Alvin and The Chipmunks: CGI TV series remake

Unfortunately, I work now on weekdays. No early day Chipmunks for me.

This show is getting to be pretty formula, isn't it?

Also, is it just me or does Theodore very rarely get anything to do?

edited 4th Sep '15 2:47:23 PM by KnownUnknown

You're not the only one, but on the bright side his episodes really are the best of the set. And also, that latest episode with the Chippettes and the creation of the treehouse they live in at least explained that new addition to the Chipmunk canon.

I keep getting the feeling like they're leading up to something with Theodore in some of these episodes, but then nothing ever comes of it.

Anyway, Bromance was pretty good. One of my favorites so far.

Really nice to have Alvin give himself a "Reason Why You Suck" Speech. I think my favorite one so far may be either "kicking it old school" or "Driving Dave crazy" because the trio seem to think the same and get along better near the middle of the story.

As far as production design goes, while I still prefer the Sandra Berez Chipmunk designs, the overall look of this series is growing on me. The humans are still a bit stiff, but the backgrounds are pretty good. I like the family photos and chipmunk-artwork scattered around the house, and the little touches like chipmunk-sized inset doors. In Slippin' Through My Fingers, one of the pictures on Dave's list of rejected potential girlfriends was of Vanessa Chambers, the Bagdasarians' daughter and current voice of Eleanor.

Anyone know what's up with all the "81's" on the Seville house's throw pillows?

Possibly the year the original series came out. In fact, I'm sure it's a tounge in cheek easter egg.

Wikipedia says that's the year "A Chipmunk Christmas" came out, and that that was the first time Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman voiced the characters.

I am in love with this show. I think part of why it's so decent and seems to take over the charms of the 80s series is because it's a family owned property. They came back to doing the voices and writing for the show. Which always equals a good thing. Not many reboots or new series of a franchise does well considering the changes.

Alvin does seem to be flanderized a teeny bit, and oddly, Brittany has been made a bit softer, but I still see Alvin as being a good kid at heart and at least his personality is still intact. I've seen majority of the episodes already where he tries to make up for his misgivings and seems to apologize. Plus, he seems to be very aware of how he is as a person, though I guess can't help himself. I mean,Carts and Crafts was a good episode in that it had him subject himself to be a "lil' doggie" pulling the cart for the sake of Theodore, lol. And he's totes adorable, that little diddy of a tune he was singing in "A Room Of One's Own" when cleaning was too cute. He's such a dynamic and flawed character, and I tend to respect and love those. I feel they're making it balanced enough. And hopefully, they may throw in some character development like in the older series. This is only the beginning.

There seems to be a lot more of the brothers' relationship with each other, and how...maybe it's because I can't remember all the 80s episodes well, but they're really focusing on their love for one another. They all appear to be really attached, despite getting at each other's nerves (looking at Alvin and Simon here).

And I also like this...budding issue with Dave and Alvin. I guess it isn't really an issue, and they explored this in Chipwrecked, but it seems Alvin has some doubts on his and Dave's relationship as father and son. I guess it's due to his behavior and how he gives him so much trouble, but I enjoyed "Back To School" for this reason. He seems to feel they don't bond as well or have things in common and that they've "never been closer" until then. He loved it, by his words, and was sad when things were shifting again. It's rather interesting to me.

Of all of them, Alvin has the classic mythologized rock-star mega-celebrity personality. He exudes charisma, he acts up, he's an attention hound; people frequently find him annoying, and yet he is pretty magnetic (even his teacher, who clearly is exasperated by him, can be charmed by him on occasion). He's outwardly confident but inwardly insecure, as evidenced by "Mojo Missing." He gets away with stuff because of his talent and charm, but he doesn't know where that talent and charm come from, or if it'll suddenly vanish and he'll lose his appeal. And if it does, where does that leave him? A lot of successful performers are like that, insecure because they don't really know what it is that makes people want to watch them; they don't know how long any success they might have will last.

Whoa, deep .

Crazy how Alvin remains my favorite chipmunk after all these years. It's so easy to go one note with his type, but he has this complexity and charm that's a treat to witness. Good to see that they remain doing him justice (the CGI film can go either or).

edited 5th Oct '15 4:20:45 PM by CroixJean

Why isn't this show on Comcast's On Demand yet?

Good question.

I've wondered that myself. Nick has comparatively little On Demand, but you'd think a new series to which the obviously want to give exposure (it's on, what 4 times a day?) would make their list. They do offer a number of episodes at Nick.com.

On the topic of Kid's channel on Comcast's Ondemand. I remember noticing every few years HBO Family's section would sometimes bring back the 1999 children's series "George and Martha" then removing it months later. It was my favorite show to watch on HBO's Kid's Block and for some reason. They would remove all episodes of the show and put it back on for over 3 or 5 years. I haven't seen the show ever since 2008/2009. For those that never heard of George and Martha. The show was based on the book series with the same name that stared two Hippo friends. It was set in World of Funny Animals and it was a fun show to watch.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who seen this show years ago? HBO Family still has "Storybook Musicals","Happily Ever After","Little Curious","Crashbox", and a kid's section which would sometimes featured an animated film exclusive to HBO Family.

I might be the only one who is still searching for episodes of it on Kisscartoon and other streaming sites. Why don't they have DV Ds of the show?

As if having another "Bear bomb" and "AT bomb" wasn't enough, we will have a week of new Alvin episodes. It's been a while, but we're back in style.

One thing I never understood.

The Chipmunks are big shot rockstars, right? So what was up with Alvin coming up with so many get-rich-quick schemes in the old show? Shouldn't they already be rich?

edited 31st Oct '15 11:14:10 AM by Austin

I expect that Dave puts whatever money they make that doesn't go to paying their expenses into trust for them; from the look of things, he ain't spending it on a rock-star lifestyle. I would expect Alvin comes up with get rich quick schemes cuz Dave only gives 'em a normal kids allowance and Alvin, being Alvin, wants more.

Going Green: I think this was the whole gang at its worse. Jeanette was the only one who showed any kind of humanity all throughout to the Eco friendly girl.

The franchise has always had a tendency to downplay the premise of them being big-shot rock stars in favor of school/family slice of life hijinks should the writers prefer it.

Dude, Where's My Respect? comes up a lot too, with the Chipmunks allegedly being super popular pop idols everywhere except apparently their home, where they're Cool Losers instead.

edited 2nd Nov '15 3:31:46 PM by KnownUnknown

In other words the writers wanted both and didn't care that it didn't make sense.

The Chipmunks weren't really Cool Losers though, unless you count in Simon and Theodore. Alvin was one of the popular/cool kids, and he still is to this day.

But yeah, the money schemes always confused me. Though I do believe they struggled more in the 80s series and weren't that famous, at least in the beginning to mid seasons.

Now for recent ALVINNN!!! episodes, like Going Green and House Guests....they can go to Hawaii any time. Well, if Dave wants to. But I guess that's where the schemes come in. The guy seems to pretty much want the chipmunks to live normal, social lives as best they can. He could easily have home schooling, but enrolls them in a school instead. Cause, we all know what happened to certain kids in real life who got thrown into fame at a young age...

edited 16th Nov '15 6:52:36 PM by CroixJean

Beiber happened. Speaking of recent episodes, the new episode bombs are still going. Today's ep was "Reality or Not", which might have almost been Dave's breaking point to just smothering the little bastard if it were not for Julie.

Are there any cartoons you don't watch, NegaKingNix? I feel like some threads would be dead if you didn't post in them.