I originally started this one out as a little treatise on scenes in RR that
have been changed. It ended up a testament to my being a monomaniacal,
Ranger-obsessed sicko. Well, have fun!
Okay, we'll be blunt. There is a Rescue Rangers presskit and you're gonna
have a hell of a time finding it. But it is supposedly _possible_ to
come by, so I'll describe it.
The presskit only recently came to my attention. From all rumour, it is an
absolute Holy Grail. It's not really a consumer product, or even closely
related to one; it's the media package that followed the show to the
stations that first bought it.
Among the things that made this body of information extraordinary were model
sheets, colour guides with OFFICIAL Pantone (tm) numbers for the characters,
biographies, an official episode guide, many colour pictures, even _slides_
for the stations to use as commercial bumpers. Simply amazing.
The presskit also explains a lot. It gave the correct spellings of several
difficult characters, especially Lahwhinie. It contained line art of the
Rangers for use in promotions, surely explaining the "classic group pose"
and other art often used with RR products. It gave suggestions to stations
on when and how to use RR commercials and specials; the RR theme video, for
example, played right after "Behind the Scenes with Chip n' Dale," just
before the premiere of "To the Rescue." There was even an order form for
untold masses of RR stuff, with prices and everything.
Before you start gently beating a hole in your desk with your forehead,
here's everything I know about the presskit's whereabouts.
There were supposedly never more than 300 of these publications.
Distribution outside North America unknown. I myself have searched Usenet
and the Web for it and never found it. If findable, I couldn't possibly
speculate on the price. Presskits run from 5 to 200 dollars and
probably beyond. As examples, the Little Mermaid presskit was recently
available on Usenet for about $40. The Tale Spin presskit, which seems less
crammed than the RR, runs about $12. If Disney wanted to reprint these, I
know I'd buy 'em... (wistful smile)
The presskit was issued with the release of RR and updated once, at least
in the episode listings. (The second season of production began after
"Gadget Goes Hawaiian.")
There are 65 episodes of Rescue Rangers. None of them have ever been yanked
from the face of the earth by censors, and no episodes (that Disney will own
up to) were produced but never released. No official movie.
Please note that changes in RR were rarely the result of catastrophic
writing, angry viewer response, or Dale burping on camera. Often a show
would premiere before it was entirely, officially done, one last edit would
occur, and we would wind up seeing two versions.
Gadget: Well, I say we kindly go up to that house, gently go inside, and
drag that baby out by his dirty rotten diapers!
Chip and Dale: (gasp!) Gadget!
Gadget: I've had it! No more wimping out! Let's shake that baby `til he
rattles!
The only other altered line I can remember after that originally was Gadget
again: "Trash the brat!"
In the second version (really no better) the adoption agency phones the
couple immediately after the robbery and suggests they leave the baby with
the sister and brother-in-law, originally the new parents. All references to
father-son become uncle-nephew, and the massive adoption-shuffling is dubbed
away. The new exchange between the Rangers after the clubbing, with tone of
voice and inflections changed to downplay (or at least muddle) emotion,
goes:
Gadget: Well, I say we kindly go up to that house, gently go inside, and
drag that imposter out by his dirty rotten diapers!
Chip and Dale: (gasp!) Gadget!
Gadget: I've had it! No more wimping out! Let's shake that crook `til he
rattles!
"Trash the brat" became "trash the bum."
Monty (original): I thought we'd never get out of there. We must have been
on a slow boat from China.
Monty (revised): I thought we'd never get out of there. We must have been
traveling fifteenth class.
Puffed Rangers was originally one of the funniest RR episodes. The only
thing that killed it was overcorrection.
Other episodes have confusing punctuation. "Flash, the Wonder Dog" (which is
reputed to not always have had the comma,) is one. "Oneupsmanchip," I don't
even know if I'm spelling right. The title had to be broken up to fit
onscreen, but might be hyphenated anyway. "It's A Bird, It's Insane, It's Dale!"
does end in an exclamation point.
Juice Lee, shot from the fish machine, falls into a glass with false teeth
in it in later broadcasts of Part 2. The score is so perfectly melded, the
scene was doubtlessly in there to begin with, was removed ("no, fish with
dentures are offensive!") and replaced.
In "To the Rescue," as the train rushes past a station, two passerby named
Chauncey and Edgar comment listlessly about how the "train's late again."
This was a running gag in Bullwinkle, and the two men do bear passing
resemblance to their counterparts. Their voices are also great matches.
