Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers Teaser Trailer Thoughts

Oh boy, this is going to be rough for me. Well, no sense delaying any further, let me talk about this.

So my obvious starting with the voices. When they first announced that they were working on Rescue Rangers, I kinda knew that the original cast would most likely not return. It was a running trend of bringing back nostalgic franchises, but replacing those classic voices with star actors. Only two things ultimately were different from this: Animaniacs and Duck Tales. With Animaniacs, they brought back the original cast, it was just the cutting of most of the original character and some rather poor writing that went against it, while Duck Tales had a new cast, but while the show changed many of the characters somewhat, the writing for the most part was so good, it worked well and at least the actors for characters like Donald and Scrooge tried to sound like how they would sound. With Rescue Rangers, not only did they not bring back the cast, but the main characters of Chip and Dale don't even sound like them, even going so far as to not add the Chipmunk voice effect they have always been known for.

Then there is the animation. This one is the major reason most have attacked this trailer, with them pointing out that it's rather stupid to make a joke about changing from 2D to 3D when the so called 2D animation is apparently 2D made in a 3D program, which still looks bad and doesn't blend in well. It's worse as they bring in Roger Rabbit, a character who's own movie was traditional 2D animation done so amazingly well when they placed it in live action, something they took great love and care to do. This...this is just so frustrating. As if that wasn't enough, the gag about the animation transition is from a 3D Dale, who actually looks rather amazing for such a transition. This leads me to wonder if they couldn't do good 2D, then why not just go all 3D as they seem to be rather good at it. I personally think it works rather well and like it more then the 3D transition for Bugs & Co in that recent Space Jam movie.

Then there is the story that I tried to make of in the trailer. From the way I interpreted it, the Rescue Rangers was a show that got popular but once it ended the cast fell into obscurity? What? I mean, that's how I saw it given the way they interacted with other characters and now they are trying to get the gang back together to what? Solve Crimes? Had a hard time trying to find something more to the story. Heck, this story would have worked better as a Bonkers movie, which would make sense in a cartoon cross live action movie. And why was Gadget not shown much in the trailer, or heck, where is Foxglove who is a fan favourite character (even the comic Boom! studios knew that enough to bring her back and actually give her a part). What is the story and why does it feel like it was wasted on the wrong franchise?

Hang on, if the gang split apart, then why are Chip and Dale in this situation. If we take everything we know about this, they still work for Disney doing shows and both are in simplistic 3D designs. See what I mean, none of this is making any sense.

I know, I know, don't judge it until you watch it, but from what I've seen so far, I more invested in the Sonic 2 movie and even the Blue's Clues one as both appear to at least treated with respect to the source material. As a massive Rescue Rangers fan (seriously, I payed nearly $180 in postage just to get the 8 issues of the Boom! studios comic when they came out, have comics and how to draw art books and even one of those limited run display pieces with Chip and Dale holding Gadget up while she holds a key and that cost a bit to get in too), this feels like a massive let down. You can't make a joke about remakes when what you give isn't the same as what the fans had wanted as it just feels like a remake regardless. This is why the Sonic one worked, cause they listened to the fans and it made big that they started on a sequel and they just announced a third movie. This feels like that Tom and Jerry disaster and the fact it's going straight to Disney+ has people saying that going onto Disney+ is the new straight to DVD and boy does it feel like one of those unwanted DVD sequels.

Yeah, I'm frustrated, but Hollywood and Disney have given me no reason to trust them with beloved franchises that people want to see.

Seriously, they should have done this as a Bonkers movie. Would have worked better then what I'm seeing here.

So having seen a number of people talking about this trailer, I find that perhaps I was too easy on it. Certainly the fact that it's been what, 34 years since Who framed Roger Rabbit came out? And this was the best Disney could do is rather insulting for animation fans. On top of it, it is rather ignorant and stupid to make fun of other animation types from movies when your own is a complete mess. That one shot of the animated Cats from the CATS movie and trying to say your better then that when you can't even get your 2D right is just hypocritical. The more I think about it, the more I see the flaws. 

 

Yes, those 3D Alvin and the Chipmunk movies did look better and at least stayed faithful to the source material, even though they had those celebrity voices, they still modified them to sound like the Chipmunks. What the hell was Disney's excuse? Chip and Dale have always sounded similar with their voices, so why did all of the sudden did that change? Do they plan on just giving up on Donald Duck and give him and average voice? That's part of their character, it's what defines them.

 

I have serious concerns about this movie and it reeks of incompetence. 

Festive Army List Complete

So after some time going over units, points, designs and time frames, I have set a final list for this 1,000pt festive themed list. So I'll put up the list followed by some of the reasons behind it.

