Alvin and The Chipmunks: CGI TV series remake

It's charming enough and about as good as I expected, so I'm liking it at the moment. I actually didn't expect any of the Chipettes to show up before the next episode, so seeing Brittany so soon was a nice surprise. The designs of the Chipmunks didn't bother me at all, which is a plus since I couldn't get a good feel for them in the commercials.

...Theodore's still my favorite. He is almost criminally precious.

Was I the only one thinking about the South Park episode about Statutory rape during "Principal interest"?

Probably.

Since I see that both are also the directors of the first set of episodes, I guess they were also the voices, especially now. Simon now doesn't sound like a high pitched Justin Timberlake(Or whichever Teen heartthrob was voicing him.)

I don't think Justin Timberlake's been considered a teen heartthrob in over a decade.

I know Jessie Mc Cartney was the fat one in the live action movies. Can't remember who did the other two, though.

"A is for alien" felt like a classic series episode, but why the movie set in the first place?

Eleanor sounds like the most normal sounding character in the chipmunk group. Probably because of her Character style.

I'm just glad they brought back the original voice actors from the 80's animated series,who we're also in the two Direct to Video films from 1999 and 2000.

Yes, apparently Ross Bagdasarian Jr and Janice Karman are back doing all the same voices they did in the 80's series (with the exception of Eleanor, who has a new voice actress), and the songs as well. Apparently this show is a big family affair, as Bagdasarian, Karmen, and their two children have all written scripts for it. They've historically maintained pretty tight control over the property, and it looks like they're still doing so.

Oddly, the title cards list the show as "created by Janice Karmen" which is a tad misleading. She co-created the Chipettes with Bagdasarian Jr, but even if the current show was entirely her vision (perhaps it is), you'd would think it would say "developed by X, based on characters created by Y." One wonders if there's some obscure legal reason for this (perhaps to get around the deal they made with the movie-makers?). Not a big deal really, especially given that this show is so much "in the family" but it is a little odd.

Sister act was a bit too irritating for my taste. Especially the ending when it does the Here We Go Again! set-up.

Lil' T's "Ice cream dream" is the first original song for this rendition of the show, I think. Also, who voiced Biggie? It just sounds familiar to me.

It's been a while since I've seen the 80's show, but I'd swear that they're using the same designs for the Seville house and the Chipmunks/Chipette's school.

Today's episodes were real good, But "Bully for you" was God-tier, as Shokew would say. At first, I thought it would be the old "Don't tell authorities about it until it's too late" story when Dave got involved. But honestly, it's Truth in Television that when you tattle, it doesn't always solve the problem or it grows bigger.

The Robot bodyguard felt like a copycat of that Jimmy Neutron episode, but it was entertaining enough. The best part was when the students finally stopped being bystanders and stood up for Simon and the others. It even ended in friendship! It was a very special feel good type of episode that would work real well for a "Stand up, speak out" week.

Oh, no wonder the locations seemed so familiar to me. The only play that seemed new to me was the Chipette's house; I don't remember them living in a treehouse behind Dave's house.

Agreed.

Speaking of The Chipetts house, someone at TR did an article on the new series.

Read all the way to the end. You might be surprised.

edited 12th Aug '15 6:44:35 PM by NegaKingKix

Heh. That's pretty much my feelings on the series, too. The designs do absolutely nothing for me. To my mind, the best designs for the these characters - all of 'em - are from The Chipmunk Adventure, a version of which were used on the Saturday morning series afterwards. They're quite a bit more expressive and dynamic than the previous Ruby Spears designs.

I do remember the Australian orphanage stuff per the Chipettes; I remember them living in a big treehouse, but I don't think it was originally in Dave's backyard. Mrs. Miller was, I think, eventually their adoptive mother (as well as their manager). Interestingly (or perhaps not) the first version of the Chipettes, or at least one of them, first appeared, I believe, on the 1982 album The Chipmunks Go Hollywood. Her name was Charlene, and she sang the Olivia Newton John part for "You're The One That I Want" from Grease (yeah, I had the album...so sue me, I was six).

edited 13th Aug '15 10:58:02 PM by Robbery

I caught a couple of the episodes, and beyond the chipmunk models being a bit creepy at times and not always being animated well I really like it. It has the same kind of character dynamics and humor that made the 2D show(s) and movies so enjoyable, which is awesome because I was fearing it'd take too much from the live action movies.

It's better than the Inspector Gadget CGI remake, at any rate.

edited 22nd Aug '15 11:34:52 AM by KnownUnknown

I do really like the writing and atmosphere of the series. But I kind of hate how in every episode, they have to make Alvin out to be a dick TO EVERYONE! I guess it's similar to how he was in the 80's, but damn, he's annoying when he tries to get his way.

Waitaminute... is the theme song to this show the exact same recording as the one from the 80's, just modified slightly?

edited 22nd Aug '15 2:39:43 PM by KnownUnknown

Yep. Except it's been shortened to just hearing the boys' names at the end besides the whiny earworm of the original.

I will say that, while I've found the original songs they've used so far to be engaging, it'd be nice to hear a cover or two, once in awhile. It's kinda one of the Chupmunks hallmarks. Of course, given that I suspect copyright issues concerning the songs used in the 80's series are what keeps there from being a complete DVD/Blu-Ray collection of it, I kind of understand their not wanting to do covers.

After watching all the episodes, yeah. I can agree that there's a little too much of Alvin being a dick - entertaining as it is to see him match wits with Simon, Dave or the girls and get what's coming to him, even episodes that aren't really about him come down to him being an asshole eventually, so there aren't a lot of real focus episodes. And in some episodes he's outright detestable.

edited 23rd Aug '15 9:14:10 AM by KnownUnknown

I still find Alvin likable enough (usually) though I do think there may be some Flanderization that's gone on. He's always been self-involved and a glory hog, but he has been able to step outside himself and consider other people. He still does, to some extent (like in My Sister the Weirdo — he was trying to help Jeanette, after all) but yeah, the dickier parts of his nature seem to have been amped up a mite.

After seeing a few episodes of the show, I must say... Yeah, this is at least decent. Sometimes it gets good, even great! I'd say it's pretty much on par with the 80's show (Which I had a few VHS's of as a Kid).

I don't really watch Nick much these days, but if this is on I'll watch to see where it goes.

Apparently, new episodes of Alvin are on this week along with Gumball. What to watch?

Both? They come on at different times (4pm for Alvin and 7pm for Gumball) at least for me.