Chip 'n' Dale

Chip and Dale (also spelled Chip 'n' Dale or Chip an' Dale) are a duo of cartoon characters created in 1943 by The Walt Disney Company. As anthropomorphic chipmunk brothers,[1] their names are a pun on the name of the 18th-century cabinet maker and furniture designer Thomas Chippendale. This was suggested by Bill "Tex" Henson, a story artist at the studio.

Chip 'n' Dale
First appearance	Prototype: Private Pluto (1943) Official: Chip an' Dale (1947)
Created by	Bill Justice
Voiced by	Chip: Jimmy MacDonald (1943–1960) Helen Silbert (1956) Tress MacNeille (1988–present) John Mulaney (Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2021)) Dale: Dessie Flynn (1943–1960) Dessie Miller (1952) Corey Burton (1988–present) Andy Samberg (Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2021))
Developed by	Jack Hannah
In-universe information
Alias	The Lone Chipmunks The Rescue Rangers
Species	Chipmunks
Gender	Male
Significant other	Clarice Gadget Hackwrench (Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers)
Relatives	Not specified
Rival(s)	Donald Duck, Pete, Pluto, Fat Cat

The characters were first introduced in the 1943 Pluto short Private Pluto, directed by Clyde Geronimi, in which they fight with Pluto about whether they can store their nuts in a military base cannon. Three years later, director Jack Hannah decided to use them as co-stars in Donald Duck shorts. Hannah said:

"I believe Gerry Geronimi did a picture with two impish little chipmunks that just squeaked and chattered with a speeded-up soundtrack but no words. He used them with Pluto... I wanted to use them with the Duck but with a little more personality in them. So we decided to put words into their mouths but speed 'em up so you could just barely understand them... We gave them both the same personality — but something was missing. Bill Peet came up with the suggestion of making one of them a little goofball to give them two different personalities. Immediately I saw the advantage of that and took the suggestion."[2]

Of the two, Chip is portrayed as being safe, focused, and having a mind for logical scheming. Dale, by contrast, is more laid-back, dim-witted, and impulsive, and has a very strong sense of humor. Originally the two had a very similar appearance, but as a way to tell them apart, some differences were introduced: Chip has a small black nose and two centered protruding teeth, whereas Dale has a large dark red nose and a prominent gap between his buckteeth. Chip is also depicted as having smooth hair on top of his head while Dale's tends to be ruffled.

In most cartoons, they are paired with Pluto, Mickey Mouse, or most often, Donald Duck, who act as antagonists to the chipmunk duo who steal the spotlight in the shorts. They were given their own series in the 1950s, but only three cartoons resulted under their name: Chicken in the Rough (1951), Two Chips and a Miss (1952) and The Lone Chipmunks (1954). The duo was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film three times in four years: in 1946 for Squatter's Rights (against Mickey and Pluto), in 1947 for Chip an' Dale and in 1949 for Toy Tinkers (both against Donald Duck). In the 1980s, they became the lead characters of a half-hour television series, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, in which they have adventures as leaders of a detective agency.

List of Chip 'n' Dale shorts

Chip and Dale appear in the following 23 animated short films. (Complete list)

