The Oddball Film Report: A CHIPMUNK CHRISTMAS (1981-color)

A CHIPMUNK CHRISTMAS (1981 - color)

The Short Story - A misunderstanding makes Dave think that Alvin has no Christmas spirit.

The Details - One of my greatest delights of 2019 was my rediscovery of the Alvin And The Chipmunks franchise after finding a copy of THE CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE in a box of VHS tapes. I've previously written two pieces chronicling my rediscovery as I acquired the other animated Chipmunk movies and then as much of the series as I could get my hands on. Both pieces were minimally researched and focused more on my delight in finding the show all over again. Here, I'll try to do better by the series by discussing this Christmas special which marked the triumphant return of the Chipmunks to network television.

   It's fitting that the first leg of what might be called the second generation of Chipmunk episodes was centered around the Yuletide, as the Chipmunks originally took the public by storm via a Christmas song. Ross Bagdasarian Sr. was, among other things, a writer of novelty songs. He created a tizzy when he sped up recordings of his voice for the background vocals of "Witch Doctor" and created his first big hit since "Come On A My House" which had been written for Rosemary Clooney earlier in the 50's. "Witch Doctor" was a hit with everybody who heard it, and further experimentation with the sped-up vocals eventually materialized as The Chipmunks. "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas, Don't Be Late)" established the characters of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore as fun-loving chipmunks who were also the adopted sons of David Seville -a stage name Bagdasarian picked because his full name couldn't fit on a record label. Although record producers had no interest in releasing a Christmas song in November, the tune became a smash hit and the public fell in love with the Chipmunks. The group became a musical phenomenon and television was soon calling.

   The Chipmunks' first (?) television appearance was on Ed Sullivan's The Toast Of The Town, where the 'munks were played by hand puppets. The characters as we know them today became the stars of an animated television series early in the 60's. The Alvin Show was a prime-time series, but it's mixture of comedy and music made it a hit with audiences of all ages. The design of the characters now firmly established, more child-like than animal, they were seen on numerous products and records. With the passing of Bagdasarian Sr., it seemed like the Chipmunk craze had officially ended. Ross Bagdasarian Jr., wanting to honor his father, took efforts to keep the Chipmunks alive. He and his wife Janice Karman shopped the franchise around, but found no interest until a late-night disc jockey pulled a prank in the late 70's by playing a Blondie song at high speed and telling his presumably minimal audience that they were listening to a new recording from the Chipmunks.  This resulted in public interest in getting the new album which didn't exist! The demands for the album were so high, that the Bagdasarians were approached to produce a new record. They immediately did and the album "Chipmunk Punk" became a hot seller which placed Ross and Janice in a position to bring the Chipmunks back to television.

   In 1981 came our current subject, which stands as a sort of middle ground between the versions of the characters from The Alvin Show and the versions that would come to be considered the definitive take. The designs from the 60's were updated by Chuck Jones, given a more cuddly appearance (further streamlined by "Sandra" before the characters moved to Saturday morning the very next year). Of note, this was the first time Dave, Alvin, and Simon were voiced on television by Bagdasarian Jr, and his wife Janice voiced Theodore. A CHIPMUNK CHRISTMAS was a ratings bonanza and the series Alvin And The Chipmunks followed shortly. Some of the elements to A CHIPMUNK CHRISTMAS were re-tooled for the following series, so there are some items on display here which may seem unfamiliar, like the characters living in a completely different house and city from the familiar California locations which followed. The brothers are also a bit more loving toward each other, before later seasons found their differences lightly grating on one another. But, of course, it's Christmas time, so there'd naturally be a bit more good will on display.

