Alvin and the Chipmunks Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Created by Ross Bagdasarian in 1958, Alvin and the Chipmunks is a fictional musical group consisting of three singing chipmunks—Alvin, Simon, and Theodore—who are "managed" by their human "dad" and leader, David "Dave" Seville. (In reality, "David Seville" was Ross Bagdasarian's stage name). The chipmunks were first brought to life in novelty recordings of the 1950s by Ross under the name David Seville and the Chipmunks. After incredible (and unexpected) initial success, the singing chipmunks and their manager were given life in several animated cartoon series and movies. It is notable that the characters are now perceived as a cartoon that also released some accompanying music, while the chronology was quite the opposite.The voices of the group were all recorded by voice actor and creator, Ross Bagdasarian, who sped up the playback to create the most-distinctive higher pitched squeaky voices. (This process wasn't entirely new; Ross had also used it for a previous novelty song project "The Witch Doctor," but it was so unusual and well executed it earned the trio two Grammy Awards for engineering). Although the characters were fictional, they did release "real" albums. After his death in 1972, the voices of the chipmunks were subsequently recorded by his son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr, and his wife, Janice Karman, in all future incarnations to date. The chipmunks themselves are named after the executives of their record label, Liberty Records: Alvin Bennett (the president), Theodore Keep (the chief engineer), and Simon Waronker (the founder and owner).
Alvin and the Chipmunks first appeared on the scene in a novelty record released in 1958 by Ross Bagdasarian. The song, known either as just "The Chipmunk Song" or "Christmas Don't Be Late" featured the singing skills of the chipmunk trio. The novelty record was very successful, selling more than 4 million copies in 7 weeks, and it launched the careers of its chipmunk stars. It was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from December 27, 1958 to January 19, 1959. It also earned three Grammy Awards and a nomination for Record of the Year.
While the series was being prepared for broadcast, an imitation, the Nutty Squirrels, beat them to the market, but was less successful, despite catchy scat singing.
The first television series to feature the characters was the black-and-white cartoon The Alvin Show. It ran from 1961 to 1962, and was one of a small number of cartoons to be shown in prime time, on CBS. Unfortunately, it was not immediately successful and was cancelled after one season, only to find new life in syndication. The show was later colorized.
In addition to Alvin cartoons, the series also featured Clyde Crashcup and his sidekick Leonardo. Those characters did not feature prominently in any of the later series (A single cameo appearance was made in an episode of Alvin and the Chipmunks).
This show was originally produced by Bagdasarian Film Corporation and Format Films.
Episodes: 26 Alvin and the Chipmunks episodes, 52 musical segments, and 26 Clyde Crashcup episodes.
After the death of Ross Bagdasarian in 1972, the Chipmunks' careers stalled until NBC showed interest in the original show and released a new album of modern (for 1980) Chipmunk songs. The new album featured the late Ross'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 a new series. (However, it did not reach the level of critical success as the previous work)
In 1983, the second cartoon series was released. Titled simply Alvin and the Chipmunks, the outline of the show closely paralleled the original Alvin show. The show lasted six production seasons, until 1991. In the third season, the show introduced the The Chipettes, three female versions of the Chipmunks with their own human counterpart. Many fans consider this the moment when the show jumped the shark. (After this point, the show was renamed just The Chipmunks to indicate that there were now multiple groups of them)
In 1987, during the fifth season of the show on television, the Chipmunks had their first (and thus far, only) animated feature film: The Chipmunk Adventure, directed by Janice Karman. The film featured the Chipmunks and the Chipettes in a contest traveling around the world. Other than improved production values, the movie was more of an extended and enhanced episode of the series.
For the sixth and final season, the show switched production companies (to DiC Entertainment) and switched titles again: Chipmunks Go to the Movies. Each episode in this season was a spoof of a Hollywood film, such as Back to the Future, Dick Tracy, and others. In additional, several television specials featuring the characters were also released. At the conclusion of the sixth season, the show was cancelled 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 with other contemporary cartoons (such as Bugs Bunny, Garfield, etc.) for the drug abuse-prevention special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.
In 1996, the rights to the characters were purchased by Universal Pictures. This resulted in Alvin's 1999 reappearance in the form of the direct-to-video movie Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein. The movie was successful enough to spark interest in a sequel, and in 2000, Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman appeared. Both movies featured the "original" cast of the second series reprising their roles and the tone of the movies are very similar to the series. These film titles reflect earlier horror spoofs by Abbott and Costello.
In 2000, Bagdasarian Productions sued Universal Pictures for breach of contract for both monentary damages and to regain control of the Alvin and the Chipmunks characters. If that lawsuit is not successful, the contract will expire in 2006. Until that is resolved, there will likely be no major activity with the franchise and no further television movies produced.
Alvin: Alvin is an emotional roller coaster. 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 and full of animal magnetism. What others might characterize as half-baked schemes, Alvin prefers to see "challenging the ordinary".
Simon: In addition to having an IQ just north of Einstein, Simon possesses a very dry sense of humor as well as a keen wit. His chess master mind allows him to anticipate Alvin's hairbrained schemes (Simon's phrase, not Alvin's), and devise a solution that is inevitably required. In the end, Simon lives alvin, although he secretly worries that they share the same gene pool.
Theodore: He is the child of innocence, He is shy, loving, sensitive, gullible, trusting, and native. In short, he is an easy target for Alvin's manipulations. In fact, Theodore often holds the swing vote between his two brothers choice of action. Simon appears to Theodore's better nature while Alvin goes straight to bribery.
David Seville: Like any other single parent trying to raise three kids, let alone three hyperactive chipmunks, Dave has his patience tested on a daily basis. Not only does he juggle his professional life as the songwriter for the musical trio, he's also the Chipmunks' father, and confidant. While Dave struggles to remain calm and objective, alvin often pushes him over the edge, reducing Dave to his patented yell, "A-L-V-I-N!!!"
History
"The Chipmunk Song"
Imitations
The Alvin Show
Chipmunk Punk
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Direct-to-video Alvin
Alvin's future
Biographies
Awards and nominations
In total: five Grammy Awards and a Golden Reel Award.