulaic, while still high in quality, I can appreciate a film that goes out of its way to feel different and be its own thing. Rescue Rangers is far from a perfect film and does nothing that has not been done before, yet it still stands out as a quality comedy that I find myself wanting to go back to for numerous viewings.
If you were a big fan of the original Rescue Rangers from the Disney Afternoon and are expecting this to be the same feeling as the show, you will be disappointed. Although it is not the reunion or reboot that fans may have hoped for, it is still worth checking out as it does show its fans love while also doing something different with Chip and Dale that has not been done before. While I never disliked Chip and Dale, I was also never the biggest fan of them either as to me they did not have much personality. Here not only do they have more personality, but their adventure in this film was one that kept me invested.
If you’re a fan of the original Rescue Rangers, this film does just enough to scratch your itch for a reunion without being a by-the-numbers retread and for people who were not familiar with the original series, you can still give this a watch and not feel like you’re missing out. After my first viewing, it even made me curious enough to check out the original show. This was a film I was expecting to skip but after having watched it twice, I’m glad that I saw it and highly recommend it to all.
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