Disney reviving 'Chip 'n Dale' for a Live-Action Feature

Chip ‘n’ Dale, Disney’s classic cartoon chipmunk duo, is being revived with the goal of becoming a big-screen feature, according to theThe Hollywood Reporter.

The studio has picked up a pitch from Robert Rugan, an award-winning commercials director, who is writing an updated take on the characters in what is being envisioned as a live-action/CG hybrid.

Mandeville Films/TV, the Disney-based production shingle run by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman that is also behind the studio’s Muppetsfranchise, is producing.

Chip ‘n’ Dale first appeared in a 1943 animated short starring Pluto, and went on to appear in 22 reels stretching into the mid-1950s where the duo either annoyed Mickey’s faithful four-legged friend or squared off against Donald Duck.

They popped up in various Disney cartoons and comics but got a makeover in 1989 with Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers. The show saw Chip, the brains behind the pair, and Dale, the goofball, running a detective agency and helping animal clients. Disney made three seasons' worth of shows that then ran in syndication for the next decade on The Disney Channel.

It is from Rescue Rangers that the new project would spring as it tells an origin story of sorts.

Mandeville's Alexander Young is overseeing for the shingle and will exec produce.

Live-action/CG hybrids have proven to be quite successful. Fox is in the process of making a fourth Alvin and the Chipmunks picture while Sony Pictures Animation made two Smurfsmovie.

Mandeville's Muppets Most Wanted hits theaters March 21.