![]() ![]() ![]() The film was directed by Janice Karman and featured the Chipmunks and Chipettes in a contest traveling around the world. In 1987, during the show's fifth season, the Chipmunks' first animated feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure, was released in cinemas by The Samuel Goldwyn Company. In 1988, the show switched production companies to DIC Enterprises the first 11 episodes of season 6 were produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, and the series was renamed to The Chipmunks. The show introduced the Chipettes, three female Chipmunks with their female caretaker, Miss Beatrice Miller (who joined the cast in 1986). ![]() The show aired from September 17, 1983, to December 1, 1990, on NBC and is the follow-up to the original 1961–62 series, The Alvin Show. The last Season was animated by Sei Young Animation. The Murakami-Wolf-Swenson episodes were animated by A-1 Productions. Much of the overseas animation was done by Hanho Heung-Up for Seasons 2-5. He did “Muppets From Space” and “Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties.” He is improving.ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks (2015–present)Īlvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated television series featuring the Chipmunks, which was produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983 to 1987, Murakami-Wolf-Swenson in 1988 and DIC Enterprises from 1988 to 1990. The dancing cheek-stuffers cover the Bagdasarian classic “Witch Doctor” and less inspired choices such as “Funky Town” and “Bad Day.” They do a few new tunes as well, and move and look more like real chipmunks than in most previous incarnations. I don’t know if that’s because or in spite of interacting with animated co-stars, but it couldn’t have been the easiest thing to do. Lee is surprisingly convincing in the emotion department. Naturally, there’s a struggle over the little superstars’ future between exasperated but basically loving Dave and indulging, exploiting Ian. After a nod of the animated top hat to the classic Chuck Jones short “One Froggy Evening,” the ‘Munks get signed to Ian’s label and quickly become a smash sensation. When he finds out they also sing, though, he writes the Christmas classic “The Chipmunk Song” for them. He almost kills them, then discovers they talk and wonders if he should kill himself. It’s a kind of origin story in which the chipmunks end up in Dave’s Hollywood loser bungalow, which they promptly trash. Jason Lee plays Dave, who writes mopey ballads that even his college roommate turned record executive Ian Hawk (a very fun, geeky/evil David Cross) can’t get recorded. The affectionate-but-troublesome little critters are voiced by Justin Long (Alvin), “Criminal Minds’ ” Matthew Gray Gubler (Simon) and real-life singing star Jesse McCartney (Theodore). Could’ve been a lot worse it’s a singing chipmunk movie, for Pete’s sake. The film will still aggravate most adults (yes, there are poop jokes), but it’s supposed to. And the whole idea of them as destructive kids gets enlarged and updated when they’re turned into overworked teen pop idols, which is droll in its obvious way. The chipmunks can cause greater, more realistic mayhem, thanks to modern technology. Headstrong Alvin and his singing brothers, Simon and Theodore, always caused their human dad figure, Dave Seville, some kind of grief, and what wasn’t to like about that? So I guess I’m mildly pleased that “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” a live-action movie in which the forest rodents are not only computer-generated but disconcertingly reduced to their natural size, otherwise captures the irritating humor of the TV cartoon. Can’t say I have vivid childhood memories of Ross Bagdasarian Sr.’s “The Alvin Show.” But what I do vaguely recall is pleasant enough, as long as those helium chipmunk harmonies were limited to one song per episode. ![]()
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