I’ll admit it. I had a fan-girl freak out moment when I saw the news that Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers was getting the Blu-ray treatment and that it would be the complete series. I still remember the disappointment I felt back when it was made clear that the Rescue Rangers DVD collection (released then as Volume One and Volume Two) would never get the “Volume 3” it needed for the series to be complete, leaving fans with no legitimate/legal way to watch the remaining 14 episodes (prior to Disney+). It seemed as though the series had been abandoned, leaving the fans who loved it feeling abandoned as well. When I found out about the upcoming blu-ray release, I felt more excitement about CDRR than I’d felt in more than a decade.
Of course I purchased it the moment it was available.
It’s been displayed up on the bookshelf in the living room alongside various other memorabilia, unopened, since the day it was acquired. Last week, however, I decided it was time to open it up and take a look. For those who have not yet made the purchase, here’s a look at the Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers blu-ray cover and its contents:
There’s really not much to see here. The box art looks nice, but there isn’t any art inside the case or on any of the discs. It’s just a very basic press with the series logo and the disc number. There isn’t any sort of episode list or any indication of which episodes appear on which discs. While I didn’t have high expectations, not including any sort of reference about the contents of the collection was a bit of a surprise.
A couple of nights ago, I watched one of the discs for the first time. The Blu-ray boots up to the modern Disney animation logo and then it goes to a simple splash screen with the option to watch all episodes, or choose from an episode list. The ending credits theme from the earlier episodes plays on repeat in the background.
Hmm… maybe I should show instead of just tell.
(Video) Booting up the blu-ray disc and loading into the menu
As far as I can tell, the episodes play in their original aspect ratio and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. I haven’t had a chance to play the Blu-ray and DVD side by side to see if there’s any difference between the two, but I can say it is better than the version that’s streaming on Disney+ (more on that later)
(Video) Opening title / intro sequence from Piratsy Under the Seas:
And here’s another bonus clip – the bonus being the AMAZING frame the clip ended on, becoming my new favorite screenshot.
(Video) Opening title / intro sequence from Good Times, Bat Times:
So back to Disney+… I was able to capture the same frame on Disney+ and on the Blu-ray so I could overlay them for a more accurate comparison. The Blu-ray is the better version. It’s displayed in the original aspect ratio allowing us to see the entire frame, compared to the Disney+ version which uses a cropped 16:9 format.
(Video) Comparing Blu-ray to Disney+ using Photoshop:
If you have the ability to purchase Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers: The Complete Series on blu-ray (assuming it’s available in your region), this is the best way to watch it. Otherwise, Disney+ is going to be the only other (legitimate/legal) way to watch the entire series since the DVD release was incomplete.
And that’s a wrap!
Be sure to come visit the CnDO Message Boards to discuss this blu-ray release with other fans
Oh wow when did these come out? And I can see these blurays will play in my region. I had to buy my dvds from the states so they were locked to that region. And finally all of the episodes. It ticked me off not having a complete set. I will have to buy.
Its great they kept the original aspect ratio for the bluray at least. As you’ve shown, they cropped the disney plus version. I’ve actually seen the opposite when they’ve tried to do HD releases of shows that weren’t originally meant to be played widescreen
(that should play at the point I’m talking about you don’t need to watch the whole thing)
I’ve tried to update most of what I have to at least bluray when they become available. If anyone was interested, Star Trek the next generation on bluray was perfection.
The bluray for Avatar the last airbender was also great. The dvd had so many blurred or ghosted lines but they’re all gone in the bluray.
Anyway I’m going off topic again. Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention @Ducky
The set came out in January 2022, but as an exclusive for Disney Movie Club. Then it got a retail release in February, but both releases only in the US.
But hey, not hard to import, thanks to it being Region Free.
Its a decent set, though a pain to find the episode you want without a guide. Apparently, they’ve listed them all in production order, rather than the same line-up on the DVDs or Disney Plus/Broadcast order. They could’ve at least make alternative disc covers/menus.
Also sucks is the lack of bonus material which they could’ve put some effort in. The uncut movie version of the pilot, the “excellent adventures” behind the scenes featurette, am early sneak peek of the upcoming movie (which this was clearly released as a tie-in for), or even just some bonus shorts from either the classics, modern or the Park Life show would’ve been fine.
The video quality is excellent! I didn’t realize the Disney Plus version cropped out that much. Presentation could have been better, but I’m happy it got released at all.
Did you watch many episodes? Seer No Evil is still my favorite.
Wow, finally! I too was severely disappointed when they only released the first two seasons on DVD back a million years ago. I was able to catch up on some of the non-DVD episodes on Disney Plus, which made some of the old discussions from the message boards back then make more sense. I had never seen the episode with Foxglove for instance. I might have when I was a kid but didn’t remember it. When I first rediscovered CDRR, I had strong memories of the characters and their personalities, but not of any specific episodes. I’ll have to get this so I can finally see the whole series and earn my Rescue Rangers nerd cred.