Rounding Up Rescue Rangers Easter Eggs
10 hidden nods in the chipmunk's new animated film.
Admittedly, I had no expectations going into Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. But I found it was a delightful, feel-good film with different animation styles, IP, and Easter eggs.
So many Easter Eggs, in fact, I had trouble narrowing them down for this list! But here are 10 notable references in Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.
And, Action!
Akiva Schaffer, who portrays the director of the television show Rescue Rangers in the movie, is also 1/3 of the Lonely Island Music Group with Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone.
Coming Soon to Theaters
There’s a line in the film about “flashed-out movie franchises,” and there are quite a few examples of these through imaginary movie posters in the backgrounds. These include Fast & Furious Babies, Lego Misérables, Waze: The Movie, Mr. Doubtfire (with Meryl Streep as the titular character), Batman vs. ET, and Pirates of the Great Lakes.
The Happiest Place on Earth
Every Disney park’s entrance is accompanied by a main street with shops and food. In the movie, there is a similarly stylized “Main Street” where animated characters provide goods and services as a front for illegal activities, such as Muppet Fighting. Dale also has a box of fireworks in his garage of Rescue Rangers memorabilia that reads “Disney parade fireworks.” When he uses them later in the movie, they explode into the shape of Mickey and the iconic castle tune from the beginning of Disney movies plays.
Seeing is Believing
Another area in the movie is the “Uncanny Valley,” where all the inhabitants are in that weird CGI style of animation where everything “looks real, but not quite right.” This was popularized by the 2004 film: The Polar Express. The chipmunks are unsettled to see Seth Rogan’s character, Bob the Warrior Viking, because he doesn’t appear to be looking at them with his “Polar Express eyes.”
The Boy Who Grew Up
In the most controversial Easter Egg, Disney decided to make the villain of the film a grown-up Peter Pan who goes by the name of “Sweet Pete.” He essentially becomes the antagonist because the studios didn’t want him once he hit puberty and developed acne and facial hair. This is exactly what happened IRL to the voice and model of Peter Pan: Bobby Driscoll. He eventually died at age 31 due to heroin and alcohol abuse.
A Tale as Old as Time
In the film, cartoon characters who owe debts are kidnapped and forced to star in bootleg movies, but not before going through a CGI-style machine that changes their features just enough to be considered parody. Some of the resulting films include: The Small Fish Lady (The Little Mermaid), Beauty and the Dog Man (Beauty and the Beast), Jasper the Dead Ghost Kid (Casper the Friendly Ghost), Spaghetti Dogs (Lady and the Tramp), Pooj the Fat Honey Bear (Winnie the Pooh), Matilda Fully Loaded (Herbie Fully Loaded), Farm Beasts (The Lion King), and Weird Stuff (Stranger Things).
DuckTales! Woo-oo!
In the sauna scene, we briefly see Scrooge McDuck bathing in a pot of gold. This Scrooge is voiced by David Tennent, who voiced Scrooge in the DuckTales reboot in 2017. DuckTales was originally a TV show on Disney in the ‘90s along with Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. The movie’s end features another ‘90s show reference when Darkwing Duck chants, “We Want Darkwing!,” thus hinting at a possible reboot of the show Darkwing Duck in the future.
Throw Me The Idol; I’ll Throw You The Whip
While running through Fan Con, Chip needs a disguise and ends up in an outfit that looks just like his Rescue Rangers attire. This is because the chipmunks accidentally went through an Indiana Jones booth. Chip’s character in the Rescue Rangers TV show was based on Indiana Jones, and Dale was based on Magnum P.I., hence the Hawaiian shirt that he wears.
The Seth Rogan Cinematic Universe
Seth Rogan voices Bob the Warrior Viking. However, in the same chase scene through Fan Con, he encounters three other characters he has voiced: Mantis from Kung Fu Panda, Pumba from the live-action Lion King, and B.O.B. from Monsters vs. Aliens.
I’m Gonna Wreck-It!
At the end of the film, Sweet Pete is hit by the CGI machine and gets turned into a combination of Woody from Toy Story (one leg), Optimus Prime from Transformers (one leg), Wreck-It Ralph from Wreck-It Ralph (one arm), Marie from the Aristocats (head), and Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (one arm).
Honorable Mentions
Dobby in a Gucci ad: He’s come a long way from being gifted a sock in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Linda Flynn-Fletcher (Phineas and Ferb) selling cupcakes: I wonder what she is going to do today behind the scenes of her cupcake shop on Main Street.
Paul Rudd (Aunt-Man): We admit, Paul Rudd’s superpower is aging in reverse. But charming Aunts in a parody called Aunt Man is a close second.
Credit to @theoriesbyt for inspiring this piece!
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