Chip and Dale were originally a couple of funny chipmunks that messed around with Donald Duck or Pluto. In the 80s though, these 2 chipmunks were made the stars of a detective adventure show alongside 2 mice and a fly. Together they form the Rescue Rangers, whose sole purpose is to help animals in need. The show has been hailed as one of the best animated shows in Disney TV's library and I can certainly see why, even if I find a couple elements to not hold up. From a great sense of adventure, likable characters and really good animation, it's really fascinating that this show still holds up after 34 years.
Created by Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove, this show follows the adventures of a team of do-gooders who help animals in need. Each episode follows the formula of being a minimovie. Each episode starts with the rangers getting wind of the case, followed by their tried and true efforts to solve the case and the episode wrapping in a fun and exciting climax. What keeps this formula from getting old is the the execution of each episode. Every episode finds unique ways to tell its story by giving one of the main characters an arch to overcome, incorporates some really clever world building or having genuinely funny jokes and gags. Episodes like The Last Leprechaun, Throw Mummy Off The Train, and It's A Bird, It's Insane, It's Dale are great examples of the show having clever world building, funny jokes and being character focused. The writing of this show is really good and is made stronger by its wonderful cast of characters.
The characters are all really likable and have unique personalities that bounce off each other really well. Starting with our titular heroes, Chip and Dale maintain their clashing personalities from the shorts and yet they still care for one another (this show says they're best friends but in the shorts and all other appearances they're actually brothers). Chip is the brave, smart, and determined leader of the rangers with him coming up with plans and relying on the support of his team. Dale is the funny, carefreee comic relief who has his moments of genius but generally likes having more fun than Chip. Gadget Hackwrench is the s smart, spunky and caring inventor and mechanic who helps her teammates in the best ways she can. Chip and Dale sometimes fight for her affection and that's one element that doesn't hold up today. Chip and Dale's relationship with Gadget is at it's best when they're simply friends with her. Monterey Jack (Monty for short) is the team's adventure loving muscle who has a very strong fixation with cheese. While this habit is a problem for him, it does provide some funny gags whenever he gets a whiff of any kind of cheese. Then there's Zipper, the little fly and Monty's best friend. Zipper may be small, but he's really brave, noble and helpful. Together they form a great team that's willing to help others in need for no other reason other than it's the right thing to do.
The Rescue Rangers face a number of enemies throughout the show who want nothing more than to enact their evil intentions. Starting with their most formidable and the best villain in the show is Fat Cat. Fat Cat is basically a classic Disney villain on the small screen. He's charismatic, he's smart, he's cunning and he keeps his dimwitted lackies under his thumb. Fat Cat relishes in being an evil kingpin and every episode he's in is a treat. Another recurring antagonist is Professor Norton Nimnul, a scientist who seeks to cause chaos, but his inventions more often than not back fire on him. Other notable antagonists include Lawhinie, a sinister mouse who's bares a striking resemblance to Gadget, Rat Capone, a gangster rat who has the personality of his namesake, Al Capone, Winifred, a modern witch who flies a magic vacuum cleaner, and Sewernose de Bergerac, an alligator who's obsessed with the theater and plays the role of the villain (both on and off the stage).
Bringing these characters to life are the outstanding voice actors directed by Bryce Malek and voice direction legend Andrea Romano. Tress MacNeillie and Corey Burton did an excellent job voicing Chip and Dale, especially with their voices sped up to give them a squeaky manner of speaking (not unlike Alvin & The Chipmunks). Chip sounds brave and determined while Dale sounds carefree and lively. Tress and Corey also did great jobs voicing Gadget and Zipper with the former sounding really knowledgeable and giddy whenever she tests a new invention and the later sounding well meaning, friendly and brave. The MVP of the show though is the man, the myth, the legend himself Jim Cummings. While Peter Cullen did a great job voicing Monty for the first season and some of Season 2, the transition between him and Jim is unnoticable as Monty maintains his gruff Australian accent and makes him sound caring and brave. Jim also did a fabulous job voicing Fat Cat, Professor Nimnul, Rat Capone and Baby Thaddeous among other villains, making them all sound distinct from one another and varying shades of sinster. Other actors that did really good work on the show include Rob Paulsen, Debrorah Walley, Frank Welker, Gregg Berger, Carol Channing, Alan Oppenheimer and Peter Schrum. The late-great Mel Blanc gave one of his final performances before his death as Billy The Squid in Piratsy Under the Sea (albeit uncredited). That's just a cool trivia I thought I'd include in this review because Mel is such a legend.
