Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (TV series)

"Rescue Rangers" redirects here. For the 70's TV show featuring Lassie, see Lassie's Rescue Rangers.

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
File:ChipDaleLogo.jpg Title logo from opening sequence
Created by	Tad Stones Alan Zaslove
Voices of	Corey Burton Peter Cullen Jim Cummings Tress MacNeille
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	65 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes
Original release
Network	Disney Channel
Release	March 5, 1989 – November 19, 1990

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and created by Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove. The series premiered on the Disney Channel on March 5, 1989. It technically premiered with a two-hour movie, Rescue Rangers: To the Rescue, which was later broken up into a five-part pilot and aired as the opening of the second season. The final episode aired on November 19, 1990.

In the fall of 1989, the series was syndicated and as a part of the Disney Afternoon line up, continued as reruns until 1993. On January 15, 2007, the show returned to the air with reruns currently airing on Toon Disney every Monday through Friday at 12:00pm EST.

Characters

Heroes

Chip is the leader of the Rescue Rangers. Somewhat modeled on Indiana Jones, Chip wears a fedora and a flight jacket and frequently uses rope to lasso or swing to other spots. He spends his free time reading detective fiction and is very dedicated to his detective work. Chip tends to be serious and with a strong sense of responsibility, to the point that he is sometimes accused of not knowing how to have fun. He frequently ends up in squabbles with Dale over Dale's more laid back manner. Voiced by Tress MacNeille.

Dale wears a red and yellow Hawaiian shirt. Though dedicated to the job, he is a fun-loving, mischievous prankster who is sometimes irresponsible and forgets to think before he acts. He spends his free time reading comic books, playing video games, watching Sci-fi and horror movies, and eating candy. He also has "chocolate attacks", similar to Monterey Jack's cheese attacks. He frequently finds himself being knocked on the head by Chip when he says or does something foolish. Burton's voicing of Dale in this series has a deeper, raspier sound than the character's traditional high pitch. Voiced by Corey Burton.

Monterey Jack or "Monty" to his friends, is an Australian muscle mouse with a dangerous weakness for cheese and a troublesome fear of cats. Monty met Chip and Dale on their first case as Rescue Rangers. After Fat Cat destroyed his home, Monty and his sidekick Zipper decided to join the group in their detective work. Monty tends to have a fatherly attitude towards Gadget due to his long friendship with her late father.

Gadget Hackwrench is a young female mouse and the team's pilot, mechanic and inventor. She is the daughter of deceased inventor and aviator Geegaw Hackwrench, who was great friends of Monterey Jack. She meets Chip and Dale when Monty brings them to Geegaws needing an airplane. At loose-ends since her father's death and eager to help, she joins the team. In addition to building and maintaining the Ranger Plane, Gadget frequently creates new vehicle and tools for the teams' use. Unfortunately, her creations don't always work the way she intends and have sometimes failed at just the wrong moment to cause the team trouble. Gadget seems to be oblivious of both Chip's and Dale's attraction to her, and has never demonstrated a preference for either. Voiced by Tress MacNeille. Voiced by Peter Cullen.

Zipper is a tiny green housefly and the long time friend and sidekick of Monterey Jack. With his tiny size and flying abilities, Zipper often handles little jobs that the rest of the Rescue Rangers cannot. He speaks in unintelligible buzzes that only Monty and other insects are able to understand. Despite his tiny size, Zipper has occasionally amazed the other rangers or villains with impressive displays of strength. Voiced by Corey Burton.

Villains

Fat Cat is a felonious grey tabby and one of the Rescue Rangers' most frequent antagonists. Formerly owned by criminal Aldrin Chlordane, Fat Cat becomes an independent agent and animal world crime boss after Chlordane's incarceration. He wears a purple business suit and has a taste for expensive things. He is a ruthless criminal mastermind, and his plans, though sometimes bizarre, are nevertheless dangerous. Fat Cat hates dogs and several of his schemes have been attacks against them. The only thing he hates more than dogs are the Rescue Ranger, which he always tries to get rid of using an elaborate and slow method, rather than killing them immediately. Fat cat is usually accompanied by four henchmen. In spite of their combined stupidity, Fat Cat almost always sends them out to do his dirty work for him, as he is too smart (or lazy) to dirty his paws himself. Voiced by Jim Cummings.

Wart, a lizard and one of Fat Cat's goons who dresses in a gangster-style suit and hat similar to his boss. Voiced by Jim Cummings.

Mole, one of Fat Cat's good, this slow witted, overweight mole wears an undersized red t-shirt and a yellow hat. Voiced by Corey Burton.

Mepps, a yellow alley cat and one of Fat Cat's goons who wears a blue vest and blue toboggan. Voiced by Peter Cullen.

