Chip and Dale (also spelled Chip 'n' Dale) are a cartoon duo of anthropomorphic
chipmunk
Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia.
Taxonomy and systematics
Chipmunks are classified as four genera: '' ...
s created by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
, who debuted in the 1943 short film ''
Private Pluto''.
Concept
The characters were first drawn by
Bill Justice 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 Su ...
short ''
Private Pluto'', 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, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, immigrati ...
. 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 Fredrick Hannah (January 5, 1913 – June 11, 1994) was an American animator, writer and director of animated shorts. He worked for Disney and Walter Lantz.
Biography
Hannah was born on January 5, 1913, in Nogales, Arizona. After attend ...
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 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 front teeth. 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 American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
, 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 Su ...
and
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
, 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'' (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
''Squatter's Rights'' is a 1946 animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions. The cartoon is about a confrontation between Pluto and Chip and Dale who have taken up residence in Mickey Mouse's hunting shack. It was ...
'' (against Mickey and Pluto), in 1947 for ''
Chip an' Dale'' and in 1949 for ''
Toy Tinkers
''Toy Tinkers'' is an 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 Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
). 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 a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, 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 t ...
on the name of the 18th-century cabinet maker and furniture designer
Thomas Chippendale
Thomas Chippendale (June 1718 – 1779) was an English woodworker 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 Gen ...
, 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 filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
short film
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
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 and 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
LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...
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
Jiminy Cricket is the Disney version of the Talking Cricket, a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', which Walt Disney adapted into the animated film '' Pinoc ...
, and is the only animation where Donald addresses the chipmunks by their names.
Comics series
Chip and 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 1973. 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'', is 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, ''Chip 'n' Dale'', for issues #4–30 (1955–62), which was then continued by
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.
History
Gold Key Comics was created in 1962, when its ...
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
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
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 is 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. 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 consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...
), while Dale wears a
Hawaiian shirt (much like ''
Magnum, P.I.'').
''DuckTales''
Chip and Dale, based on their ''Rescue Rangers'' iterations, made an appearance in the 2017 TV series ''
DuckTales DuckTales refers to:
Film and television
* ''DuckTales'' (1987 TV series), original TV series
** '' DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp''
* ''DuckTales'' (2017 TV series), reboot TV series
Video games
* ''DuckTales'' (video game) ...
''.
Making their debut in the season 3 episode, "Double-O-Duck in You Only Crash Twice!", Chip and Dale are depicted as ordinary chipmunks used as lab rats for an intelligence ray developed by the organization
F.O.W.L. After becoming much 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.
They also make a cameo appearance alongside the other Rangers in the series finale, "The Last Adventure!".
''Chip 'N Dale's Nutty Tales''
Chip 'n Dale star in a CGI preschool short series,
spin-off
Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media
*Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work
*''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine
* ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...
of ''
Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures
''Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures'' is an American animated children's television series that was broadcast on Disney Junior. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series is the successor to ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse''. Originally airing ...
''.
''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 referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
on July 28, 2021, which was co-produced by
The Walt Disney Company France
The Walt Disney Company France (), formerly Walt Disney Mickey Mouse, S.A. and Walt Disney Productions France, is one of The Walt Disney Company's international divisions and also European divisions. It is headquartered in Paris, Île-de-France. ...
and
Xilam Animation. Unlike other iterations of the characters, the series is non-verbal, similarly to other shows produced by Xilam. The series portrays Chip and Dale's adventures living in a park where they often interact with Clarice, Donald Duck, Pluto, and other mostly
Duckburg-centric Disney characters. The chipmunks are portrayed in only semi-humanized form, much as in late-1940s cartoon shorts.
Film
A hybrid live-action/animated film, ''
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'', was released on May 16, 2022, with animation of the characters provided by
Moving Picture Company and their voices by
John Mulaney and
Andy Samberg. The film was released as a
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
original.
Other appearances
Chip and Dale were planned to appear as a cameo in the 1988 film ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...
'', but were cut from the final film.
Chip and Dale make minor appearances in ''
Mickey's Christmas Carol'', ''
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 anima ...
'', and ''
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 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001 ...
''.
Chip and Dale appear as supporting characters in the ''
Kingdom Hearts
is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square) and owned by The Walt Disney Company. A collaboration between the two companies, it was conceptualized by Square employees, Japanese gam ...
'' video game series. Introduced in ''
Kingdom Hearts
is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square) and owned by The Walt Disney Company. A collaboration between the two companies, it was conceptualized by Square employees, Japanese gam ...
'' (2002), they make subsequent appearances in ''
Kingdom Hearts II
''Kingdom Hearts II'' is a 2005 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios, Buena Vista Games for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to ''Kingdom Hear ...
'' (2005), ''
Kingdom Hearts Coded'' (2008), ''
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' (2010), and ''
Kingdom Hearts III
is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Nintendo Switch. It is the third main installment in the '' Kingdom Hearts'' series and the twelfth game overall, and ser ...
'' (2019). In the ''Kingdom Hearts'' universe, Chip and Dale are depicted as the engineers of the Gummi Ships and the Gummiphone, which can respectively traverse between worlds and communicate across them.
Chip and Dale are part of the
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
characters that take a group photo at the end of the 2023 short film ''
Once Upon a Studio''. They also appear during the end credits along with
Spike the Bee, another recurring rival of Donald Duck.
Voice actors
The classic voices of Chip and Dale were mostly provided by
Jimmy MacDonald, Dessie (Flynn) Miller, and Helen Silbert. The earliest voices were provided by female office staff, without credit. In ''Private Pluto'', their voices were 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 being caught in a trap. When the scene switches to an outside view of the box, the dialogue heard is a sped-up segment of
John Brown's narration from the Goofy short ''
A Knight for a Day''.
Since 1988, Chip and Dale have been voiced by
Tress MacNeille
Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...
and
Corey Burton
Corey Burton is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transformers'', Brainiac in the DC Animated Universe, Count Dooku and Cad Bane in ...
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 anima ...
'' and ''
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 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001 ...
''.
John Mulaney and
Andy Samberg 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
*
Goofy Gophers
References
External links
Chip 'n' Dale Online* (Chip)
* (Dale)
Chipon
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
Daleon
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
Disney Archive Entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chip and Dale
Animated duos
Anthropomorphic squirrels
Comics about anthropomorphic squirrels
Comics about talking animals
Comics set in forests
Dell Comics titles
Disney comics characters
Donald Duck universe characters
Fictional characters from Calisota
Fictional chipmunks
Fictional duos
Animated characters introduced in 1943
Film characters introduced in 1943
Comics characters introduced in 1955
Gold Key Comics titles
Male characters in animation
Male characters in comics
Fictional knights