This Japanese Ad for Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers Is a Famicom Feast for the Eyes

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Ad (Japan)

One of the best things about picking up new collections of old games is that oftentimes they’ll come packed with extra behind-the-scenes goodies. That’s the case for Capcom’s The Disney Afternoon Collection, as it features a decent amount of concept art, box art, and advertising material from the included games.

For a quick reference, the games included in this collection are:

  • DuckTales
  • DuckTales 2
  • Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers
  • Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2
  • TaleSpin
  • Darkwing Duck

One of my favorite images in this collection is the Japanese ad for the Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers game, which would have been releasing on the Famicom in Japan.

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Ad (Japan)

There’s something otherworldly about seeing characters whose adventures I followed religiously as a child on a poster covered in Japanese text. It feels a little bit like stepping into an alternate reality.

Then again, I suppose it’s easy for us Americans to forget that a lot of Disney media did make it over to Japan (Tokyo even has a Disney resort!) There’s probably nothing unusual about the above ad; it’s just recontextualizing something that was once so familiar as to be ordinary. Still, it’s kind of cool to see a Japanese logo on one of my favorite cartoons from my childhood.

It’s also interesting to notice how visually appealing this ad is. They dedicated a whole lot of room to making the artwork look really nice, even with all of the text. The 90s ad designers in the States could have taken a lesson from this commitment to aesthetics.

For comparison, here’s the version that ran in the United States.

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Ad (United States)

As you can see, this version of the ad dedicates much more room to the text, sacrificing a good chunk of that beautiful artwork (they had to remove several inches off the top of the artwork, and a sliver off the bottom as well, to make it fit the page). The colors are also higher in contrast, to the point where the reds become overwhelming. Perhaps that was designed that way to catch people’s eyes, but it certainly doesn’t look as nice as the muted tones of the Japanese version. (This could also possibly be a variance in scan quality, or even an adjustment for printers based on different types of paper.)

Here’s the full copy of the ad:

HANG TOUGH! BE A RESCUE RANGER.

Join Chip ‘n Dale’s RESCUE RANGERS to thwart Fat Cat’s evil attempt to take control of the city.

Chip ‘n Dale, those pint sized but courageous Disney Detectives, have received another desperate call for help. The evil Fat Cat has kidnapped their friend Gadget.. his sinister goal- to use her inventions to take over the city!

Journey from the darkest depths of the slimy sewers to the electrifying heights of live telephone wires! Defend yourself against Fat Cat’s army of henchmen and robotic creations.

Many challenges lie ahead of you- avoid mechanical dogs, hawk bombers and killer bees. Play alone or with a friend to locate Fat Cat’s headquarters and thwart his diabolical scheme!

  • The search is on in this exciting family entertainment game from Capcom.
  • For 1 to 2 players.
  • Join Monterey Jack, Zipper, and Gadget in this action-packed adventure!

According to the notes in this image gallery, the phrase “Hang Tough” was a reference to the New Kids on the Block album Hangin’ Tough, which was released in 1988. While the phrase may have fallen out of the cultural lexicon in the decades since, it would have been instantly recognizable in 1990, when this advertisement ran.

As yet another bonus, The Disney Afternoon Collection also includes images of the game’s box art for both the North American version (Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers for NES) and the Japanese version (Chip to Dale no Daisakusen for the Famicom). Those are posted below so you can check them out for yourself.

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers NES Box Art
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Famicom Box Art
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