The reference in "Project" is so complete it's almost shameful. Monty says
it all while deploying a box kite: "Just a little trick I picked up from a
flying squirrel.... Me and the squirrels used to glide over Frostbite Falls
looking for mooseberries." (Are you groaning yet? :) )
In "Oneupsmanchip," Chip mystifies Dale with the title, "Rama Lama Ding
Dong." If you don't understand, just as well.
In "The S.S. Drainpipe," Sugar Ray taunts Chip by calling him Alvin. Chip is
understandably miffed. Sugay Ray replies, "Whatever. You chipmunks all sound
alike." Tress MacNeille did appear in the other show...
It reportedly came to be
when the show was submitted as a full crossover with Darkwing in the
Rangers' continuity. Studio execs, however, rejected it and all that remains
is the five seconds of speech.
Bonkers also happens to rant,
"Call the Rescue Rangers!" during a crisis in the episode where Mickey Mouse disappears.
In another episode, Zipper flies briefly across the screen and is promptly eaten
by a fish (that's MEAN!!! ):> ) Many thanks to Josh Cason for this one. (:
The intelligent response to all this goes something like, "Barbara Anne,
Barbara Anne, nyah, nyah!!"
Lest one think I was let down, I sort of was. But at least the magazine
was only five bucks, all said (and that got it into Canada,) and the ad on the back- wow! It's done in that 'classic,'
airbrush-like style of most early RR ads, has Chip, Dale, and Zipper, and is as
suitable for framing as the art of the same name. In short, it's worth
getting to say you have it.
Any issue of Disney News/Disney Magazine, Winter `84 or later, costs the
current cover price. (As of the time of this writing, that was $3.25 U.S.)
Quoting the Back Issues Price List:
Stay with me here. Most if not all of this stuff really is rare.
The three seconds of limbo between show and advertising. But our limbo
has a rousing string section behind it!
Episodes with unusual announcements have a better-than-average chance of
having one of the three "rare" bumper pictures. (There could be a science
here, much like the lost art of predicting RR episode by DuckTales episode,
but even I can't catalogue that.) :)
This audio is often found with the three pictures from "To the Rescue."
Note differences in this set's first bumper from the most common set's first
bumper. Small, but there.
The second part is that same "back to Chip 'n Dale" mentioned earlier.
And now, another exciting adventure with Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers.
Incidentally, the background score in all these bumpers is the same, and is
similar to a part of the RR score, but arranged differently. In the old
days, the final bumper (which had no dialogue) used to warble at the end of
the music, as if someone had shut the tape off a moment too soon. It was
never corrected until after the DA premiered.
Dale:
Gadget (none of these are accurate:)
Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers now continues. (most common)
The "normal" segue.
The "normal" segue with small variations. Some episodes (?) have fewer sound
effects behind the music. This is easy to spot early on- the sword doesn't
clang in the scene from "Piratsy." Also, there's a slightly different
version of the end animation- the letters in "Rescue Rangers" cascade onto
the logo instead of moving in a solid text block. These two variations often
go together.
The shorter Disney Afternoon segue.
The serialized "To the Rescue" segue. Before the DA, when To the Rescue was
played, any installment of "To the Rescue" after the first had its segue
sped up, presumably to accomodate the recap. It's really rather
funny, as it was sped up all of four and a quarter percent; the time
gained seems insignificant. But it was done faithfully until the DA started.
The "home video" segue. Some volumes of the home videos have an altered
(or perhaps original?!) mix of clips, from only the earliest episodes.
That's as far as the home videos get. The music is also different, the same
rendition as on "Rootin' Tootin' Rangers." This set of video clips, plus the
standard music, just to further confuse things, is on the website of
the Disney Channel USA. (Is this the arrangement used with RR on the Disney
Channel?)
Chip, Dale, and Gadget are in the segue. They first appear when the
characters pop to life off the drawing board. Chip and Dale are next to each
other and spring up energetically. Dale lands on Chip and bounces off.
Chip, unharmed, skitters after him. Gadget leisurely appears in front of
Baloo and runs off the board at the end of the scene.
Chip and Dale are in the scene where painting begins. The brushes don't
noticably screw their colors up. :)
The next scene, right after Donald gets whacked offscreen, was of Gadget,
but only in the first season. Afterward, Darkwing Duck filled the space.
Gadget starts out all painted except for her hair. A brush comes
down and sticks to her hair, pulls for a moment, then gives a hefty yank
(ow!) and is free, leaving her colored.
The third-to-last scene (also the third-to-last scene in the short,
"halftime" segue) had Chip and Gadget in the background, sort of doing the
wave, while Dale ran up to your face and waggled his tongue at you.
