Despite being an animator I don''t tend to watch a lot of animation outside of superhero related animated movies and the classic WB cartoons I watched as a kid.
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers caught my eye purely for one joke in the trailer that makes note of Dale's CGI makeover. Aside from it being a funny, throw away moment, I thought it was interesting that this movie mixes live action with 2D and 3D (CGI) animation.
The premise of the movie sees Chip and Dale, many years after the cancelation of their animated TV series, Rescue Rangers, getting on with their lives. Chip sells insurance, while Dale keeps his celebrity alive on the convention circuit, selling merch and signing headshots. When an old friend mysteriously goes missing Dale must reconcile differences with Chip while they race to find their buddy.
Invariably this movie gets the Who Framed Roger Rabbit comparison (or Space Jam 2) and, while Chip 'n Dale does make an effort to blend its 2D animation with live action (by adding minimal shading and shadows), it's clearly intentional they're supposed to look like traditional, 2D animated characters.
While I never watched the original Rescue Rangers series, one thing that took a little getting used to was neither Chip or Dale speaking in their trademark, high pitched voices. Andy Samberg voices Dale and John Mulaney voices Chip, with their more human sounding voices helping with the idea both are much older and a lot less hyper.
While the mystery at the center of the movie, to find their missing friend, is not particularly original, the journey to find him is a lot of fun. There's some great commentary on the past and current movie business along the way. The humor probably skews more towards an older audience but there's enough action and slapstick to perhaps keep younger viewers engaged.
What I found most surprising about the film is the number of cameos, some very unexpected, to say the least. One pretty big one you may even be surprised, but kind of glad to see outside of his own ill fated first appearance.
I certainly enjoyed Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers. Particularly the blend of live action and animated styles. It's kind of like watching an animated collage where everything kind of fits together but sometimes, not quite. However it still comes together and looks pretty good.
 |
| Dale's had the 'CGI' makeover. |
Comments
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated by an actual human (me, TET) and may not publish right away. I do read all comments and only reject those not directly related to the post or are spam/scams (I'm looking at you Illuminati recruiters... I mean scammers. Stop commenting on my Illuminati post!).