#	Title	Release date	Author	Summary
1	Private Pluto	April 2, 1943	Clyde Geronimi	Private Pluto has been assigned to guard a pillbox from saboteurs. But Chip and Dale are occupying it using the cannon to crack acorns on Pluto's head. Finally the chipmunks fire Pluto out of the cannon and crack the remaining acorns, leaving him to whine.
2	Squatter's Rights	June 7, 1946	Jack Hannah	In a house, Chip and Dale inhabit a stove when Mickey and Pluto return and get in their way. Determined to keep their home, Chip and Dale get Pluto in trouble with Mickey. The chipmunks manage to drive the two out after they make Pluto seem like he was shot badly.
3	Chip an' Dale	November 28, 1947	Jack Hannah	Being cold and lacking wood, Donald heads off to chop down a tree which happens to be inhabited by Chip and Dale. Chip and Dale try to get their nut supply out before Donald can set the tree alight but Donald keeps kicking them out. Chip finally takes care of Donald with a giant snowball.
4	Three for Breakfast	November 5, 1948	Jack Hannah	When Chip and Dale catch sight of Donald's pancakes they decide to try and swipe some, but Donald tricks them with a rubber cement pancake. Soon Chip and Dale get Donald into a long stretch with the rubber pancake jamming him in the chimney.
5	Winter Storage	June 3, 1949	Jack Hannah	Chip and Dale try to store acorns for the coming winter but run out on their tree. The chipmunks swipe Donald's acorns he is using for a seeding project, getting trapped in Donald's box trap and then get into a squabble. Chip and Dale challenge Donald in a game of hockey with the acorns and overwhelm him with a huge pile of acorns.
6	All in a Nutshell	September 2, 1949	Jack Hannah	Donald has run out of nuts for his nut butter sales and gets some out of Chip and Dale's tree. The chipmunks think Donald's stall is a giant walnut. Dale injures Chip in his clumsy attempts but the two both break into Donald's store and find nut butter tastes good. They swipe Donald's jars and after a chase dispose of Donald, they shoot him into the lake.
7	Toy Tinkers	December 16, 1949	Jack Hannah	Donald chops down a pine tree for Christmas. Chip and Dale follow him to his house. Chip procures some walnuts while Dale plays around. Chip and Dale put the toys to use to get the nuts while Donald fools them with a Father Christmas guise, drawing a pistol at them. Donald and the chipmunks engage in a toy gun war until Donald gets blown with a firework and surrenders.
8	Crazy Over Daisy	March 25, 1950	Jack Hannah	Chip and Dale antagonize Donald Duck as he attempts to deliver a present to Daisy, even managing to destroy his penny-farthing. Donald forces the chipmunks to transport him and Daisy, outraged with the way Donald treated the chipmunks, dumps him.
9	Trailer Horn	April 28, 1950	Jack Hannah	Chip and Dale follow a trail of footprints to Donald's campsite and amuse themselves by honking the car horn, waking Donald up. The chipmunks then prevent Donald from trying to swim and he harasses them. As payback, the chipmunks pelt Donald with pine cones. Donald tries to get at them with his car but totals it.
10	Food for Feudin'	August 11, 1950	Charles Nicholas	Chip and Dale gather hazelnuts, but Pluto buries a bone in the tree and loses all the nuts in his dog house. Chip and Dale camouflage themselves in gardening gloves and lure Pluto to their tree, retrieving their nuts. The chipmunks and Pluto play a Palm Pile game getting their fingers tied.
11	Out on a Limb	December 15, 1950	Jack Hannah	Donald interferes with Chip and Dale's nut storage process by pruning the tree. Donald tails the chipmunks with a branch cutter but they knock Donald with a stone. Donald chases the chipmunks, getting their crowns shaved with a lawnmower, but runs into an electric line.
12	Chicken in the Rough	January 19, 1951	Jack Hannah	Chip and Dale drop their acorns in a chicken farm and go in after them. In the henhouse, Dale mistakes the eggs for walnuts. He meets a hatched chick and is forced to impersonate a chick to hide from the cockerel, his cover almost blown and staying stuck in the nest.
13	Corn Chips	March 23, 1951	Jack Hannah	Donald tricks Chip and Dale into clearing the snow from his yard. The chipmunks enter Donald's house to get hold of some of his popcorn, but get mixed in his popcorn when Donald comes back. Chip and Dale swipe Donald's popcorn and he tries to get it back. After a chase, Donald lights a fire in the tree and the chipmunks fill Donald's yard with popcorn.