   Alvin And The Chipmunks was a popular series, running several years and creating a new wave of merchandise. Two charming television specials were produced, which were later cycled back into regular series episodes. I LOVE THE CHIPMUNKS VALENTINE SPECIAL was followed by A CHIPMUNK REUNION -which cleared up some questions about the origin of the boys. The Bagdasarians branched onto the big screen via THE CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE in 1987. Sadly, the film failed at the box office and didn't find it's audience until it was issued on home video. Meanwhile, the production of the series moved from Ruby-Spears to DIC about this time and the name of the show was shortened to The Chipmunks. The Chipmunks were among numerous Saturday morning characters to take part in an anti-drug video special Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue. At some point, there was even a live-action TV special in which the boys were played by men in suits as they attended school! The 90's brought about the television/video special Rockin' Through The Decades, a comical quasi-documentary hosted by Will Smith. The regular series changed it's format to become The Chipmunks Go To The Movies, in which each week featured a parody of a popular film, starring the Chipmunks as actors. This variation of the series proved far less popular, as the tone varied wildly from week to week. It proved a short run, but the characters weren't out of the running yet.

   The mid 90's brought along a trio of new television specials. TRICK OR TREASON tackled halloween, while A CHIPMUNK CELEBRATION handled Thanksgiving (weirdly, the name of the holiday goes unspoken and unseen during the entire special, but I guess they trusted us to get it). THE EASTER CHIPMUNK followed. Late in the decade, Universal reissued A CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE on home video, and the sales must have been strong enough to prompt the studio to commission a pair of new features. ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS MEET FRANKENSTEIN hit home video in 1999, with the delightful ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS MEET THE WOLF-MAN! following at the turn of the century. Sadly, that proved to be the finish of this particular branch of the franchise. 

   Ross and Janice didn't stop, however. An obscure live-action video feature was produced in 2003 or so, called LITTLE ALVIN AND THE MINI-MUNKS. Reportedly released only in England, the film was an odd fantasy in which the Chipmunks and the Chipettes are played by Muppet-like puppets, and depicted as being a bit younger than they were in the cartoons. Of note, Ross and Janice star in the film, the only time Ross Bagdasarian Jr. played David Seville in live-action. 

   Far more visible was the big-budget 20th Century Fox live-action adaptation ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS. Turning the dial back to zero, the Chipmunks (now computer animation in a live-action world) were back to being talking/singing animals as they had been originally depicted on their record sleeves back in the early days with Ross Sr. This first film was entertaining, but lacked much of the charm of the 80's series. It was a hit, though, and sired ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKUEL. This one was a bit better, and again it was a hit. ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED was an absolute joy, capturing the charm and humor of the best moments of the Saturday morning series. There was a forth film, ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP, but it had the misfortune of opening opposite THE FORCE AWAKENS. That effectively ended that critically-despised-but-financially-successful film series and the property was moved back to the small screen with the currently-running computer-animated series ALVINNN!!! And The Chipmunks.

   Back before all that, though, before the boys moved to California, before the Chipettes, before the movies and various spin-offs, there was our current subject. Already, humor and music were mixed with charm and light drama to create something truly wonderful.

   I'm not sure if The Alvin Show ever established what city it was set in, but it often came across as taking place in California as the later Alvin And The Chipmunks and it's sequels did. Thus, A CHIPMUNK CHRISTMAS stands out in it's very first moments by establishing it's setting as New York. We first look in on a poor family of a widowed mother and her two children. Son Tommy has been ill, and is getting progressively worse. The boy is unlikely to survive until Christmas, only five days away. Tommy's illness is also a mystery, making treatment even more problematic. Tommy's sister Angela does what she can by reading stories to Tommy as he lay sick in bed.

   Here we establish a tone which would remain more or less constant in the episodes which followed. The Chipmunks live not in a traditional fantasy cartoon world, but in a world which mirrors very closely our own. Aside from the Chipmunks, and later the Chipettes, it's a world populated only by regular human beings* and subject to real physical laws. The Chipmunks themselves are somewhat more cartoon-like here than they would become, Alvin being able to propel himself like a jet by scrambling on his feet so quickly that he effectively takes flight a couple of times, but they remain essentially grounded in the real world. 