Vanguard Detachment

HQ:

            - Logan Grimnir on Stormrider

            - Wolf Guard Battle Leader on Thumderwolf

                - Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, Relic: The Pelt of Balewolf

Elites:

            - Venerable Dreadnaught 1

                - Heavy Flamer, Ferisian Great Axe & Blizzard Shield

            - Venerable Dreadnaught 2

                - Twin-linked Lascannon & Missile Launcher

            - Murderfang

Fast:

            - Ferisian Wolves (7)

                - Cyber-wolf Leader

            - Thunderwolf Cavalry (3)

                - 2x Lightning Claw & Storm Shield

                - Pack Leader with Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield

 

So yeah, it's a 1,000pt list with only 3 CP remaining, but honestly I just felt I could get more done by limiting the model numbers down.

Now what am I actually doing with these models?

Well, first off the most obvious one is using the Logan Grimnir as Santa. The two wolves will be replaced with Stags from the Wild Riders/Sisters of the Thorn kit, which I'll need two boxes of, given that there are nine Reindeer seen as the usual Santa theme, with Rudolf being the more famous one (thus he will represent the Cyber-wolf). Yes, the wolves will also be the Stag models for this theme. As for what to do with the Stormrider, I'm still trying to come up with a single design to stick to.

All three Dreadnaughts will be painted and added on to be a mixture of Chocolate/Gingerbread theme. A big shout out to Pondmaiden on Twitter who is working on her own Chaos Gingerbread stuff and whom made my job so much more easier by telling her fans the paints and decorative products she used. The Gingerbread Dreadnaught was something I've been trying to figure out as I had no idea what paints to use or how to make the decorations, but by sheer luck a tweet of hers was recommended as it was thanks to it and her that I now have an excellent idea as to what to do.

The Wolf riding Marines was my alternative to the Snowmen Wulfen. So many designs and I wasn't happy with any of them, but didn't want to stick to just adding plain Marines to the list. Given I'm using the Space Wolves for this themed army, Wolf riders was a given alternative. My only problem is I know nothing really about them or what options to give them, so I went on a massive internet search to see how people armed them. Four options were given: Astartes Chainsword & Lightning Claw for riders and Powerfist & Thunder Hammer for leaders. The Thunder Hammer option was my preferred choice as it seemed more thematic and given all the games I've seen lately with Death Guard in them probably also swayed me. The basic rider options were a bit harder. A 5pt difference grants an additional -1AP and lets you re-roll wounds, but on the other hand, given the state of Games Workshop, they might be an obsolete option within a year or two. I'll stick with the LC option for the moment.

That said, the paint scheme for the Wolves and Marines is sort of hitting a bit of a snag. I wanted the wolves to be more a light grey/ white colour, but trying to get the marines to not blend in too much proves to be difficult, as every Christmas colour theme I go with always ends in white. I was thinking a sort of ghostly green colour with blue rims on the shoulder pads, but I'm still not sure. I don't want too many colours clogging everything up. Perhaps I'll make some Christmas lights and string them around the Marines to add colour if they too end up being too white. Need to do a few test colours and see what works.

I'm liking these options and look forward to getting them done. I already have at least half these units so far and can start working on them soon. The ranged Dreadnaught is an old Dreadnaught of mine so I'm using it as a starting point to get the paint scheme correct so that the other Dreads can obviously look better. Once I get the first one done, I'll start the updates on the project (so it will hopefully motivate me to finish them).

Edit: Decided to add a Heavy Flamer to the Venerable Dread as I had points left over and forgot about Vehicle shooting rules.

2022 Miniature Projects

So it seems I have way too many projects and I can't seem to focus on any long enough to complete them. That said, in the latest White Dwarf mag, they had a 2022 painting bingo card and so I plan to use this as a template to push myself to get some projects completed. Obviously I will not include the Nighthaunt that I've been working on as they are so quickly done and over with that it would just be cheating.

Instead, I will dedicate it to working on things like my Soulblight Gravelords and that Christmas themed faction I talked about before. Through this I hope to complete both factions by the end of the year.

Of course, I still will be working on other projects for Malifaux, Moonstone (whick I am so far behind in) and Burrows & Badgers. As for any other miniature games, I guess I do need to get back to work on some Marvel Crisis Protacol, but we'll see what 2022 has in store.

Honestly, I just hope I can get at least half these miniatures done as 2022 doesn't seem to look to be any better compared to 2021.

A More Festive Project Idea for 2022

So 40K has left me rather mixed as to whether I want to get back into it or avoid it all together. However, I have been watching the 40k in 40 minutes series on the Play on Tabletop YouTube channel and they did a festive battle of Santa Wolves (Space Wolves) vs The Toy Empire (Tau) and while I really enjoyed it, I felt that a few converted models could have added to it. Then I remember that one battle report on the Angry Joe channel where a few Nurgle units hadan Xmas them and the Space Marines I believed were wearing Sombreros.

