Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers”
Disney doesn’t often make jokes at it’s own expense, but when it does, its apparently goes all out. And so we have “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.”
The movie, now streaming on Disney+, is basically one giant Easter Egg full of smaller Easter eggs for animation fans everywhere. The movie marks some major studio crossovers, combining Disney characters with Dreamworks characters, Warner Bros. projects and more. And along the way, it doesn’t shy away from making Disney the punchline.
So, in case you missed them, we’ve rounded up some of the best self-owns Disney made in its new film.
Donald Duck’s Aversion to Pants
As we enter the world of Chip and Dale, we meet them at school, where the pair is starting third grade. But, before we even meet the chipmunks, we get a joke about one of Disney’s other OGs: Donald Duck.
While the students are all filing into school, we see a teacher yelling at one in particular — a duck who isn’t wearing pants. But no, it’s not the one you’re thinking of, and that teacher makes sure to point that out.
“Put some pants on! You’re not Donald Duck!” the teacher yells angrily. So apparently, even in the animated world, Donald Duck is the only one who can get away with going pantsless (though we suspect Winnie the Pooh might’ve gotten a pass, had he been in the film).
“Flying Bedroom Boy”
As it turn out, faith, trust and pixie dust wasn’t enough to keep Peter Pan going after his movie came out in this world. As he grew up, he found himself cast aside, which made him angry. So, he created a bootleg version of his own movie, called “Flying Bedroom Boy.”
It did so well that he became “Sweet Pete” — the villain of “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. He started an entire bootlegging operation, creating off-brand version of other Disney movies like “Lady and the Tramp” (it became “Spaghetti Dogs”) and more.
In reality, off-brand versions like these became known as “mockbusters” and Disney has actually filed lawsuits against other studios in the past for making them.
Bad Movies In General
Naturally, Dale doesn’t want his old friend Monty sent away to make bootleg versions of good movies. But that doesn’t mean he thinks Monty is capable of being in hits either.
“If he’s gonna make bad movies he should be making them here, with me” he says seriously. It’s a quick one, but there’s definitely some not-so-subtle implication that not all of Disney’s projects are winners in those words.
Bad Jokes = Big Laughs
At the end of “Rescue Rangers,” Chip and Dale are reunited with their entire old crew: Monty, Zipper and Gadget. So, true to form, when the mission is accomplished they cap things off with a corny line and a big laugh.
Only this time, they have human cop Ellie with them, who excitedly says she’s always wanted to partake in one of these joyous moments. That said, the laughs are always quite long, so…how long is she supposed to enjoy a punchline?
“The worse the joke, the longer the laugh!” Gadget explains joyously.
Disney poking fun at its own joke delivery earned a bigger laugh than any “nuts” pun Gadget could throw out.
Pop Covers of Classics
Just before the credits roll on “Rescue Rangers,” Chip and Dale begin discussing the possibility of actually rebooting their hit show. Dale is particularly excited by the idea that this time, they could have a popular artist do the theme song for the show.
“Like a super serious version, even though everyone just wants to hear the original,” Chip deadpans, just as a cover of the original “Rescue Rangers” theme by Post Malone starts playing.
The joke would be funny in and of itself, but it’s even funnier because creating pop versions of their classic songs is something Disney does often. There was even a time where they were coming out with “DisneyMania” CDs — think “Now That’s What I Call Music!” but solely for Disney songs — with tracklists entirely made up of popular artists covering beloved songs.
Aunt Man
“Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” even manages to sneak in a dig at Marvel, which of course, is Disney-owned. In a surprise cameo, Paul Rudd appears at the fictional “FanCon” alongside Dale and other famous faces.
Apparently, the original concept for “Ant-Man” was actually something called “Aunt-Man” and Scott Lang’s superpower “was being really charming to aunts.” And really, if there were any superhero in the MCU that could poke fun at himself on screen, it would be Paul Rudd. This was a good call.
“Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” is now streaming on Disney+.