I was not a Disney kid growing up. I was far more interested in Nickelodeon. So, cartoons like Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers slipped by me until well into my late teens when I started widening my entertainment horizons. I’ve only ever watched a couple of episodes and I must say I wasn’t thrilled with them; I mean I was probably getting on for ten years too old for them at that point. So, when it was announced that Rescue Rangers would be receiving a reboot in the form of a film, I honestly didn’t even pay attention to it. The release came and went, I saw some good reviews, but I was entirely not fussed by it. That was until I had people hounding me wondering why I had not covered it, and that I was missing out on something really special. With some trepidation I went forth and booted up Disney+ one slow and cold Saturday afternoon in November, and around an hour and forty minutes later my jaw was in a whole lot of pain from smiling so much.
After becoming best friends at school, chipmunks Chip (John Mullaney) and Dale (Andy Samberg) move to Hollywood in the hopes of finding stardom together. There they land a contract with Disney to get their own show, Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers. It was a huge hit in the early 90’s, but when Dale got offered his own show, he quit Rescue Rangers and inadvertently got both shows cancelled.
Now thirty years later, Chip is an insurance salesman who lives a quiet life alone with his dog, and Dale spends most of his time at fan conventions desperately trying to stay relevant however he can. Neither have spoken to each other since Rescue Rangers was cancelled.
But when their former co-star Monterey Jack (Eric Bana) is kidnapped by the Valley Gang, Chip and Dale must reunite to do what the police wont and track down the whereabouts of the Valley Gang and what kind of operation their running. Reuniting the Rescue Rangers for one last adventure.
After becoming best friends at school, chipmunks Chip (John Mullaney) and Dale (Andy Samberg) move to Hollywood in the hopes of finding stardom together. There they land a contract with Disney to get their own show, Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers. It was a huge hit in the early 90’s, but when Dale got offered his own show, he quit Rescue Rangers and inadvertently got both shows cancelled.
Now thirty years later, Chip is an insurance salesman who lives a quiet life alone with his dog, and Dale spends most of his time at fan conventions desperately trying to stay relevant however he can. Neither have spoken to each other since Rescue Rangers was cancelled.
But when their former co-star Monterey Jack (Eric Bana) is kidnapped by the Valley Gang, Chip and Dale must reunite to do what the police wont and track down the whereabouts of the Valley Gang and what kind of operation their running. Reuniting the Rescue Rangers for one last adventure.
Remakes, reboots, and revivals are a dime a dozen at the moment both in Hollywood and in basically every other entertainment medium. It does feel like there’s less creativity in the world at the moment, or that we find more comfort in something familiar as opposed to something fresh and new. Unfortunately, a lot of these kinds of projects are hastily done with little to no respect for the source material, and with not one ounce of originality in their body.
Whilst I cannot speak for how true it stays to the source material, Rescue Rangers is bursting with creativity and self-aware humour that it really earns the right to…well, exist. A low bar to achieve I know, but Rescue Rangers goes so far above and beyond what you would expect from this kind of film that it becomes a shining example of how to revive a forgotten IP the right way.
Rescue Rangers is a detective thriller, but it’s very much cut from the same cloth as Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Set in the real world, where humans and cartoons live alongside each other, Chip ‘N Dale are has-been celebrities from a forgotten era. Whilst Chip has landed on his feet and just got on with things, and Dale is at least getting by, many old cartoons have fallen into organised crime just to make a living. They get CGI reconstructive surgery in an attempt to stay relevant; or if they’re lucky they sell out and live off cameos in other projects. It’s a dangerous world for a toon, and the Hollywood machine will chew them up and spit them out far quicker than their human co-stars.
Rescue Rangers is, at its core, a scathing critique of Hollywood’s lack of ideas, and reluctance to try new things. Factor in that Rescue Rangers is a gritty neo-noir crime thriller, and its honestly kind of surprising that Disney allowed this to be made. Despite being perfectly suitable for kids, and Disney likely wanting the target demographic to be kids, Rescue Rangers has its crosshairs firmly placed on adult audiences who will greatly appreciate the nods to countless cartoons, TV shows, and movies from decades past.
Mixing live action with animation is nothing new, obviously the first major attempt at it was the previously mentioned Who Framed Roger Rabbit by Robert Zemeckis in 1988 but the technique is still incredibly popular today with recent films like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 being a more recent example. Rescue Rangers goes the extra mile however by incorporating several different animation styles alongside live-action footage. Chip is traditional 2D animation, Dale is 3D CGI, some characters are stop-motion animated, and some are puppets. It all melds together to create this fever dream-like world where the lines between reality and fiction are so blurred yet also entirely convincing. This amalgamation of different styles could have toppled the house of cards as there’s just so much going on visually, but this variety and unpredictability of the visual style really elevates the whole film. Many famous faces pop up along the way, as well as a handful of original characters, but the key thing is that in the way the film is presented visually you can have a great time with it regardless of whether you’re a fan of the show Rescue Rangers or not.
