Although I watched the 1980's Saturday morning Alvin And The Chipmunks as a kid, I had largely forgotten the franchise until I rediscovered it this year (result of finding THE CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE in a box of VHS tapes). I'm so glad I did. Charm and humor collide with sharply written scripts which I could never have fully appreciated as a kid (and which have given me a model to shoot for in terms of my own writing). Even as a kid, I seemed to be aware that the show I was watching was actually an updated version of something which came before. Not sure how I figured this out, as it was a few years later that I finally got to see the original The Alvin Show from the 60's.
The whole thing started in the late 50's with novelty song producer (and all-around entertainment dynamo) Ross Bagdasarian. He created a bit of a sensation when he layered sped up recordings of his voice and used them as background vocals. The resultant "group" became known as The Chipmunks. A few fun songs were cut, but it wasn't until "Christmas, Don't Be Late" that the dynamic we know today was fully in place (in fact, the song's alternate title is "The Chipmunk Song"). Under the name "David Seville" Bagdasarian would play loving but frustrated father to a trio of chipmunks who were also Seville's adopted sons. This act was adapted to television with the popular animated series The Alvin Show, which mixed sitcom hi-jinks with versions of popular songs as interpreted by The Chipmunks.
That might've been the end of it, and the Chipmunks relegated to obscurity like contemporary sound-a-like group The Nutty Squirrels (well, not total obscurity, given the popularity of the Chipmunks, but more of a memory than anything else). With the passing of Bagdasarian, his son Ross Bagdasarian Jr. sought to prevent that from happening. " I revered my dad," Bagdasarian was quoted, "but I didn't want to do what he had done. That was his creation. Had he remained alive, I never would have done this. But when he passed away suddenly, it was a way of keeping my dad alive, and keeping what he created alive."
Bagdasarian Jr. and his wife Janice Karman (who have been happily wedded since 1980, which should tell you something right there) basically took the foundation set by Ross Sr. and expanded it into the 1980's. Alvin And The Chipmunks followed basically the same formula as what had been done in the 60's, though the designs of the characters were streamlined and the episodes became more complex. The series also became a bit sweeter, in comparison to the more rowdy original (at least as I remember the original series, which came across as quite rambunctious in my memory). Badasarian, as his dad had done, voiced David Seville as a loving suburban father and general manager of the boys' musical act. He also voiced the hyper Alvin and more sensible Simon. The voice of sweet Theodore was provided by Janice. The roster of characters eventually expanded to include a girl singing trio, The Chipettes (all three voiced by Janice) and their eventual guardian Miss Miller (I haven't seen every episode, so I'm not sure when Miss Miller adopted the girls, who had previously been seen living in their own opulent treehouse-like structure).
The Chipmunks seemed to divide their time between being international singing stars and all-American children. Alvin frequently leaped before looking, but proved rather smart as most schemers must be. Simon was the level head of the gang, though he was often ignored whenever Alvin felt confident. Theodore was mostly along for the ride, talked into taking part in Alvin's latest scheme, when he would rather be snacking. The Chipettes were basically the same unit, only through a softer female lens. Brittany was, like Alvin, an opportunist who usually ignored warning signs that what she was about to do wasn't such a hot idea. She could be self-absorbed but then rather sweet when she realized that she was stepping on her sisters. Simon's analog was Jeanette, the smart but frequently demure one (seeing her leap into a more confident posture whenever on stage was an interesting visual). Her shyness was likely tied to the fact that she was a bit of a klutz at times, though a charming klutz. Theodore was reflected in the similarly sweet, and snack-happy, Eleanore.
What really held the show together was it's family dynamic. Differences abounded, and prompted the occasional tirade or altercation, but ultimately the Chipmunks were loving brothers and the Chipettes loving sisters. Their affections weren't limited to their immediate relations, either. However short-sighted and braggadocios Alvin could be, he always rankled when he saw someone being mistreated. Being more forward than his brethren, he was also usually the first to step forward and try to do something about it if he felt something was wrong. This reflected well David's parenting abilities, even if there was little immediate evidence of such whenever Alvin wanted something.
(This general sweetness really comes through in THE CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE, in particular during a sequence where the Chipettes come to care for a baby penguin and launch into the tender ballad "My Mother, That's Who I Mean." I didn't figure this out at first, but the song produced extra pathos when I realized that the girls were supposed to be orphans. More endearingly, when Janice Karman recorded the number, she was five months pregnant and thus gave the tune even more emotional charge.)
