Before Chip and Dale were attached to the show, creator Tad Stones pitched a TV series based on The Rescuers, but Disney rejected it since a theatrical sequel was already in production.

Stones then developed a concept called Metro Mice starring an Indiana Jones-style mouse named Kit Colby wearing a fedora and leather jacket, alongside a chameleon and early versions of Gadget and Monterey Jack.

When Stones pitched Metro Mice to Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, they liked the concept but disliked the lead character Kit, so at Eisner's suggestion he was replaced with the established Disney duo Chip and Dale.

By late 1987, two years before its TV debut, the show had already been announced under the working title 'Chip 'n Dale and the Rescue Rangers'.

Rescue Rangers was conceived as the first of several companion shows to the hit series DuckTales, with Disney investing $28 million in it after having invested $20 million in DuckTales.

Chip's original outfit was inspired by the discarded Kit Colby character design, while Dale's Hawaiian shirt was reminiscent of, though not directly modeled after, Thomas Magnum from Magnum, P.I.

To give Chip and Dale a more verbal, distinct sound than in classic Disney shorts, audio processing was used to speed up the voice recordings and raise their pitch, especially for Chip's voice performed by Tress MacNeille.

The show's opening theme was written by Mark Mueller, who also wrote the DuckTales theme song, and both themes were performed over the title credits by singer Jeff Pescetto.