History YMMV / AlvinAndtheChipmunks

** The infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW636Cab0tw "Pizza Toots""]] tv spot for ''The Road Chip'' is becoming this, if only for how obnoxiously immature and disgusting it is.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Alvin doesn't know the difference between a honey badger and a meerkat in ''Chipwrecked''. Strange, since he and Simon watched ''Meerkat Manor'' in a few scenes in ''The Squeakquel''.

* UncannyValley:
** The prototype dolls of The Chipmunks Ian shows Dave in the first film.
** The CGI on the Chipmunks in the fourth film looks noticeably worse than it did in the previous three films, which weren't all that great to start with.

!!For ''The Alvin Show'':
* Go [[YMMV/TheAlvinShow here]].

!!For ''Alvin and the Chipmunks[=/=]The Chipmunks'':
* BrokenBase: This has increased among much of the ''Chipmunk'' fandom in recent years. A large majority of the fan base grew up with this particular series and love it, especially for nostalgia. On the other hand, some fans hate for one of either two reasons, because it focused less on the music (unlike ''WesternAnimation/TheAlvinShow''), or they're sick of Bagdasarian Productions releasing the same handful of episodes on DVD over and over again.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Both Vinny and Uncle Harry seem to get quite a bit of attention from the fandom; the latter seems to stem from the similarities between Harry and "Uncle" Ian from the live-action/CGI films.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: This show was popular in the United Kingdom (where it aired on the Creator/{{BBC}}) and in Canada, where it aired on Creator/{{YTV}}. Both networks played the show up until 2002.
* GrowingTheBeard: Many credit the 80s series as the height of the franchise, largely for introducing the Chipettes, developing the contemporary designs of the Chipmunks as well as Simon and Theodore's individual personalities. Their stilted speech was also gradually fazed out during the run of the 80s series, making them much better at delivering gags.
* HarsherInHindsight: In "Thinking Cap Trap", the Chipmunks and Dave appear on a game show. When asked to identify the Bronx Bombers, one of their opponents said they were a New York terrorist group instead of the New York Yankees. This lost its hilarity for obvious reasons after 9/11.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: In the episode "I Love L.A." Alvin and co. try and fail miserably to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the star ending up going to Dan the Dog at the end. [[https://mynewsla.com/hollywood/2019/03/14/alvin-and-the-chipmunks-to-receive-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star/ In 2019, the Chipmunks eventually got their own star on the real life Hollywood Walk of Fame]]. Goes to show how years of focusing on what you do best and not forcing it has paid off.
* HilariousInHindsight: "Theodore's Life as a Dog" has Theodore pretending that he's becoming a were-dog. In ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunksMeetTheWolfman'', Theodore [[spoiler:becomes a werewolf for real]].
* SeasonalRot: During the [=DiC=] era of the series, the stories, as well as the overall production, slowly, yet steadily, grew weaker and weaker, compared to the quality of the earlier, Ruby-Spears era.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The babysitter in "Babysitter Fright Night". While Alvin shouldn't have accused her of being a criminal, she does herself no favours by acting like a DrillSergeantNasty towards the Chipmunks.
* ValuesDissonance: In the Cinderella dream sequence episode, the Chipettes are shown bathing, seen from the waist up, with nipple dots drawn on. In the 80s no one may have thought much of it but in the modern days with concerns over adults sexualizing & molesting children, more so with the Chipettes looking like little girls, it comes off as a bit disturbing to some viewers. Dorkly Bits was visibly freaked out that the scene even existed when they reviewed inappropriate moments in cartoons. There were also the occasional panty shots of the Chipettes that have the same feel now.
** Go figure that these scenes are rather popular with furries, often generating very creepy comments in any Youtube video posting showing them.

!!For ''The Chipmunk Adventure'':
* Go [[YMMV/TheChipmunkAdventure here]].

!!For ''[=AATC=] Meet Frankenstein'':
* Go [[YMMV/AlvinAndTheChipmunksMeetFrankenstein here]].

!!For ''[=AATC=] Meet the Wolfman'':
* Go [[YMMV/AlvinAndTheChipmunksMeetTheWolfman here]].

!!For ''Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks'':
* Go [[YMMV/LittleAlvinAndTheMiniMunks here]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The audience is supposed to see Dave as an in-over-his-head, but well meaning parental figure for the Chipmunks who learns to embrace his family. However, some audience members find it hard to sympathize with Dave, given his cruelty toward the chipmunks, along with nearly trying to send them away, even if he didn't go through with it.

