There is a Disney cartoon called Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers (or Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers) about chipmunks (led by Dale and Chip) who solve crimes & mysteries. There is a male exotic dancing group called Chippendales who do a striptease. This is an eery similarity. Is there any connection between the two? Which came first? I couldn’t decide which would be more disturbing, if a children’s cartoon was named after a group of male exotic dancers or if a group of male exotic dancers was named after a children’s cartoon. So, I’m hoping that there is no causal relationship between the names - that it’s all a coincidence. However, unless they were created at approximately the same time, it’s hard to believe that the creator of the later one had never heard of the earlier one. Is it possible that they were both named after something else? The names of the Rescue Rangers were not just chosen randomly - one fat chipmunk who liked cheese was named Monterey Jack.
So, which is it? Cartoon named after dancers? Dancers named after cartoon? Both named after something else? Or just a disturbing coincidence?
Well, the term “Chippendale” was originally an English last name. It them appeared as a term for a style of furniture that was associated with a carpenter named Thomas Chippendale in the 18th century. Precisely how it got applied to the cartoons and male strippers, I don’t know. But I think it’s safe to say they were both named after something else.
Thanks for the help, everyone. I looked for a source for RealityChuck’s claim, and found this:
“The Chippendales act was created in 1979 as a novel type of ladies’ entertainment with sexy male dancers performing cabaret-style shows one night a week at two Los Angeles nightclubs. The moniker “Chippendales” was borrowed from the 18th-century furniture-maker Thomas Chippendale, whose classy designs they sought to emulate. It became so popular that a nightclub, also named Chippendales, was acquired for the company to perform at nightly. And so, the Chippendales began as the first all-male dance revue catering to women.”
So, it looks like we’ve gotten to the bottom of this. Apparently they’re both named after the talented 18th century furniture maker Thomas Chippendale. That’s not so disturbing, as far as associations between strippers & children’s cartoons go.
It’s irritating that it’s come full circle, and now you find “Chip’n’Dale” or similar as a common misnomer for the furniture. For instance, here ("The newest piece of furniture in the house is an 1830 Queen Anne, Chip-and-Dale-style dressing table").
And, as a double-bankshot non sequitur minor hijack, the man who did the voice for Chairface Chippendale in The Tick will be providing the voice of Shere Kahn in Jungle Book 2, a future Disney animated flick, which, as far as is known, will not feature Chip and Dale.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.
