Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Director Akiva Schaffer on Using Non-Disney Characters
153I’m going to tell you something that you probably won’t believe but is absolutely true: Akiva Schaffer’s Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie is one of the best films I’ve seen this year. While I had high expectations because of Schaffer’s involvement, and that he got Andy Samberg and John Mulaney to voice Chip and Dale, the film is so much better than I expected. Not only is it a love letter to animation, but it’s also laugh out loud funny, and loaded with more cameos and surprises than a Marvel movie. It’s so good that Disney should have released it in theaters. For more you can read Ross’ glowing review.
If you haven’t seen the trailers, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a mixture of 3-D and 2-D animation and live action and is set 30 years after their animated series was canceled. The film follows Chip (Mulaney) and Dale (Samberg) as has-beens living in Los Angeles who have to get the band together once again in order to find a missing friend. The film is loaded with Easter eggs and features a fantastic voice (and live-action) cast made up of KiKi Layne, Will Arnett, Eric Bana, Flula Borg, Dennis Haysbert, Keegan-Michael Key, Tress MacNeille, Tim Robinson, Seth Rogen, J.K. Simmons, and Chris Parnell. Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand.
Shortly after seeing Chip ‘n Dale, I got to speak with Akiva Schaffer about making the film. He talked about how he convinced Disney to let him make it, why it was so important to use both Disney and non-Disney characters, why the film is a love letter to animation, why the Disney legal team deserves a huge thank you, why they used iconic Los Angeles locations including one from the first Lethal Weapon movie, how they came up with all the background posters, how they worked around companies telling them no, and the way every detail has to be worked out for every single character in the movie before you can get the rights. In addition, he talked about his desire to make a sequel, assuming the film is a hit.
If you’re curious how Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers was made, you’re going to learn a lot watching this interview. Watch what Akiva Schaffer had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about. Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers starts streaming on Disney+ this weekend and I strongly recommend checking it out.
Akiva Schaffer
How did he get Disney to let him to make this movie?
How Disney gave him a two hundred-thousand-dollar budget to show them a proof of concept.
How did he get all the different Disney and non-Disney characters in the film?
Why it was so important to get 3rd party IP in the film.
How it’s a love letter to animation.
Why the Disney legal team deserves a huge thank you.
The way every detail has to be worked out for every single character in the movie before you can get the rights and that includes if the character can be shown in an ad.
Which company took the most convincing to let their character be in the film?
Is he interested in making a sequel if the film is a hit?
How they learned a lot making the film that he would take to a sequel.
How did they come up with all the background poster jokes?
Why he wanted the film to take place in all the iconic Los Angeles locations.
How one of the locations is from the first Lethal Weapon.
Are there any really obscure easter eggs?
Did he have a longer cut and a lot of deleted scenes?
Here's the official synopsis:
A comeback 30 years in the making, "Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers" catches up with the former Disney Afternoon television stars in modern-day Los Angeles. In this hybrid live-action/CG animated action-comedy, Chip and Dale are living amongst cartoons and humans in modern-day Los Angeles, but their lives are quite different now. It has been decades since their successful television series was canceled, and Chip (voice of John Mulaney) has succumbed to a life of suburban domesticity as an insurance salesman. Dale (voice of Andy Samberg), meanwhile, has had CGI surgery and works the nostalgia convention circuit, desperate to relive his glory days. When a former castmate mysteriously disappears, Chip and Dale must repair their broken friendship and take on their Rescue Rangers detective personas once again to save their friend.
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