Chip ‘n Dale Turn 75 Today: 7 Roles

Ever so quietly, three times Oscar nominees Chip ‘n Dale are celebrating their 75th birthday today. The duo’s film career started with the wartime short Private Pluto, released April 2, 1943. Their second and third films—Squatter’s Rights (1946) and Chip an’ Dale (1947)—received Oscar nominations, as did the later Toy Tinkers (1949).

Pluto’s Christmas Tree (1952)

Pluto take the blame for Chip and Dale’s antics, as Mickey tries to decorate a freshly-cut Christmas tree in his house. This film played annually on CBC-TV for many years, making it one of the more familiar titles for many Canadians Disney fans.

Two Chips and a Miss (1952)

This short film introduced Clarice, a romantic interest for the duo. She would have been quickly forgotten, if not for the Ice Capades. The touring skating show included her in a tour, and thanks to that, it’s been claimed that she made appearances at Disneyland.

Skip ahead to modern decades: she’s a regular meet and greet character at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, even given speaking roles in some stage productions.

The Lone Chipmunks (1954)

While Chip and Dale largely tormented Donald and Pluto, they took on Pete in one of their 23 shorts.

The Big Red Boat (1985-1993)

Before Disney Cruise Lines launched their first vessels, the company’s characters helped attract people to Premier Cruise Lines. While Mickey would say sayonara as soon as passengers had boarded, period newspaper coverage indicates that Chip and Dale were among the characters who would appear on “The Big Red Boat” throughout the entire voyage.

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (1988-1990)

Easily Chip and Dale’s most beloved roles were in their Disney Afternoon television series. Disney staff initially pitched a television series based on The Rescuers, but that was scuttled, as the feature animation department was already working on The Rescuers Down Under. Tad Stones then began developing Metro Mice, which Michael Eisner insisted make use of existing characters. Chip and Dale were given new life in the series as cast.

Aside from the pilot episode, which aired in 1988, all 65 episodes of Rescue Rangers made air between March 1989 and November 1990. Such a frantic pace!

The series remains popular, with over 335,000 views of Oh My Disney’s tribute video using real chipmunks, and a Tsum Tsums box set announced recently.

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers: Fire Safety Adventure (1991)

Disney Educational Productions regularly used the studio’s iconic characters in their classroom titles. The result—which included a young Elijah Wood as Pinocchio, learning about rollerblading safety—can be oddly addicting.

In this title, the theme park versions of Chip and Dale in their Rescue Rangers outfits learn about fire safety. The program doesn’t explain why Fat Cat is so determined to thwart their learning at the fire station.

Chip ‘N Dale’s Nutty Tales

This eight episode series of shorts is available on Disney Junior’s YouTube channel. While it’s nice to see the duo in shows like Mickey and the Roadster Racers, it’s especially great when they get starring roles. They’re amusing shorts, well worth the short time to watch all the segments.