Visually, the show holds up very well given that the animation was done by hand as opposed to computers like today. The character designs are really appealing with the characters having round heads, big expressive eyes, and fitting attire. I especially like how Fat Cat twirls his whiskers like a mustache, such a nice cherry on top of an already great villain. The character animation flows naturally as if they would in an action adventure show. Speaking of action, that's where the animation truly shines, with tight camera shots, intense action, and big set pieces. The backgrounds also look really detailed and lived in as we visit different locations in the show. The Rescue Rangers headquarters feels like a nice home, the city they reside in feels alive, the ocean feels calm yet unpredictable and the exotic locations look like amazing tourist attractions. The animation of the show holds up so well and it makes me want to go to the places the rangers go.
There's an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed in this review: the depictions of Chinese and Polynisian cultures in the show. Obviously it was not the creator's intention to offend or disrespect Chinese or Polynisian cultures and while they're not egregiously offensive, they still don't do these cultures justice. The second part of the 2 hour pilot, Song of The Night and Dale, and Puffed Rangers have antagonistic Chinese characters who, while they don't speak in the stereotypical broken English, they do have stereotypical Chinese names and are clearly not voiced by Chinese actors. Gadget Goes Hawaiian reinforces the stereotype that Polynisian natives are easily fooled and also have stereotypical names. These questionable depictions of these cultures definitely wouldn't fly today but I'm glad Disney didn't try to bury these episodes and instead put unskippable warnings in front of them on Disney+.
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a good show that's earned it's cult status among Disney fans. It's got strong writing, really funny gags, well crafted animation, a colorful cast of characters and outstanding vocal performances. It has some moments that don't hold up, but those moments can and have been learned from in the past 34 years since this show came out. If you have Disney+, I highly recommend giving this show a watch, especially if you're into funny adventure shows.
Created by Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove, this show follows the adventures of a team of do-gooders who help animals in need. Each episode follows the formula of being a minimovie. Each episode starts with the rangers getting wind of the case, followed by their tried and true efforts to solve the case and the episode wrapping in a fun and exciting climax. What keeps this formula from getting old is the the execution of each episode. Every episode finds unique ways to tell its story by giving one of the main characters an arch to overcome, incorporates some really clever world building or having genuinely funny jokes and gags. Episodes like The Last Leprechaun, Throw Mummy Off The Train, and It's A Bird, It's Insane, It's Dale are great examples of the show having clever world building, funny jokes and being character focused. The writing of this show is really good and is made stronger by its wonderful cast of characters.
The characters are all really likable and have unique personalities that bounce off each other really well. Starting with our titular heroes, Chip and Dale maintain their clashing personalities from the shorts and yet they still care for one another (this show says they're best friends but in the shorts and all other appearances they're actually brothers). Chip is the brave, smart, and determined leader of the rangers with him coming up with plans and relying on the support of his team. Dale is the funny, carefreee comic relief who has his moments of genius but generally likes having more fun than Chip. Gadget Hackwrench is the s smart, spunky and caring inventor and mechanic who helps her teammates in the best ways she can. Chip and Dale sometimes fight for her affection and that's one element that doesn't hold up today. Chip and Dale's relationship with Gadget is at it's best when they're simply friends with her. Monterey Jack (Monty for short) is the team's adventure loving muscle who has a very strong fixation with cheese. While this habit is a problem for him, it does provide some funny gags whenever he gets a whiff of any kind of cheese. Then there's Zipper, the little fly and Monty's best friend. Zipper may be small, but he's really brave, noble and helpful. Together they form a great team that's willing to help others in need for no other reason other than it's the right thing to do.
