The Lone Chipmunks 1954

Black Pete Billy Bletcher storms into the dusty Old West town of Gower Gulch, guns blazing, and robs the bank before racing away on his horse. The scene shifts to Chip [James MacDonald] and Dale [Dessie Flynn] as they buckle down for winter, gathering and stashing acorns high in their tree while they softly sing Home on the Range. A wanted poster bearing Pete’s image and a $10,000 reward is pinned to the very hole where Chip has tucked away more acorns, and a comic mishap follows: Chip accidentally places his own face on the poster, which makes Dale think her friend has turned to crime while also fueling her excitement about the money and her sudden urge to turn Chip over to the police—until she actually sees the poster herself.

Pete returns to his hiding spot and secures the cash in a chest hidden inside a tree that also serves as the home to Chip and Dale’s oak hideout. He then starts breakfast, still singing Home on the Range, unaware of the chipmunks’ plans to collar him. The two siblings make several playful attempts to trap him. They try to pull him off his perch with a rock tied to a rope, and when Chip is momentarily caught by Pete who mistakes him for a salt shaker, Dale mistakes the vibrations as the signal to drop the rock, shouting “Now?” and hearing “Not now!” just in time to spare Chip.

Pete is startled, hides behind a rock, and fires wildly at nothing. The two rodents improvise a clever trap by turning a tobacco bag stuffed with gunpowder into a makeshift cigarette; when the bag crackles, Pete instinctively throws it aside, and it explodes behind them. Panic ensues as he fires blindly, then, overwhelmed by the chaos, he decides to move on. He fumbles with his chest, only to discover it is packed with acorns, and he spots his stolen money lying along a path. He gathers the coins as he slips into a pit, suddenly faced with the chipmunks again who shoot at him with bravado: “If it’s trouble you varmints want, I’ll give it to you!” They retreat back to their tree, trying to wrest one of Pete’s guns away in the process.

Chip struggles with the weight of the gun and nearly collapses, its recoil zipping off in a comically uncontrollable burst. Pete, trying to defend himself, pulls his own gun, only to unleash Dale instead, who happens to be stuck in the holster and pretends to be a pistol. Chip then aims and commands Pete to surrender; in a cheeky moment, Chip spins the gun too quickly and fires, popping Pete’s hat and grazing a bit of his hair. Pete attempts to beg off with smooth talk, but Chip is unimpressed. The weapon’s chamber is spun loose and falls out, leaving Pete cornered as cavalry horns begin to echo in the distance.

Dale then turns the tables with a flurry of pratfalls that showcase their mischievous teamwork: she yanks a spur from Pete’s boot to set off the bullets on his belt, lassos his leg, and uses cheeky tricks to immobilize him. They push him into a cactus, steal his knife to cut his belt, and tie his head with a bandana. The duo even slips inside his shirt and tickles him, while Dale rides the spur down Pete’s back, pushing him into a wild chase. Chip seizes a frying pan with eggs and bacon, laying it in Pete’s path; the pan sends him sprawling, and he ends up dazed, bathed in maple syrup, and surrounded by the money he stole. The cavalry finally captures Pete, who the soldiers believe was felled by Chip & Dale, who are at last dubbed “The Lone Chipmunks.” The short closes with Chip and Dale laughing as they ride off into the distance with their trusty horse.

“Sunny side up”