Alvin and the Chipmunks
Encyclopedia
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...

 chipmunk
Chipmunk
Chipmunks are small striped squirrels native to North America and Asia. They are usually classed either as a single genus with three subgenera, or as three genera.-Etymology and taxonomy:...

s: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled
Glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...

 intellectual; and Theodore, the chubby, impressionable one. The trio is managed by their human father David Seville. In reality, David Seville was Bagdasarian's stage name, and the Chipmunks themselves are named after the executives of their original record label. The characters were an unprecedented success, and the singing Chipmunks and their manager were given life in several animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...

 productions, using redrawn, anthropomorphic chipmunks, and eventually films.

The voices of the group were all performed by Bagdasarian, who sped up the playback to create higher pitched voices. This oft-used process was also not entirely new to Bagdasarian, who had also used it for two previous novelty song projects, including "The Witch Doctor", but it was so unusual and well executed it earned the trio two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

s for engineering. Although the characters were fictional, they did release a long line of actual albums and singles, with "The Chipmunk Song
The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)
"The Chipmunk Song " is a song written by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. Although it was written and sung by Bagdasarian , the singing credits are given to The Chipmunks, a fictitious singing group consisting of three chipmunks by the names of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore...

" becoming a number-one hit single in the United States. After Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.'s death in 1972, their voices were performed by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.
Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.
Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. is an Armenian-American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice artist and the son of the Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.-Life and career:...

 and Janice Karman
Janice Karman
Janice Felice Karman is an American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice artist. She is the co-owner of Bagdasarian Productions with her husband Ross Bagdasarian, Jr....

 in the subsequent incarnations of the 1980s and 1990s.

In the 2007 CGI/live-action movie adaptation
Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)
Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 comedy film directed by Tim Hill. Based on the animated series of the same name, the film stars Jason Lee, David Cross, and Cameron Richardson with the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and...

 and its 2009 sequel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, and the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, and Anna Faris...

, they were voiced in dialogue by Justin Long
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...

, Matthew Gray Gubler
Matthew Gray Gubler
Matthew Gray Gubler is an American actor, film director, sketch artist, and former fashion model. He is best known for his role as the young genius Dr. Spencer Reid in the CBS television show Criminal Minds, of which he has also directed two episodes...

 and Jesse McCartney
Jesse McCartney
Jesse McCartney is an American singer-songwriter, actor and voice actor. McCartney achieved fame in the late 1990s on the daytime drama All My Children as JR Chandler. He later joined boy band Dream Street, and eventually branched out into a solo musical career...

, respectively. Bagdasarian, Jr. and Karman continue to perform the singing voices for Alvin, Theodore and the Chipettes, but Steve Vining
Steve Vining
Steve Vining is an American drummer, producer and engineer. He started out as a staff producer at Pickwick Records before rising to power as the head of Windham Hill Records...

 now does Simon's singing voice. They are one of the most successful music groups of all time, earning five Grammy awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Reel Award
Golden Reel Award
Golden Reel Award may refer to:* Golden Reel Award , presented by the Genie Awards to high-grossing Canadian films...

, two Kids' Choice Awards, and have been nominated for three Emmy awards.

A third installment, titled Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is an upcoming 2011 American comedy film. The film stars Jason Lee. It is to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, and produced by Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions...

, is currently in production (since January 22, 2011) and is set to be released in theaters on December 16, 2011.

The Witch Doctor

In early 1958, Bagdasarian released a novelty song (as David Seville) about being unsuccessful at love until he found a witch doctor who told him "What To Do" to woo his woman. The song was done by Bagdasarian in his normal voice, except for the "magic" words, done first in Bagdasarian's pitched-up, pre-Chipmunk voice, then in a duet between his pitched-up voice and his normal voice. The words are nonsense: "Oo-ee, oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bing-bang". The "Walla Walla" part of the song was thrown in as a reference to Bagdasarian's uncle who lived in Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,731 at the 2010 census...

.

The song was a major hit, holding Number 1 for three weeks in the Billboard Top 100, a predecessor to the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

chart which would be introduced that August, and the Witch Doctor's "magic words" were sung by kids in many countries. Nothing makes any reference to chipmunks, but the song is sometimes included on Chipmunk compilations, as if the Chipmunks had provided the voice of the Witch Doctor. Bagdasarian did record a "Chipmunks" version of "Witch Doctor", which appeared on the second Chipmunks album, Sing Again with The Chipmunks, in 1960.

A followup song was recorded by Bagdasarian titled "The Bird on My Head
The Bird On My Head
-Background:It was the second novelty song to be recorded under the stage name David Seville , as well as the last song to be recorded before the creation of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Like Seville's first novelty song, "Witch Doctor", the song has a sped-up voice...

" with Bagdasarian (again as Seville) singing a duet with his own sped-up voice as the bird. It also reached the Top 40, peaking at #34.

'Witch Doctor' has been featured in numerous TV shows and movies.

The Chipmunk Song

The Chipmunks first officially appeared on the scene in a novelty record released in late fall 1958 by Bagdasarian. The song, originally listed on the record label (Liberty F-55168) as "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", featured the singing skills of the chipmunk trio. One phrase in the chorus has Alvin wishing for a hula hoop
Hula hoop
A hula hoop is a toy hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs or neck.Although the exact origins of hula hoops are unknown, children and adults around the world have played with hoops, twirling, rolling and throwing them throughout history...

, which was that year's hot new toy. The novelty record was highly successful, selling more than 4 million copies in seven weeks, and it launched the careers of its chipmunk stars. It spent four weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart from December 22, 1958 to January 12, 1959. It also earned three Grammy Awards and a nomination for Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....

. At the height of its popularity, Bagdasarian and 3 chipmunk hand-puppets appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....

, lip-synching
Lip sync
Lip sync, lip-sync, lip-synch is a technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals...

 the song. "The Chipmunk Song" appeared on the Chipmunks' debut album, Let's All Sing with the Chipmunks, in 1959, and was repeated on Christmas with the Chipmunks, released in 1962. The song also has been included on several compilation albums.

The Three Chipmunks (December 1959)

The Chipmunks first appeared in comic book form on Dell's
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...

 Four Color Comics
Four Color
Four Color, also known as Four Color Comics and One Shots, was a long-running American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962...

 series, issue #1042, published in December 1959. Alvin, Theodore and Simon were depicted as somewhat realistic, nearly identical anthropomorphic rodents with almond-shaped eyes. When Herb Klynn’s Format Films made a deal to develop the Three Chipmunks for animation, the old designs were rejected and new versions of the characters were created. Liberty Records eventually re-issued the early albums with the “new” Chipmunks and it was this new version of the Chipmunks that was used when Alvin's own title was released by Dell in 1962.

The Alvin Show (1961–1962)

The first television series to feature the characters was The Alvin Show. The cartoon gave more distinctive looks and personalities to the three chipmunks than just their voices, and an animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 portrayal of Seville was a reasonable caricature of Bagdasarian himself. The series ran from 1961 to 1962, and was one of a small number of animated series
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...

 to be shown in prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...

 on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

. Unfortunately, it was never an immediate success in prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...

 and was canceled after one season, only to find new life in syndication.

In addition to Alvin cartoons, the series also featured the scientist Clyde Crashcup
Clyde Crashcup
Clyde Crashcup is a fictional character from the early-1960s animated television series The Alvin Show.-Fictional character biography:Clyde Crashcup is a scientist in a white coat whose experiments invariably failed...

 and his assistant Leonardo. Those characters did not feature prominently on any of the later series. Crashcup made a single cameo appearance in A Chipmunk Christmas
A Chipmunk Christmas
A Chipmunk Christmas is an animated christmas television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. It aired on the NBC television network in 1981, nine years after the death of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. . This was the first time that Alvin, Simon and...

