This is the 21st-century version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a brilliant meta film that combines the changes you go through growing up as well as keeping hold of that childhood wonder that you once had.

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers follow the famous chipmunks as they enter the 21st century after losing their show and other work opportunities. Dale has gone down the ‘used to be famous come to my comic con stall’ route while Chip is working as a financial advisor and is constantly employee of the month.

One day however they both receive a call from one of their old coworkers from their show who is worried that he will be bootlegged because he is in a lot of debt with the Valley Gang mafia. In this world this particular mafia will take you and erase your mouth and change your features to look slightly off so that you can be put in low budget versions of high budget Disney movies to pay off your debt.

This of course brings Chip ‘n Dale together to be able to find out what happened to their friend and all the other characters that are going missing. I also found it really interesting, especially in this version versus Who Framed Roger Rabbit, that we have lots of different animated styles being shown. Chip has kept his original drawn look where as Dale has updated to 3-D CGI, and there were even other character types that we have seen throughout the many decades, I especially love the call back to the uncanny valley of the early 2000s.

I won’t spoil who the big baddy in this film was but I didn’t expect it and I absolutely love that in recent films Disney is able to take the mick out of themselves and don’t take themselves too seriously, and being able to use older characters like we saw in Wreck-it Ralph 2 and to be able to portray them in a whole different light is fantastic. Of course seeing this once loved character as the big villain in this film is going to change me watching the original a lot but I’m sure I’ll still enjoy it nonetheless.

So often people see Disney as a kid’s dream but this film is made for adults. It has lots of Easter eggs that are brilliant to find and delve into, it has lots of callbacks to characters that the new generation of children wouldn’t understand, and while I’m sure children can still enjoy watching it for fun, the real love is going to come from the parents watching it with them reliving their childhood and resenting growing up as much as Chip ‘n Dale do too.

I wasn’t planning on watching this film, I actually saw someone talk about it on TikTok and that made me dive into it immediately, and I’m so glad I did. It is a brilliant film that understands its comedic timing perfectly, has so many different characters that you’re constantly looking out for who else is in the shot on the screen, and the storyline is really interesting too. I was never a big fan of Chip ‘n Dale, I of course knew of them but never watched or bought any of their merchandise, however now I have seen this it has piqued my interest in the characters and makes me wonder if it’s worth going back and watching some of their previous shows as well.

I highly recommend this film, it is absolutely brilliant and I would happily watch it again. If you enjoy meta films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Disney taking the mick out of themselves like Wreck-it Ralph 2 and Frozen 2, as well as the Easter egg inclusion too which echos similarities to Ready Player One then this film movie perfect for you. it’s absolutely hilarious, a great whirlwind of intrigue and excitement, and the runtime isn’t too long at all so you can easily watch it and not feel like it drags at any moment.

What do you think of Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding