Fans might expect the new Disney+ movie Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers to be another typical live-action reboot of a classic kids' cartoon, but it is something quite unexpected. The movie takes a meta-approach with Chip and Dale as actors whose careers are washed up years after their show's cancellation. Now they reunite to solve a case as real Rescue Rangers.
It is a clever direction to take for the story, having lots of fun with various cameos and playing around with the evolution of animated movies over the years. And while it features the same kind of fun as other animated movies, it also feels similar to some more surprising movies.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
It probably surprises a lot of people that the team behind Lonely Island are the ones who helped bring a Rescue Rangers movie to life. Sure enough, their specific sense of humor is all over the movie as they poke fun at the type of entertainment while also paying homage to it.
It is a similar approach to their criminally underrated mockumentary Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. Andy Samberg plays a self-centered popstar documenting the disastrous release of his new album. The movie also features a similar theme to Chip n' Dale's with friends reuniting after some differences kept them apart.
Detective Pikachu (2019)
The movie has a lot of fun telling a mystery story while inside a wild world filled with cartoon characters. It helps to make the adventure that much more interesting for fans. It is a similar approach taken by Detective Pikachu.
While it is not the Pokémon movie fans expected to get, the story is set in a world shared by humans and Pokémon and follows a young man who teams up with Pikachu to find his missing father. Fans of the franchise will get a big thrill from all the Pokémon cameos.
21 Jump Street (2012)
As part of the Lonely Island style found in Chip n' Dale, there is a lot of self-referential humor. Without breaking the fourth wall, the movie makes a lot of jokes about live-action reboots of cartoons and the various tropes.
Though 21 Jump Street is certainly not for younger audiences, older fans who enjoyed that type of humor will have fun with this comedy. The movie is a remake of the much more serious 80s cop show and stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as cops going undercover in a high school. From the premise to the action cliches to the laziness of television remakes, it is not afraid to have fun at its own expense.
Shrek (2001)
With so many remakes of old cartoon shows, Chip n' Dale really is a treat for feeling fresh and having a new take on the material. And while countless sequels may have muddied the original Shrek, it also was a big surprise.
The movie was set inside a typical fairy tale world with appearances from the likes of Pinocchio, the three blind mice, and the gingerbread man. But it subverts expectations by making a hideous ogre the hero of the tale.
Last Action Hero (1993)
It is a risky thing for a movie to break the fourth wall in the way Chip n' Dale does by setting it in a world in which the Rescue Rangers show exists. It pulls that balance off very well and it is something The Last Action Hero was perhaps ahead of its time on.
The movie follows a young kid who is obsessed with action movies and is sucked into an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie where he teams up with the movie star who doesn't realize he's a character in a movie. It is an underrated comedy that is also filled with endless references and jokes about the action movie world.
Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018)
One of the most impressive things about Chip n' Dale is how many animated characters they were able to squeeze into one movie. Joining the titular chipmunks are toons that range from Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast to Stan Marsh from South Park to "Ugly Sonic."
Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet also makes good use of the Disney IP by including endless references. From Marvel characters to Star Wars characters to a very fun reunion of Disney princesses, it is a stacked adventure.
Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
The original Space Jam was another animation and live-action hybrid that also exists in a world in which the cartoon characters are known for being famous cartoon characters. And much like Chip n' Dale, the sequel takes this further by making them a part of a huge world of Warner Bros. IP.
Though few people found the sequel to be as good as the original, some fans might have fun seeing just how many other franchises are crammed into the Looney Tunes story.
The Lego Movie
The humor in Chip n' Dale is not inappropriate for younger audiences, but it is likely that adults might enjoy it even more. With references to franchises that they'll have nostalgia for to in-jokes about movies, it is an animated adventure aimed at all ages.
The Lego Movie is similarly fun for everyone with its genuinely funny approach. The story of a Lego man being chosen to save these people is filled with cameos and makes some clever choices in regards to the brand it is connected to.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Fans probably wouldn't expect a Chip n' Dale movie to rival the likes of Marvel in terms of Easter eggs, but every frame of the movie is filled with fun stuff for fans to catch. It is a similar case with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
The movie follows Miles Morales who gains the powers of Spider-Man and is aided by other multiverse versions of the wall-crawler to learn how to be a hero. Though the multiverse now plays a big role in the MCU, Into the Spider-Verse is still seen as perhaps the most entertaining Spider-Man movie.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
When it comes to movies that combine animation and live-action, it is hard not to immediately think of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? And it is clear that Chip n' Dale takes huge inspiration from that movie in terms of the world it is set in, the crime plot, and the many cameos.
The movie follows the titular "toon" who is accused of murder and must partner with a hardened human detective to prove his innocence. It is a hilarious and wildly fun adventure that was set inside such an engrossing world.