, and in an episode of Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks (TV series)
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated television series featuring The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983–87, and DIC Entertainment from 1988-90....

. The television series was produced by Format Films
Format Films
Format Films was a television animation studio which was founded by Herbert Klynn in 1959 with Jules Engel as vice president, Herb McIntosh and Joseph Mugnaini. It was most active during the 1960s, producing episodes of The Alvin Show, Popeye, and The Lone Ranger...

 for Bagdasarian Film Corporation
Bagdasarian Productions
Bagdasarian Productions is an American production company which holds the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks and related intellectual property assets. It is owned and operated by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and Janice Karman...

. Although the series was broadcast in black and white, it was produced and later re-run in color. 26 episodes each were produced for the Alvin and the Chipmunks and Clyde Crashcup segments, along with 52 musical segments.

A Chipmunk Christmas (1981)

The final Chipmunks album in their original incarnation, The Chipmunks Go to the Movies
The Chipmunks Go to the Movies (album)
The Chipmunks Go to the Movies is a 1969 music album by David Seville and The Chipmunks, released by Sunset Records, the budget-line subsidiary of Liberty Records....

, was released in 1969. After the death of Ross Bagdasarian in 1972 from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

, the Chipmunks' careers stalled until NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 showed interest in the original show (the network carried Saturday morning reruns of The Alvin Show as a midseason replacement in 1979) and the following year, Excelsior Records
Pickwick Records
Pickwick Records was an American record label and distributor known for its budget album releases of sound-alike recordings, bargain bin reissues and repackagings under the brands Design, Bravo , Hurrah, Grand Prix, and children's records on the Cricket and Happy Time labels.The label is also...

 released a new album of contemporary songs performed by the Chipmunks. The new album — Chipmunk Punk
Chipmunk Punk
Chipmunk Punk is a New Wave music album by The Chipmunks, as well as being the first album released by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., after he took over due to his father's passing. Despite the title of the CD, none of the songs listed were considered to be in the age of real punk rock music. It was...

— featured Bagdasarian's son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., doing the voices of the characters. That album and the continued reruns of the series proved to be popular enough to warrant further new records as well as a new television production, and in 1981, the Chipmunks and Seville returned to television in the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 special A Chipmunk Christmas, produced by Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...

, which was first broadcast on NBC on December 14 of that year.

Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983–1990)

The group's name changed from "The Chipmunks" to "Alvin and The Chipmunks". The Chipmunks' name change sparked rumors of a possible solo career for Alvin, but in 1983, the second animated television series for the group, produced by Ruby-Spears Productions
Ruby-Spears Productions
Ruby-Spears Productions is a Burbank, California-based entertainment production company that specializes in animation...

, was released. Titled simply Alvin and the Chipmunks, the outline of the show closely paralleled the original Alvin Show. A more sustained success than the original, the series lasted eight production seasons, until 1990. In the first season, the show introduced the Chipettes
The Chipettes
The Chipettes are a fictional group of anthropomorphic chipmunk singers first appearing on the cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes...

, three female versions of the Chipmunks — Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor, who each paralleled the original Chipmunks in personality (except Brittany was vainer than Alvin, Jeanette was smart like Simon, and Eleanor was fond of food like Theodore), with their own human guardian, the myopic Miss Beatrice Miller (who arrived for the 1986 season).

The Chipmunks even sang a variation of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

's Let's All Be There campaign for its Saturday-morning lineup in 1984 (shows included The Smurfs
The Smurfs (1981 TV series)
The Smurfs is an American animated television series that aired on NBC from September 12, 1981 to August 25, 1990...

, Snorks, Going Bananas
Going Bananas
Going Bananas is a live-action superhero/comedy series made by Hanna-Barbera and ran from September 15, 1984 to December 1984 on NBC.-Plot:...

, Pink Panther and Sons
Pink Panther and Sons
Pink Panther and Sons is an animated Pink Panther television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and MGM/UA Television. The series was originally broadcast on NBC from 1984 to 1985. The original Pink Panther cartoons were produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, is in the TV animation industry, but in...

, Kidd Video
Kidd Video
Kidd Video was a Saturday morning cartoon created by DiC Entertainment in association with Saban Entertainment. Its original run was on NBC from 1984 to 1985, but continued in reruns on the network until 1987, when CBS picked the show up...

, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is an animated series produced by Marvel Productions starring established Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and Iceman and an original character, Firestar...

, Mister T
Mister T (TV series)
Mister T was an animated series that aired on NBC from 1983 to 1986. A total of 30 episodes were produced during the first two seasons, with the final season consisting entirely of reruns...

, etc.). After 1988, the show was renamed just The Chipmunks to indicate that there were now two groups of them. Also introduced was the boys' "Uncle" Harry, who may or may not have actually been a relative. The show reflected current trends and historical events in pop culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...

; the Chipmunks sang recent hits, and wore contemporary clothing. One "documentary" episode spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

ed John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

's 1966 infamous comment that The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 had become "more popular than Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

"
, by recalling how the Chipmunks had fallen in popularity after Alvin boasted they were "bigger than Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...

!"
. In 1985, the Chipmunks, along with the Chipettes, were featured in the live stage show, Alvin and the Chipmunks and the Amazing Computer. In 1987, during the fifth season of the show on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, the Chipmunks had their first animated feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure
The Chipmunk Adventure
The Chipmunk Adventure is a 1987 American animated film featuring the characters from NBC's Saturday morning cartoon Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Chipmunk Adventure was directed by Janice Karman from a screenplay by Karman and Ross Bagdasarian Jr....

, directed by Janice Karman
Janice Karman
Janice Felice Karman is an American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice artist. She is the co-owner of Bagdasarian Productions with her husband Ross Bagdasarian, Jr....

 and Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.
Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.
Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. is an Armenian-American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice artist and the son of the Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.-Life and career:...

, and released to theaters by The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1979.-Background:...

. The film featured the Chipmunks and the Chipettes in a contest traveling around the world.

In the 1988–89 season, the show switched production companies to DIC Entertainment
DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...

, by which time the Chipmunks had truly become anthropomorphized
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...

. In 1990, the show switched titles again to The Chipmunks Go to the Movies. Each episode in this season was a spoof of a Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...

 film, such as Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...

, King Kong
King Kong (1976 film)
King Kong is a 1976 American monster movie produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Guillermin. It is a remake of the 1933 classic film of the same name, about a giant ape that is captured and imported to New York City for exhibition....

, and others. In addition, several television specials featuring the characters were also released. At the conclusion of the eighth season, the show was canceled again. In 1990, a documentary was produced about the show entitled Alvin and the Chipmunks/Five Decades with the Chipmunks. In that year, the Chipmunks also teamed up for the only time with other famous cartoon stars (such as Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...

, Garfield
Garfield
Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...

, etc.) for the drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...

-prevention special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue is an animated drug prevention television special starring many of the popular cartoon characters from American weekday, Sunday morning and Saturday morning television at the time of this film's release...

.

Direct-to-video Chipmunks films from Universal

In 1996, the rights to the characters were purchased by Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

. This resulted in The Chipmunks' 1999 reappearance in the form of the direct-to-video film Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein. The film was successful enough to spark interest in a sequel, and in 2000, Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman appeared. Both films featured the original cast of the second series reprising their roles and the tone of the films are very similar to the series. These film titles reflect earlier horror spoofs by Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...

