Willing into existence a reality in which a single IMDB page must attempt to contain both “Jizz In My Pants” and “the new Chip ‘N Dale movie,” THR reports that Lonely Island favorite Akiva Schaffer has just been tapped as the director of Disney’s long-brewing cinematic adaptation of its beloved Rescue Rangers franchise. Schaffer—whose previous directing credits include The Watch, the delightful and underrated Popstar, and Tim Robinson’s recent sketch series I Think You Should Leave—will be tackling what’s being described as a “meta” take on the property, which: Hmm.
Current adults/former children of a certain age will remember that Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers was a regular feature of the Disney Afternoon programming block, repurposing the classic cartoon troublemakers as detectives with a remit to help anyone who came to them for assistance. (In fact, it was originally conceived as a series based on The Rescuers films, with Chip and Dale bolted onto the concept fairly late in development.) The series ended up spawning three seasons of animated adventures, a pair of surprisingly good NES games, and a large amount of fan-art and fiction that you should probably keep out of your browser history. (Alas, poor Gadget.) Disney’s new take on the franchise will reportedly ditch large parts of that formula, though, despite being branded with the Rescue Rangers name; per THR, “It will not be an origin story nor detective agency story. Rather, the take is being described as being meta, something self-referential and cool.” (That shudder you just felt was a Disney executive describing anything, ever, as purposefully or intentionally “cool.”)
It’s not clear yet if the film will land in theaters, on the Disney Channel, or on the altar as the latest sacrifice offered up to the all-consuming content maw of Disney+. We do know that the film will be a live-action/CGI hybrid, and that Dan Gregor and Doug Mand (whose partnership has included writing for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and How I Met Your Mother) wrote the script.