These two pesty, buck-toothed chipmunks were mainly supporting characters in cartoons for Walt Disney, usually a source of irritation to the irascible Donald Duck. Formative versions of the characters first appeared in 1943's "Private Pluto" and "Squatter's Rights," also with Pluto, which was nominated for an Academy Award. The squeaky-voiced duo were given their rightful names in the Donald Duck cartoon, "Chip an' Dale," in 1947 (their third appearance). They appeared in several more Donald Duck one-reelers before the studio featured the characters in their own series. The first series entry was 1951's "Chicken in the Rough."

Cartoons from the Chip 'n' Dale series are:
1951: "Chicken in the Rough"    (Hannah/Jan 19)
1952: "Two Chips and a Miss"   (Hannah/Mar 21)
1954: "The Lone Chipmunks"    (Kinney/Apr 7)

From The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons by Jeff Lenburg

More Chip 'n' Dale shorts were created in the late 1990s and early 2000s and were featured in "Mickey Mouse Works" and "The House of Mouse." Chip and Dale have also had cameos in other shorts and featurettes, including "Mickey's Christmas Carol," and were also recently seen in the Square-Enix "Kingdom Hearts" video games.

• Chip 'n' Dale were named after furniture maker Thomas Chippendale as a play on his name.
• Chip 'n' Dale were not intended to be used again after the short "Private Pluto"
• Chip is the smarter of the two, with the smooth fur and smaller black nose.
• Dale is the dimmer half, with a big red nose (sometimes brown), two buck teeth, and ruffled fur on his head.
• The pitch and comprehensibility of their voices often changed from film to film.
• According to Corey Burton (the voice of Dale in Rescue Rangers), the classic voices of the chipmunks were usually provided by Disney Studios female office staff, without credit.
• It is often believed that the Warner Bros Goofy Gophers, "Mac n Tosh," were a rip-off of Chip 'n' Dale. However, although the Gophers more defined forms didn't appear until 1947, their prototypes appeared in 1942's "Gopher Goofy" - one year before "Private Pluto." And while Chip and Dale were named in 1947 (the same year Mac 'n' Tosh were reworked for 1947's "The Goophy Gophers"), Mac and Tosh were not addressed by name in any of their shorts.