Brian Tyler’s music works fantastically too. Very reminiscent of neo-noir detective thrillers, but with a dash of modern Hollywood action thrown in too. Whilst I wouldn’t say any of the songs are particularly memorable, they work excellently within the context of the film itself. They work in tandem with the visuals so well and it’s quite rare you find them work so symbiotically in modern films.
Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is one of the best Disney+ original movies that the service has to offer, and it’s a shining example of what can be achieved when reviving old entertainment properties for new audiences. It takes the basic formula of the Rescue Rangers cartoon but plays with audience expectations in fresh and interesting ways. Whilst the big reveals late in the story may not be overly surprising for those well versed in the genre, this is a film that adults and children alike can thoroughly enjoy, as well as a film you can kick back and just enjoy as well as really dissect and analyse. Rarely do I find film that are perfect for any occasion, but Rescue Rangers is the ideal family film. I’m so glad I decided to check it out, and if you haven’t yet then I highly recommend you do too.
Whilst I cannot speak for how true it stays to the source material, Rescue Rangers is bursting with creativity and self-aware humour that it really earns the right to…well, exist. A low bar to achieve I know, but Rescue Rangers goes so far above and beyond what you would expect from this kind of film that it becomes a shining example of how to revive a forgotten IP the right way.
Rescue Rangers is a detective thriller, but it’s very much cut from the same cloth as Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Set in the real world, where humans and cartoons live alongside each other, Chip ‘N Dale are has-been celebrities from a forgotten era. Whilst Chip has landed on his feet and just got on with things, and Dale is at least getting by, many old cartoons have fallen into organised crime just to make a living. They get CGI reconstructive surgery in an attempt to stay relevant; or if they’re lucky they sell out and live off cameos in other projects. It’s a dangerous world for a toon, and the Hollywood machine will chew them up and spit them out far quicker than their human co-stars.
Rescue Rangers is, at its core, a scathing critique of Hollywood’s lack of ideas, and reluctance to try new things. Factor in that Rescue Rangers is a gritty neo-noir crime thriller, and its honestly kind of surprising that Disney allowed this to be made. Despite being perfectly suitable for kids, and Disney likely wanting the target demographic to be kids, Rescue Rangers has its crosshairs firmly placed on adult audiences who will greatly appreciate the nods to countless cartoons, TV shows, and movies from decades past.
Mixing live action with animation is nothing new, obviously the first major attempt at it was the previously mentioned Who Framed Roger Rabbit by Robert Zemeckis in 1988 but the technique is still incredibly popular today with recent films like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 being a more recent example. Rescue Rangers goes the extra mile however by incorporating several different animation styles alongside live-action footage. Chip is traditional 2D animation, Dale is 3D CGI, some characters are stop-motion animated, and some are puppets. It all melds together to create this fever dream-like world where the lines between reality and fiction are so blurred yet also entirely convincing. This amalgamation of different styles could have toppled the house of cards as there’s just so much going on visually, but this variety and unpredictability of the visual style really elevates the whole film. Many famous faces pop up along the way, as well as a handful of original characters, but the key thing is that in the way the film is presented visually you can have a great time with it regardless of whether you’re a fan of the show Rescue Rangers or not.
Brian Tyler’s music works fantastically too. Very reminiscent of neo-noir detective thrillers, but with a dash of modern Hollywood action thrown in too. Whilst I wouldn’t say any of the songs are particularly memorable, they work excellently within the context of the film itself. They work in tandem with the visuals so well and it’s quite rare you find them work so symbiotically in modern films.
Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is one of the best Disney+ original movies that the service has to offer, and it’s a shining example of what can be achieved when reviving old entertainment properties for new audiences. It takes the basic formula of the Rescue Rangers cartoon but plays with audience expectations in fresh and interesting ways. Whilst the big reveals late in the story may not be overly surprising for those well versed in the genre, this is a film that adults and children alike can thoroughly enjoy, as well as a film you can kick back and just enjoy as well as really dissect and analyse. Rarely do I find film that are perfect for any occasion, but Rescue Rangers is the ideal family film. I’m so glad I decided to check it out, and if you haven’t yet then I highly recommend you do too.