Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (movie)

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a 2022 American live-action/animated action-adventure comedy movie. It is based on the characters Chip and Dale and the animated TV series of the same name. It is directed by Akiva Schaffer and written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. It stars John Mulaney and Andy Samberg as the voices of Chip and Dale respectively. It is a co-production between Walt Disney Pictures, producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman's Mandeville Films, and The Lonely Island.

The movie premiered in Orlando on May 16, 2022, and was released in the United States on May 20, 2022, through streaming on Disney+ as a Disney+ original movie.

Plot

In a world co-populated by humans and fictional characters, two chipmunks named Chip and Dale meet in elementary school and become best friends. They later relocate to Hollywood and, after casting as extras in commercials and shows, go on to star in the successful television series Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers in the early 1990s. However, when Dale gets his own show, Double-O-Dale, the two have a falling-out that leads to both shows' cancellation.

Thirty years later, Chip is a successful but disillusioned insurance salesman while Dale spends most of his time on the fan convention circuit, having been put through CGI surgery. One night, the two are contacted by their former Rescue Rangers co-star Monterey Jack, who owes money to the criminal Valley Gang due to his stinky cheese addiction. Monty warns the pair of a trafficking operation where toons are kidnapped, have their appearances altered, and are shipped overseas to produce bootlegs of their works for the rest of their lives. Later that night, the two are informed that Monty has been kidnapped. They meet Police Captain Putty and Officer Ellie Steckler; the latter reveals herself to be a big Rescue Rangers fan, and with the police's hands tied, she suggests Chip and Dale investigate on their own.

Chip and Dale visit Bjornson the Cheesemonger, Monty's cheese dealer, and ask about the Valley Gang. They are taken to the uncanny valley part of town and meet the gang's leader—Sweet Pete, a toon actor who played Peter Pan, now an adult—and his henchmen Bob and Jimmy. Realizing they are investigating his bootlegging business, Pete tries to capture the pair, but the chipmunks escape. The two later share their discoveries with Ellie, learning that she is shunned by Putty due to acting on a bad tip and raiding the Nick Jr. Channel studios with negative results.

With Ellie's help, the chipmunks sneak into a bathhouse to steal Pete's fitness tracker. They trace his movements to a dock warehouse, though it is already abandoned by the time the police arrive. Inside, they find a large operating machine designed to alter toons' bodies, along with several toon parts, including Monty's mustache.

At the police station, the pair argue over the loss of Monty and their past feud but smell the scent of Monty's cologne. Realizing either Putty or Ellie is working with Sweet Pete, the two flee the station. At the ongoing Fan Con, they try to convince Ugly Sonic to ask his FBI contacts for help, but Pete and his henchmen arrive, having tracked Dale using his social media posts. In the ongoing chase, Bob is restrained and arrested, but Chip is caught by Jimmy and taken to the warehouse. Ellie is also lured there by Putty, revealing he is part of the Valley Gang and has been covering for Pete, including giving Ellie the false Nick Jr. tip.

Sweet Pete has Ellie call Dale to lure him to the warehouse, but Ellie sends a coded message using a Rescue Rangers episode. Dale realizes Ellie is in trouble and contacts former Rescue Rangers co-stars Gadget Hackwrench and Zipper, now married with children, for help. Dale enters the warehouse using a firework, which gets lodged into the machine and stops it before it can be used on Chip. The machine goes haywire, transforming Jimmy into a fairy and Pete into a giant amalgamation of various toons. While Ellie fights and defeats Putty, Pete chases Chip and Dale through the warehouse, revealing it to also be where the bootlegs are filmed. The chipmunks lure Pete to the docks and use a ploy from a Rescue Rangers episode to trap him.

The FBI, led by Ugly Sonic, arrive to arrest the Valley Gang. Sweet Pete fires a cannonball at Chip, but Dale takes the hit. Chip fears Dale is dead and apologizes for his behavior over the years, but Dale reveals he was protected by a golden pog Chip gave him. The chipmunks free all the bootlegged toons, including Monty, and Dale introduces the Rescue Rangers to Ellie, who decides to open her own detective agency. As the team departs, Dale convinces them to film a Rescue Rangers reboot, which is released to great success.

Cast

• John Mulaney as the voice of Chip, an anthropomorphic chipmunk and the once heroic, intelligent, unflappable leader and co-founder of the Rescue Rangers who upheld a strong moral standard and now works as a risk-averse and bitter insurance salesman.
• Andy Samberg as the voice of Dale, an anthropomorphic chipmunk and Chip's fun-loving former best friend and co-founder of the Rescue Rangers, who possesses an impulsive mindset and now makes a living with fan convention appearances. Dale's present-day appearance is depicted with photorealistic computer-animation, unlike the cel-shaded animation of his former teammates; this was explained in-universe as "getting CGI surgery," an equivalent to a plastic surgery.
• KiKi Layne as Det. Ellie Steckler, a rookie LAPD officer and lifelong fangirl of the Rescue Rangers.
• Will Arnett as the voice of Sweet Pete, the toon actor who played Peter Pan, being now a middle aged man, with a Bobby Cannavale-esque voice, who founded the Valley Gang after being fired due to his age.
• Eric Bana as the voice of Monterey Jack, a cheese-loving Australian anthropomorphic mouse and a member of the Rescue Rangers. The character was originally voiced by Peter Cullen and Jim Cummings in the original series.
• Flula Borg as the voice of DJ Herzogenaurach, an anthropomorphic snake DJ who is a fan of Chip and Dale where they encounter him in a bathhouse.
• Dennis Haysbert as the voice of Zipper, an anthropomorphic housefly and member of the Rescue Rangers. He and Gadget eventually got married and had hybrid children after the show's cancellation while also speaking English.
• Keegan-Michael Key as the voice of Bjornson the Cheesemonger, a Swedish Chef-esque cheesemonger and member of the Valley Gang.
  • Key also voices a frog co-worker of Chip.
• Tress MacNeille as the voice of Gadget Hackwrench, an inventive anthropomorphic mouse and member of the Rescue Rangers. She and Zipper eventually got married and had hybrid kids after the show's cancellation. MacNeille reprises her role from the original series.
• Seth Rogen as Bob, a motion capture Viking dwarf member of the Valley Gang. Bob is loosely based on the motion capture characters of various motion-capture films such as The Polar Express and Beowulf.
  • Rogen also reprises his voice roles of Pumbaa from the 2019 version of The Lion King, Master Mantis from the Kung Fu Panda franchise, and B.O.B. from the Monsters vs. Aliens franchise.
• J. K. Simmons as the voice of Captain S. Putty, a Gumby-esque claymation police captain who is investigating the missing toon cases, but is later revealed to be part of the Valley Gang.
• Tim Robinson as the voice of Ugly Sonic, a version of Sonic the Hedgehog who appears in his scrapped original design from the 2020 feature film adaptation.
• Da'Vone McDonald as the voice of Jimmy, a CGI polar bear member of the Valley Gang. Director Akiva Schaffer alluded Jimmy's appearance to the Coca-Cola polar bear.