Disney Goes Meta with Chip N' Dale: Rescue Rangers

Someone at Disney saw the trailer for Space Jam 2, and thought "We need to cram more pop culture references, cameos and easter eggs in our upcoming corporate, 90's, nostalgic, meta, live-action/animated hybrid movie with characters that originated around the 1940's and had a resurgence in the 90's with their own show! And to spice it up, include properties that we don't even own! Get every studio on the line! Universal, DreamWorks, Paramount, Warner Bros. every last one of them! They have some favors that they owe us!"

The Disney Afternoon Era 

Since the 90's, every generation has grown-up watching Disney cartoons from the Disney Afternoon, the Disney Channel, One Saturday Morning, Toon Disney, Jetix and Disney XD (My favorites being Darkwing Duck and Kim Possible). Chip N' Dale: Rescue Rangers was another cartoon I enjoyed but don't revisit often. The last time I saw episode was on a VHS copy from the library back in high school. When the trailer for the new film based on the cartoon dropped, I re-watched several episodes and realized, I need to see the rest of the series because it still holds up. I never like the chipmunk duo on their own; intentionally or unintentionally giving Donald Duck or Pluto the worst days of their lives. Rescue Rangers gave them an upgrade along with a new wardrobe and action-setting that retained their original personalities with Chip being the level-headed of the two (hence the Indiana Jones outfit) and Dale being a goofball (referencing Magnum P.I. with the Hawaiian shirt). In an age where everything is being rebooted or revived, the Rescue Rangers take a unique approach that as the tagline say's, "It's not a reboot. Its a comeback!"  

Chip (John Mulaney), Monty (Eric Bana), Dale (Andy Samberg) 
a semi-reunion. 

Chip N' Dale: Rescue Rangers follows the Roger Rabbit formula, of a world where cartoon characters exist and work as actors. Thirty years since the cancellation of the Rescue Rangers cartoon, a member of the original cast goes missing. Chip (John Mulaney) and Dale (Andy Samberg) reunite following the news, much to Dale's delight and Chip's chagrin as the duo haven't spoken to each other since the cancellation. As they search for their friend, they uncover sinister and terrifying plot that threatens toons both old and new.  

A taste of the many cameos in this film.
On the Disney side: the Three Little Pigs, Roger Rabbit, and Scrooge McDuck.
On the Non-Disney side: Paula Abdul with MC Skat Kat and the Mane Six from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

In the tradition of Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ready Player One, and the aforementioned Space Jam: A New Legacy, Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers is a pop culture smorgasbord that will require several re-watches to spot every Disney and Non-Disney surprise. You will be asking yourself how did they manage to get that character? What's more surprising is that Rescue Rangers is not just a better film than Space Jam 2, Ralph, or Ready Player One. It reaches the levels of Who Framed Roger Rabbit that it feels like a spiritual sequel (including an appearance by Roger Rabbit himself). From it's celebration of animation (traditional hand-drawn, three-dimensional CGI, stop-motion, and anime styles make an appearance) and acknowledging its issues from the bootleg industry (the rip-offs that fool millions into buying something like Disney), overuse and overreliance of CGI, the sub-genre of uncanny valley motion capture, and a slam at oversaturation and cheap gimmicks that plague movies especially family films like rapping cartoon characters (everyone is looking at you Alvin and the Chipmunks).  

The films of Akiva Schaffer: The Watch, Chip N' Dale: Rescue Rangers,
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and Hot Rod.

It's also a satire of the entertainment industry which is no surprise as the film's directed by Akiva Schaffner who took hilarious jabs at the music industry with Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and the sports underdog formula with Hot Rod both starring Andy Samberg. Schaffner, Sandberg and Jorma Taccone  (voicing several cameos in the film), are best known as the comedic musical trio the Lonely Island. Their brand of comedy is aimed for adult audiences but in this film they deliver the jokes for all audiences and while keeping their style of humor. It's easy to make raunchy jokes but clean humor is harder and I respect Schaffner and the rest of the cast and crew who succeed in this task. (Another example that comes to mind are Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who made MTV's Clone High series and the R-Rated 21 Jump Street films also did The Lego Movie and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs).    

Having voiced the cartoony Spider-Ham in Into the Spider-Verse, Mulaney plays it straight with Chip who still delivers the laughs. Known for playing dim-witted characters Samberg's goofy man-child schtick works perfectly with Dale trying to relive the glory days despite the obvious signs. Both do a great job in capturing the the duo's dynamic whether butting heads or looking out for one another. Among the voice-acting ensemble include Eric Bana as Monterey Jack a member of the original Rescue Rangers, Seth Rogen as a Viking who seems to have sailed from 2007's Beowolf, Keegan-Michael Key as what I can tell is the Swedish Chef's third cousin twice-removed, and J.K. Simmons as Captain Putty who seems to reside in the Gumby community. Voice-acting legends Tress MacNeille, Corey Burton, and Jim Cummings who appeared in almost every Disney cartoon in the 90's including Rescue Rangers, return to reprise their roles from the Disney Afternoon era. They aren't in the movie for that much, but it was enough to make me squeal like a kid again. 

Kiki Layne is the mandatory human character who interacts with the toons. While she doesn't capture the believability one is talking to a toon like Bob Hoskins, Jenna Elfman or Michael Jordan had in Roger Rabbit, Looney Tunes: Back in Action and the original Space Jam, it's a better performance than Piper Perabo or Lebron James in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Space Jam 2. The performance does improve during the runtime with her role in the climax being a standout. 

Last but not least the villain. Without going into spoilers, I can say that it involves Will Arnett who has a knack of playing jerks in Schaffer's past films. It's a relevant commentary on how Hollywood treats its actors and the bad choices many of them sadly take, often ending in tragedy. Some have expressed that the film handles the topic in poor taste given how much of the context takes place in the real world, while others weren't bothered by the portrayal. I can see the argument from both sides as I fall somewhere in the middle where I thought it was clever but at the same time, taken aback on how far it went, let alone Disney allowing it. When done right, comedy can provoke discussion and analysis on what was presented, and Chip N' Dale: Rescue Rangers succeeds in that matter that everyone will be talking about this in the weeks that follow. I'll be curious to hear what Schaffer and his crew have to say on how they got permission to show certain characters, the direction they went and how much they knew about the subject matter. 

Highly recommend for fans who grew-up with the Disney Afternoon but is still a must-watch for Disney fans young and old. Available only on Disney +

Final Verdict: B+