Chip and Dale: Back to the Present, Past and Future
Disney’s Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers was one of the best animated cartoons I used to watch growing up. Chip, Dale, Monteray Jack, Gadget Hackwrench, and the lovable Zipper; their attempts to stopping crimes were laughable, yet authentic. Diamond thefts, critter kidnappings, space pirates, evil scientists and fat evil business-looking cats? These rodents were able to save the world for 30 minutes on an afternoon TV lineup that dated back to the 80’s; 1989 to be exact.
And now, 30 years later, Disney+ decided to re-release these rodentia into the new populace for our entertainment pleasure only to find out that these creatures are still just as lovable as they were in the past. Yes, the remake, reboot, whatever you want to call it, is actually quite good. They flipped the whole concept of the term “remake” and created a loveable multi cartoon universe in which humans and toons live together…in harmony?…Well, not quite. It’s a mixture of the Roger Rabbit ecosystem, intertwined with 1980 - 2022 vibes, and almost every animated character design ever created in media is intertwined in here. For reference points, they discuss the movie, The Polar Express and described how these sub-humanoid cartoon characters designed in that era sucked. If the animation sucked, the movie goes in on that cartoon design and more importantly, Disney +’s media competition.
Rescue Rangers (L to R): Dale, Chip , Monteray Jack,Zipper and Gadget Hackwrench
The story finds Dale (voiced by Andy Samberg), the Magnum PI of the crew trying to resurrect his movie star career after a falling out with Chip (voiced by John Mulaney) , who would be considered the Indiana Jones of the crew, during a Rescue Rangers episode. Friends since elementary school, what salvages their friendship is the kidnapping of Monteray Jack (played by Eric Bana) because of his crack, I mean, cheese addiction. What happens next is a journey into the shady worlds of back door muppets, black and white characters, and the nefarious Peter Pan, adult edition. This show is both entertaining and delightful as they even wrote in the actual Rescue Rangers show as its own TV series, making the characters appear to be actors with real authentic lives. We also find out the truth about Gadet and make a startling discovery about Zipper, the fly. All I can say is Barry White flow.
This movie, however, isn’t without its dark side. The writers at Disney become TV gangsters as they found a way to use those wonderful characters to take shots at particular media studios, locations and rejected animated characters like Ugly Sonic (human teeth), Comedy Central, Netflix, Main Street, The Polar Express, DreamWorks Pictures and many more. Being that they have a mob of lawyers, armed and ready for war with these groups, Disney plays the part of Rick James and these groups, the couch. They then show tremendous love to Seth Rogen and his many cartoon voiced characters; salute one of the most classic anime of all time, Voltron, and then make He-Man, of all characters, look like a bxtch, not the Kevin Smith version, the 80s one. They even found a way to insert Doc McStuffings into this feature, although her appearance was for just one millisecond.
MC Skat Cat and Paula Abdul
What intrigued me most about the movie were the amount of character cameos provided. The writers at Disney really had no chill as they interweaved a timeline of characters in their most natural element. MC Skat Kat and Paula Abdul at the DJ booth, Randy Marsh from South Park in the sauna, even Detective Florez from Big Mouth at the Police station. There were also some classic cartoon characters that Disney provided as either a running gag or a tribute to the craft as a whole. Either way, the comedic timing, live action and serious themes were so balanced, I couldn’t stop watching. I also saw traces of the film Bad Boys in the rescue part of the mission. Yes, even Mike Lowery and Marcus B. were implied in this movie.
One actor that really stood out was If Beale Street Could Talk’s KiKi Layne. Playing the cop, Ellie Steckler, her passionate, action sequenced and supportive nature (and really, one of the few living actors in the movie), really had me thinking it was a full Saturday night action flick. The writers also added just the right amount of emotion into this movie to make it known that it was truly, a Disney film. Also, let’s not forget the hidden morals as well. For detective Ellie Steckler, it was to believe in yourself and never doubt your abilities. For Dale, it was to think of the good of the group and the power of friendship, and for the other characters? Watch and discover it for yourself, you’ll have a blast.
Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers is a nice, modernized story of two chipmunks who realize that the power of friendship and being honest with each other’s growth and abilities is a great way to understand one another. As the movie brings nostalgic moments of past cartoons, throw away characters, and new character designs, it shines on something more common within the cartoon industry; bootlegging. Under a microscope, this feels like Disney+’s attempt to warn all fans, artists, and media companies to stop bootlegging their shyt. They imply this statement covertly by using their own characters as the enemy. Hiding in the guise of 80’s-90’s cartoons that really don’t hold much of a reference in today’s cartoon industry, the only tribute to the craft that they do acknowledge, respectfully is the Voltron booth. Disney says here through the cinematography, “I respect your originality”, but that’s just my opinion.
Rescue Rangers was fun to watch, and I’d recommend it to anyone, but you might get lost walking down the nostalgic yellow brick road of memory lane as you try to make sense of 2022 in one scene, 1995 in another, 1990, 1989, you get the idea.
Chip and Dale is a 4.0 out of 5
