‘CHIP ‘N DALE: RESCUE RANGERS’ Review: The Lonely Island gets nutty with nostalgia

Travis Leamons // Film Critic
Rated PG, 97 min.
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Cast: Andy Samberg, John Mulaney, Eric Bana, Will Arnett, J.K. Simmons, Seth Green, Dennis Haysbert and KiKi Layne

Abbott had Costello. Tom Hanks had Meg Ryan. Chip had Dale.

Once the afternoon kings of syndicated animation in the early ‘90s, Chip and Dale faded away and went back into the Disney vault. Their VIP memberships to Club Mickey were pulled, their detective agency closed, and they were regulated to the rerun circuit while some colleagues from the studio’s animation commissary were dusted off and rebooted. Some of their two-dimensional cartoon buddies came back as live-action or had CGI surgery to keep up with the changing times. The latter being a new-age reflection of when cartoons went from black and white to color (sorry, Betty Boop).

For a company that treats its intellectual properties as if they were cows – milking them until the money runs dry – it should come as no surprise that Disney would eventually open the vault and bring back Chip and Dale. But this Disney+ reboot feels less cash grabby and more like a TV pilot testing the waters. Which is oddly appropriate since a two-hour movie special followed the original animated pilot.

CHIP ‘N DALE: RESCUE RANGERS is a surprisingly clever, adult-skewering comedy indebted to what Robert Zemeckis did decades ago with WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. With wink-and-grin references, tongue-in-cheek humor, and Easter eggs galore, the film reboot takes the original series’ concept and goes from 10 to 11 on the Spinal Tap mock-o-meter scale. It pokes fun at an industry’s obsession with remakes and sequels, cinematic universes, and how best to exploit the intellectual properties it controls.

It accomplishes this by first establishing the idea that humans and toons coexist. There is no inter-dimensional portal that sees Chip and Dale be wooshed from their animated confines to a live-action world. The prologue is a brief overview of their humble beginnings as childhood friends Chip (voiced by John Mulaney) and Dale (voiced by Andy Samberg) go from being class clowns to Hollywood stardom with their own comedy series (“Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers”). But Dale’s ambition to try a solo career with the series “Double O Dale” causes a rift, and the two go their separate ways.

Unlike a popular wrestling tag team that breaks up – where one becomes a major star while the other is an also-ran – neither Chip nor Dale gets the rub. As animation started to evolve, Dale got CGI surgery to get acting jobs and remain relevant, yet spends his time on the convention circuit with other animated relics signing autographs. Meanwhile, Chip retained his hand-drawn style and went the Mr. Incredible route to become an insurance salesman.

Years pass, and then out of the blue, they are reunited when former co-star Monterey Jack (voiced by Eric Bana) is kidnapped as part of a movie bootlegging operation. The story’s impetus will definitely fly over the heads of younger viewers, not unlike Gore Verbinski’s RANGO being part Western/part CHINATOWN. That’s part of the fun, though. We have an elaborate plot where our villain is engaged in cartoon trafficking, kidnapping toons, altering them, and forcing them to star in animated knock-offs (like “Spaghetti Dogs” instead of “Lady and the Tramp”). Now, Chip and Dale must mend friendships and work together to find their old friend before it’s too late. Helping them is KiKi Layne as Ellie, a young cop but old enough to remember watching “Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers” as a little girl.

Along the way, director Akira Schaffer happily shish kebabs Hollywood mediocrity with billboard promotions of new feature films like MR. DOUBTFIRE starring an Oscar-winning actress, or Batman versus a different alien. Add in some characters Disney has forgotten, some gratis additions from outside the Magic Kingdom, and one “How did they pull that off?” cameo, and CHIP ‘N DALE becomes a creative delight for an exclusive audience.

It’s like The Lonely Island’s Schaffer and Samberg and writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand heard Warner Bros. was making a new SPACE JAM and decided to go for broke in having Disney allow them to milk their unused IPs, roast others, and make something the opposite of Marty McFly playing “Johnny B. Goode” before guitar shredding.

Your kids might not be ready for it, but your parents will love it.

That’s CHIP ‘N DALE: RESCUE RANGERS in a nutshell.

Grade: B–