* NeverLiveItDown:
** The scene where Simon eats Theodore's poop is unfortunately one of the first film's better remembered moments.
** ''Chipwrecked'' these days is best remembered for exiling David Cross, who played Ian from the franchise, as he infamously decried the film as the worst experience of his acting career.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In "Thinking Cap Trap", the Chipmunks and Dave appear on a game show. When asked to identify the Bronx Bombers, one of their opponents said they were a New York terrorist group instead of the New York Yankees. This lost its hilarity for obvious reasons after 9/11.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: "Chipwrecked" becomes this after the ''Costa Concordia'' disaster.

** The CGI on the Chipmunks in the fourth film looks noticeably worse than it did in the previous three films.

** Digger the Gopher's (as voiced by Creator/EricBauza) inexplicable cameo in the second movie. There's no build-up to him, nor is he even a side gag. He just happens to appear as a DeusExMachina during the climax. Most people don't even know who he is (he's was then-sister company Fox Sports' mascot for UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} Racing coverage; he was dropped in 2012 after years of viewer backlash).

* WhatAnIdiot: Had Ian played his cards right and learned from the [[{{Jerkass}} mistakes he made]] in the first movie, not only would the Chipettes have remained on his side, but he would have most likely won out in the end.

* Alvin gets yelled at in their famous Christmas Don't Be Late song because he doesn't respond when Dave calls his name. Then Dave gets angry and yells at him. That can be seen as incredibly abusive in and of itself. There's also a kind of seizure called an absence seizure. Think about it... what if Alvin is having an absence seizure and Dave is yelling at him for something he literally can't control? That is of course TruthInTelevision - many children who have that kind of seizure are accused of ADHD or just daydreaming.

** "The Chipmunk Song" has Alvin asking for a hula hoop for Christmas, which was all the rage in the late 1950s. These days, you'd wonder why he would want something so simple.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: While it's understandable that Dave would find the chipmunks' behavior difficult at times, he not only forgets that they are not humans, but also shouts at young children. His reactions can be grossly overreactive and he rarely takes the time to try calmly solving problems.

** By the time the third one came out, it became almost unanimous that the series had outstayed its welcome, and this hit a tipping point in 2015. To clarify, the third movie did horribly with critics, but was among the highest-grossing films at the time. The critics were quick to make insinuations on what kind of person would actually like such a movie, as reflected in the Website/RottenTomatoes consensus:

** The ''Road Chip'' contains a cameo from infamous cult director Creator/JohnWaters to which Alvin says he's actually seen ''Film/PinkFlamingos''. Giving most adult viewers the horrifying image of Alvin watching [[NauseaFuel such a film]] rather than a clever ParentalBonus.

** Alvin flirts with some human girls. High school girls. Think about it, then take a long shower.
*** Not only that, but the human girls actually ''reciprocate'' his advances. Might want to go take a longer shower.

** Digger the Gopher's (as voiced by Creator/EricBauza) inexplicable cameo in the second movie. There's no build-up to him, nor is he even a side gag. He just happens to appear as a ''Deus Ex Machina'' during the climax. Most people don't even know who he is (he's was then-sister company Fox Sports' mascot for UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} Racing coverage; he was dropped in 2012 after years of viewer backlash).

* NeverLiveItDown: The scene where Simon eats Theodore's droppings is unfortunately one of the first film's better remembered moments.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The December 1988 episode "The Wall" has Alvin, Simon, and Theodore performing a rock song called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "The Wall"]], during which the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall starts to crack and it falls reuniting families and friends. Alvin wakes up on the plane where he says [[AllJustADream "it was just a dream, but it doesn't have to be"]]. 11 months later, the wall was finally torn down.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The December 1988 episode "The Wall" has Alvin, Simon, and Theodore performing a rock song called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "The Wall"]], during which the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall starts to crack and it falls reuniting families and friends. Alvin wakes up on the plane where he says [[AllJustADream "it was just a dream, but it doesn't have to be"]]. Months later, the wall was finally torn down.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The 1989 episode "The Wall" has Alvin, Simon, and Theodore performing a rock song called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "The Wall"]], during which the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall starts to crack and it falls reuniting families and friends. Alvin wakes up on the plane where he says [[AllJustADream "it was just a dream, but it doesn't have to be"]]. Months later, the wall was finally torn down.