Ain't he cute?
In every appearance, Sewer Al is physically different. In "RR: The Big
Cheese Caper," he is a small, roly-poly, almost child-looking alligator
who isn't much taller than Chip and Dale. In the Disney Adventures
story, "Things That Go Bump in the Night," he's
a fairly tall, lean, iguana-like animal in a jacket and cap. In a
coloring book, he's a bent-over old hermit with a bad rug. :) The books
can't even agree on his role in the world- most often he's under the employ
of Fat Cat, and is later paid off by the Rangers to defect or give
information after the deed. But once he was a complete innocent, who was
able to decipher a plot of Nimnul's when the Rangers couldn't. Only once did
he remain loyal to Fat Cat, in Adventures.
Here's the big irony. The character who never made it out of books is a
book lover. It is always with a book or series thereof that the RR's
successfully bribe him. He seems to especially like rare and hardcover
editions.
Perhaps it seemed inappropriate to take this bookworm out of his element.
Footnote: Naturally, not too long after I said this, he found his way into
a movie script. (:
Geegaw was Gadget's father, above all a pilot. The only clear picture of
him is in part three of "To the Rescue." He flew with Monty countless times
and went on "a bushel of adventures." In CDRR Comic, he was never shown
in any detail, but was an inventor and occasional host to travelers-
who generally stole his inventions. :)
Geegaw is in more fan fiction than official Disney stuff, especially in
Aivars Liepa's, Michael Gibby's and
Meghan Brunner's stories. ("Er... sort of." ;) )
Gidget, or a photo thereof, was in Golden's RR
Coloring/Activity Book.
She is a near-twin of Gadget; the point of the activity was to spot the differences.
Gidget only appears there. Not in CDRR Comic as rumored, certainly not in the show.
"Gadget: 'But, golly, I already have trouble with ONE look-alike!'" -Jeff Pierce.
A newsgroup article on cross-dressing in cartoons, which lists everything
down to the body-switching in Tale Spin, says that "Chip switches
clothing (and body) with the girl member of the Rescue Rangers."
By some great miracle, the latest news is that Gadget's Go Coaster will be Gadget's Go Coaster
once again. Rejoice. (:
The show's "big" scandal (take that with a grain of salt) is that two
episodes have had dialogue altered: "Dirty Rotten Diapers" and
"Puffed Rangers."
One episode had a scene both reanimated and rewritten, and more than
once: "Fake Me to Your Leader."
Two episodes have had title changes (at least.) One episode has had a scene
disappear and then reappear, and one portion of "To the Rescue"
(not counting differences between the movie and serialized versions,) had a
scene which was not seen until after the first season."If we could get all you little fellas to hop into this industrial
dishwasher..."
"Dirty Rotten Diapers" originally dealt with an adoptive couple who
was robbed (by the midget they adopted and his thugs, the agency operators.)
The couple decided to give up the "baby" back to the adoption agency, which
let it slip that homes he was placed in were robbed "seventeen times" before.
The baby was adopted by another couple, who the Rangers followed. After
the burglars turned on the Rangers with clubs, Gadget went ballistic and the
following (from my rusty memory) was said:The Incredible Shrinking Episode
While
DRD had nothing to lose, "Puffed Rangers" was slaughtered.
The original characters were from Hong Kong, and spoke broken English.
In addition to Americanizing the characters (one villain even explains that
he's the American nephew,) and 'correcting' the broken-English lines, the
second version deletes entirely any puns, humor, and cultural references,
offensive or not. Example:The Three-Revision Itch
In Fake Me to Your Leader, the Rangers are trapped in a glove
compartment. Originally (?) Gadget stuck her tail in the keyhole and
unlocked it- and as said on the ranger-list, "oh, man, the look on her
face!" I'm sure her tail itched, yes, that's it. ;) What the second version
probably was was Gadget simply unlocking the lock. But most recently, the
scene was of Monty, using his tail, but quite innocently, and distracting
us with witty dialogue. In this newest version, Gadget is seen sitting in a
corner in the shot just before the unlocking, and even has a line, as if to
distance her as far as possible from that accursed keyhole.Less Drastic Changes
A Rose by Any Other Name Would "stink, stink, stink!"
Once went by the name of its villain- "Sewernose de Bergerac.""A Case of Stage Blight."
"The S.S. Drainpipe" was originally titled "The Red Badger of Courage."
"Cornflakes?" "My sponsor."
