In the grand sea of movies taking themselves way too seriously, I often find myself itching for a lighthearted movie without sky-high stakes.

“Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” is the kind of movie where all of life’s serious problems seemingly go away for a few hours. The extent to which the animators and producers went to make this Disney+ exclusive film a high-quality, high production value movie is astounding. “Chip ‘n Dale” transcends even some of the most critically acclaimed ‘serious’ movies of the last few years for its entertainment value alone.

This movie’s simple plot stays fun from beginning to end — Chip and Dale are more distant now than ever due to their “Rescue Rangers” show being canceled. When the iconic chipmunk duo’s friend Monterey Jack gets kidnapped, the two are forced to team up one more time to save him. With some bumps along the way, their journey makes for a fun, exciting adventure filled with surprising references from the blended human-cartoon world of “Roger Rabbit.”

The editing in “Chip ‘n Dale” is top notch. Being an obvious spiritual successor to “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” it’s filmed in live-action, and the cartoon characters interacting with the real actors are added in post-production. This effect is stunning to witness, with many different styles of animation featured throughout. There’s CGI, hand-drawn animation and claymation to name just a few of the many styles this movie excelled at capturing. 

This movie is a love letter to fans of animation, and also pays homage to the film industry as a whole. Not only are many of the characters represented in different artforms, many of them aren’t Disney-owned characters. There are some amazing cameos and references that you’d never expect to see on Disney+, and they’re all handled surprisingly well. Ugly Sonic, Dobby, Baloo, Lumiere — the list goes on, but the references never make the movie feel overcrowded or nostalgia-baity in any way. Random characters show up in the backgrounds of shots, and usually add on to jokes instead of making the film feel like one huge advertisement.

Despite many great elements within, the comedy in “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” is where it truly thrives. Comedy legends John Mulaney and Andy Samberg – starring as Chip and Dale respectively – work together to make this movie truly shine comedically, and are the sources of some of the funniest movie jokes I’ve heard in years. Seth Rogen, J.K. Simmons, Will Arnett, Keegan Michael Key and Flula Borg are just some of the star-studded cast that add to the movie tremendously — their comedic timing and original styles of humor blend perfectly with the movie’s writing and their individual characters.

“Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” is not a movie to hold out on, no matter initial reservations based on its title or trailers. Especially for fans of the movie industry, this is an absolute must-watch comedy.

“Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” is available to watch now on Disney+.

“Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers”: ★★★★★