14	Test Pilot Donald	June 8, 1951	Jack Hannah	Donald tries out his control line model airplane finding it works fine. When it gets caught in a tree, Dale hitches a ride in it to Chip's disapproval. When Dale crash lands, Donald traps him in a jar, but he escapes and drives the plane again. Donald tries to catch Dale with a fishing rod, but Dale traps him with the plane on a building spire.
15	Out of Scale	November 2, 1951	Jack Hannah	Donald is having fun with his small train set but removes Chip and Dale's tree after declaring it "out of scale". As the chipmunks try to get their tree back, Donald chases them. The chipmunks make themselves comfy in a miniature house. Donald finds their scale fits with the house and torments them with weather changes. Chip and Dale retrieve their tree and make it fit to scale as a giant redwood tree. This episode is unique because it is a take on Walt Disney's backyard railroad the Carolwood Pacific. The engine is modeled after the Lille Belle, his live steam engine and Canyonville was one of the towns the Carolwood Pacific Railroad serviced in Walt's back yard.
16	Donald Applecore	January 8, 1952	Jack Hannah	Donald is annoyed Chip and Dale are replacing his apples with eaten cores and Dale tricks him in disposing of them. They resist Donald's insect powder and Donald takes back the apples with his helicopter. The chipmunks empty the apple silo and Donald goes after them with chemical bombs but gets blown underground to China.
17	Two Chips and a Miss	March 21, 1952	Jack Hannah	In New York, Chip goes for his secret date with Clarice. Dale himself has also been invited to meet Clarice. When they cross each other at the Acorn Club they bicker and fight for Clarice's love and affection. They stop to watch her act. The chipmunks compete for Clarice with their music, both receiving a kiss and all three sing together.
18	Pluto's Christmas Tree	November 21, 1952	Jack Hannah	Chip and Dale tease Pluto and hide in a pine tree which Mickey is chopping down for Christmas. In Mickey's house, Chip and Dale are fascinated by the sparkling balls. They try to get the candy canes but Pluto spots them. After Chip and Dale have a long and mischievous tackle with Pluto, the tree gets destroyed, but Mickey is delighted to have the chipmunks. Donald, Goofy and Minnie come to greet Mickey with carols.
19	Working for Peanuts	November 11, 1953	Jack Hannah	Chip and Dale come across a peanut - and check out the zoo which hosts Dolores the elephant, and all those peanuts. Dolores however prevents the chipmunks getting any. As Dolores' handler, Donald chases them after they thwack Dolores. Chip and Dale attract some people to get some peanuts, then cover themselves in whitewash and trick Donald into thinking they are albino chipmunks.
20	The Lone Chipmunks	April 19, 1954	Jack Kinney	Black Pete is wanted for terrorising and robbing towns. Chip and Dale find Pete has been stashing stolen money in their tree and take the opportunity for the reward. They fail to get Pete twice and he finds them and shoots at them. Chip and Dale put up a tricking fight with Pete and get him captured by the cavalry. Chip and Dale ride off to town known as the Lone Chipmunks.
21	Dragon Around	July 16, 1954	Jack Hannah	Dale is fascinated by medieval fantasy and drags Chip into it when they spot a dragon which is actually Donald's refuse tractor. Donald is intent on destroying the chipmunks' tree. Chip as a knight and Dale as his stead get swallowed by the tractor grabber but they escape and disable its teeth. Before Donald can smash the tree the chipmunks sabotage the tractor. Donald tries to blow them up with dynamite but they blast him in the sky instead.
22	Up a Tree	September 23, 1955	Jack Hannah	Donald is on the verge of sawing Chip and Dale's tall tree. Chip causes Donald to fall three times before he cuts off the top and finds out about the two. Donald cuts down the tree and the chipmunks fail to keep it standing. Chip and Dale get Donald in a run from the logged tree until it is catapulted with dynamite along with Donald's house.
23	Chips Ahoy	February 24, 1956	Jack Kinney	Chip and Dale spot an island with abundant acorns but have no way to get to it. They make off with Donald's ship in a bottle, Chip as captain and Dale as a sailor. Donald torments the chipmunks into thinking they are on a rough voyage. Dale stops Donald and he tries to chase them in his boats which Dale prematurely sabotaged. While the chipmunks enjoy their acorns, Donald tries to build a dugout canoe.

