Chip n Dale Movie?

[The Count]

Saw this headline at IGN Filmforce. Apparently Disney picked up a pitch to make a Chip n Dale movie, making it an origins movie for Rescue Rangers. Of course, we all know the series had a five-part origin episode like the classic TDA series, guess that idn't going to deter movie makers. Oh, and the kicker is that the movie producers are going to be Mandeville Films/TV responsible for The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted. So we'll have to wait and see if Muppets success leads to classic Disney character cinematic success as well.

 

[D'Snowth]

Ehhh.... hmm...

 

[Slackbot]

Anyone remember the episode of The Simpsons in which Sideshow Bob was surrounded by rakes? Every few steps the handle of one would swing up and hit him in the face. He'd make a quiet little growl of rage and pain, then move a few steps, and another would hit him. That little growl is a pretty good approximation of my reaction to this.

Anyone here remember the DAFT mailing list? Disney Afternoon fanfic & art mailing list that ran from the mid-90s to the mid-00s. I ran that. Before that I was a contributing member of WTFB, a pre-Internet APA (Amateur Press Association) that published a print 'zine of DA fic and commentary. Quite possibly I am the senior DA fan here. Not that that means diddly, except to point out that I've been with the fandom for a long, long time, and watched these cartoons before a lot of the people here were born.

Where was I? Sorry, senior moment there. (Get off my lawn!) I don't mind a CDRR movie. In fact, I'd be delighted if they made more movies out of DA properties. They made a pretty good DuckTales film, and A Goofy Movie was surprisingly well-done. It is an example of the injustice of the universe that they did not make a Darkwing Duck movie. But maybe it's time for the nostalgia factor to kick in, eh? And they could do worse than bringing back CDRR.

What has me growling like a sociopathic clown battling garden utensils is the live action/CGI hybrid part. Are they going to make another "Let's plop cartoon characters into the real world" bucket of slop? I was horrified when they did it to He-Man, and it'd hurt to see them do that to the Rangers. They're cartoon animals that solve crimes for other cartoon animals. Please leave it at that. We don't need any more hyperrealistic, see-every-separate-hair-on-their-bodies 'Toons meet up with human beings for wacky hijinks.

And, for heaven's sake, get Gadget right.

 

[D'Snowth]

No, see, Chip n Dale always looked like real chipmunks, so since they recently made the more stylized Alvin and The Chipmunks look like real chipmunks in their crappy live action/CGI hybrid movies, they need to make Chip n Dale stylized in their new movie.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm sorry. This is so not going to happen. Disney rarely acknowledges the Disney Afternoon ever existed, and it takes the work of outside companies to get them to. BOOM was probably more instrumental in getting Darkwing Duck et al than Disney, and Disney just couldn't wait to pull that license to give it to Marvel to not do anything with (unless it has something to do with movie tie ins). And I'm guessing Capcom was the driving force behind Ducktales Remastered, but to their credit, Disney got a lot more involved in the game than they needed to... but mostly at the behest of the game programmers. Sure there's the odd T-shirt at Hot Topic (I got a completely inexplicable and well appreciated Gizmoduck shirt that blew my mind for Christmas), but even with classic Disney Characters, I doubt we'll see Chip and Dale with the Rescue Rangers anytime soon. Anytime period.

Not that I wouldn't appreciate one if they did it right. If they made a CGI/Live action hybrid movie of the Rescue Rangers, it actually could work if they got a good enough script. But that's a rumor that's going to evaporate quickly. Like the 1990's Wacky Races movie starring Dustin Hoffman. And you're asking yourself, what Wacky Races movie? Exactly.

 

[The Count]

*Chuckles to self. SeeDrtooth's is exactly the kind of reply I was expecting. TDA has gotten a smidge of recent pub with the various Vinylmation sets, then again, I don't keep current with that product to know if more have been made recently. And this project could happen or it could not, dunno, alls I'm doing is reporting the news to a crowd I thought might appreciate it. Especially when I was confused in reading the initial tag beneath the headline of Muppet involvement. So make of this what you will. As for me, I'm just gonna wait for some other movies I'm more interested in later this year and beyond.

 

[Drtooth]

Considering that it was also reported that Pixar was developing a Star Wars film (a rumor that was debunked faster than anything), I have little faith in this project.

*Chuckles to self. SeeDrtooth's is exactly the kind of reply I was expecting. TDA has gotten a smidge of recent pub with the various Vinylmation sets, then again, I don't keep current with that product to know if more have been made recently.

We're not really getting the huge resurgence of 1990's media we think we are. Throw out a couple T-shirts and maybe some DVD releases (mostly Nickelodeon, and mostly because they gave Shout the license), maybe an obscure not that great selling toy line (again, Nick only). I get that Disney has too many brands to focus on some nostalgic thing (that could make them a decent amount of money, but they don't anyway), so if you aren't up to Princesses, Cars (and Planes, even though no one actually liked it), or Marvel, you're kinda out of luck. And let's not forget, they just up and walked away from DVD box sets while angrily pulling up Youtube Uploads of stuff they wouldn't be bothered to release or rebroadcast. When they lose money on something they didn't release (and therefore lost money themselves by sitting on the sidelines) then they care.

So, yeah... a movie based on a 20+ year old cartoon series? Not likely. Especially if they actually own the rights, they don't feel like purposely ruining it with mediocre scripts written by those who barely understand the concept (cough cough Inspector Gadget...cough cough Underdog).

 

[KermieBaby47]

Lol, OMG Inspector Gadget was HORRRRRRIBLE! I didn't even bother with Underdog. The only humans they need in a CDRR movie are the Professor, and the two bumbling cops that are always late to the party... OTHERWISE, like you guys have said, let it be about rescuing animals in danger, most likely from Fat Cat & his gang.

My Boy is 5 years old, Rescue Rangers is among the Top 5 Most Requested shows to watch (along with Special Agent Oso, Handy Manny, X-Files [yes, X-Files], and My Little Pony), which proves the obvious; expose ANY generation to an actual GOOD show and you e got a winner. Kids don't care about so-called "relevance".

 

[Drtooth]

Lol, OMG Inspector Gadget was HORRRRRRIBLE! I didn't even bother with Underdog. The only humans they need in a CDRR movie are the Professor, and the two bumbling cops that are always late to the party... OTHERWISE, like you guys have said, let it be about rescuing animals in danger, most likely from Fat Cat & his gang.

They don't really need to have any of the big name villains. it would help a lot though. But quite honestly, I'd see Disney doing a live action version of The Rescuers over Rescue Rangers. Just for the sheer sake of them not liking to acknowledge things that aren't movies. I mean, even the fact that we're one of the only countries that doesn't even have a regular Donald Duck/Scrooge McDuck comic book series (Disney kept all those rights to Marvel, who isn't doing anything with them)... and we're the country they came from. You didn't even see Mickey Mouse stuff outside a theme park until that preschool series started airing. That's why I have doubts that this is any more than a rumor, and an unbelievable one at that.

But seriously... get the right script, get some of the creative forced behind the cartoon series to flesh the thing out... I have no problem with a CGI/live action Rescue Rangers if done well enough. But you know what hypothetical project I want to see? A live action Animanics movie where the Warners are toons, Roger Rabbit style. They were robbed of a cameo in Looney Tunes BIA, and the closest we'll ever get to that is a McDonalds commercial.

 

[Drtooth]

Okay. it seems this news is actually starting to Spread, but none of them actually mention Rescue Rangers being the basis of the film. The Hollywood Reporter's article kinda confuses things with a screenshot and mentioning the series.

So it could just be a movie about Chip and Dale. If it happens.