New Chip 'n' Dale animated television show

[drleevezan]

Disney has apparently just announced, at the Annecy International Film Festival, a new Chip 'n' Dale animated television show, which will be featured on the Disney+ streaming service. (insidethemagic.net/2019/06/disney-chip-dale-animated-series-ba1/)


Here's the first image of the show.

And here's the description given by Disney: 
"The show is developed by Disney’s London-based animation team in collaboration with Xilam Animation in Paris. The series will be fully produced by Xilam, an award-winning independent production studio known around the world for visual invention and cartoon comedy. The 39 x seven-minute episodes will feature the return of Disney’s much-loved chipmunk troublemakers in a non-verbal, classic style comedy, following the ups and downs of two little creatures living life in the big city. Combining a traditional style of animation with contemporary, comedic narratives, Chip ‘n’ Dale is directed by Jean Cayrol and produced by Marc du Pontavice."

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Oh, dear, they're really committed to that Paul Rudish artstyle, aren't they? Still, could be fun. 

[Mesterius]

It's funny how the article you link to makes a point of mentioning the "Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers" series, and how it's not at all surprising that these characters are getting a new animated show... when this show clearly has nothing to do with "Rescue Rangers". It will obviously be in the vein of the original, theatrical Chip 'n' Dale shorts.

[TheMidgetMoose]

Eh... it looks like it could be entertaining or a big flop. We'll have to see. Also, I don't think the art style is too similar to that of the Rudish shorts. I'd say it's got even more of a contemporary vibe than that. I'm curious about the quote referring to it as a "non-verbal, classic style comedy". I've thought for some time that a series of non-verbal shorts featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit could be fun, but not Chip 'n' Dale. I like it when Chip 'n' Dale talk. They have somewhat funny voices and interesting personalities. I hope their personalities aren't lost in a cartoon with no talking.

[Mesterius]

Jun 12, 2019 17:37:57 GMT TheMidgetMoose said:

Eh... it looks like it could be entertaining or a big flop. We'll have to see. Also, I don't think the art style is too similar to that of the Rudish shorts. I'd say it's got even more of a contemporary vibe than that. I'm curious about the quote referring to it as a "non-verbal, classic style comedy". I've thought for some time that a series of non-verbal shorts featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit could be fun, but not Chip 'n' Dale. I like it when Chip 'n' Dale talk. They have somewhat funny voices and interesting personalities. I hope their personalities aren't lost in a cartoon with no talking.

I was thinking the same thing about "non-verbal". But then again, their voices were sped up so fast in the original shorts that you could often only barely (if at all) hear what they were saying. And the original shorts always made it clear what was going on through visuals, whether you understood the spoken lines or not. I'm thinking that may be what "non-verbal" means in this case. Eliminating their voices altogether feels idiotic.

[TheMidgetMoose]

Jun 12, 2019 18:05:17 GMT Mesterius said:

Jun 12, 2019 17:37:57 GMT TheMidgetMoose said:

Eh... it looks like it could be entertaining or a big flop. We'll have to see. Also, I don't think the art style is too similar to that of the Rudish shorts. I'd say it's got even more of a contemporary vibe than that. I'm curious about the quote referring to it as a "non-verbal, classic style comedy". I've thought for some time that a series of non-verbal shorts featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit could be fun, but not Chip 'n' Dale. I like it when Chip 'n' Dale talk. They have somewhat funny voices and interesting personalities. I hope their personalities aren't lost in a cartoon with no talking.

I was thinking the same thing about "non-verbal". But then again, their voices were sped up so fast in the original shorts that you could often only barely (if at all) hear what they were saying. And the original shorts always made it clear what was going on through visuals, whether you understood the spoken lines or not. I'm thinking that may be what "non-verbal" means in this case. Eliminating their voices altogether feels idiotic.

Yeah, it would be fine if they had them talking like they did in some of the old shorts, but I feel like something would be lost if the voices were to be eliminated. I think that in the classic shorts, their voices added a layer of comedy to them. Hearing a squeaky voice say, "Knucklehead", which I'm pretty sure I remember Chip saying in one short, is pretty funny. Maybe not hilarious, but it certainly adds some humor.

[Mesterius]

Jun 12, 2019 19:43:42 GMT TheMidgetMoose said:

Jun 12, 2019 18:05:17 GMT Mesterius said:

I was thinking the same thing about "non-verbal". But then again, their voices were sped up so fast in the original shorts that you could often only barely (if at all) hear what they were saying. And the original shorts always made it clear what was going on through visuals, whether you understood the spoken lines or not. I'm thinking that may be what "non-verbal" means in this case. Eliminating their voices altogether feels idiotic.

Yeah, it would be fine if they had them talking like they did in some of the old shorts, but I feel like something would be lost if the voices were to be eliminated. I think that in the classic shorts, their voices added a layer of comedy to them. Hearing a squeaky voice say, "Knucklehead", which I'm pretty sure I remember Chip saying in one short, is pretty funny. Maybe not hilarious, but it certainly adds some humor.

I agree. Not that I'm a huge fan of these characters myself, but the voices and their fast-paced banter is certainly part of their appeal. And why eliminate something which is just amusing and doesn't stand in the way of the stories being understood visually anyway? So, I hope "non-verbal" allows for chipmunk chatter.

