REVIEW: ‘Chip’n’Dale: Rescue Rangers’ Skewers Reboot Culture

Chip’n’Dale: Rescue Rangers is a Disney+ Original Film directed by Akiva Schaffer and written by Dan Gregor & Doug Mand. Chip (John Mulaney) and Dale (Andy Samberg) were on top of the world in the ’80’s; their show Rescue Rangers made them into global celebrities. But events led to the show’s cancellation, and the Rescue Rangers went their separate ways. Dale now struggles to make a living at fan conventions while Chip works as an insurance salesman. However, when their old friend Monterey “Monty” Jack (Eric Bana) goes missing, Chip and Dale have to join forces to find him – and stumble upon a plot that involves the entire cartoon community.

From the opening sequence, it’s fairly clear that Schaffer, Gregor, and Mand have a clear love for Rescue Rangers -as well as other animated series throughout history. The plot features a metric ton of meta-humor, as everything from Hollywood’s obsession with reboots to the standard tropes in most animated movies are called out. It’s that former bit that provides some of the best jokes in the movie, as Dale is constantly waiting for his agent to announce a Rescue Rangers reboot and Chip points out how that would be a bad idea.

The stand-out is the “Uncanny Valley” where horrifyingly realistic animated characters spend the rest of their days; this results in Chip and Dale meeting one of the film’s main antagonists, a Viking named Bob (Seth Rogen) who’s always staring off into the distance. It also doesn’t hurt that these jokes are actually clever, with just the right amount of self-deprecation and timing. Like Free Guy, this is a film that’s working on multiple levels.

Viewers are also bound to get a kick out of the visual cameos peppered throughout Rescue Rangers. Not only are there cameos from fan-favorite Disney characters, but a host of other animated characters show up – and half of them are characters I never expected to see. And unlike other films that dig deep into a studio’s intellectual property – looking at you, Space Jam: A New Legacy – Schaffer manages to insert these cameos in a way that feels organic rather than shouting “LOOK AT THIS COOL PERSON WHO SHOWED UP”. Online reactions have described Rescue Rangers as the spiritual sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and it more than earns that comparison.

None of this would work without a pair of leads that had genuine chemistry, and Mulaney and Samberg have that in spades. Mulaney plays Chip as the straight man of the pair, who’s always practical and thinks things through, while Samberg brings his trademark hyperactivity to Dale. Much of the film’s fun as well as its entire emotional core comes from the reformation of their partnership. Chip is angry that Dale seemingly abandoned Rescue Rangers to further his own career while Dale would give anything to reconnect with his friend. The supporting cast also brings some laughs, including Keegan Michael-Key as a puppet chef who makes gourmet cheeses and Kiki Layne as a Rescue Rangers fan turned detective. And that’s not even getting into Will Arnett‘s role, which will change the way you look at a certain Dinsey character.

And finally, there’s the animation. While Chip and other characters are depicted in 2D, Dale opted to have “CGI surgery” which transformed him into a 3D character. Despite these differences, both forms of animation are given their due. The cel-shading on Chip gives off an impressive texture, as if he’d stepped out of an animation cel. And the CGI on Dale is refined to the point where you can see individual strands of fur. Larry Fong’s cinematography centers on the duo throughout every scene, whether it’s the sun-lit L.A. highway or a dimly lit lab.

Chip’n’Dale: Rescue Rangers blends meta-humor and buddy comedy together to great effect while paying tribute to its animated roots. Between this film and Sneakerella, there’s proof that Disney+ can provide film projects outside of Marvel and Star Wars that have a broad appeal. It also fuels my hope that maybe animated classics such as Gargoyles can receive a similar treatment.

Chip’n’Dale: Rescue Rangers will be available to stream on Disney+ on May 20, 2022.