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While out of these shows, "Rescue Rangers" was the shortest lived at only one season of 65 episodes (thirteen weeks at five episodes a week), it has found itself to be one of the mot cherished and fondly remembered shows of the entire block. This legacy which fans hold on to, is due in large part to the popularity of the Chip and Dale characters over their 46 year run prior to this show's airing. However, it also must be said that the show itself gave audiences plenty to fall in love with!
A wonderful cast of characters which went beyond the pair of mischief causing rodents, some very zany and some downright ridiculous plot lines, a handful of memorable evil villains, and a writing style which decided not to force feed morals and values down the throats of American children (yet taught much in the way of friendship and teamwork), all made for a show that young viewers like myself would remember long into our lives; and nearly all of us favorably!
One part detective show and one part action/adventure, "Rescue Rangers" could be summed up simply through the clothing choices of its two lead characters, Chip and Dale. Chip found himself in an outfit very reminiscent of everyone's favorite action/adventure hero, Indiana Jones, complete with leather jacket and hat, while Dale is sporting the Hawaiian shirt known to television viewers of the time as the trademark of one Mr. Magnum, P.I (the Tom Sellick private detective show which ran right up until the year before "Rescue Rangers" debuted. Viewers knew at a glance exactly what they were getting into here, as the chipmunks would be doing their best impression of both of these genres.
As previously stated, Chip and Dale would not be alone on these adventures and would have to rely on their crime fighting friends in every episode. Perhaps, for you newcomers to the show, some introductions are in order... Monterey Jack is a huge mouse from down under, the only thing presented more strongly to the audience than his over the top accent is perhaps his love for cheese. Throughout the show, each and every episode, Monterey brings the whole shebang to a screeching halt when his nose carries him and the case's momentum off to some cheesy delight or another. He is however, always there for the gang and more than a few times pulls everyone out of a sticky situation with his fierce loyalty and super sized bulk.
Gadget is the tech savvy inventor who makes the group mobile through the use of her many ingenious vehicles, and who uses her ability to piece together a...well "gadget"...at a moment's notice to the advantage of these pint size crime fighters. She is as determined as she is talented, and can usually be found covered in the grease of one invention or another. Filling out the crew is Zipper, a tiny house-fly who could be classified as the group's "pet" if it wasn't for the fact that he was such an important part of the team! Zipper uses his speed and tiny size to aid the Rangers in ways that would otherwise leave them hanging.
These crazy Rangers, as stated before, only managed to make it through one single season before they were retired, but so many adventures were produced during this single run, that there will be multiple volumes used to release the entire series. In this first volume, you get three discs with a total of 27 episodes...plenty of adventures and comedic moments to make every fan satisfied for now, and few enough to make the diehards clamor for the next release!
Given this fan base, what I found to be slightly odd is the manner in which this collection was released. First up, and my only major gripe...although it is a plenty big gripe...is the fact that there is not a single, solitary extra feature of any shape or form included here. I am talking the only special feature on this entire three disc set is English SUBTITLES. This is unheard of for the Disney company, as it seems they pride themselves on making their material fun, exciting, and full of value; let alone doing a series such as this justice!
These discs don't even have animated menus! In fact, the menus you get are low resolution screen caps from the series with a bare-bones instrumental version of the theme song played over it. There is a selection to "Play", one to choose chapters, and one to turn on or off the subtitles. That is it folks, so if you ARE one of these die-hard fans I have been speaking about in this review...be sure you are aware of this in advance! It will save you some serious grief when you get this sucker unwrapped and popped in the player.
But one click of that play button and you are off and running with the comedic adventures...and by off and running, I MEAN off and running. This collection doesn't even start with the first episodes and instead dives right into the action with what was originally the 6th actual episode. You see there was a five part pilot which detailed the formation of the Rescue Rangers which originally aired prior to the shows true beginning, however, this box set is being released in production order...not airing order. What this means to you is that you will get the pilot episodes, which were created after several of the in-line episodes, later in the game.
So zero extra features means that old time fans will be slightly alienated; although the same fau paux was just doubled on the coordinated release of DuckTales, and I guaruntee that this series' fans will be FAR more vocal as to their mistreatment. But beyond upsetting existing fans (the majority of the purchasing customer base I would wager), Disney is also going to upset newer fans by releasing things in such a way that those wet behind the ears will find confusing. Oh well...lets get back to the positive things about this release...namely 27 awesome episodes!
Lots of fan favorite episodes have made it into this set; each one a trip down memory lane for those of us who remember watching them as part of our daily Disney fix. Things get off to a running start in "Catteries Not Included" with the disappearance of all the cats from Cat Alley and coinciding attacks on he city with some sort of lighting bolt. When a little girls kitten goes missing, the Rangers find themselves getting involved and attempting to not only find these missing cats, but perhaps even save the whole city!
In the episode entitled "An Elephant Never Suspects" (my personally most remembered episode), the Rangers are called to the zoo to figure out who has been stealing all the elephants peanuts! But when things go wrong and it looks as though the Rangers themselves are to blame, the gang is forced to move undercover. Of course, as always, hilarity ensues. Whether it is the Ranger's nemesis Fat Cat or the diabolical Professor Nimnul...there are plenty of bad guys and mysterious circumstances here to keep your attention throughout the 27 episodes included.
There are many, many examples of this shows greatness included here...although it is a drag to find them out of order and bare bones. For die hard fans, you already know that you will buy this three disc set...apparently something that Disney knows as well; which is why they are offering it as such! For new fans...ths is a great time to catch up on a series you may have missed...and a very good one at that! But be wary that you don't expect too much...you definitely will not be getting anything more here...
-aaron-
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