The updated version of the show became a hit and ran for years, resulting in a flurry of merchandising. As I'd mentioned previously, the big screen was tackled via THE CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE in 1987. Sadly, the film was a boxoffice flop, but that didn't stop the popularity of the Saturday morning cartoon (which in later seasons when production was switched from Ruby/Spears to DIC saw the title shorted to The Chipmunks, which may be why the movie was titled the way it was). In fact, the series branched into weekly movie parodies with the follow-up series The Chipmunks Go To The Movies. There were also several TV specials going up into the mid 90's at least. The turn of the century saw the one-two punch of ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS MEET FRANKENSTEIN and ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS MEET THE WOLFMAN! before the franchise was put to bed (and subsequently re-vamped). It's this version of the characters I've come to love all over again. It is now one of my great ambitions to approach Bagdasarian Productions to produce a new Chipmunk feature in line with the 80's/90's aesthetic. I have a couple of good scenarios in mind, in fact, and had I a few million bucks sitting around I'd immediately find out if Mr. and Mrs. Bagdasarian would be game to write another feature script...
Upon discovering THE CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE (and ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS MEET FRANKENSTEIN, which was also in the box of tapes I got), I knew I wanted to see more of the franchise as my memories were pretty faded. Through friends, I got the first film's soundtrack album and ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS MEET THE WOLFMAN! and as many episodes of the series as I could hunt down on video and disk. The rediscovery has been delightful, a charming and funny trek which has endeared Bagdasarian Productions to me in ways few such companies have been able to catch my fancy. Should Ross or Janice ever see this piece, I want to say thank you for some wonderful entertainment. You've given me so many smiles and pleasant moments, to say nothing of laughter.
What follows is a rather disjointed rambling as I revisited the franchise. I didn't do as much research as I should have, mostly focusing on my general impressions as I re-introduced myself to something which remains very special to many people. It should be noted that all this was followed by a series of four live-action features and then a CGI cartoon series. Having not seen those, I can't comment on how they compare. If the general level of writing remains as solid, they may be worth checking out.
I've always enjoyed the sound of girl groups, so I started by getting a couple of disks which featured episodes based around the Chipettes (and found several repeat episodes since one disk was basically a reissue of the previous one). The reissue disk did however feature what I assume was the very first appearance of the Chipettes, in an episode appropriately titled "The Chipettes." This early episode has Dave and the Chipmunks on the road, discovering a hotel marquee saying the Chipmunks have been booked there. Although Dave can't remember the booking, the boys check into the hotel. There they find a girl group under the same name, and Alvin ends up making a deal with the girls that the group that wins the hotel's competition to see who will play that night will also walk away with the Chipmunk name.
This episode offers some intriguing, if elliptical, backstory on the girls. Performing as The Chipmunks, the girls have been singing in Australia (though there's no indication that the girls themselves are Australian) and this will be the first leg of their American tour. The girls win the competition and take the stage as The Chipmunks, but are practically booed off stage when the audience is expecting the 'real' Chipmunks. Alvin saves the day by telling the audience that the girls are joining the Chipmunks for the show, and Brittany quickly comes up with "The Chipettes" as the name for their group. What happened after that I can't say, but eventually the girls returned to the series as students transferred to the same elementary school as the Chipmunks (Thomas Edison Elementary School).
"May The Best Chipmunk Win" finds the Chipettes transferred to Thomas Edison (and the way they're greeted by the boys indicates they shared more than one concert together), just as Alvin is running for student body president. Seeking a way to introduce themselves to the school, the Chipettes back Brittany as she enters the race. Brittany is somewhat embarrassed when she discovers Alvin is her competition, but he encourages her to go for it. He comes to regret his kindness when Brittany proves a much better campaigner than he does. Ultimately, it comes down to a single vote: Jeanette's. Much humor comes from the two candidates doing whatever they can to secure her vote. Feeling Alvin has better motivation, Jeanette casts her vote for the boy and Brittany is left sulking (and belting out a variation of the Lesley Gore hit "It's My Party (And I'll Cry If I Want To)" which is a fairly good rendition of the classic tune). Meanwhile, Alvin has arranged for a party to officially welcome the Chipettes to the school.
Episodes after that showed the Chipettes living in a snappy suburban house built from the base of a large tree. Moreover, they lived there alone completely without adult supervision as opposed to the Chipmunks who lived in a completely normal house with Dave. At some point, Miss Miller adopted the girls and they ended up living in her house (which must've been something of a come down from their neat treehouse, but being in more of a family again likely made up for that*).
