Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers (film)

Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers is a 2022 American live-action/computer-animated action-adventure comedy film based on the characters Chip and Dale and the animated TV series of the same name. The film is directed by Akiva Schaffer, and written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, The film stars John Mulaney. Andy Samberg as the voices of the titular pair, with Will Arnett, Eric Bana, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, J.K. Simmons, and KiKi Layne. It's a co-production between Walt Disney Pictures.

Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers premiered in Orlando on May 16, 2022, *and* was released in the United States on May 20, 2022, via streaming on Disney+ as a Disney+ original film.

Plot

In a world co-populated by both humans and cartoon characters, Chip and Dale meet in elementary school and, despite being outcasts, soon become fast friends. Their friendship led to the creation of *Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers*, which becomes a huge success during the late 1980s. However, during filming, Dale reveals to Chip that he had won a solo role in his own spy show entitled *Double-O-Dale*, which Chip views as an insult to their friendship.

In the thirty years since the show's cancellation, Chip and Dale drift apart and the Rescue Rangers eventually broke up. Chip becomes a successful insurance salesman while Dale continues, having special CGI surgery to improve his looks, but now spends his time on the fan convention circuit.

In the present, Chip and Dale are contacted by their old friend Monterey Jack, who has fallen in debt to a figurehead named Sweet Pete due to his stinky cheese addiction. Monty tells the pair of a criminal operation where they kidnap toons, alter their appearance, and ship them overseas to produce bootleg works. Chip wants no part of the investigation, still holding a grudge with Dale. Later, Monty is found missing and both arrive to help the police, led by Captain Putty and Detective Ellie Steckler. Ellie reveals herself to be a big fan of Chip and Dale, and tells the pair that while their hands are tied as police, the two can try to find out where Sweet Pete is operating from.

Chip and Dale go to visit a puppet named Bjornson the Cheesemonger, where Monty had been buying his cheese, and ask to see Sweet Pete. They are taken to the uncanny valley part of town to Sweet Pete's factory that produces porta-potties from unsold toy stock. They meet Sweet Pete - who in reality is an adult Peter Pan - and his henchmen Bob the Viking and Jimmy the Polar Bear. Sweet Pete realizes the two are trying to confiscate info on his bootlegging business and tries to capture the pair, but the chipmunks escape. The two later discuss what they’ve discovered with Ellie, learning that she is not in good standing with Captain Putty due to acting on a bad tip and raiding Nickelodeon Studios with results.

Dale recalls that Sweet Pete is wearing a fitness tracker, and so with Ellie's help, the pair sneak into a bathhouse to steal Pete's tracker. They trace his movements to a dock warehouse, and find evidence of prior toon kidnappings, allowing the police to fully investigate. The investigation leads to the discovery of a large operating machine designed to take parts of toons and replace them with others, and while the chipmunks end up stuck in it, they manage to avoid the laser cutters. At the far end, the two discover a trove of toon parts, include Monty's moustache.

The next day, the pair argue over their recent spats, and Chip angrily gives Dale a golden pog that he kept to remind him of their better past. The two smell the scent of Monty's cologne, tracing it to either Captain Putty or Ellie, before fleeing the station, fearing one of them is working with Sweet Pete. They go to the ongoing Fan Con and try to convince Ugly Sonic to get his contacts with the FBI to help. Just then, Sweet Pete, Bob and Jimmy arrive, having followed Dale by his social media posts. In the ongoing chase, Bob is caught with the help of Tigra and Lumière, but Chip is caught by Pete and Jimmy. Sweet Pete takes Chip back to the warehouse, and Ellie is lured by Captain Putty there as well, revealing Putty has been working with Pete as part of the bootleg ring, as well as having set up Ellie for the mistaken raid.

Pete has Ellie call Dale to convince him to come to the warehouse alone as to save Chip from being erased, but Ellie speaks in code from past *Rescue Ranger* episodes. Though Dale misinterprets the clues, he realizes that Ellie is in trouble, and reaches out to Gadget and Zipper, who have married and raised a large family, to help get him to the warehouse. With Gadget and Zipper flying the Ranger Plane, Dale makes his way inside the warehouse using a firework, which gets lodged into the operating machines' innards, stopping it before Chip is operated on. The firework then causes the machine to overload and explode. The machine goes haywire, turning Jimmy into a fairy and transforms Pete into a giant amalgamation of various toons and more powerful than before. While Ellie fights Putty, Pete chases down Chip and Dale through the warehouse, revealing that this is also where the bootlegs were being filmed. The chipmunks eventually lure Pete to the docks, and using a ploy from one of the show's episodes, are able to trap Pete.

The FBI, led by Ugly Sonic, arrive to help. Just as the FBI try to secure Pete, he fires a cannonball at Chip, but Dale leaps up to block it, falling unconscious. Chip fears for his friend's life, apologizing for his behavior over the years, but Dale wakes up, revealing that he kept the golden pog which took the brunt of the shot. The chipmunks find where all the bootlegged toons have been kept, including Monty who had been operated on to be in a bootleg version of *Dumbo*. The full Rescue Ranger team unites, and Dale introduces them to Ellie. Ellie admits she has decided to open her own detective agency, following in the footsteps of her heroes. As the team depart, Dale offers the idea of a reboot, but the others agree only if they see the script first.

The end credits show Pete and the Valley gang in prison and the Rescue Rangers shooting another episode of *Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers*, with their star status restored. Monterey Jack's original mouse ears are also shown to have been restored.

Production

On January 31, 2014, it was announced that The Walt Disney Company was developing a live-action movie based on the Disney animated series *Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers* with CGI special effects, similar to 20th Century Fox's *Alvin & the Chipmunks* film series. David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman signed on as producers, while Robert Rugan was hired to write and direct the film.

For Roger Rabbit's cameo at the start of the film, one of the animators from *Who Framed Roger Rabbit* was brought to animate the character. The ponies from *My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic* were done by Top Draw Animation, who animated them for the series and 2017 film.

Release

*Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers premiered in Orlando on May 16, 2022 and* was released as a Disney+ original film on May 20, 2022.