Western Animation: Alvin and the Chipmunks aka: Alvinandthe Chipmunks
Left to right: Theodore, Alvin and Simon.
This '80s Animated Series is about a suburban singing trio of chipmunks and their adoptive human father, Dave Seville, based on a series of songs by Ross Bagdasarian. Revival of the 1960s Animated Series, The Alvin Show.The history of the chipmunks begins in the 1950s. Songwriter Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. had his first success as a singer when he released a catchy little tune titled "Witch Doctor" under the stage name "David Seville". The success of "Witch Doctor" was mostly due to the simple but cute sound technique (doubling playback speed) he used to render the voice of the Witch Doctor for the song's nonsensical refrain, "Ooh-eee-ooh-ah-ah ting-tang walla-walla bing-bang".Bagdasarian decided to capitalize on this success by assigning the voice technique to a trio of singing chipmunks — brainy Simon, gluttonous Theodore and High School Hustler Alvin — for the best-selling Christmas tune "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", in which an increasingly annoyed David Seville's attempts to keep his chipmunk singers on-message served as a Framing Device, and led to Dave Seville's trademark Catch Phrase, Alvin? Alvin? ALLLLLLLVIN!"In 1961, after releasing several albums as "Dave Seville and the Chipmunks", Bagdasarian was able to persuade Format Films and CBS to launch a prime-time cartoon, The Alvin Show, based on the exploits of the Chipmunks in addition to the misadventures of inventor Clyde Crashcup (who invents pretty much everything that already exists), which ran for only one season on CBS due to low ratings. (Competition from NBC juggernaut Wagon Train was a factor, but the main reason for the low ratings was production delays which were largely caused by disagreements between Bagdasarian and Format Films over acceptable character designs for The Chipmunks. In addition, Bagdasarian insisted that The Alvin Show skip the addition of a laugh track, against the wishes of CBS.) A number of further Chipmunk albums were released, but interest eventualy died down and Bagdasarian retired in the late '60s. The Alvin Show did get replayed on NBC at mid-season of the 1978-79 season (where TV listings billed it as Alvin And The Chipmunks) followed by a syndication run and another on Nickelodeon in the early 1990s.In 1977, though, his son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., took on the mantle of Dave Seville and revived the franchise. In 1981, an animated TV movie was made, based (loosely) around the original "Chipmunk Song", in which somewhat cuddlier Chipmunks helped an Inspirationally Disadvantaged boy perform alongside Alvin at Carnegie Hall.This animated special formed the basis for the 1983-1990 Animated SeriesAlvin And The Chipmunks. The series also introduced Distaff Counterparts to the Chipmunks, "The Chipettes": Jeanette, Brittany and Eleanor. In addition to the usual Sitcom and Animated Series plots common to the era, the show features a great deal of musical numbers, with the Chipmunks and their female counterparts covering popular eighties hits in musical sequences, which is why the series (save for the last season) will never EVER see the light of day on DVD. Although, with the success of the new live-action movies, some select episodes have been released by Paramount.The show ultimately got rebooted in its final year to feature Something Completely Different episodes casting the Chipmunks in satires of the various shows and movies of the era — Moonlighting, Miami Vice, A Nightmare on Elm Street, etc. (They were not limited to their contemporaries, either; they also cast Simon as Sherlock Holmes, facing Alvin's Moriarty). It also spawned a nostalgiariffic feature film, A Chipmunk Adventure, which involved the Chipmunks and the Chipettes going around the world on a scavenger hunt.The show ultimately vanished from the airwaves in the 1990s, save for a couple of direct-to-video movies that downplayed the music angle in favor of generic Holiday plotlines. In the last couple of years however, a live-action adaptation with computer-generated (and realistically sized) chipmunks and Jason Lee as the new David Seville, has revived the characters somewhat. So much so, in fact, that it has spawned two sequels, at least one of which averts Sequelitis.
Animation Bump: For the animated movie, Bagdasarian Productions picked up a lot of the Disney animators who were laid off after The Black Cauldron flopped.
Art Shift: Compare the character designs for the Ruby-Spears episodes to the Chipmunk Adventure and the DiC and Mukarumi-Wolf-Swenson era designs.
Compare them all to the original cartoon designs of the 1961 series, from Format Films (an L.A. studio started up by Herbert Klynn and Jules Engel and various other UPA expatriates).