(*Indeed, another disk I got has the episode "Cinderella, Cinderella" which takes place very soon after the girls have moved into Miss Miller's house. When Brittany begins to complain about doing chores, Jeanette happily notes that she'll take on chore duties as it's indicative of being back in a real family situation.)
(UPDATE - Though I don't have a copy of it, I have learned of an episode which actually spells all this out. It sounds fairly amusing, too. Evidently, the Chipettes are entirely self-sufficient, which works out fine until the school board finds out that the girls don't have any legal guardians. The Chipmunks try to pass themselves off as family friends to cover for the girls, but ultimately an orphan asylum is imminent until Miss Miller steps forward and adopts the girls. The funny thing is, while I didn't remember the Chipettes from my childhood viewings of the show, I think I may have seen this episode. It sounds rather familiar.)
Other good episodes from this set included "Operation Theodore" and "Sisters." In the former, the Chipettes are pulling duty as hospital aides. When Brittany's charge flees a planned operation, she tries to buy some time by having Theodore (who has stopped by to give Eleanor her homework assignment) bundle up in the vacant hospital bed while she goes searching for the real patient. Unfortunately, Theodore quickly finds himself in the operating room. Some fine comic timing in this episode, which may stand as one of my favorites.
I can say the same about "Sisters" though it's a different animal altogether. This one finds Brittany desperate to join a chic club of privileged girls who call themselves the Sisters. Brittany goes to extremes to join this club, despite the Sisters' talking down of Jeanette. Embarrassed, Brittany even denies relation to Jeanette! Though Jeanette takes it in stride, Alvin is rather offended by this turn of events. It all works out, of course, but the sequence mixes humor and emotional pathos surprisingly well for a kiddie cartoon show. Credit to the script for this episode. It's not only funny, but at times genuinely touching.
Jeanette takes center stage in "My Fair Chipette" when Alvin is offering coaching to win the school's Miss Wonderful pageant. Convinced Alvin knows less about beauty contests than he thinks he does, Brittany makes a bet with Alvin to make a winner of the clumsy Jeanette. Ultimately, Jeanette indeed takes the prize, but more for personal sweetness and integrity than for Alvin's help (although Alvin's coaching and in particular his rigging of the talent portion of the show is an amusing bit). This episode again highlights some good writing, pulling humor from character bits as well as one-liners, that makes fresh even so traveled a concept as the bet-you-can't-make-her-the-winner-of-a-beauty-contest theme.
A notable episode from much later in the series was "Alvie's Angels" which as one might guess was a parody of Charlie's Angels in which the girls dream themselves into the position of globe-trotting style-conscious detectives in employ of the unseen Alvin. One could see considerable advancement in the animation from the earliest episode on the disk (from 1982, I think) and this later one from around 1988. The basic character design got a bit cleaner with the development of the movie, and the episode itself suggests a greater emphases on Tex Avery style humor than the more character-based humor of earlier episodes. This may be reflective of the fact that the bulk of the episode is a dream sequence, and thus allowed the writers to explore a bit outside the usual territory of the show. The flexibility of dream sequences allowed for some amusing bits, particularly in the field of spoofing established properties like Charlie and his Angels. The boys got to handle a fantasy sequence about Sherlock Holmes which, while it provided laughs, offered a fairly straight and inventive mystery narrative. It would seem this fantasy approach was a successful move, as the next entire series would be send-ups of popular movie properties, each handled in varying degrees of humor. And it turns out, several episodes of The Chipmunks Go To The Movies had been issued on home video (and later DVD).
What memories I had of the 80's Chipmunk cartoons largely came from this follow-up series, which each week would use the Chipmunk characters to recast scenarios from popular movies ranging from BACK TO THE FUTURE to KING KONG. One episode I recall from back when was a parody of GREMLINS, though I don't think the episode has been reissued. This particular series, titled on screen as simply The Chipmunks Go To The Movies despite being more widely known as Alvin And The Chipmunks Go To The Movies as I recall, could be sort of hit or miss. Send ups of BATMAN and Star Trek could be somewhat lackluster, while parodies of DICK TRACY and the Indiana Jones franchise could be clever, amusing, and sometimes even downright engaging. (Given limitations from standards and practices, doing action movies seemed counter-productive on the surface of the concept as no depictions of gunplay could be allowed -something which rather undercuts a spoof of ROBOCOP, one should think -one scene even looks to've been removed because it depicted a gun in operation, even if said gun was actually a bubble gum bubble. Imagine my shock when the Indiana Jones parody actually depicts the demise of not only the main bad guy but his henchman as well.)