So I though, why not do a small Xmas army as a complete goal for 2022?

This would have some obvious ones like a converted Logan Grimnar on Stormrider and Fenrisian Wolves (the wolves all being replaced by the Stag models from the Wild Riders kit, the Cyber Wolf upgrade being a Rudolf conversion). A Techmarine being the lead Toy Maker and a Wulfen Dreadnaught having a sort of building block colour design with a Nutcracker soldier hat to be his bodyguard.

Wulfen I may convert as living killer Snowmen, while those like Infiltrators and Eliminators might be hinding in Xmas trees or Presents. I guess another troop choice could be Assault Intercessors, who could have a green and white colour scheme while HQ choices would have red and white, perhaps with a blue or black shoulder with a white snowflake design. That said, a Chaplain might be a blue or purple armour and would be the one riding a bike (possibly designed with a gingerbread theme for the bike).

Still lots of options for festive designs and conversions, plus points should be around 1,000 to 1,500. This way I have some limits and can slowly add those miniatures over the year as no doubt I'll get some from the Imperium magazine the should be out here in Australia in 2022.

I don't want to get caught up or bogged down on these things.instead, I just want to work on something fun, but also something that won't consume my time and focus. Looking forward to see what I can come up with.

Update: So thinking back on this, I may have pushed myself into looking at too many models instead of the slow build up I'm wanting. For example, I should scrap the Chaplain idea and instead turn the Dreadnaught into gingerbread. I'll go back over my ideas and try to simplyfy them.

Quick Thoughts on Sonic Trailers

Sonic 2 Movie Trailer

Loved it. Yeah, I had hoped they'd move more away from Earth and focus on Sonic's homeworld more, but it's Hollywood and that's to be expected at this point. That said, the trailer gave a good enough outline of what is too be expected from it and to have Robotnik and Agent Stone back together will no doubt have the best human interaction scenes. Can't wait.

Sonic Frontiers

Have no idea what this trailer is about or what the game is even about. This trailer gives me nothing to hook me in and it just feels disappointing. Given what info I can find about the game from more official sources, it hasn't improved my opinion on it. There are so many questions I have and problems about it that I'm keeping my opinion low, may be out of desperation that I want to be proven wrong. 

Down for the Holidays

 So I've been pointing out here and there about a physical condition that was making life a little more difficult over the last few years. Well, that situation has now been corrected as I am recovering from nasal and sinus surgery. As such, it is a real pain to deal with as it needs regular management to stop infection and to recover, which isn't easy as I still can't breath through it yet and splint still needs to come out.

As such, I'm staying with family while I recover and won't be back home till after Christmas. I'll still do an update here and there, but projects are on hold till I am well enough that I can get regular sleep again. 

My opinion of the term 'Canon'

So today my twitter feed was caught in a set of discussion over what is considered 'Canon'.

So Canon is a word used to describe what is considered to be official in things like Characters and Story in a particular franchise/show/book etc.

For some, what is official canon is considered to be sacred and anyone doing anything that goes against that is therefore a target of ridicule. This becomes more problematic when there is more then one creator/writer and the longer it goes the more changes occur, which in turn splits a fanbase further.

Then you have those who believe their own canon should be the official one and attack anyone who disagrees with them. This too becomes worse when that person also has a following of people who agree with them.

A good example is the Sonic fandom, a franchise that by this point has so many different versions of the characters and lore that it can be very difficult to navigate at times. Then when those at the top change things around preferring one version over another, it can become hectic. Given how long it has gone for and how many versions there are, each new one has new fans which can result in conflict with older fans. It was bad enough with the whole 2D vs 3D argument, but when you get into Characters, Lore, Shipping etc. you find where the fan base it truly divided.

So where do I stand on what is canon and what isn't?

Simple:

Multiverse

Yep, I love the idea of multiverse theory and how many franchises tackle the issue.  I'm a strong believer that in every franchise, every universe of characters and story are but one of many. Sure, the owners of said franchises may have their official canon, but from that a multiverse (or alternative universes) begin to exist through the creativity of fans. Their characters, their stories, exist in an alternate universe and everything that exists in it is its own canon. Nothing can change that, though the original franchise owners may try to deny its existence or even destroy the multiverse, in truth, they really can't. The fandom creates its own and that alone justifies their existence. 

In a way, the official canon is still the official canon, only those who own those rights can alter with it. However, every fans work exists in an alternate universe, one that only they can shape and it is part of a much larger multiverse. It would mean that you could do what you want with your universe without it upsetting someone else's universe. I imagine that if people gave up on trying to justify what they believe is officially canon and just accepted that their canon is officially an alternative universe canon, it might stop at least a part of every fandom from going at each other.

Well, I hope. Humans are only human after all.