Snout, a rat and one of Fat Cat's goons. Wears a short sleeved red turtle neck with a black vest and a dark blue hat that covers his eyes. Voiced by Corey Burton.

Professor Norton Nimnul, the Rangers other major enemy, is a mad scientist who once worked for Aldrin Chlordane. Though Nimnul is an intelligent and creative scientist, his plans often lack lack any trace of logic and tend to be extremely convoluted. For example, in "Catteries Not Included", he kidnapped all the cats in the city to make an immense amount of static electricity, and in his appearance in the pilot he constructed a laser cannon designed to create a giant gelatin mold which would be used to cause an earthquake under the United States Gold Reserve. Nimnul has an oddly-shaped skull, with receding red hair and very thick glasses, and a high-pitched laugh. According to character designer Kenny Thompkins, Nimnul's appearance is based on series writer Bruce Talkington. Voiced by Jim Cummings.

Episodes

Main article: List of Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers episodes

Except for the five-part set of episodes made from the pilot movie, each 22 minute episode of the series was self-contained. Plot points introduced in each episode stayed in the episode and any character development did not appear to continue through to future episodes. Most of the episodes followed a similar format, where in the next case was presented at the start of the episode, then the bulk of the episode had the sleuths gathering clues and investigating the situation. In the last few minutes of the episode, the case was resolved, usually in dramatic fashion and the final moments would have a humorous wrap up scene between the Rangers.

Merchandise

In fall of 1989, McDonald's produced a series of Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers themed Happy Meal that included toy versions of the main characters riding small vehicles. Scenes from series were incorporated into the TV commercials advertising the Happy Meals.

A monthly comic book based on the show was published by Disney Comics in 1990, that ran for 19 issues. Subsequent comic stories were printed in Disney Adventures from 1990 to 1995, as well as in the Disney Afternoon comic book published by Marvel Comics.

A 1990 issue of Comics Scene magazine reported that a theatrical feature film based on the series was planned for a 1991 release, however the film never happened, possible due to the lackluster performance of the DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.

Video Games

File:ChipnDaleRescueRangersBox.jpg

Disney's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers NES video game

In 1990, Capcom released the Disney's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers platform video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game offered both single player and cooperative modes, and allowed players to choose which levels to access via a map that gave them access to various locations in the city. Each individual stage was set-up as a side-scrolling action game where Chip and Dale can walk, jump, duck, and pick up various objects to throw at enemies and bosses. In the game, the Rangers must stop another of Fat Cat's schemes, only to have him kidnapping of Gadget sending Chip and Dale to the rescue.

Also released in 1990, Hi Tech Expressions's PC game Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers: The Adventure in Nimnul's Castle saw the Rangers having to rescue Monterey Jack who is caught in a mousetrap in Professor Norton Nimnul's castle. To rescue him, the chipmunks must infiltrate the castle to collect various parts so Gadget can build a flying machine to reach Monterey Jack.

In 1994, Capcom released a second NES game, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2. The game was slightly superior graphically to the first game, and it featured additional incentives for cooperative play such mini-games that can only be unlocked with two players and the ability to throw your partner as a weapon. However, the game was plagued with non-canonical plot and dialog, excessive Engrish, and mix ups between the character's accents and catch phrases. With so many problems, the game was not as successful as the first.

DVD releases

File:Chip 'N' Dale Rescue Rangers Vol. 1 DVD Box Set.JPG

Volume 1 DVD cover

The series is currently being released by Disney in official DVD box sets, with each set having three single-sided discs and no extra features. Two out of three planned volumes have been released to Region 1. One volume has been released to Region 2 DVD, which contains seven fewer episodes than the Region 1 set. No release dates have been set for any of the remaining sets.

The episodes on the first volume are arranged by production date, while the episodes on the second volume are arranged by original air date.

Set Name	Region	Release Date	# Episodes
Disney's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Volume 1	Region 1	November 8, 2005	27
Disney's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Volume 2	Region 1	November 14, 2006	24
Walt Disney's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, First Collection	Region 2	February 13, 2007	20

Production notes

When Tad Stones first came up with the idea of the Rescue Rangers series, Chip 'n Dale were not part of the show. In the original idea, the show would center around a group of team of animals, which included a chameleon, Gadget, and Monterey Jack (with a different name). The main character, though, was an Indiana Jones type mouse named Kit Jones who sported a fedora and a fluffy collared leather jacket. When he proposed the show in a meeting with Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the idea was well received except for the character of Kit Jones. At Eisner's suggestion, he was replaced with the chipmunk duo to give the show some established Disney Characters to work with. Chip was given Kit's dress and some of his personality, while the goofier Dale was incidentally modeled on Magnum, P.I. with his Hawaiian shirt.

The show's opening theme was performed by the pop group, The Jets.

External links

• Official web page at the Toon Disney Channel