Auction: In one of the '80s episodes, Alvin gets in over his head bidding on expensive items to impress a rich girl he likes.
Bigger Than Jesus: One cartoon formatted as a documentary on the rise and popularity of the group shows one segment where Alvin shocks everyone at a press conference, including Simon and Theodore, by shouting, "We're bigger than Mickey Mouse!" People start destroying their Chipmunks merchandise as Alvin is forced to make an apology to the press soon after.
Birds of a Feather: The trope mostly describes the relationship between The Chipmunks and The Chipettes when paired with their individual Distaff Counterpart. Somewhat subverted with Alvin and Brittany, as their similarities make them clash more than they come to understand each other in their ever Belligerent Sexual Tension.
The Cover Changes The Gender: "The Girls of Rock and Roll," for The Movie. They changed every other recitation of the chorus to "We are the boys of rock and roll," so that the Chipmunks and Chipettes could have a Battle Of The Sexes song.
Cover Version: When you get right down to it, the Chipmunks are basically a cover band. The fact that they're chipmunks who have some decent vocals is what gives them a pass, though.
Cross-Dressing Voices: The 1980s version had Theodore voiced by Janice Karman (wife of Ross Bagdarsian Jr.).
In the episode where Brittany dreams herself in the role of Cinderella, a scene of her forced to do various chores has her giving baths to her sisters. Both Jeanette and Elanor's expies in the dream are shown sitting in small bathtubs, uncovered from the waist up, with small dots drawn on. Admittedly, such a thing back in the 80s was probably no big deal unlike today, but come on, what the hell?
An episode which parodied the show Moonlighting has what appears to be a distraught Alvin suffering a hangover. Then we see that he's just been drinking root beer and he's had far too much.
In general there seem to be a lot of PantyShots (from the Chipettes and other young girls) for no reason, although that may be an attempt at realism, as some of their skirts are quite short. Still...
Ham-to-Ham Combat: Alvin and Brittany place a bet to see which group can "out rock and roll" the other. "The Boys / Girls of Rock and Roll" consumes the rest of the scene.
Have a Gay Old Time: The TV show's theme contains quite a bit. The series's Totally Radical pretensions don't help matters. "We'll give you action and satisfaction" indeed...
High School Hustler: Alvin. Though the proper term would be Elementary School Hustler.
Imaginary Love Triangle: An episode had one involving a Girl of the Week, Simon, and a biker boy. Alvin convinced Simon to try out for a bike competition to impress the girl, only to find out that the biker was her cousin.
Interspecies Romance: In the animated movie, the prince of Egypt falls in love with Brittany and intends to make her one of his brides.
Medium Awareness: "Quick! Cut to a commercial!" in the episode "Food for Thought."
The entire episode of Back to our Future was practically this trope personified, from the Chipmunks talking about the year they were created (not born, as in previous episodes) to them meeting their original designs, to the dramatic shift in animation, which both the 60's and 80's Dave notices. They even complain about how flat everything is in the 60's, a time when cartoon backgrounds were as simple as possible and things like proper perspective were not established as a standard.
Never Say "Die": Subverted rather often. One episode even has a frustrated Elanor shout in anger, "I swear, if we don't get to New Lrelans soon, I'm going to KILL her!" as she was sick of Brittany's constant whining. ELANOR of all people!
New Transfer Student: When The Chipettes join the Chipmunks at their school in "May The Best Chipmunk Win".
Obviously Evil: Both played with and played straight with FIVE characters in Chipmunk Adventure. The viewers know what the 'Munks and 'Pettes don't know about the rich European couple, but the two men following the Chipmunks and Chipettes, along with their shady employer, are actually cops having the appearance of cartoon villains.
Orphanage of Fear: The Chipettes and their original human caretaker, Olivia, lived in one of these in Australia, as seen in their backstory episode.
Not so Above It All: Simon gets this a lot. Most of the time when he's criticizing whatever irresponsible thing they're about to do, he's eventually shown to have just as much fun doing it as Alvin and Theodore, especially in the movie (the Mexico scene in particular comes to mind). Also, more than a few episodes of the show have him criticizing Alvin and Theodore for getting scared of something, only to turn around and get just a scared a few moments later.