.

Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks

A live-action film called Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks was released on April 27, 2004 (April 24, 2005 according IMDb
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...

). It features puppetry used for the Chipmunks and Chipettes. In this film, when Dave (Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.
Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.
Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. is an Armenian-American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice artist and the son of the Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.-Life and career:...

) goes out of town, he leaves the young Chipmunks and the Chipettes in the care of Lalu (Janice Karman
Janice Karman
Janice Felice Karman is an American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice artist. She is the co-owner of Bagdasarian Productions with her husband Ross Bagdasarian, Jr....

), a friend who is happy to have six preschoolers stay with her. Lalu lives in a magic cottage with Gilda (a talking cockatoo), and PC (a talking frog who believes he is one kiss away from being Prince Charming).

Lawsuits, album and CGI animated/live action movies (2007-2009)

In 2000, Bagdasarian Productions
Bagdasarian Productions
Bagdasarian Productions is an American production company which holds the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks and related intellectual property assets. It is owned and operated by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and Janice Karman...

 sued Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

 for breach of contract
Breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance....

 after their direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...

 film contract went sour, in order to recoup monetary damages and to regain control of the Alvin and the Chipmunks characters. Bagdasarian won the lawsuit in 2002. In 2004, 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

, Regency Enterprises
Regency Enterprises
Regency Enterprises is a Los Angeles-based film and television production company formed by Arnon Milchan and Joseph P. Grace. It was founded in 1982 as Embassy International Pictures, but the company name changed to avoid confusion with Norman Lear's Embassy Pictures . Its most successful film is...

 and Bagdasarian Productions
Bagdasarian Productions
Bagdasarian Productions is an American production company which holds the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks and related intellectual property assets. It is owned and operated by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and Janice Karman...

 announced a CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...

/live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...

 film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...

 of the popular musical group and animated series
Alvin and the Chipmunks (TV series)
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated television series featuring The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983–87, and DIC Entertainment from 1988-90....

. The new film Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)
Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 comedy film directed by Tim Hill. Based on the animated series of the same name, the film stars Jason Lee, David Cross, and Cameron Richardson with the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and...

, directed by Tim Hill
Tim Hill
Tim Hill is an American film director and television writer.He began his career in 1993 as a writer and storyboard artist for Rocko's Modern Life, he also created the Kablam! skit Action League Now!...

 and starring Jason Lee
Jason Lee (actor)
Jason Michael Lee is an American actor and skateboarder known for his role as the title character on the NBC television series My Name is Earl, his portrayal of Syndrome in the film The Incredibles, his role as Dave Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and his work with director Kevin...

 as Dave Seville, was released on December 14, 2007. With Justin Long
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...

 as Alvin, Matthew Gray Gubler
Matthew Gray Gubler
Matthew Gray Gubler is an American actor, film director, sketch artist, and former fashion model. He is best known for his role as the young genius Dr. Spencer Reid in the CBS television show Criminal Minds, of which he has also directed two episodes...

 as Simon, and Jesse McCartney
Jesse McCartney
Jesse McCartney is an American singer-songwriter, actor and voice actor. McCartney achieved fame in the late 1990s on the daytime drama All My Children as JR Chandler. He later joined boy band Dream Street, and eventually branched out into a solo musical career...

 as Theodore, it marks the first motion picture in which nobody related to Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. has performed as David or the Chipmunks. Though the critics gave it harsh reviews, audiences consisting of children and their baby boomer
Baby boomer
A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom and who grew up during the period between 1946 and 1964. The term "baby boomer" is sometimes used in a cultural context. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve broad consensus of a precise definition, even...

 parents flocked to the theaters. In its first weekend, it grossed $44,307,417, second behind I Am Legend
I Am Legend (film)
I Am Legend is a 2007 post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man. Smith plays virologist Robert...

. The film closed on June 5, 2008, grossing $217,326,974 in North America alone and $144,004,149 overseas for a total of $361,331,123 worldwide.
In 2006, Bagdasarian Productions
Bagdasarian Productions
Bagdasarian Productions is an American production company which holds the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks and related intellectual property assets. It is owned and operated by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and Janice Karman...

 sued Thomas Lee
Thomas Lee
Thomas Lee may refer to:*Hon. Thomas Lee , early Virginian colonist, and builder of "Stratford Hall Plantation*Thomas Lee , English neoclassical architect...

, the creator of Chipmunkz Gangsta Rap, a parody created by Bentframe and featured on Atom Films
Atom Films
Atom.com is a broadband entertainment network offering original short subject films, animations, and series by independent creators...

. The lawsuit is still in process. Also, The Chipmunk Adventure
The Chipmunk Adventure
The Chipmunk Adventure is a 1987 American animated film featuring the characters from NBC's Saturday morning cartoon Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Chipmunk Adventure was directed by Janice Karman from a screenplay by Karman and Ross Bagdasarian Jr....

was released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment, then later Trick or Treason, A Chipmunk Christmas
A Chipmunk Christmas
A Chipmunk Christmas is an animated christmas television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. It aired on the NBC television network in 1981, nine years after the death of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. . This was the first time that Alvin, Simon and...

: 25th Anniversary
and A Chipmunk Valentine. The Chipmunks Go To The Movies was released on May 22, 2007. The Chipmunks' newest album, Undeniable
Undeniable (Chipmunks album)
Undeniable is a 2008 album by The Chipmunks. Its release was connected to the version of the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise from the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks, but contains no music from the film...

, was released in November 2008.

A sequel to the first film, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, and the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, and Anna Faris...

, was released on December 23, 2009. Justin Long (Alvin), Matthew Gray Gubler (Simon), and Jesse McCartney (Theodore) reprise their roles respectively. In the film, The Chipettes
The Chipettes
The Chipettes are a fictional group of anthropomorphic chipmunk singers first appearing on the cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes...

 are featured, with Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations...

 as Brittany, Anna Farris as Jeanette, and Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...

 as Eleanor. It marks as the first picture in which Janice Karman does not voice The Chipettes. Though critically panned like its predecessor, The Squeakquel opened to $48,875,415 in its first weekend and $75,589,048 in its first five days, third at the North American box office behind Avatar and Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)
Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action-mystery film based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon...

. The film closed on May 20, 2010, having garnered $219,614,612 in North America and $223,524,187 overseas for a grand total of $443,138,799 worldwide.

Upcoming third film/The Chipmunks' future (2010-onward)

20th Century Fox had announced that Alvin and the Chipmunks 3D would be released worldwide on December 16, 2011. The announcement was reportedly made without the Chipmunks’ permission—as Janice Karman reportedly sued the studio for lost royalties and intellectual property theft, a move seconded by Ross Bagdasarian Jr, who had canceled the Bagdasarian/Fox licensing deal over the studio’s unwillingness to consider the Chipmunks a real band during the postproduction of Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)
Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 comedy film directed by Tim Hill. Based on the animated series of the same name, the film stars Jason Lee, David Cross, and Cameron Richardson with the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and...

.

However, on October 26, 2010, according to 24 Frames, from the Los Angeles Times, Mike Mitchell
Mike Mitchell (director)
Mike Mitchell is an American film director, producer, actor and former animator. He is well known for directing the films Surviving Christmas, Sky High and Shrek Forever After.-Life and career:...