The basic setup of The Chipmunks Go To The Movies was that the stars, as actors, had made movies which were to be shared with the audience after a brief intro skit. The movies chosen for this treatment were an eclectic lot, but most were popular current releases (I like how the "Chip Tracy" sequence ends with a title card reading THE END, UNLESS THIS ONE MAKES MILLIONS... as the Warren Beatty film was predicted to be a hit it never became) with the occasional classic like KING KONG thrown in there for good measure. For obvious reasons I started my trek through this series with the "Kong!" episode. Not the strongest episode, I discovered, but it had some amusing bits -such as Brittany playing a vain leading lady by name of Nola Talent! (The basic structure of the episode, strangely enough, more follows the berserk Thai knock-off GOLIATHON than it does either version of KING KONG floating around at that point.)
Better by far was "Back To Alvin's Future" which played off of BACK TO THE FUTURE to the point of even using the same "Back In Time" song for a musical number! This one was pretty cool, as the Chipmunks must set right the past with the help of Professor Clyde Crashcup's time machine. Clyde Crashcup was a character used for back-up cartoons on the original The Alvin Show back in the early 60's (in a neat touch, ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS MEET THE WOLFMAN! renames the kids' school house as 'Clyde Crashcup Elementary'). The boys must go back to 1957 (the year "Witch Doctor" was first released, if I'm not mistaken) when the original Alvin is considering leaving showbiz. 1957 is rendered in the same limited fashion as in the original cartoons, complete with the 50's characters being drawn in the exact same design they had on The Alvin Show. The past and future Chipmunks change places for a bit, which results in Dave of both eras thinking the boys are going insane. (For some reason, 1990 Dave telling the doctor over the telephone that the boys "think Eisenhower is President" cracked me up big time.)
Moving back to episodes of the regular series, I found some good selections had been issued on video. "Alvin's Summer Job" finds our plucky hero desperate to raise the money to buy a Transformers-type toy by getting a job at the local zoo. This episode has an interesting scene where Alvin is mopping near a cage and some onlookers comment on the chipmunk wearing clothes, and even express amazement that he can speak. The franchise was never quite clear on how this aspect of things works. If the Chipmunks are animals, why are they also David's adopted sons? If the Chipmunks are an established musical group with world-wide fame, why would there be the occasional time whenever someone would be shocked to see Alvin or one of his brothers? And then there's the fact that the Chipmunks from time to time would express romantic interest in completely human girls. For the most part, the series glosses over the nature of the Chipmunks in typical cartoon logic (or lack thereof). I think even as a kid I thought of the boys not as animals but as cartoon characters living among human beings. Something about that just makes more sense. Although rare, instances like this do show the writers sometimes questioned the very concept of the show. (The Chipmunks were depicted as much more animal-like in their earliest record covers.)
Actually, an interesting look into this particular element is provided via one of several holiday specials. The Thanksgiving special, A CHIPMUNK CELEBRATION, finds the entire Seville clan coming to town to see the boys performing in the school's Thanksgiving play (one odd thing to note here is that the name 'Thanksgiving' somehow goes entirely unseen and unspoken through the entire special). The extended Seville family is presented as a mixture of regular human beings and cartoon chipmunks. It's actually Alvin, Simon, and Theodore who look the most human of the bunch! This show seems to indicate humanoid chipmunks really aren't that uncommon. The special itself is pretty good, and I recommend tracking it down if you can. There's a hysterical sequence toward the climax which is far too complex in set-up for me to briefly describe it here -although the scene may be among the best material the Chipmunks ever did!
"Nightmare on Seville Street" has the boys sneaking into a horror movie and being carried away with fear that night -even the sensible Simon convinced Freddy Kruger analog 'Horrible Harold' is after them. When Dave is locked outside on a stormy night and mistaken for a monster, Alvin goes after him with a baseball bat! I probably got the biggest laugh when the boys emerged from the theater, their hair stiffened with fright. Fear is usually a good platform for humor, as it tends to override rational thought and therefore allows escalating confusion and lack of control. Here's a textbook example.
