Chip and Dale remain a sad reminder that before genuine competition existed, TV executives didn’t know what they were doing. If you spied children of the 70s, you’d see that most of them have intimate knowledge of “The Brady Bunch.” Basically, during any random afternoon in the decade, there would be an option of “The Brady Bunch” or three news shows. That’s it. Brady dominating the demographic had no more to do with quality than the massive attention paid to Donald Trump made him a good President. Attentiveness and quality are different animals.
Similarly, Chip and Dale were Disney staples of the era, and yet complete afterthoughts behind Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, all seven dwarves, and about fifty other animated entertainments of marginal value. I don’t know who gets off to two prissy rodents being dicks; but it wasn’t me. I’ll give them this much: the Chip and Dale of my childhood were probably top ten among chipmunk-based entertainments. The bottom line is – just because it was there doesn’t actually mean the product was quality. I mean, look at Tom and Jerry. I could not laugh at those guys for hours … and did so regularly as a child.
OK, fast forward a bit. It’s the 21st Century and Chip ‘n Dale no longer have affected English accents. In fact, I can even tell them apart, which is something I could never do last century. Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers delves into the lives of these two vermin dating back to grade school. Gap-toothed Dale pulls the old “I lost an eye” trick in introducing himself to elementary school peers and, as a result, garners only Chip among beings willing to talk to him. The two become fast friends and -as teenagers- turn to acting.
Hold up. Hold up. Chip (voice of John Mulaney) and Dale (Andy Samberg) are actors? You mean their personas are all false put-ons? I just got a little queasy. This is like finding out, I dunno, that Howard Stern isn’t genuine – you adopted this personality? Why? Doesn’t matter. Point is that the two split in the 1990s when Dale’s spin off from “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” went sour. In the modern setting, we join the estranged friends in very different places united by the kidnapping of Monterey Jack (Eric Bana) – a mutual friend- by mobsters. As far as I’m concerned, this is all just pointless exposition.
The point of Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers has little to do with either rodent. As far as I could tell, the point of the film was just to see how many adults it could impress. I’m serious here. A Disney film about cartoon chipmunks was aimed squarely at adults. My evidence? Well, first, the look of the picture which combines several different animation styles, 2D, 3D, claymation, live action, all blended into one picture.
In the modern iteration of the friendship, Dale –who has “had work done”- appears in 3D while Chip appears in 2D. The film made a point of celebrating several animation styles and even mocking a few; Seth Rogen voices a Viking barbarian deliberately mocking the eerily animated Beowulf. Later in the film, the Viking is briefly taunted mocked by the Seth Rogen-voiced characters from Lion King, Kung Fu Panda, and Monsters vs. Aliens. Earlier in the film, the “heroes” visit the equivalent of “Toontown” and the camera immediately pans to an alley Cats fight. Who is that joke for? Who?! Your average seven-year-old Cats critic? Blink and you’ll miss a billboard advertising “BUTTHEAD” [sic] for Senator. “Ugly Sonic,” the initial and subsequently trashed version of Sonic the Hedgehog that fans hated, gets several lines in the film. And get a load of the villain: a middle-aged Mafioso Peter Pan (Will Arnett).
Who are these jokes for? Who is up on “Beavis and Butt-Head” and the short-lived hype of “Ugly Sonic” and the career of Seth Rogen and the history of animation? Will children enjoy any of that? No. Of course not. These jokes are for me. That’s who. And only me. And I can’t stand the original Chip ‘n Dale. The better question then becomes – if I’m not enjoying this, who will? People so desperate for another Who Framed Roger Rabbit they’re willing to settle for a knock-off version? Do you honestly like it when film mixes live action and animation? If that’s your bag, have I got a film for you. It’s far better than Space Jam 2, but then so is the original Chip ‘n Dale that I loathed.
It’s a tale of curious chipmunks
Who are not quite unwholesome punks
Their patter … it dwells
Among unearthly smells
It would make sense were they both skunks
Rated PG, 97 Minutes
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Writer: Dan Gregor, Doug Mand
Genre: Keep name-dropping; something’s gotta stick, right?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of cartoons-on-film history
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Did you love Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Same film only much worse.