, the director behind Shrek Forever After
Shrek Forever After
Shrek Forever After, taglined as The Final Chapter, is a 2010 animated fantasy-comedy film, and the fourth and final installment in the Shrek film series, produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in cinemas on May 20, 2010 in Russia, and on May 21 in the United...

, is now in negotiations with Fox to direct the new installment in the live-action/animated franchise, now entitled Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is an upcoming 2011 American comedy film. The film stars Jason Lee. It is to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, and produced by Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions...

, according to several sources familiar with the project, but 20th Century Fox may or may not shoot the film in 3-D. It is, however, expected to involve the Chipmunks and the Chipettes getting "chip-wrecked".

Production for the third film began on January 22, 2011. Most parts of the film will be aboard the Carnival Dream
Carnival Dream
Carnival Dream is a Dream class cruise ship. At 130,000 tons, she is the biggest the line has ever built. Her sister ship, Carnival Magic is the latest in the Carnival Cruise Lines ships, being delivered on April 27, 2011, while her other sister ship Carnival Breeze is expected out in June...

 cruise ship
Dream class cruise ship
The Dream class is a class of cruise ships, operated by Carnival Cruise Lines, The lead vessel of the class, Carnival Dream, entered service in September 2009....

. Stops on the Carnival Dream itinerary will include Cozumel
Cozumel
Cozumel is an island in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen, and close to the Yucatan Channel. Cozumel is one of the ten municipalities of the state of Quintana Roo...

, Roatan
Roatán
Roatán, located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja, is the largest of Honduras' Bay Islands. The island was formerly known as Ruatan and Rattan...

, Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

 and Costa Maya
Costa Maya
Costa Maya is a small tourist region in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, the only state with Caribbean Sea. This municipality is close to Chetumal on the border with Belize, until recently British Honduras...

 (which provided tropical backdrops for many of the movie’s shipboard scenes).

Alvin Seville

Alvin is a roller coaster aficionado and the main protagonist of Alvin and the Chipmunks. His enthusiasm is boundless and his despair bottomless. The term look before you leap definitely doesn't apply to Alvin, who is impulsive, charming, musical, full of animal magnetism
Animal magnetism
Animal magnetism , in modern usage, refers to a person's sexual attractiveness or raw charisma. As postulated by Franz Mesmer in the 18th century, the term referred to a supposed magnetic fluid or ethereal medium believed to reside in the bodies of animate beings...

. The character always seems to make up hare-brained schemes to get what his goal is at the time, whether it be trying to help his younger brothers, getting a date with Brittany, keeping Dave from figuring something out, or getting out of a sticky situation. However, Alvin seems to refer to his often illogical or crazy plans as "challenging the ordinary". Alvin's signature color is red, and he has blue eyes (although in the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks, he has amber eyes.) On July 30, 2002, Alvin was #44 on TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...

's list of top 50 best cartoon characters of all time.

Like his brothers, he was originally voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. In the animated series and film, he was voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. In the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks and the 2009 sequel, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, he is voiced by Justin Long
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...

.

Simon Seville

Simon is "the smart one". In addition to having an IQ just north of Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...

, Simon possesses a very dry sense of humour as well as a keen wit. Alvin exploits Simon for his crazy schemes because he is smart enough to carry them out. In the end, Simon loves Alvin, although he secretly worries that they share the same gene pool
Gene pool
In population genetics, a gene pool is the complete set of unique alleles in a species or population.- Description :A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can survive bouts of intense selection...

. His signature color is blue (originally yellow in Let's All Sing with The Chipmunks
Let's All Sing with the Chipmunks
Let’s All Sing With the Chipmunks is the debut album of Alvin and the Chipmunks. It is an interactive children's novelty album. The songs on the record are a mixture between cover versions of children's songs in the public domain and customized original musical material...

, then red in Sing Again with The Chipmunks and then orange in Around the World with The Chipmunks
Around the World with The Chipmunks
Around the World with The Chipmunks is an album by Alvin and the Chipmunks with David Seville. It was released on January 1, 1960 by Liberty Records...

), and he has blue eyes and black glasses; his glasses had blue frames after the 1983 television series' second season up until the show's final season, and in The Chipmunk Adventure
The Chipmunk Adventure
The Chipmunk Adventure is a 1987 American animated film featuring the characters from NBC's Saturday morning cartoon Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Chipmunk Adventure was directed by Janice Karman from a screenplay by Karman and Ross Bagdasarian Jr....

. He also has brown fur in the film. He plays the bass, bass clarinet, saxophone, bagpipes, tuba, and drums, among others. He is shown playing the keyboard in the original open for the 1980s series
Alvin and the Chipmunks (TV series)
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated television series featuring The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983–87, and DIC Entertainment from 1988-90....

.. He was also shown playing guitar in a 1980s Hardee's
Hardee's
Hardee's is a restaurant chain, located mostly in the Southeast and Midwestern regions of the United States. It has evolved through several corporate ownerships since its establishment in 1960. It is currently owned and operated by CKE Restaurants. Along with its sibling restaurant chain, Carl's...

 commercial.

Like his brothers, he was originally voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. In the animated series and film, he was voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. In the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks and the 2009 sequel, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, he is voiced by Matthew Gray Gubler
Matthew Gray Gubler
Matthew Gray Gubler is an American actor, film director, sketch artist, and former fashion model. He is best known for his role as the young genius Dr. Spencer Reid in the CBS television show Criminal Minds, of which he has also directed two episodes...

.

Theodore Seville

Theodore is the chipmunk of innocence. He is shy, loving, sensitive, chubby, gullible, trusting, naive, irresistible, snack-munching, adorable and cute. In short, he is an easy target for Alvin's manipulations
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...

. In fact, Theodore often holds the swing vote between his two brothers' choices of action. Simon appeals to Theodore's better nature while Alvin goes straight to bribery. He is constantly craving snacks and in one episode, tried to eat Alvin's hand because of his hunger. As revealed in the 2007 film, Theodore suffers from nightmares, resulting in him sleeping with Dave for comfort.

Theodore's signature color is green, and also has green eyes. He also has blond/tan fur in the film. He plays the drums, the guitar, and others. He is the baby of the group. He is fragile yet unpredictable. At times, he is childish and Alvin's follower. He is the glue that binds his brothers' despite Alvin and Simon's differences and regular disagreements. In Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, the Squeakquel, we see Theodore's self-conscious side when two kids from school tease him about his weight. We see his sweet side when he falls for a Chipette.

Like his brothers, he was originally voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. In the animated series and film, his voice was provided by Janice Karman
Janice Karman
Janice Felice Karman is an American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice artist. She is the co-owner of Bagdasarian Productions with her husband Ross Bagdasarian, Jr....

, Ross Bagdasarian Jr.'s wife and the voice of all three Chipettes. In the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks and the 2009 sequel, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, he is voiced by Jesse McCartney
Jesse McCartney
Jesse McCartney is an American singer-songwriter, actor and voice actor. McCartney achieved fame in the late 1990s on the daytime drama All My Children as JR Chandler. He later joined boy band Dream Street, and eventually branched out into a solo musical career...

.

David Seville

David "Dave" Seville has his patience tested on a daily basis. Not only does he juggle his professional life as the quick-tempered songwriter for the musical trio, but he's also the Chipmunks' adoptive father and confidant. While Dave struggles to remain calm and objective, Alvin often irritates him, resulting in Dave's yell, "AAAAAAALVIIIIIIIIIN!!!!!!" to which Alvin often replies with a loud "OKAY!!" Dave plays piano and the guitar. He has black hair and brown eyes. In the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks, he is played by Jason Lee
Jason Lee (actor)
Jason Michael Lee is an American actor and skateboarder known for his role as the title character on the NBC television series My Name is Earl, his portrayal of Syndrome in the film The Incredibles, his role as Dave Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and his work with director Kevin...