This has got to be the most confusing title in the series. The title is,
and might always have been, "Double O' Chipmunk." But Dale's persona
for the episode is "Double O' Dale." This has lead to no end of
confusion even for experts. The German translation is probably wise, calling
it "A Case for Double O' Dale."Double-O-whomever-he-was."Car? What car? Chip?"
There are a whole mess of scenes, of
course, native only to the serialized To the Rescue and not the movie.
In fact, you can tell that the movie came after the episodes, because Chip
mentions the car (limo) in the movie- which had been edited out. But there
are brief scenes in the movie not seen in the episodes. About the only
intact proof of this is in the review before Part 4. The last scenes of it,
with the Rangers falling (NOT encrusted in snow) really only belong in the
movie's continuity.Warning: Crossing References May Cause a Short
There is a reference to Gummi Bears in "Catteries Not Included."
When Dale is trying to stop the "magic" carpets with Monty's totems, he
says, "Hocus pocus, alacazam, lumuck umi!" Lumuck umi
translates from Gummi into "lucky" or "luck me."Gummi Bears.
There are two separate references to the show, one in Part 5 of "To
the Rescue," one in "Normie's Science Project."Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Hidden Mickey. There is at
least one hidden Mickey in RR. In "Battle of the Bulge," on Monty's
workout suit, over his heart (company loyalty here?) there is a subtle mouse
ears.
Why did they draw obvious parallels to this slobberingly inferior
show? Sigh.Alvin and the
Chipmunks.And, Believe it or Not, RR Is Mentioned in Other Places
Raw Toonage alluded to the RR show, visiting a "shoot." None of the
Rangers were seen, however. And, as fans love to gripe, "Gadget never hosted!"Raw Toonage (Marsupilami.)
An episode of Darkwing Duck is the crossover that never was.
"Twitching Channels" contains a little original dialogue between Chip and
Monty, through a transdimensional audio helmet.Darkwing Duck.
The Pi-Rats are seen briefly in Bonkers. They appear as the villains
in one of Bonkers' old cartoons.Bonkers.
Baloo's favorite record, his dad's old single, "The I Got Them Flat Broke
Sticky Shoes Banana Fana Boogie Woogie Blues," is part of the RR score. :)
It's the same tune played in the Molecular Audio Empathizer in
"Normie's Science Project." Tale Spin.
There's a rumour about the episode where Jasmine is transformed into a rat
(can anybody help me with the title?). When Genie is trying to revert her,
she transforms into all sorts of things, including Gadget. Genie says,
"whoa, where'd that one come from?" The scene was reportedly cut for
time.Aladdin series.
(flame mode: on) Tiny Toon Adventures has probably insulted RR
a thousand times. But the only one I caught, which caused me to delete my
entire Tiny Toons collection, is a little scene on a television screen,
showing Chip and Dale as squirrels. Only we know how insulting this is.
The scene even made it to the segue for the Plucky Duck show.Warner Bros.Articles
To my small knowledge, this is the issue with the most CDRR stuff in it.
Which isn't much; RR isn't even mentioned on the cover. It includes a decent
Suitable for Framing
picture (not really that good, I think, although the Editor disagrees;)
a bookmark; a short 'n shabby article across from the picture, supposedly on RR,
but more on the artists who did the work; and an old advertisement on the inside back cover. The Disney Magazine
(Disney News) - Fall 1989.
"1. List each issue by issue date (season and year.)
Naturally, the last statement applies.
2. Specify quantity of each issue.
3. Print or type your complete name, address and telephone number.
4. Please add $1.45 per issue for shipping and handling.
5. Enclose payment by check or money order payable to "The Disney Magazine"
(U.S. funds only.)
6. Mail to:
Back Issues Order
P.O. Box 4489
Anaheim, CA 92803-4489
An issue of Working Mother (not Working Woman) magazine mentions
Gadget. She made its list of nonstereotypical women in cartoons.
Lead being followed. Working Mother -
January 1991.Commercial Bumpers
These are the pictures seen before the DA and on Saturdays. The "normal" pictures.
The "rare" pictures.
These three bumpers, though, are the real rarities. They first appeared
in the movie version of To the Rescue, and were very, very uncommon on
weekdays before DA. After DA and on Saturdays, however, they were only mostly
impossible to find. :)
Back to top
Announcements in Commercial Bumpers
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers will return after these messages. The most common phrases.
And now, back to Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers.
phrases.
Rescue Rangers will return- after this message. The next most common.
And now, back to- Chip 'n Dale.
Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers will return after this message. The next next most common.
