Chip had the small black nose, Dale had the bigger red nose (or was it the other way around?) Chip was always the more practical, businesslike of the two; Dale was the fun loving, goofier one. Beyond those two distinctions, there was not too much difference between the two, and their joint warfare against a number of enemies, usually Donald Duck, made the pair inseperable.

They originally started as bit players with no intention of continuing on beyond a one-shot role in "Private Pluto." Disney had been looking for different foils for Donald, and Jack Hannah took the two (who had been originally developed by Gerry Geronomi) and gave them more personality. Their voices were performed by Jimmy MacDonald and Dessie Flynn.

Chip 'n' Dale were rarely malevolent, and their drives originated from two simple motives; finding (or keeping) a place to live and finding (or keeping) food. But once they got started protecting their own well-being, it was always difficult for them not to try to have a little fun with whatever their situation was. Especially with Donald, who always seemed to get the worst of their mischief. Only once did they truly find themselves in competition with each other; over a cute little female chipmunk named Clarice.

Chip 'n' Dale appeared in 23 different shorts, and were revived for the featurette "Mickey's Christmas Carol." We've also been promised that we should see them in upcoming "Mickey's Mouse Works" shorts as well.

Downloads : mp3 of Chip 'n' Dale's theme song (24 seconds; 391K.)