, the star of My Name is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...

. In the film, he first discovers the boys eating food in his cabinets and he panics and throws them out. He later changes his mind and welcomes them into his home, and eventually he starts to love them like his own children. However, in the 2009 sequel Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, and the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, and Anna Faris...

, Dave plays a minor role in the film, mainly due to him being in the hospital in Paris. This happened due to Alvin causing a billboard to crash into him and he is sent flying across the room and is severely injured, so he is placed in intensive care. He is rarely seen in the film. His cousin Toby acts as both a main character and the Chipmunks' temporary guardian. Dave will have a larger role in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is an upcoming 2011 American comedy film. The film stars Jason Lee. It is to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, and produced by Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions...

.

Ian Hawke

The main antagonist of the 2007 Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)
Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 comedy film directed by Tim Hill. Based on the animated series of the same name, the film stars Jason Lee, David Cross, and Cameron Richardson with the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and...

film and its 2009 sequel, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, and the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, and Anna Faris...

. He is played by comedian David Cross
David Cross
David Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...

 in both films. He is Dave's friend-turned rival and former college roommate, and serves as the CEO of JETT Records in the first film. One day, the Chipmunks sneak off to his home to audition, whereupon he automatically signs them on to the label. He rockets them to the top of music business but secretly wants to lure them away from Dave for his own profit. His plan ultimately fails, as the Chipmunks have learned of it and escaped from his grasp, thus leaving him to be ousted from his job as CEO of Jett Records. In the second film, Ian is now unemployed and in debt, and lives in the basement of Jett Records. However, he happens upon The Chipettes
The Chipettes
The Chipettes are a fictional group of anthropomorphic chipmunk singers first appearing on the cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes...

, who want to be famous like the Chipmunks, and cannot wait to make them famous, so he takes them in, in hopes of getting his sworn revenge on the Chipmunks. He enrolls the Chipettes into the same school as the Chipmunks, and after showing Dr. Rubin (Wendie Malick
Wendie Malick
Wendie Malick is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles as Judith Tupper Stone on the HBO series Dream On , Nina Van Horn on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! , Ronee Lawrence on the NBC sitcom Frasier and Victoria Chase on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland .-Early...

) their talent, she agrees to let them battle the Chipmunks for the right to represent the school for the district's music competition. However, in the climax, Ian decides to blow off the competition to have the Chipettes to perform at a Britney Spears concert, and takes them by force, threatening to take them to a barbecue restaurant if they will not comply. Alvin saves the Chipettes from Ian, who then tries to imitate them at the Britney Spears concert, only to get thrown into a dumpster by security guards.

Claire Wilson

Claire is Dave's ex-girlfriend who adores the Chipmunks after she finally gets to meet them. She becomes good friends with Dave again by the end of the movie. She appears in the 2007 Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)
Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 comedy film directed by Tim Hill. Based on the animated series of the same name, the film stars Jason Lee, David Cross, and Cameron Richardson with the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and...

film. However, she does not appear in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, and the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, and Anna Faris...

. She is played by Cameron Richardson
Cameron Richardson
Cameron Richardson is an American actress and model, who portrayed Chloe Carter on the CBS television series Harper's Island.- Early life :Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Cameron grew up in New Jersey....

.

Toby Seville

Dave's immature cousin appeared in the 2009 film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, and the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, and Anna Faris...

. He is one of the protagonists of the second film. Toby is a slacker who loves to play video games and still lives with his grandmother and Dave's aunt, Jackie Seville, until he figures out what he wants to do with his life. Toby's immaturity keeps him from acting like an adult, and he has a crush on the Chipmunks' homeroom and music teacher, Juile Ortega, ever since he went to West Eastman High School. He is played by Chuck
Chuck (TV series)
Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...

star Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi Pugh , better known by his stage name Zachary Levi , is an American television actor, director, and singer known for the roles of Kipp Steadman in Less than Perfect, Chuck Bartowski in Chuck, and Flynn Rider in Tangled.- Early life :Zachary Levi Pugh was born in Lake Charles,...

.

Miss Beatrice Miller

The kindly, absent-minded adoptive mother of the Chipettes. She occasionally babysits the Chipmunks and has a crush on Dave, even though she's old enough to be his mother. In her youth, she was part of an all-girl singing group called "The Thrillers". She appeared on the TV series and was voiced by the late Dody Goodman
Dody Goodman
Dolores "Dody" Goodman was an American character actress known for her playing the mother of the title character Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman...

.

Professor Clyde Crashcup

Clyde Crashcup
Clyde Crashcup
Clyde Crashcup is a fictional character from the early-1960s animated television series The Alvin Show.-Fictional character biography:Clyde Crashcup is a scientist in a white coat whose experiments invariably failed...

 – voiced by Shepard Menken
Shepard Menken
Shepard Menken was an American voice actor and character actor.Menken began his career at the age of 11, when he started appearing on children's radio programs...

 – is a scientist in a white coat whose experiments invariably failed. His was the only voice heard in many of the episodes, because the other character in the series was his assistant Leonardo, who only whispered into Clyde's ear. In one episode, though, Clyde invented a wife, voiced by June Foray
June Foray
June Foray is an American voice actress, best known as the voice of many animated characters...

. Clyde had one of the four segments, and the Chipmunks starred in the other three (two of which were musical segments). In the episode "Crashcup Invents the Birthday Party", Foray provided the (all too audible) voice for the mother of Crashcup's inaudible assistant Leonardo.

Clyde Crashcup was primarily an inventor rather than a researcher, although he tended to "invent" things which had already been invented. However, in one episode, he built a functioning time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...

. He typically would invent something by taking a pencil out of his lab coat's pocket and drawing a picture in midair of his conception: the picture would then become the actual object.

Recording technique

The Chipmunks' voices were recorded at half the normal tape speed onto audiotape
Magnetic tape sound recording
The use of magnetic tape for sound recording originated around 1930. Magnetizable tape revolutionized both the radio broadcast and music recording industries. It did this by giving artists and producers the power to record and re-record audio with minimal loss in quality as well as edit and...

 by voice talent talking or singing. When the tape was played back at normal speed, they would sound a full octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...

 higher in pitch, at normal tempo. The technique was by no means new to the Chipmunks. For example, the high and low pitched characters in The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...

were achieved by speeding up and slowing down vocal recordings. Also, Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...

's voice characterization for Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...

 was sped up to some extent. Now, the same effect is created digitally and in real time with a pitch shift
Pitch shift
Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval are called "pitch shifters" or "pitch benders".-Pitch/time shifting:...

.

However, the extensive use of this technique with the Chipmunks, coupled with their popularity, linked this technique to them. The term "chipmunk-voiced" has entered the American vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...

 to describe any artificially high-pitched voice. A similar effect could be obtained in playback by merely taking an LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

 recorded at 33 1/3 RPM
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...

 and playing it back at 45 or 78 RPM, a trick sometimes tried out by ordinary record listeners. The instrumental portions of the song are sped up as well, however, making it obvious that the music is being played at the wrong speed. Bagdasarian recorded vocals and music at different speeds to combine properly on his recording. (Guitarist and studio wizard Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...

 claimed to have visited Bagdasarian's studio in 1958 and helped with the recording.)