Pajama Clad Hero: Alvin, Simon, and Theodore wear ankle-length nightshirts most of the time.
Parental Abandonment: Alvin felt this way when he wonders why their mother, Vinnie, left them with "a stranger". Vinnie revealed that during the great winter migration, there wasn't enough food to feed her children; she gave them up to David Seville, whom she knew that he was friendly to the animals. She later tried to come back for them, but she sees how happy they are with him; Alvin feels guilty for thinking otherwise.
Pretty in Mink: Given that the Chipmunks and Chipettes frequently try mingle with, or get into, high society, quite a few furs appear, usually by Socialites.
Random Events Plot: Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks has Dave put the Chipmunks and the Chipettes under the care of a woman named Lalu for a few days, and the screentime is filled out with things varying from Theodore overflowing the toilet with toys, to Alvin and Simon fighting over a cape, to Jeanette eating Brittany's lipstick and having to make money to buy a new one for her (while wearing a ridiculous costume to help Lalu clean up).
The Rashomon: The episodes "Every Chipmunk Tells A Story" and "Once Upon a Crime."
Rock & Roll: While the Chipmunks covered famous songs and delved into many genres, they were mostly portrayed as a Rock band in the cartoon series, with Alvin on guitar, Simon on keyboards/piano, and Theodore on drums. And if they wanted, they could switch instruments too.
Series Continuity Error: The episode "Miss Miller's Big Gamble" established Miss Miller's first name as Beatrice, but the animated movie says her name was Rebecca. Additionally, "A Dog's Best Friend Is His Chipmunk" shows that Dave is allergic to dogs, but in "Cookie Chomper III", he only starts developing an allergy to dogs once the Chipmunks brought Lilly in at the end. Also, Dave's parents are established as farm people in "Grandpa and Grandma Seville", but "Back to Dave's Future" showed that they lived in the city when Dave was a kid, and his father was an accountant.
Shout Out: The Chipmunks were named after the top executives of Liberty Records, their original label, Alvin Bennett, Simon Waronker, and Theodore Keep.
Take That: Elwy and the Tree Weasels, which was used in an episode of Ralph Bakshi's Mighty Mouse show. Their manager/surrogate dad was Sandy Bottomfeeder.
Talking to Himself: Alvin, Simon, Theodore, and David Seville are all voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in "The Chipmunk Song."
Since the '80s, Alvin, Simon, and Dave have been voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., while Theodore and all three Chipettes are voiced by his wife, Janice Karman.
Technology Marches On: Many times you see Simon referencing the latest computers as being incredible, despite graphics which have visible pixels and being roughly the size of a microwave oven. Audio equipment is similarly out-dated, using reel-to-reel recording devices instead of digital media which was gaining popularity even in the late eighties when this show was produced.
Back to our Futurelampshades this phenomenon by having the 60's Chipmunks all amazed at the advances in technology.
This Is No Time For Knitting: One Halloween special has Simon listing off things they need to save Alvin, Buffy Speak style. Theodore goes to the snack table, to get the items Simon was asking for.
Three Shorts: The Alvin Show followed the A-B-A format, with Clyde Crashcup as the middle segment. The Ruby-Spears episodes of the 80's series are all two shorts except for four (both backstory episodes for the Chipmunks and the Chipettes, the episode introducing Miss Miller, and the Cinderella episode), while the DiC episodes of The Chipmunks had seven out of 26 episodes as whole episodes. Only the Murakami-Wolf-Swenson episodes and The Chipmunks Go To the Movies are all whole episodes.
The Voiceless: Clyde Crashcup's assistant, Leonardo.
Wise Beyond Their Years: Simon (who nevertheless gets a lot of Not so Above It All moments to remind us he's still a kid), and to a lesser extent all the Chipmunks and Chipettes except Theodore.
Wholesome Crossdresser: This happens to the guys, specifically Simon, from time to time.
But if you're talking about the two live action Alvin and The Chipmunks movies, where The Chipmunks and the Chipettes are normal-sized chipmunks, then their fear of snakes is perfectly justified.
Also justified in the episode of the '80s cartoon which shows how the Chipmunks came to live with Dave — they were babies, and much smaller, and Dave was torn to pieces when he thought they'd been eaten by a snake at the zoo.
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