The notion of Disney and The Lonely Island collaborating is one that I imagine many failed to place on their 2022 movie bingo card. The comedy team – they of “I’m on a Boat” and “I Just Had Sex” fame – have rightfully added a little of their grown-up twist to the reimagining (of sorts) of the classic Chip ‘N Dale cartoon, but have still kept it within the realms of a family friendly temperament; this is the House of Mouse after all.
A traditional reboot this is not, director Akiva Schaffer (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) has opted for a Who Framed Roger Rabbit style environment where the animation properties of the 80’s and 90’s are referenced and incorporated in a real-world setting. Unlike Robert Zemeckis’s groundbreaking 1988 comedy whodunnit though, a film that, of its time, mixed 2D animation with live-action, Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers runs the gauntlet of available renderings, bringing in 2D, 3D, stop-motion, CGI, claymation, and puppetry.
The Chip (voiced by John Mulaney) and Dale (Andy Samberg) of the 1989 Rescue Rangers program are considerably different figures now in modern day Los Angeles. Chip, who has remained in his 2D form, has turned his back on showbusiness following the show’s cancellation and succumbed to a life of mundane normality as an insurance salesman. Dale, who’s been surgically enhanced and now sports a shinier 3D frame, is doing all he can to hold on to his fame, mainly working the convention circuit, hoping nostalgia will be enough to keep him relevant.
We all know their differences will be put aside in a time of crisis, and when their former co-star Monterey Jack (Eric Bana), an ockerly Australian with a cheese addiction, goes missing, Chip and Dale dust off their detective personas and seek him out, leading them to an underbelly of the entertainment industry that allows Dan Gregor and Doug Mand‘s script to deliciously indulge in IP (and non-IP) fanfare; I guarantee there’ll be many a reference that’ll take audiences by surprise.
Likely to be the closest we’ll ever get to a spiritual sequel to Roger Rabbit – though KiKi Layne‘s live-action detective doesn’t hold a candle to what Bob Hoskins was able to emulate – Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is far more creative and hilarious than it has any right to be. For those dissatisfied with the multiversal exploration of that other Disney property doing the rounds at the moment, Samberg and Mulaney’s glorious self-referential tribute to animation’s yesteryear is a near-perfect adventure, one that genuinely entertains in a manner so rarely extended to animated films hoping to serve accessibility across all its intended markets.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers will be available to stream on Disney+ from May 20th, 2022.