The technique was frequently imitated in comedy records, notably "The Ying Tong Song" by The Goons
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...

, "Transistor Radio
Transistor Radio (song)
"Transistor Radio" was a comic song written by Benny Hill and Mark Anthony , and performed by Hill. The song revolved around the story of a man whose attempts at intimacy with his girlfriend are constantly thwarted by music played from the girl's transistor radio...

" by Benny Hill
Benny Hill
Benny Hill was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.-Early life:...

, "Bridget the Midget
Midget
A midget is a short person with relatively average bodily proportions in comparison with other human beings. The term is often improperly used to describe a person with the medical condition dwarfism. The two terms are often used synonymously because both terms originate as words defining small...

" by Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...

, "The Laughing Gnome" by David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, and on several tracks on Joe Meek
Joe Meek
Robert George "Joe" Meek was a pioneering English record producer and songwriter....

 and the Blue Men's album I Hear a New World
I Hear a New World
I Hear a New World - an Outer Space Music Fantasy is a concept album devised and composed by Joe Meek and performed by The Blue Men in 1959. It was partially released in 1960 and completely released in 1991 by RPM Records...

. The technique also appears in the instrumental break in Bobby Lewis
Bobby Lewis
Bobby Lewis is an African American rock and roll and R&B singer.-Biography:Lewis learned to play the piano by age six. Adopted at age twelve, he moved to a home in Detroit, Michigan...

' 1961 US #1 hit "Tossin' and Turnin'". It was used extensively in the British puppet
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....

 show Pinky and Perky
Pinky and Perky
Pinky and Perky is an animated children's television series first broadcast by the BBC in 1957, revived in 2008 as a CGI animation.-Original series:...

. Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

 has used the technique on several of his songs, as well as Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

 on We're Only In It For The Money
We're Only in It for the Money
We're Only in It For the Money is the third studio album by The Mothers of Invention, released in March 1968. The album peaked at number thirty on the Billboard 200...

and on the instrumental album Hot Rats
Hot Rats
Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa. It was released in October 1969. Five of the six songs are instrumental . It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original Mothers of Invention...

, among others. In the early 90's rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...

 scene, many breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore is a derivative of the acid house and techno, of the late 1980s and early 1990s, that combines four-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with the UK rave scene.-The rave scene:...

 productions would utilize the same studio tricks, often taking a cappellas from old soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 and house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

 records and speeding them up to fit the faster tempo. Vocals in songs that used this method would typically be referred to as "chipmunk vocals".

Chipmunk Records

In 1991, Bagdasarian Productions
Bagdasarian Productions
Bagdasarian Productions is an American production company which holds the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks and related intellectual property assets. It is owned and operated by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and Janice Karman...

 acquired the production company offices and holdings from Arden, and reopened the record label Jet Records
Jet Records
Jet Records was a small British record label set up by Don Arden with artists like Electric Light Orchestra , Roy Wood, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Riot and Magnum. The first release on the "Jet Records" label was "No Honestly", a UK top 10 for its singer and writer Lynsey De Paul in November 1974...

 under the new name Chipmunk Records.
There is a reference to the company in the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks, in which the Chipmunk's record label is "Jett Records" (with two T's).

Guest appearance

The Chipmunks make a guest appearance on the Canned Heat
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...

 song "The Chipmunk Song
Boogie with Canned Heat
Boogie with Canned Heat is the second album by Canned Heat, released in 1968. Unlike their debut, it features mostly original material. It included the top 10 hit "On the Road Again," one of their best known songs. "Amphetamine Annie," a warning about the dangers of amphetamine abuse, also...

" (which is not the same song as the 1958 hit) that appeared on their Christmas single.

The Chipmunks also made an appearance in the spoof film Disaster Movie
Disaster Movie
Disaster Movie is a 2008 parody film. It is written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, and stars Carmen Electra, Kim Kardashian, Matt Lanter, Nicole Parker, Crista Flanagan, Vanessa Minnillo, and Ike Barinholtz...

. They sing a Christmas song, then "Devoured by Vermin", a song by the death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 band Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band from Buffalo, New York. Formed in 1988, the band has released eleven studio albums, one box set, and one live album...

. During "Devoured by Vermin", instead of their trademark sped-up high pitched voices, they used deeper voices more akin to death metal vocalists.

Their third cameo appearance was on the FOX NFL Sunday
FOX NFL Sunday
Fox NFL Sunday is the pregame show for the TV show NFL on Fox. The program is broadcast on Fox television affiliates nationwide. The audio portion of the show is broadcast over the Fox Sports Radio network, distributed by Premiere Radio Networks...

 intro (which premiered on December 20, 2009) with the cameo character, Digger (the mascot for NASCAR on Fox
NASCAR on Fox
NASCAR on Fox is the Emmy-winning branding used for Fox Sports's broadcasts of NASCAR races airing on the Fox network since 2001. The production has been in high-definition since 2005.-Background:...

).

Concert tours

  • 2008: Get Munk'd Tour
    Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)
    Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 comedy film directed by Tim Hill. Based on the animated series of the same name, the film stars Jason Lee, David Cross, and Cameron Richardson with the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and...

    (The Chipmunks)

Awards and nominations

  • 1959, won three Grammy Award
    Grammy Award
    A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

    s for Best Recording for Children
    Grammy Award for Best Album for Children
    The Grammy Award for Best Album for Children has been awarded since 1959. Prior to 1992, the award was known as Best Recording for Children and was therefore open to any audio recording, whether it was an album, a single song, a recording of a book, or the audio from a television show or movie...

    , Best Comedy Performance
    Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album
    The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album was awarded from yearly 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to present day. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:*From 1959 to 1967 it was Best Comedy Performance...

    , and Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical
    Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
    The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes:*In 1959 the award was known as Best Engineered Record - Non-Classical...

     for the song "The Chipmunk Song." (Was also nominated for Record of the Year
    Grammy Award for Record of the Year
    The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....

    , but did not win.)
  • 1960, won a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical, for the song "Alvin's Harmonica."
  • 1961, won a Grammy Award for Best Album for Children for the album Let's All Sing with The Chipmunks
    Let's All Sing with the Chipmunks
    Let’s All Sing With the Chipmunks is the debut album of Alvin and the Chipmunks. It is an interactive children's novelty album. The songs on the record are a mixture between cover versions of children's songs in the public domain and customized original musical material...

    . (It was also nominated for Best Engineered Record, Non-Classical.) The song "Alvin for President" was also nominated for both Best Comedy Performance – Musical
    Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album
    The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album was awarded from yearly 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to present day. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:*From 1959 to 1967 it was Best Comedy Performance...

     and Best Engineered Record – Novelty
    Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
    The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes:*In 1959 the award was known as Best Engineered Record - Non-Classical...

    , making two nominations in the latter category.
  • 1962, was nominated again for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Record – Novelty for the television tie-in album The Alvin Show.
  • 1963, was nominated again for Grammy Awards for both Best Album for Children and Best Engineered Record – Novelty for the album The Chipmunk Songbook.
  • 1966, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children for the song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
    Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
    Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is an English word, with 34 letters, that was in the song with the same title in the 1964 Disney musical film Mary Poppins. The song was written by the Sherman Brothers, and sung by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke...

