Chip ’N Dale: Rescues Rangers director Akiva Schaffer talks reboots, Roger Rabbit, and The Lonely Island

gamesradar.com:

Helming a reboot is no easy task – but it was loads of fun for director Akiva Schaffer. Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is a fresh take on the ‘90s animated series that combines multiple animation styles, cameos from your favorite Saturday morning cartoons, and a heartwarming tale of friendship into one big family-friendly adventure.

Taking place some 30 years after the end of the Rescue Rangers cartoon, Chip and Dale are two retired Hollywood actors and ex-best friends who don't keep in touch. When one of their former co-stars goes missing, the two must reunite and become detectives once again in order to save the life of their friend and solve the mystery of the missing toons. 

Total Film sat down with Schaffer – best known as part of the Lonely Island and for helming Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, The Watch, and Hot Rod – to talk about the film, including the challenges of directing live-action animation, Hollywood's reboot fever, and paying homage to animation styles both 2D and CGI. Plus, we have a brand new exclusive image of Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers! Check out our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Total Film: I know that the idea was always to do an Alvin and the Chipmunks live-action style film before you signed on as director. What made you decide to go above and beyond and combine multiple animation styles? Or was that always the plan?

Akiva Schaffer: That was part of what attracted me to it. The writers, Doug Mann and Dan Gregor, had already cracked that part of it. It was already planned that Chip was going to be 2D and Dale was going to be 3D throughout the whole movie and that it was kind of the Roger Rabbit world of toons living among us where some are movie stars and some are just,