VHS and DVD releases

• The Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale – Includes Two Chips and a Miss, Chicken in the Rough, Chips Ahoy and The Lone Chipmunks plus various song scenes in between cartoon shorts sung by Chip 'n' Dale
• Classic Cartoon Favorites, Vol. 4: Starring Chip 'n' Dale (DVD)– Includes Chicken in the Rough, Chip an' Dale, Out of Scale, Two Chips and a Miss, Food for Feudin', Working for Peanuts, Out on a Limb, Three for Breakfast and Dragon Around
• Nuts About Chip 'n' Dale – Includes Food for Feudin', Trailer Horn and Two Chips and a Miss
• A Tale of Two Chipmunks – Includes Chicken in the Rough, Chips Ahoy and The Lone Chipmunks (Also released on Laserdisc as a double feature along with "The Unsinkable Donald Duck")
• Disney Cartoon Classics Vol. 9: Starring Chip 'n' Dale – Includes Working for Peanuts, Donald Applecore and Dragon Around plus short scenes in between the cartoon shorts narrated by Jiminy Cricket, and is the only animation where Donald addresses the chipmunks by their names.

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

In 1989, Chip and Dale became the title characters in a new animated television series, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, in which they formed a detective agency with new characters created for the show: female mouse inventor Gadget Hackwrench, muscular adventuring Australian mouse Monterey Jack, and Zipper the fly. While in the original shorts the duo are frequent troublemakers who are concerned only with themselves, in Rescue Rangers they are crime fighters who help the less fortunate.[3]

In this series the personality differences between the two are more pronounced, with Chip as the serious, heroic leader and Dale as the quick-witted, hard partying reluctant hero. Additionally, they wear clothes in this series which reflect their personalities; Chip wears a leather jacket and fedora (much like Indiana Jones), while Dale wears a Hawaiian shirt (much like Magnum, P.I.).

Comics series

Chip 'n' Dale also had their own comic book title, first from Dell Comics with Four Color Comics #517, 581,and 636, then their own title for issues #4-30 (1955–62), which was then continued by Gold Key Comics with #1-64 (1967–80), and later under its brand Whitman with #65-83 (1980–84).[4]

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Chip in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Chip and Dale appear as guest stars in some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes:

• "Daisy Bo Peep"
• "Donald's Big Balloon Race"
• "Minnie's Birthday" (Cameo)
• "Daisy's Dance"
• "Pluto's Ball"
• "Daisy in the Sky"
• "Pluto's Best"
• "Goofy the Great"
• "Mickey's Great Clubhouse Hunt"
• "Donald's Hiccups"
• "Minnie's Picnic"
• "Goofy in Training"
• "Mickey's Big Band Concert"
• "Clarabelle's Clubhouse Carnival"
• "Minnie's Mystery"
• "Mickey's Comet"
• "Space Captain Donald"
• "The Friendship Team"
• "Goofy's Coconutty Monkey"
• "Choo-Choo Express"
• "Pluto's Playmate"
• "Mickey's Adventures in Wonderland"
• "Pluto's Dinosaur Romp"
• "Road Rally"
• "Mickey's Little Parade"
• "Minnie's Mouseke-Calendar"
• "Minnie's Masquerade"
• "Space Adventure"
• "Goofy's Thinking Cap"
• "Minnie's Wizard of Dizz"

Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures

Chip and Dale also make recurring appearances in Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures as mechanics.

DuckTales

Chip 'n' Dale, based on their Rescue Rangers iterations, made an appearance in the 2017 TV series DuckTales.[5] Making their debut in the season 3 episode, "Double-O-Duck in You Only Crash Twice!", Chip 'n' Dale are depicted as ordinary chipmunks used as lab rats for an intelligence ray developed by the organization F.O.W.L. After becoming smarter and anthropomorphic, they teamed up with two mice and a fly to escape their confines as well as help Launchpad McQuack defeat one of F.O.W.L.'s agents.[6]

Untitled Chip 'n' Dale series

The characters will have an animated series that will be released on Disney+ in 2021, co-produced by The Walt Disney Company France and Xilam. Unlike other iterations of the characters, the series will be non-verbal, similarly to other shows produced by Xilam.[7]

Other appearances

Chip 'n' Dale were planned to appear as a cameo in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The scene, "Acme's Funeral", however, was cut from the final film. Storyboard artwork for this sequence survives, where they can be seen alongside characters such as Goofy, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Popeye, Bluto, Felix the Cat, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Casper the Friendly Ghost and Droopy. [8]

Chip 'n' Dale occasionally appeared in Mickey Mouse Works and Disney's House of Mouse. They can also be spotted in the 1983 featurette Mickey's Christmas Carol where they are seen dancing to the music inside Fezziwigs. They also appear at all the Disney Parks as well. In the new Mickey Mouse episode "Space Walkies", they made a brief cameo as they were being chased by Pluto.

