Peter Pan Syndrome? Nostalgia and (Self-)Reflexive Metafiction in Disney+ Chip’n Dale: Rescue Rangers Remake

“Peter Pan syndrome” (Kiley, 1983) in pop-psychology denotes men who refuse adult responsibilities, and therefore try to recapture their youth. This concept finds echoes in contemporary cultural trends. Scholars (Bonhomme 2018, Gilbert 2019, Loock 2020, Rosewarne 2020, Rowe 2022) have flagged nostalgia, this longing sentiment for an idealized and unattainable past, as a major emotional and commercial motivation for contemporary remakes. By building on technological innovation, the intention is to revive a title as a form of homage and home-coming experience. Disney Studios have helped establish this trend with recent live-action adaptations of their animated classics. Yet, Disney+ Chip’n Dale Rescue Rangers (2022) movie remake of the 1980s Disney Afternoon TV series goes further than its predecessors as it openly seeks to question remaking practices by engaging in self-reflexive metafictional discourse. Sandeau (2018) established that this can assume three perspectives: a critical, a cynical and/or a nostalgic one. This presentation will show that Rescue Rangers adopts all three. The plot openly criticizes remaking practices as it likens the production of boot-legged remakes to criminal activity, placing Peter Pan (a.k.a. Sweet Pete) at the head of its mafia. The main character, CGI-surgery enhanced Dale, embodies cynicism as the TV has-been's only hope is to star in a reboot. Other characters undergo changes that contribute to creating this sarcastic yet assumed Roger-Rabbit-like world in which Pan has become middle-aged riffraff and once-silent Zipper has turned into a deep-voiced suburban parent. This humorous satire is nonetheless sweetened by a nostalgic aesthetic that does homage to the history of animation techniques ranging from 1980s 2D to state-of-the-art 3D in live-action backgrounds. As stated by director Akiva Schaffer, the movie is “a love letter to animation” that aimed to “dump [those chipmunks] back into the culture [for] a good reason” (Mallory, 2022, p.29).