The Disney+ film is like an updated Who Framed Roger Rabbit—a fantastically funny cartoon satire.
Hollywood loves a good comeback story, and the new Disney+ film Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers has a great one. No, not that of the titular chipmunk heroes, starring in their first project since the 1990 conclusion of their animated series. I’m talking about the return of “Ugly Sonic”—an unsettling version of Sonic the Hedgehog with human teeth, beady eyes, and a weirdly elongated body that you might remember from 2020 before a hasty redesign salvaged his live-action movie debut. To media-savvy fans, Ugly Sonic is an amusing pop-culture footnote. But in this Chip ’n Dale reboot, he’s just another actor who couldn’t quite crack success in Tinseltown. The return of Ugly Sonic is one of the biggest reasons to recommend Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers, because it exemplifies the kind of humor on display in the rest of Akiva Schaffer’s film. Loyal viewers of the Disney Afternoon cartoon block expecting a faithful update might be disappointed; then again, I can’t imagine many people were really craving a straightforward adventure story about two chipmunks who run a detective agency. Instead, this movie is like a modernized Who Framed Roger Rabbit, set in a world where animated creatures are participating members of human society, and Chip and Dale are actors who have fallen on hard times since their show’s cancellation. Roger Rabbit, which is maybe Robert Zemeckis’s greatest film and one of the most innovative movie satires ever produced, is a big act to follow.