Voice actors

The classic voices of Chip 'n' Dale were mostly provided by Jimmy MacDonald and Dessie Flynn, Helen Silbert and Dessie Miller. The earliest voices were provided by female office staff, without credit. In "Private Pluto" the chipmunks' speech was created by speeding up sound clips of normal speech. In a number of the shorts that followed, many of these same sound clips were used again, though later shorts used dialogue specifically recorded for that short.

At one point in "Winter Storage", Chip and Dale get into an argument while caught in a trap. When the scene switches to an outside view of the box (with Donald Duck sitting on the box) the dialogue being heard is actually a sped up segment of the voice-over narration from the Goofy short "A Knight for a Day".

Since 1988, Chip has been voiced by Tress MacNeille and Dale has been voiced by Corey Burton. John Mulaney and Andy Samberg will provide their voices in the upcoming Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers live-action film.[9]

Video games

• Chip 'n' Dale appear in a Rescue Rangers spin-off video game that was produced for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Capcom in 1990. A sequel was released in 1993.
• Chip 'n' Dale appear in "Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers: The Adventure in Nimnul's Castle" a DOS game produced by Hi-Tech Expressions, Inc. in 1990.
• Chip 'n' Dale make guest appearances in "Mickey's Memory Challenge" along with Gadget and Zipper.
• Chip 'n' Dale appear in "Mickey's 123: The Big Surprise Party" a DOS game developed by Distinctive Software in 1990.
• Chip 'n' Dale appear in Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour dressed in their Rescue Rangers outfits.
• Chip 'n' Dale appear as opponents in the Game Boy Color version of Magical Tetris Challenge.
• Chip 'n' Dale appear in Kinect: Disneyland Adventures as meet-and-greet characters located in Mickey's Toontown. Although they are normally the sizes of actual chipmunks in their regular animated appearances, in this game they are scaled-up to the sizes of human children in order to converse with the player character.
• Chip 'n' Dale appear in Disney's Toontown Online in Chip & Dale's Acorn Acres. Toons can go there to play miniature golf. This place has access to Donald's Dock and Bossbot Cog Headquarters.

Kingdom Hearts series

In the Kingdom Hearts series, Chip and Dale live in Disney Castle as its chief engineers. They help develop new technology for the heroes such as the Gummi Ship and Gummi phone. Though making voiceless cameos in the first game, the two appear more prominently in Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts Coded, and Kingdom Hearts III, reprised by Tress MacNeille and Corey Burton respectively.

See also

• List of Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers merchandise

References

1. Chip and Dale's creator, Bill Justice, autobiography Justice for Disney (1992). Chip and Dale are "simply little brothers".
2. Grant, John (1998). Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters (2nd ed.). Hyperion. p. 96. ISBN 978-0786863365.
3. "BOOM! and Ian Brill Retrieve CHIP 'N DALE RESCUE RANGERS". Newsarama. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
4. [Chip 'n' Dale second volume description http://www.comicvine.com/chip-n-dale/49-22729/?]
5. "DuckTales surprises Comic-Con with Rescue Rangers, Daisy Duck, and Lin-Manuel Miranda". July 19, 2019.
6. "Double-O-Duck in You Only Crash Twice!". DuckTales. Season 3. Episode 50. 2020-04-11.
7. Zahed, Ramin (June 11, 2019). "First Look : Disney+ Unveils Pics from New 'Chip 'n' Dale' Series at Annecy". Animation Magazine. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
8. http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2011/08/02/from-the-jhm-archives-scenes-that-were-cut-out-of-quot-who-framed-roger-rabbit-quot.aspx
9. https://www.animationmagazine.net/streaming/disney-investor-day-animation-and-marvel-and-star-wars-oh-my/

External links

• Chip 'n' Dale Online
• Chip 'n' Dale at Inducks
• Chip 'n' Dale at Inducks
• Chip on IMDb
• Dale on IMDb
• Disney Archive Entry