Chip and Dale (also spelled Chip 'n' Dale) is a cartoon duo of anthropomorphic
chipmunks
Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia.
Taxonomy and systematics
Chipmunks may be classified either as ...
created in 1943 by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
.
Concept
The characters were first drawn by
Bill Justice
William Barnard Justice (February 9, 1914February 10, 2011) was an animator and engineer for The Walt Disney Company. He was a graduate of the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis.
Justice joined Walt Disney Studios as an animator i ...
and introduced in the 1943
Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...
short ''
Private Pluto
''Private Pluto'' is a 1943 propaganda comedy cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions. In this cartoon, Pluto is in the army and he gets antagonized by two chipmunks, later known as Chip 'n' Dale, in their first official appearance. While the ...
'', directed by
Clyde Geronimi
Clito "Clyde" Geronimi (June 12, 1901 – April 24, 1989), known as Gerry, was an American animation director. He is best known for his work at Walt Disney Productions.
Biography
Geronimi was born in Chiavenna, Italy, immigrating to the United ...
. In the short, they fight with Pluto about whether they can store their nuts in a military base cannon. Three years later, director
Jack Hannah
John Frederick Hannah (January 5, 1913 – June 11, 1994) was an American animator, writer and director of animated shorts.
Biography
Hannah was born on January 5, 1913, in Nogales, Arizona. He moved to Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles in ...
decided to use them as co-stars in
Donald Duck shorts. Hannah said:
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
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
, or most often,
Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...
and
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...
, whom they usually battle when they see an activity they do out of curiosity or when they try to get food without getting caught by them. 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
''The Lone Chipmunks'' is a 1954 American animated short film directed by Jack Kinney and produced by Walt Disney. In the short film, Chip 'n' Dale are in the old west, trying to bring in Black Pete for a $10,000 reward, being the only short f ...
'' (1954). The duo was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film
The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...
three times in four years: in 1946 for ''
Squatter's Rights
Adverse possession, sometimes colloquially described as "squatter's rights", is a legal principle in the Anglo-American common law under which a person who does not have legal title to a piece of property—usually land ( real property)—may ...
'' (against Mickey and Pluto), in 1947 for ''
Chip an' Dale
''Chip an' Dale'' is a 1947 animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures. The film depicts Donald Duck's first encounter with the two chipmunks Chip 'n' Dale when he unkno ...
'' and in 1949 for ''
Toy Tinkers
''Toy Tinkers'' is a 1949 American animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on December 16, 1949 by RKO Radio Pictures. Set during Christmas time, the film shows Chip 'n' Dale trying to steal ...
'' (both against
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...
). 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.
Their names may be a
pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic ...
on the name of the 18th-century cabinet maker and furniture designer
Thomas Chippendale
Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Ca ...
, as suggested by
Bill "Tex" Henson, a story artist at the studio.
List of Chip 'n' Dale shorts
Chip and Dale appear in the following 23
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
s.
Home media
* ''The Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale'' – Includes ''Two Chips and a Miss'', ''Chicken in the Rough'', ''Chips Ahoy'', ''Donald Applecore'', ''Up a Tree'', 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
''Working for Peanuts'' is a 1953 animated short produced by Walt Disney, featuring Donald Duck and Chip 'n' Dale. It is notable for being one of their first shorts filmed in 3D (the first being '' Adventures in Music: Melody'', which was releas ...
'', ''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
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
as a double feature along with "The Unsinkable Donald Duck")
* ''Disney Cartoon Classics Vol. 9: Starring Chip 'n' Dale'' – Includes ''
Working for Peanuts
''Working for Peanuts'' is a 1953 animated short produced by Walt Disney, featuring Donald Duck and Chip 'n' Dale. It is notable for being one of their first shorts filmed in 3D (the first being '' Adventures in Music: Melody'', which was releas ...
'', ''Donald Applecore'' and ''Dragon Around'' plus short scenes in between the cartoon shorts narrated by
Jiminy Cricket
Jiminy Cricket is the Disney version of the "Talking Cricket" (Italian: ''Il Grillo Parlante''), a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', which Walt Disney adapt ...
, and is the only animation where Donald addresses the chipmunks by their names.
Comics series
Chip 'n' Dale also had their own comic book title, first from
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
with ''
Four Color Comics
''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...