    ".
  • 1985, was nominated for an Emmy Award
    Emmy Award
    An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

     in the category "Outstanding Animated Program (Daytime)."
  • 1987, the second television series was nominated for a Young Artist Award
    Young Artist Award
    The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...

     in the category "Exceptional Family Animation Series or Specials."
  • 1987, was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Animated Program (Daytime)."
  • 1988, was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Animated Program (Daytime)* 1988, was nominated for a Young Artist Award in the category "Best Motion Picture – Animation" for the movie The Chipmunk Adventure.
  • 1988-1990, won The Kids' Choice Awards in the category "Favorite Cartoon"
  • 2000, won the Golden Reel Award
    Motion Picture Sound Editors
    Founded in 1953, Motion Picture Sound Editors is an honorary society of motion picture sound editors. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit of the soundtracks, and improve the professional relationship of its...

     in the category "Best Sound Editing – Direct to Video – Sound Editorial" for the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein is a 1999 animated horror-themed direct-to-video film, produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Universal Animation Studios, distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks...

    .
  • 2008, Jason Lee won The Kids' Choice Awards
    2008 Kids' Choice Awards
    The 21st annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards were held at the Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California on March 29, 2008. The show was the first live-action/animated Kids Choice Awards show. The event was hosted by Jack Black. Voting began March 3 on Nick.com and Nicktropolis. A "Bring on the...

     in the category "Favorite Movie" for the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks
    Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)
    Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 comedy film directed by Tim Hill. Based on the animated series of the same name, the film stars Jason Lee, David Cross, and Cameron Richardson with the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and...

  • 2008, Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack won the American Music Award for "Best Movie Soundtrack"
  • 2010, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
    Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
    Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, and the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, and Anna Faris...

    won The Kids' Choice Awards
    2010 Kids' Choice Awards
    Nickelodeon's 23rd Annual Kids' Choice Awards were held on March 27, 2010 on the Nell and John Wooden Court of Pauley Pavilion, on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California...

     in the category "Favorite Movie".


There were five Grammy Awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Reel Award, and two Kids Choice Awards in total.

List of VHS releases

Following the cult success of the Lorimar Home Video release of the previously successful movie The Chipmunk Adventure
The Chipmunk Adventure
The Chipmunk Adventure is a 1987 American animated film featuring the characters from NBC's Saturday morning cartoon Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Chipmunk Adventure was directed by Janice Karman from a screenplay by Karman and Ross Bagdasarian Jr....

on VHS, select episodes of the show from 1983–1990, as well as several specials from the 80's and 90's, were released on VHS. Initially, in 1989, they were distributed by Burbank Video. From 1992–1996, they were distributed by Buena Vista Home Video. From 1998–2000, they were distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The VHS Chipmunk Video Library titles featured select episodes from the Ruby-Spears and Murakami-Wolf-Swenson eras, but no opening and closing credits were included (even though the opening credits were intact on "A Chipmunk Reunion").

Instead, each tape opened with previews from the six primary Chipmunk Library titles, set to the 1988 version of the show's theme song titled "We're the Chipmunks". Also, a synthesized version of the 1983–1987 title card music was used on the Ruby Spears episodes. However, unlike the syndicated versions for most of these episodes that were airing at the time, these episodes were presented in their original speed, just as they were on NBC, before they were sped-up for syndication. The early-mid 90's Chipmunk VHS releases featured select episodes from the DiC era. The Universal Home Video releases consisted of the reissue of The Chipmunk Adventure, and the two direct-to-video films.
  • The Chipmunk Adventure
    The Chipmunk Adventure
    The Chipmunk Adventure is a 1987 American animated film featuring the characters from NBC's Saturday morning cartoon Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Chipmunk Adventure was directed by Janice Karman from a screenplay by Karman and Ross Bagdasarian Jr....

    (Released by Lorimar Home Video in 1988, by Just for Kids Video in 1992, and by Universal Studios Home Entertainment in 1998)

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks in Alvin and The Chipettes (Released by Burbank Video in 1989)
    • The Greatest Showoffs on Earth
    • Sisters
    • Tell It to the Judge

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks in Chipmunk Classics (Released by Burbank Video in 1989)
    • Snow Wrong
    • Cinderella? Cinderella!

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks in Chipmunkmania (Released by Burbank Video in 1989)
    • Every Chipmunk Tells a Story
    • Who Ghost There
    • A Horse of Course

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks in The Chipmunk Family Tree (Released by Burbank Video in 1989)
    • The Chipmunks Story
    • A Chipmunk Reunion
      A Chipmunk Reunion
      A Chipmunk Reunion is a 1985 animated special produced by Bagdasarian Productions, in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises, and is spun off of NBC's popular animated series, Alvin & the Chipmunks, starring The Chipmunks and The Chipettes....


  • Around the World with Alvin and the Chipmunks (Released by Burbank Video in 1989)
    • Maids in Japan
    • Alvie's Angels
    • The Mystery of Seville Manor

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks in Alvin's Wildest Schemes (Released by Burbank Video in 1989)
    • Romancing Miss Stone
    • Snow Job
    • A Chip off the Old Tooth

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks in A Chipmunk Christmas
    A Chipmunk Christmas
    A Chipmunk Christmas is an animated christmas television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. It aired on the NBC television network in 1981, nine years after the death of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. . This was the first time that Alvin, Simon and...

    (Released by Burbank Video in 1989, and by Buena Vista Home Video in 1992)
    • A Chipmunk Christmas

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Rockin' With the Chipmunks: Featuring Michael Jackson (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1992)
    • The Chipmunks: Rockin' Through the Decades
      Rockin' Through the Decades
      Rockin' Through the Decades is a live-action and animated television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was directed by Steve Karman, produced by Bagdasarian Productions, premiered on NBC in 1990, and released on VHS by Buena Vista Home Video in 1992 as Rockin' with the...


  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: It's a Wonderful Life, Dave (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1993)
    • Dave's Wonderful Life

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Alvin's Christmas Carroll (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1993)
    • Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Love Potion #9 (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1994)
    • Theodore and Juliet
    • Dr. Simon and Mr. Heartthrob
    • Dear Diary

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Sing-Alongs: Ragtime Cowboy Joe (11 songs from The Alvin Show
    The Alvin Show
    The Alvin Show is an American animated television series. It was the first to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks, although a series with a similar concept The Nutty Squirrels Present had aired a year earlier...

    , released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1994)

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Sing-Alongs: Video Audio Fun-Pack Working on the Railroad (11 songs from The Alvin Show
    The Alvin Show
    The Alvin Show is an American animated television series. It was the first to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks, although a series with a similar concept The Nutty Squirrels Present had aired a year earlier...

    , released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1994)

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: School's Out for Summer (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1994)
    • Alvin's Summer Job (A.K.A. Going For Broke)
    • Thinking Cap Trap

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Hair Raising Chipmunk Tales (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1994)
    • Babysitter Fright Night
    • Theodore's Life as a Dog
    • Unfair Science

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Nightmare on Seville Street (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1994)
    • Nightmare on Seville Street
    • No Chipmunk is an Island
    • Psychic Alvin

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Back to Alvin's Future (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1994)
    • Back to Our Future

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Kong! (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1994)
    • Kong!

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Batmunk (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1994)
    • Batmunk

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Funny, We Shrunk the Adults (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1994)
    • Funny, We Shrunk the Adults

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Easter Chipmunk (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1995)
    • The Easter Chipmunk

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Daytona Jones (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1995)
    • Daytona Jones and the Pearl of Wisdom

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Robomunk (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1995)
    • Robomunk

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Trick or Treason (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1995)
    • Trick or Treason

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: A Chipmunk Celebration (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1995)
    • A Chipmunk Celebration

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Bigger! (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1996)
    • Bigger!