And now, back to- Rescue Rangers.
Chip 'n Dale will return- after this message. Are you screaming yet?
And now, back to- Chip 'n Dale.
There are also two announcements exclusive to the home videos, with two
different announcers: Home video.
And now, another exciting adventure with Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers.
Only Dale and Gadget announced these, most often Dale. They happened after
the final RR teaser, as paint flew across your screen. This is far from a
complete list. Disney Afternoon, just
before RR.
Stick around! We're gonna have fun! (laughter)
Don't go away! This rescue stuff is great!
Boy, oh, boy! Are we gonna have fun! (?)
Golly, this is exciting! We'll be back after this!
The Ranger Plane is taking off, right after this!
In the old DA format, show-specific bumpers happened only when returning to
the show. All these bumpers had different bits of the RR score in the
background. Disney Afternoon,
during show.
Now back to Chip 'n Dale('s?) Rescue Rangers.
We now return to Chip 'n Dale('s?) Rescue Rangers.Segues
All said, the show has/had these segues: The show itself.
This refers to the long, beginning version of the DA sequence: Disney Afternoon intros.Rare Characters
Sewer Al
The rarest- well, most enigmatic- character in RR is Sewer Al. He
appears in three separate books, Disney Adventures, even Disney.com's
character biographies. But he has never been
seen on television.[ Pictures ]
Geegaw Hackwrench
A "gewgaw" was apparantly a real, defined piece of an airplane at one time.
I have no idea which piece. The word evolved into "geegaw" and became a
synonym for "gadget" with emphasis on aeronautics. Good name choice!!Gidget (Hackwrench?)
Calm down, calm down. I know that this is an unhealed wound for many
slobbering Gadget fans, albeit not as hurtful as the i- word.
So let me just say that Gidget, Gadget's alleged cousin, is not
an official character, but seems to be well rumored enough to deserve explaining.Other Oddities
Dressing Down
Chip has appeared in a dress twice. Dale has appeared in a dress twice.
Zipper has appeared in a dress once. So between them, the men have appeared
in 250% as much distinctly feminine daywear as Gadget has. ;)Drag on.
That was Dale! Dale!! Oh, forget it.
What is that white thing that's occasionally below Gadget's neck? Current
fan theory says it's a T-shirt. It is supposed to be there, anyway. Lots of
show scenes (especially close-ups, although I'm sure that's just a
coincidence!) don't include it. Which is no big deal; Gadget's v-neck is
pretty high. What's interesting is that when she's rendered on a consumer
product, it is almost never there. No Gadget figurines/vehicles have
it, some of the plush doesn't, most of the books don't, etc. Apparantly a
small white/painted space drives manufacturers crazy. :) To be decided by the
Modesty Panel.
No, no, no. As old pictures of Dale prove, those things really are
flowers. (I had it wrong. Oof.) And ideally, they have five petals and the
center one, just below Dale's V-neck, is pointed upward. Ideally, anyway.Star crazy.Pure trivia
This probably won't be news to heavily netsurfed RR fans, but... Chip says, "Let's get out of
here!" three times in "Puffed Rangers." Either version. (: RR was originally proposed
as a spinoff of Rescuers, but Rescuers Down Under was taking
off at the time and producers chose Chip and Dale in place of Bernard and
Bianca. Chip and Dale, we are
assured by official sources, despite anything said to the contrary, are not
related. A few new episodes were
considered to start the second seasons of RR and Tale Spin, but Fox
stations had rights to the shows as long as they were continuously produced.
Disney was trying to pull away from Fox stations, and ended the series after
their first seasons. Chip is left-handed. It is officially spelled, "Lahwhinie." The Rescue Rangers as a unit
don't exist in Japan, nor does Gadget; the roller coaster in Mickey's
Toontown at Tokyo Disneyland is slated to be Mickey's-
WHOA, WAIT A MINUTE!!!
The girl in "Catteries Not
Included" is named Mandy. She is not named in the show, but is in the Panini
sticker album and the hardcover book based on the episode. According to Jim Cummings'
chat with Disney News, Carol Channing, who played Canina LaFur, once
had a problem during a recording session- her blouse kept crackling in the
mic. She nonchalantly removed the problem and everything went well.
Amazing that this is the closest thing to nudity in the whole series. :)
Obviously management wasn't too distressed- they invited her back.Everything Rescue Ranger
Products - Fan Work -
Rarities - Advertising -
Music - Elsewhere on Earth -
Transcripts
Last fiddled with: 4 Feb 1997.