"The Thinking Cap Trap" has Simon in an unusually selfish mood. Tired of being pestered by his family, he invents an intelligence-boosting helmet and gives Dave, Alvin, and Theodore IQ jumps -then books the family on a quiz show! Simon often exhibited frustration at his brothers, but usually muscled through with Job-like patience and dryly delivered sarcastic quips. I don't know if it was intentional, but the plot for this episode mirrors the Dexter Reilly movie THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES to an extent. "Dr. Simon And Mr. Heart-throb" offers a moment of Simon desiring a different life, when he concocts a hair-growth formula but due to Alvin's interference comes across a formula which changes the intellectual chipmunk into a suave ladies' man. Enjoying the thrill of being a heart-throb, Simon temporarily abandons the call of science.
"Psychic Alvin" is another good 'frustrated Simon' episode, in which Alvin is convinced that he has psychic powers after his math test gets mixed up with Simon's. Convinced he was only able to pass the test due to his new powers, Alvin soon dons a turban and cape and boasts that he can tell the future to his classmates. Simon attempts to demonstrate that this isn't the case, but much to his annoyance events continue to support Alvin's boasting. The whole gang, Chipettes included, run through frustration to outright abandon in "The Brunch Club." All six kids are tossed into detention when they prove the only suspects in the destruction of the school's statue of Edison. This fast-paced episode has a constantly shifting dynamic of characters teamed up against the others as each in turn is accused of committing the crime. I can see why I had forgotten all about the Chipettes, even though I had seen episodes from the various incarnations of the series, as they only seem to pop up every few shows (granted, this may not have seemed the case to kids tuning in regularly). That's too bad, really, as I think my favorite episodes are the ones in which the boys and the girls must function as a group -maybe because I saw the movie before I went back and checked out the series again.
I'm not sure how frequent it was, but sometimes the girls took center stage. "Dear Diary" finds the Chipettes getting diaries and desperately trying to read what the others have jotted down. Alvin, Simon, and Theodore aren't featured, or even mentioned during the entire episode! I don't know how often that sort of thing happened, but it does speak well of the girls' popularity. I do know that some fans find the Chipettes more engaging than the Chipmunks. Possibly this is because the girls offered a fresh take on the same sort of sibling rivalry the boys always engaged in, though both approaches usually offered a humorous escalation of uncontrolled chaos. Still, the girls engaged in battles that were more psychological than the more physical skirmishes at the Seville house. This meant an emotional component which often pulled more viewer sympathy to one of the girls if she were wronged, as it felt deeper where we usually felt confident the boys would shake off quickly whatever hurt they had suffered.
The Chipmunks did several Christmas episodes, including a TV special (the very first offering from this updated version of the franchise, I believe) which looks to've included the involvement of legendary animation director Chuck Jones going by the clips which start a couple of the tapes I got. Unfortunately, the only Christmas material I managed to get so far is the episode "Alvin's Christmas Carol." What's there is pretty good, if familiar. Alvin is overcome by his greediness and selfishness and must be set straight by a trio of spirits played by Dave, Theodore, and Simon. This is a solid effort, if one limited to secular concerns. I'd like to see the other Christmas specials.
"Dave's Getting Married" is an interesting episode, as it's one of the few times the focus is more on Dave than his wards. Throughout the series, Dave would occasionally be involved romantically (he seemed to have a thing for blondes), though this time he's actually headed for the alter. The Chipmunks are at first horrified, then delighted as they get to know Marsha. They become horrified again when they discover Marsha has three boys of her own, boys who don't get along with our heroes at all. The children manage to put their differences aside for the sake of their parents, but wouldn't you know Dave and Marsha eventually call things off on their own? I guess it's a good thing they decided not to go through with the wedding, since I don't think Marsha ever appeared again! (Granted, I have only a sampling of the series to go by. Marsha is at least referred to in another episode, as Dave is on his way out to meet her for a date.)
Dave's love life is again the subject of "Romancing Miss Stone." As happens to all TV boys, Alvin falls for his pretty new teacher and goes out of his way to impress her. When she meets Dave, however, the adults become an item and Alvin is determined to win Miss Stone back -despite the fact that he never really had her. Alvin goes so far as to challenge Dave to a duel for her hand! (His doing so is pretty funny, too, trying to slap Dave's cheek with a glove despite being too short to reach his face.) In an earlier episode, "Mother's Day" by title, we find the boys lamenting the lack of a mother in their lives and try to set Dave up with several options -with typically hilarious results. I don't think the show ever discussed the boy's original parents* or what happened to them, or even how old the boys were when Dave adopted them. Every now and then, though, would be the recognition of the fact that feminine influence was lacking in the Seville house. (I hadn't pieced it together before, but really the series works as sort of an animated version of My Three Sons.)