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Star Wreck: Absolutely Final Frontier (Released by Buena Vista Home Video in 1996)
    • Star Wreck: The Absolutely Final Frontier

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein is a 1999 animated horror-themed direct-to-video film, produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Universal Animation Studios, distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks...

    (Released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment in 1999)

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman is a 2000 animated horror-themed direct-to-video film, produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Universal Animation Studios, distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks...

    (Released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment in 2000)


There were also VHS releases in the UK that included episodes that have yet to be released in the U.S. on DVD, and have never been released in the U.S. on VHS. They consist of "The Phantom", "The Wall", "Queen of the High School Ballroom", "Alvin's Not So Superhero", "Home Sweet Home", "All Worked Up", and "Phantom of the Rock Opera".

There was also a VHS tape released exclusively in Germany that featured seven different segments (albeit in German). On it were "The Wall", "The Amazing Chipmunks", "Psychic Alvin", "A Special Kind of Champion", "Cookie Chomper III", "Nightmare on Seville Street", and "Thinking Cap Trap". Of the seven, "The Amazing Chipmunks", which originally aired along side "The Wall", is extremely hard to find in its original English language. http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00004RO71

List of DVDs

In 2005, Bagdasarian Productions struck a deal with Paramount Home Video to distribute their latest direct-to-video release, Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks on DVD. As a result, Paramount continues to distribute select episodes of the show from 1983–1990, as well as several specials from the 80's and 90's on DVD, except for Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein, Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet The Wolfman (the Home Video rights to those are still owned by Universal Studios Home Entertainment), and the 2007 film (the Home Video rights to that are owned by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment). The DVD releases include episodes of the 80's Alvin and the Chipmunks animated series that were previously released on VHS, as well as episodes that have been previously unreleased on a home video format.
  • Monster Bash Fun Pack (Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein / Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet The Wolfman / Monster Mash / Archie & the Riverdale Vampires) (Released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment in 2004)
    • Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
    • Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet The Wolfman

  • Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks
    Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks
    Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks is a 2004 direct-to-video film based on the Chipmunks' 1983-1990 television series, Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was written and created by Janice Karman, produced by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., and directed by Jerry Rees. It was produced by Bagdasarian Productions, and...

    (Released by Paramount Home Video in 2005)

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: A Chipmunk Christmas (Released by Paramount Home Video in 2005, and again in 2008)
    • A Chipmunk Christmas
      A Chipmunk Christmas
      A Chipmunk Christmas is an animated christmas television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. It aired on the NBC television network in 1981, nine years after the death of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. . This was the first time that Alvin, Simon and...

    • Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll
    • Dave's Wonderful Life

  • The Chipmunk Adventure
    The Chipmunk Adventure
    The Chipmunk Adventure is a 1987 American animated film featuring the characters from NBC's Saturday morning cartoon Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Chipmunk Adventure was directed by Janice Karman from a screenplay by Karman and Ross Bagdasarian Jr....

    (Released by Paramount Home Video in 2006, and again in 2008, 2008 reissue includes bonus CD)

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Trick or Treason (Released by Paramount Home Video in 2006, and again in 2008)
    • Trick or Treason
    • Babysitter Fright Night
    • Theodore's Life as a Dog
    • Nightmare on Seville Street
    • No Chipmunk is an Island

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: A Chipmunk Christmas: 25th Anniversary Edition (Released by Paramount Home Video in 2006)
    • Same as previous release, except with a bonus CD.

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: A Chipmunk Valentine (Released by Paramount Home Video in 2007, and again in 2009)
    • I Love the Chipmunks Valentine Special
    • Dr. Simon and Mr. Heart-throb
    • Dear Diary
    • Theodore and Juliet

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipmunks Go to the Movies (Released by Paramount Home Video in 2007)
    • Star Wreck: The Absolutely Final Frontier
    • Batmunk
    • Funny, We Shrunk the Adults

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Scare-riffic Double Feature: Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein is a 1999 animated horror-themed direct-to-video film, produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Universal Animation Studios, distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks...

     and Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman is a 2000 animated horror-themed direct-to-video film, produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Universal Animation Studios, distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks...

    (Released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment in 2008)

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks
    Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)
    Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 comedy film directed by Tim Hill. Based on the animated series of the same name, the film stars Jason Lee, David Cross, and Cameron Richardson with the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and...

    (2007 film) (Released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on April 1, 2008 and Special Edition released in December 2008)

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Funny, We Shrunk the Adults (Released by Paramount Home Video on April 1, 2008)
    • Funny, We Shrunk the Adults
    • Back to Our Future
    • Bigger

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Daytona Jones and the Pearl of Wisdom (Released by Paramount Home Video on September 9, 2008)
    • Daytona Jones and the Pearl of Wisdom
    • Batmunk
    • Robomunk

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Alvinnn!!! Edition (Released by Paramount Home Video on September 16, 2008)
    • The Curse of the Lontiki
    • Mr. Fabulous
    • Unidentified Flying Chipmunk
    • A Horse of Course
    • New Improved Simon
    • Snow Job
    • Maids in Japan
    • Every Chipmunk Tells a Story
    • Romancing Miss Stone
    • Three Alarm Alvin
    • Alvin's Oldest Fan
    • A Chip Off the Old Tooth
    • Whatever Happened to Dave Seville?
    • Cadet's Regrets

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Alvin's Thanksgiving Celebration (Released by Paramount Home Video on September 23, 2008)
    • A Chipmunk Celebration
    • Food for Thought
    • Cookie Chomper III
    • Dave's Getting Married

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Classic Holiday Gift Set (Released by Paramount Home Video on September 23, 2008)
    • Includes all the episodes from the DVDs "Trick or Treason", "Alvin's Thanksgiving Celebration", and "A Chipmunk Christmas"

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes (Released by Paramount Home Video on January 13, 2009)
    • May the Best Chipmunk Win
    • Operation: Theodore
    • Sisters
    • The Greatest Show-Offs on Earth
    • My Fair Chipette
    • Tell It to the Judge

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Mystery of the Easter Chipmunk (Released by Paramount Home Video on February 10, 2009)
    • The Easter Chipmunk
    • Snow Wrong
    • Luck O' The Chipmunks
    • Special Kind of Champ
    • Thinking Cap Trap

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Star Wreck (Released by Paramount Home Video on September 8, 2009)
    • Star Wreck: The Absolutely Final Frontier
    • Elementary, My Dear Simon
    • Chip Tracy

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Very First Alvin Show (Released by Paramount Home Video on September 8, 2009)
    • Episode #1 of The Alvin Show
      The Alvin Show
      The Alvin Show is an American animated television series. It was the first to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks, although a series with a similar concept The Nutty Squirrels Present had aired a year earlier...

    • A Chipmunk Reunion
    • Rockin' Through the Decades
      Rockin' Through the Decades
      Rockin' Through the Decades is a live-action and animated television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was directed by Steve Karman, produced by Bagdasarian Productions, premiered on NBC in 1990, and released on VHS by Buena Vista Home Video in 1992 as Rockin' with the...


  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Alvin and the Chipettes in Cinderella, Cinderella (Released by Paramount Home Video on March 30, 2010)
    • Cinderella? Cinderella!
    • Alvie's Angels
    • The Brunch Club

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
    Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
    Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, and the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, and Anna Faris...

    : Blu-ray and DVD combo pack, Standard DVD, Double Disc DVD, and standard Blu-ray disc was released on March 30, 2010 (by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment).

External links

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