Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers is likely the closest Disney will ever come to recapturing the provocative magic of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? — and that is both a compliment and a critique.
The Mouse House has become even more sanitized post-Bob Iger, the company man who polished the brand and brought in big guns Lucasfilm and Marvel to pump money into Mickey’s wallet. Even so, the streaming era has afforded Disney a little wiggle room to try some weird things in pumping out content for content’s sake. It’s hard to believe Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers — hitting Disney+ this week — would exist without the company’s evident hunger for anything slightly recognizable or nostalgic.
Directed by Akiva Schaffer and featuring Andy Samberg as Dale, this is The Lonely Island dudes' first dive into anything remotely family-friendly. Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers brings a Roger Rabbit-esque brand of self-referential, toon-fueled neo-noir to the Disney IP while adding a dose of Schaffer & Co.'s own eccentric comedy. It’s fun and creative in ways Disney has recently been seemingly allergic to, packing in a few industry-centric haymakers that will leave you rolling, even if it lacks the special something that made Rabbit such a cultural touchstone.
The story is a fun jab at reboot culture, with Chip and Dale reuniting after years apart to help find a missing co-star from their eponymous television show who is believed to have gotten mixed up with the wrong toons. There are sight gags aplenty, veering into Lego Movie territory with the number of recognizable characters mixing into the plot in ways that, again, just don’t feel standard-issue for Disney — the company has been known to maintain a careful brand maintenance post-2005. Let’s just say you’ve never seen such disdain for Flounder from The Little Mermaid, and what they do with I Think You Should Leave star Tim Robinson might be the edgiest, funniest joke in a Disney movie in years.
While the winky humor is almost too ceaseless, it’s balanced out by two fantastic vocal performances from Samberg and John Mulaney (Chip), who add an unexpected bit of soul to this tale of two Disney cartoons trying to rekindle their old mojo. Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers is probably the riskiest thing Disney will allow in the Year of our Mouse 2022, but that in and of itself makes this stand out amid the bog of IP blandness. It’s got an identity, an attitude and a willingness to let some of Disney’s characters walk a little more on the wild side. We’ll take it.