(*Actually, although it isn't among the materials I've gotten, there was a TV special called A CHIPMUNK REUNION which reportedly has the boys digging into their past and family. This probably came before A CHIPMUNK CELEBRATION, and likely explains all the chipmunks featured there but otherwise unseen on the show.)
(UPDATE -Evidently, there was a lot more explanation of things on the show than what I've been able to glean from a handful of episodes. Reportedly, there were episodes which specifically spelled out the backstories of the Chipmunks and the Chipettes. Fittingly, these episodes are said to be titled "The Chipmunk Story" and "The Chipette Story." Among other things, we reportedly learn a bit about the biology of whatever species these 'chipmunks' are, and confirm that the girls really are Australian -though again, there's no immediate evidence of that fact unless one is told.)
Dave is seen dating another blonde in the unusual episode "Cookie Chomper III" which reads as Cookie Chomper the Third. This episode finds the boys adopting a kitten, despite Dave's allergies to cats (Simon manages to rather quickly cure this condition with psychological application of flash cards). Dubbing the cat Cookie Chomper III, the boys fall deeply in love with their new pet. When the cat is run over, however, the boys are crushed. This entry plays more like an episode of Davey And Goliath, as the boys go through various reactions to the tragedy (Theodore refusing to face the truth, Alvin getting rid of all the house plants because they're living and may also die on them some day, etc). I imagine this was actually therapeutic for kids who had lost pets in similar ways, and the episode was obviously written by someone who had children -I'd guess the episode was written after a similar incident* had happened in real life, in fact. Going through dozens of episodes of the series, one finds it managed to cover a lot of territory that prompted a wide range of emotional reaction.
(*Indeed, the incident happened to Ross and Janice themselves. Their beloved pup Tiger Lilly was run over, and the incident inspired this episode. THE CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE ends with a dedication to Tiger Lilly, in fact.)
After the series itself had been cancelled, the occasional TV special was still on the table. TRICK OR TREASON came along in 1994, a halloween adventure in which Alvin wishes to join a club of troublemakers calling themselves "The Monsters." The only thing that scares the Monsters is the reclusive boy Michael, nicknamed "Pumpkinhead" for his deformed face. The Monsters plot to run the kid out of town on halloween night, an activity Alvin must partake in if he wishes to join the club. Meanwhile, Theodore actually meets the kid and forms a deep friendship with Michael. Here again humor is mixed with more serious concerns in ways which lesser talents could never've pulled off. Of note, the scene where Michael quips that his mom loves his face the way it is. On another show, one might roll their eyes at such an obvious ploy, but here it actually carries an emotional truth that snaps things into proper perspective. The Bagdasarians have a knack for writing family programming few of their contemporaries seem to possess.
By far the most surreal offering from the franchise was the last (?) of the 90's holiday specials, 1995's THE EASTER CHIPMUNK. This one, which comes across like an extended dream sequence, has the boys living in a world populated by numerous cartoon animals which include the actual Easter bunny. When Alvin comes to believe that his grandfather originated the passing of Easter baskets as "the Easter chipmunk" and that the bunny is taking undeserved credit, the boys sneak into the Easter bunny's factory and think him to be part of an illegal money-raising operation. Alvin then pulls the Easter bunny into court! He even acts as prosecuting attorney! This one breaks so far from the familiar that it's practically unrecognizable as a Chipmunks episode. That's not to say it doesn't have some laughs, but it feels like something from an alternate universe that mistakenly aired on our own television sets.
The courtroom was also the scene of a very funny episode entitled "Tell It To The Judge." This one finds Alvin riding Dave's new bike without permission. When he runs across a roller-skating Brittany at the park, he crashes the bike and blames Brittany for the damage. The two end up in court on a televised legal series. There's lot's of humor here, but I think my favorite gag involves the conflicting flashbacks. In particular, Brittany's retelling of the incident sees her as a sweet Shirley Temple type being harassed by macho biker Alvin. Great stuff.