'' #517, 581,and 636, then their own title for issues #4–30 (1955–62), which was then continued by
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...
with #1–64 (1967–80), and later under its brand Whitman with #65–83 (1980–84).
TV series
''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.
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
''Reluctant Hero'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Killer Be Killed. It was released on November 20, 2020, by Nuclear Blast.
Writing
The band began writing the album in 2016, before going to Hybrid Studios in California ...
. Additionally, they wear clothes in this series which reflect their personalities; Chip wears a leather jacket and fedora (much like
Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
), while Dale wears a
Hawaiian shirt
The aloha shirt (), also referred to as a Hawaiian shirt, is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawaii. They are collared and buttoned dress shirts, usually short-sleeved and made from printed fabric. They are traditionally worn untucked, but ...
(much like ''
Magnum, P.I.
''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...
'').
''DuckTales''
Chip 'n' Dale, based on their ''Rescue Rangers'' iterations, made an appearance in the 2017 TV series ''
DuckTales
''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four seas ...
''.
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. This article includes a list of characters from the Disney series ''Darkwing Duck''.
Main characters
* Drake Mallard / Darkwing Duck (voiced by Jim Cummings, Chris Diamantopoulos in the 2017 ''DuckTales'' reboot) is an average citizen by day and ...
After becoming smarter and anthropomorphic, they teamed up with
two mice and a fly to escape their confines as well as help
Launchpad McQuack
This article includes a list of characters from the Disney ''DuckTales'' animated franchise, including the original 1987 series and the 2017 reboot series, as well as one theatrical movie and a variety of additional spin-off media merchandise, ...
defeat one of F.O.W.L.'s agents.
They also make a cameo appearance alongside the other Rangers in the series finale, "The Last Adventure!".
''Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life''
The characters have a
French-American animated series called ''Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life'', which was released on
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...
on July 28, 2021, which was co-produced by
The Walt Disney Company France
The Walt Disney Company France (french: La Société Walt Disney), formerly Buena Vista International France, is one of The Walt Disney Company's international divisions and also European divisions. It is headquartered in Paris, Île-de-France.
T ...
and
Xilam Animation
Xilam is a French production company that specializes in animated television series and feature films. Marc du Pontavice and his wife Alix founded it in 1999 as a replacement for the animation division of Gaumont Multimédia; though Gaumon ...
. Unlike other iterations of the characters, the series is non-verbal, similarly to other shows produced by Xilam.
Film
A hybrid live-action / animated film, ''
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'', was released in 2022, with animation of the characters provided by
Moving Picture Company
The Moving Picture Company (MPC) is a multinational company providing visual effects, CGI, animation, motion design and other services for the film, TV, brand experience and advertising industries.
Their artists have produced Academy Award W ...
and their voices by
John Mulaney
John Edmund Mulaney (born August 26, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He first rose to prominence for his work as a writer on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 to 2013, where he contributed to numerous ...
and
Andy Samberg
Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer and screenwriter. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island and was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2005 ...
.
Other appearances
Chip 'n' Dale were planned to appear as a cameo in the 1988 film ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...
''. They were supposed to be in the scene called "Acme's Funeral". However, this scene was cut from the final film. Storyboard artwork for this sequence survives, where they can be seen alongside characters such as
Goofy
Goofy is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled f ...
,
Horace Horsecollar
Horace Horsecollar is a cartoon character created in 1928 at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Horace is a tall anthropomorphic black horse and is one of Mickey Mouse's best friends. Characterized as a boastful show-off, Horace served as Mickey’s ...
,
Clarabelle Cow,
Tom Cat
Thomas Jasper "Tom" Cat Sr. is a fictional character and one of the two titular main protagonists (the other being Jerry Mouse) in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of ''Tom and Jerry'' theatrical animated short films. Created by William Hanna and J ...
,
Jerry Mouse
Gerald Jinx "Jerry" Mouse is a fictional character and one of the two titular characters in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of ''Tom and Jerry'' theatrical animated short films and other animated media, usually acting as the protagonist opposite his ...
,
Herman and Katnip
''Herman and Katnip'' are a duo of cartoon characters, Herman the Mouse and Katnip the Cat, that starred in theatrical animated shorts produced by Famous Studios in the 1940s and 1950s. Arnold Stang and Allen Swift were the regular voices of Herma ...