[The KKM]

This is very much not the Paul Rudish style. It'd look much more appealing if it were. Instead they have Homer Simpson's face.

Xilam does decent stuff. It'll probably be fine enough. Thoroughly uninterested.

[Scroogerello]

A shame that they're opting for this hideous CalArts-style again...It doesn't really remind me of the Rudish shorts, which (while still having a smilarly over-stylized look) actually featured surprisingly on-model versions of Chip and Dale.

I've always thought Chip and Dale were quite funny as adversaries (i.e. supporting characters) to Donald, in the same spirit as the nephews, Neighbor Jones, Gladstone and Uncle Scrooge would later be in the (shorter) comic stories. This series will clearly focus on Chip and Dale alone, which sounds much less interesting--although I'll say the fact that there seems to be somewhat of a renewed interest in Disney's classic stable of character is a positive.

But yeah, Chip and Dale are probably the least interesting characters out of the entire classic Disney cast. I would have rather seen Disney do a reboot of the old Donald Duck cartoons, or their Goofy cartoons (the Jack Kinney ones, with the entire world full of wacky Goofy-lookalikes!), with high-quality, on-model 2D animation like the upcoming Looney Tunes Cartoons.

[Mesterius]

Jun 12, 2019 20:55:40 GMT Scroogerello said:

I would have rather seen Disney do a reboot of the old Donald Duck cartoons, or their Goofy cartoons (the Jack Kinney ones, with the entire world full of wacky Goofy-lookalikes!), with high-quality, on-model 2D animation like the upcoming Looney Tunes Cartoons.

They actually tried that in 2007 with the great Goofy short "How To Hook Up Your Home Theater". At the time they had several other classic-style shorts in development, including a Mickey Mouse one. But the Goofy cartoon apparently didn't make enough of a splash for them to make more outings with the classic characters.

[muggyruglugg]

Jun 12, 2019 21:41:00 GMT Mesterius said:

Jun 12, 2019 20:55:40 GMT Scroogerello said:

I would have rather seen Disney do a reboot of the old Donald Duck cartoons, or their Goofy cartoons (the Jack Kinney ones, with the entire world full of wacky Goofy-lookalikes!), with high-quality, on-model 2D animation like the upcoming Looney Tunes Cartoons.

They actually tried that in 2007 with the great Goofy short "How To Hook Up Your Home Theater". At the time they had several other classic-style shorts in development, including a Mickey Mouse one. But the Goofy cartoon apparently didn't make enough of a splash for them to make more outings with the classic characters.

Which is upsetting because the Goofy cartoon was great. On par with the classic ones. I can't say that for anything else Disney has done with the classic characters lately.

[Mesterius]

Jun 12, 2019 21:49:04 GMT muggyruglugg said:

Jun 12, 2019 21:41:00 GMT Mesterius said:

They actually tried that in 2007 with the great Goofy short "How To Hook Up Your Home Theater". At the time they had several other classic-style shorts in development, including a Mickey Mouse one. But the Goofy cartoon apparently didn't make enough of a splash for them to make more outings with the classic characters.

Which is upsetting because the Goofy cartoon was great. On par with the classic ones. I can't say that for anything else Disney has done with the classic characters lately.

Yeah, it was, but there hasn't really been a market for theatrical shorts in decades. I'm betting they had a hard time even judging how much money the Goofy short made. Though, Warner seems to be putting a lot into their new theatrical slash streaming slash TV shorts of the Looney Tunes. How I wish something like that was done for Disney, Popeye, Tom and Jerry etc... Sigh. Maybe with time. 

[schizo]

Not to fond of the art style, but if the plots of the cartoons is gonna be closer to the original shorts and not randomly make them crime fighters like in the Rescue Rangers show then that is a step in the right direction at least.
Which brings up another question: Will Donald, Pluto and the other adversaries from the 40s and 50s shorts be in this show?

[Mesterius]

Jun 13, 2019 6:50:11 GMT schizo said:

Not to fond of the art style, but if the plots of the cartoons is gonna be closer to the original shorts and not randomly make them crime fighters like in the Rescue Rangers show then that is a step in the right direction at least.

Randomly? C'mon, that was completely logical! I always felt Dale was missing Magnum P.I.'s Hawaiian shirt when I was watching the classic shorts growing up.

[Baar Baar Jinx]

Jun 12, 2019 20:55:40 GMT Scroogerello said:

I would have rather seen Disney do a reboot of the old Donald Duck cartoons, or their Goofy cartoons (the Jack Kinney ones, with the entire world full of wacky Goofy-lookalikes!), with high-quality, on-model 2D animation like the upcoming Looney Tunes Cartoons.

They sort of tried that in the '90s with the Mickey Mouse Works shorts, which wasn't very impressive IMHO.

The still image, character designs and description of this new Chip 'n' Dale series give me a Wabbit/New Looney Tunes feel, which is not necessarily a compliment in my book. (The few episodes of that show I saw didn't interest me much, but I'd have to look at it again. The Looney Tunes 2019 series, which I just learned about thanks to your post, does indeed look more promising.) But yes, including the classic foils of Donald, Pluto and Pete would cause this Chip 'n' Dale show to rise in my estimation.