My travel through this sampling of the franchise climaxed with one of the earlier TV specials, that being the charming and funny I LOVE THE CHIPMUNKS VALENTINE SPECIAL. The series jumped around a bit on just how romantic the Chipmunks and the Chipettes were toward each other, often presented as just friends (the cute episode "Theodore and Juliet" has the Chipettes actively trying to help Teddy win the affections of a little girl he has taken a fancy to), but frequently depicted as having a deeper relationship of some kind (each Chipette keeps by their beds a photo of their corresponding Chipmunk, for example). I figure the audience was always to assume that the appropriate couples would eventually get married when they grew up, in the meantime cruising through typical childhood which fluctuated greatly where such feelings were concerned.
I LOVE THE CHIPMUNKS (the onscreen title actually spelled out with a heart, which may be why the DVD menu title alters it to "A Chipmunk Valentine") presents the kids as being much more romantically involved as the Valentine's Day ball is fast approaching. Though the others know where they stand with their sweethearts, Alvin and Brittany have complications. Alvin was hurt by an earlier romance, and thus is afraid to ask Brittany to the dance. When Alvin passes up a chance to ask her, though he really wishes to, Brittany feels she may not mean as much to Alvin as he means to her. Knowing Alvin has nothing to fear, Simon records a tape of romantic confidence lecture for Alvin to listen to in his sleep. This manifests in sleep-walking Alvin developing a romantic alter-ego -the masked Captain Chipmunk, who under a full moon rides horseback to the Chipette's fancy treehouse.
Captain Chipmunk takes Brittany's breath away, and he's all she can talk about the next day. Alvin finally asks Brittany to the ball, only to be told she's already accepted an invitation from Captain Chipmunk. Well, things continue to complicate from there, with Alvin unaware that he's actually the dream man Brittany is pining over. Maybe it's because I'm a bit of a romantic myself, but I loved this one. It also showed me just how involving a cartoon can be. At one point Alvin is tossing pebbles at Brittany's window. He's on horseback during this and the horse kneels down for Alvin to scoop up a rock. This must've been rendered extremely well, because for a split second I actually thought to myself "that's a well-trained horse" the production found!!!
My journey began with THE CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE, which quickly took it's place as one of my favorite movies. I managed to see the movies in order, as ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS MEET FRANKENSTEIN came next, followed by ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS MEET THE WOLFMAN! before I was able to go back and check out the series again. The three movies are funny and charming, and there should have been more of them. My initial reaction to the third film was that it felt a bit lackluster after the zaniness of the second one. I've since changed my mind, and I would place it as the most charming of the three. It was such a delight to discover these films, as diverse as the series which brought them into being. As I said, I now have an ambition to produce a couple more of them. I do hope Mr. and Mrs. Bagdasarian are as willing to revisit an earlier version of their beloved franchise.
On it's surface, this prospect seems unlikely. The Bagdasarians take pride in keeping the characters fresh and timely, and would probably be uninterested in setting the clock back, even for a single movie. What I have learned, though, is that the franchise as it existed during the 80's and 90's remains something very special to a great number of people, be they original viewers who grew up with it or those who discovered it later via home video formats. This loyal fanbase would welcome more material, and a good film will always find it's audience. This version of the franchise is special in a way I'm not sure the other incarnations can claim, as it was with us for so long as to be ingrained into our collective consciousness. That's not to diminish in any way the other versions of the property, you understand. I think there's room for more than one take on the material to be around at the same time. I really want to produce this movie, God willing. With God, all things are possible.
And as for my new collection of Chipmunk episodes, all I can say is that I want more of them. Lot's more.
(For those who might be interested in collecting the episodes released so far to DVD, there are basically two waves to chose from. The initial DVD releases were through Paramount and these are generally the better ones to get. These disks include the openings to the shows, though the ending credits are sometimes there and sometimes not. A second wave of DVDs has been released by Bagdasarian Productions directly. These editions are generally inferior for the removal of the opening AND closing titles, but they do usually provide an episode or two new to the format. Due to the fact that the series used a lot of music, season releases haven't been a possibility. Some of the episodes released on disk have had copyrighted songs replaced for this reason. If you can get the older VHS releases, these used the original songs as heard in broadcast. While the situation may not be perfect, there's still a good selection of stuff on the market for you to choose from. Even fairly lackluster episodes seem to get better with repeat viewings.)
My extreme thanks to Messrs Michael Housel, Mark Holmes, and Carl Strayer for their aid in filling out my collection of Chipmunk shows. Thanks, guys, you've no idea how much fun you've sent my way!