,
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.[Bluto
Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (later renamed ''Popeye''). Blut ...](_blank)
,
Felix the Cat
Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon charac ...
,
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created ma ...
,
Sylvester the Cat
Sylvester Pussycat, Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic tuxedo cat in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper. He appea ...
,
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam ( /joʊˈsɛmɪti/ ''yoh-SEM-ih-tee'') is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park. He is an adversary of Bugs ...
,
Foghorn Leghorn
Foghorn Leghorn is a cartoon rooster who appears in ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons and films from Warner Bros. Animation. He was created by Robert McKimson, and starred in 29 cartoons from 1946 to 1964 in the golden age of A ...
,
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio.
T ...
and
Droopy
Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face; hence his name. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-Go ...
.
Chip 'n' Dale occasionally appeared in ''
Mickey Mouse Works
''Mickey Mouse Works'' (also known as ''Disney's Mickey Mouse Works'' or simply ''Mouse Works'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation featuring Mickey Mouse and his friends in a series of animate ...
'' and ''
Disney's House of Mouse
''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired for three seasons on ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001, to its finale ...
''. They can also be spotted in the 1983 featurette ''
Mickey's Christmas Carol
''Mickey's Christmas Carol'' is a 1983 American Animation, animated family comedy-drama featurette directed and produced by Burny Mattinson. The cartoon is an adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol'', and stars Scrooge ...
'' where they are seen dancing to the music inside
Fezziwigs
Mr. Fezziwig is a character from the 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol'' created by Charles Dickens to provide contrast with Ebenezer Scrooge's attitudes towards business ethics. Scrooge apprenticed under Fezziwig. Despite this, the older Scrooge s ...
. They also appear at all the Disney Parks as well.
Voice actors
The classic voices of Chip 'n' Dale were mostly provided by
Jimmy MacDonald,
Dessie (Flynn) Miller, and
Helen Silbert
Helen may refer to:
People
* Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world
* Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress
* Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Helen, G ...
. 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 (done by
Billy Bletcher
William Bletcher (September 24, 1894 – January 5, 1979) was an American actor. He was known for voice roles for various classic animated characters, most notably Pete in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short films and the Big Bad Wolf in Disney' ...
) from the Goofy short ''
A Knight for a Day
''A Knight for a Day'' is a 1946 Disney short film starring Goofy, which is loosely based on the novel ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court''. Directed by Jack Hannah, this 7-minute animated comedy short was scripted by Bill Peet. While ...
''.
Since 1989, Chip and Dale have been voiced by
Tress MacNeille
Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series ''Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrench ...
and
Corey Burton
Corey Gregg Weinberg (born August 3, 1955), known professionally as Corey Burton, is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake, Dale and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transforme ...
respectively, although MacNeille has provided the voice for both in ''
Mickey Mouse Works
''Mickey Mouse Works'' (also known as ''Disney's Mickey Mouse Works'' or simply ''Mouse Works'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation featuring Mickey Mouse and his friends in a series of animate ...
'' and ''
House of Mouse
''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American Animation, animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired for three seasons on ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001, to ...
''.
John Mulaney
John Edmund Mulaney (born August 26, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He first rose to prominence for his work as a writer on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 to 2013, where he contributed to numerous ...
and
Andy Samberg
Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer and screenwriter. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island and was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2005 ...
voiced the two in the
''Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'' live-action film.
In the film, the high-pitched voices of the television series were explained as an act by the otherwise normally speaking chipmunks.
See also
* Complete
list of Disney animated shorts
This is a list of animated short films produced by Walt Disney and Walt Disney Animation Studios from 1921 to the present.
This includes films produced at the Laugh-O-Gram Studio which Disney founded in 1921 as well as the animation studio now o ...
References
External links
Chip 'n' Dale Online*
*
Chipon
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
Daleon
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
Disney Archive Entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chip and Dale
Animated duos
Anthropomorphic rodents
Dell Comics titles
Disney comics characters
Disney core universe characters
Fictional characters from Calisota
Fictional chipmunks
Fictional duos
Film characters introduced in 1943
Comics characters introduced in 1955
Gold Key Comics titles
Male characters in animation
Male characters in comics
Disney animated characters