The Rescue Rangers face a number of enemies throughout the show who want nothing more than to enact their evil intentions. Starting with their most formidable and the best villain in the show is Fat Cat. Fat Cat is basically a classic Disney villain on the small screen. He's charismatic, he's smart, he's cunning and he keeps his dimwitted lackies under his thumb. Fat Cat relishes in being an evil kingpin and every episode he's in is a treat. Another recurring antagonist is Professor Norton Nimnul, a scientist who seeks to cause chaos, but his inventions more often than not back fire on him. Other notable antagonists include Lawhinie, a sinister mouse who's bares a striking resemblance to Gadget, Rat Capone, a gangster rat who has the personality of his namesake, Al Capone, Winifred, a modern witch who flies a magic vacuum cleaner, and Sewernose de Bergerac, an alligator who's obsessed with the theater and plays the role of the villain (both on and off the stage).
Bringing these characters to life are the outstanding voice actors directed by Bryce Malek and voice direction legend Andrea Romano. Tress MacNeillie and Corey Burton did an excellent job voicing Chip and Dale, especially with their voices sped up to give them a squeaky manner of speaking (not unlike Alvin & The Chipmunks). Chip sounds brave and determined while Dale sounds carefree and lively. Tress and Corey also did great jobs voicing Gadget and Zipper with the former sounding really knowledgeable and giddy whenever she tests a new invention and the later sounding well meaning, friendly and brave. The MVP of the show though is the man, the myth, the legend himself Jim Cummings. While Peter Cullen did a great job voicing Monty for the first season and some of Season 2, the transition between him and Jim is unnoticable as Monty maintains his gruff Australian accent and makes him sound caring and brave. Jim also did a fabulous job voicing Fat Cat, Professor Nimnul, Rat Capone and Baby Thaddeous among other villains, making them all sound distinct from one another and varying shades of sinster. Other actors that did really good work on the show include Rob Paulsen, Debrorah Walley, Frank Welker, Gregg Berger, Carol Channing, Alan Oppenheimer and Peter Schrum. The late-great Mel Blanc gave one of his final performances before his death as Billy The Squid in Piratsy Under the Sea (albeit uncredited). That's just a cool trivia I thought I'd include in this review because Mel is such a legend.
Visually, the show holds up very well given that the animation was done by hand as opposed to computers like today. The character designs are really appealing with the characters having round heads, big expressive eyes, and fitting attire. I especially like how Fat Cat twirls his whiskers like a mustache, such a nice cherry on top of an already great villain. The character animation flows naturally as if they would in an action adventure show. Speaking of action, that's where the animation truly shines, with tight camera shots, intense action, and big set pieces. The backgrounds also look really detailed and lived in as we visit different locations in the show. The Rescue Rangers headquarters feels like a nice home, the city they reside in feels alive, the ocean feels calm yet unpredictable and the exotic locations look like amazing tourist attractions. The animation of the show holds up so well and it makes me want to go to the places the rangers go.
There's an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed in this review: the depictions of Chinese and Polynisian cultures in the show. Obviously it was not the creator's intention to offend or disrespect Chinese or Polynisian cultures and while they're not egregiously offensive, they still don't do these cultures justice. The second part of the 2 hour pilot, Song of The Night and Dale, and Puffed Rangers have antagonistic Chinese characters who, while they don't speak in the stereotypical broken English, they do have stereotypical Chinese names and are clearly not voiced by Chinese actors. Gadget Goes Hawaiian reinforces the stereotype that Polynisian natives are easily fooled and also have stereotypical names. These questionable depictions of these cultures definitely wouldn't fly today but I'm glad Disney didn't try to bury these episodes and instead put unskippable warnings in front of them on Disney+.
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a good show that's earned it's cult status among Disney fans. It's got strong writing, really funny gags, well crafted animation, a colorful cast of characters and outstanding vocal performances. It has some moments that don't hold up, but those moments can and have been learned from in the past 34 years since this show came out. If you have Disney+, I highly recommend giving this show a watch, especially if you're into funny adventure shows.