   (*In the third TV special, A CHIPMUNK REUNION, the boys set out to find their mother and we learn that animals become more civilized the farther away one gets from true civilization. Deep in the wilderness, some of the animals are depicted as being human in their motivations and able to speak, wear clothing, and live in houses formed from trees, as well as play music. The vast gulf between the civilizations explaining why they so seldom cross paths, this is somewhat more fanciful than the usual depiction of a reality very similar to our own, but within the limits of a world where we know there are talking, humanoid chipmunks. Several more humanoid chipmunks appear in A CHIPMUNK CELEBRATION, which shows at least some extended members of Alvin's family live and work in our civilized world. Meanwhile, the last TV special, THE EASTER CHIPMUNK, is set in a more traditional cartoon world where talking animals are far more a common element. It's such a departure from the rest of the franchise that it almost comes across like a dream sequence, in fact.)

   (Actually, I should mention that a couple other humanoid chipmunks do surface from time to time on the series. Very early in the run was introduced adult chipmunk Harry, a con-man who frequently got the boys involved in get-rich-quick schemes. At least once, Alvin ran across a look-a-like chipmunk in the wild and briefly switched places with him in order to get a rest from his fans.)

   Another thing that grounds this scene and allows the later humor to pop is the voice acting. Genre pros Frank Welker and June Foray voice the doctor and Mrs. Waterford, respectively. These familiar voices, well exercised and capable of tremendous pathos while exhibiting practiced brevity (the whole scene lasts only seconds), really put the scene in place in a professional manner which offers a certain comfort aided by the familiar design work of Chuck Jones. Really, it's the perfect way to kick off an animated Christmas special by serving up some familiarity which can transition into something fresh. Once we put everything in place, the show manages to break from our expectations while still delivering what we've tuned in to see. In a technical sense, it's just about the perfect animated Christmas special.

   Tommy's plight established, we move across town to the suburbs. There, the Chipmunks awake and decide to rouse Dave in time to do some Christmas shopping. In a fun little bit, the boys scramble through the house turning on all the lights, which has a ring of childhood reality to it. When we get our first good look at the Chipmunks, we see how they differ from the 60's versions but haven't quite morphed fully into the versions we know from the 80's. As noted, Jones' design for the boys is a bit more cuddly, with rounder cheeks and freckles. It's a nice middle ground between the two versions we know. Also, the relative size of the characters is moving in line with the 80's series which followed. Theodore is depicted as being shorter than Alvin, or at least roughly the same size. In the earlier show, Alvin was the shortest of the three.

   As an aside, regarding the height differences, the first episode of The Chipmunks Go To The Movies was a parody of BACK TO THE FUTURE which had the Chipmunks of the 90's going back in time to meet their 1950's counterparts as they had been seen on the 60's The Alvin Show. As the episode opens, Simon shows a picture of their previous selves which shows the same proportions as had been used on The Alvin Show. When the characters eventually meet, though, Theodore of the 50's is shown to be the smallest just as his 90's counterpart is. (I have to imagine that this particular episode was an absolute blast to make for Bagdasarian Jr., who no doubt delighted in paying tribute to his father by bringing his versions of the characters back to life.)

   As for Dave himself, he resembles a middle ground mixture of 60's Dave and the more streamlined Dave of the following series. He's stirred from his sleep and dressed by the boys before he has a chance to fully awake, which results in his shoes being worn on his hands and his jacket where his slacks should be. Dave is somewhat miffed at the boys, but in a loving way. He tries to explain that he's got everything under control, but his aggravation is soothed by the boys' singing. And truly, the Christmas songs sound great. There was even a soundtrack album for the special, which is good because most of the numbers we only get to hear in part here.

   Soon the boys are being marched to the recording studio, a condition Alvin is less than thrilled to accept, since it means working on their Christmas vacation. Dave notes Alvin's harmonica, and Alvin dashes back home to retrieve his beloved instrument. His Golden Echo harmonica is Alvin's most prized possession, and it's kept in it's own little bed in the boys' room. Back with the others, Alvin manages to talk Dave into getting things set up at the recording studio while the boys do a little window shopping.

   At a department store, Alvin proudly shows his harmonica it's "twin brother" being sold at a display. Here, he overhears Mrs. Waterford and Angela discussing how much Tommy wants a Golden Echo harmonica and what it would mean to him to have one. Unfortunately, Mrs. Waterford can't afford one, and notes how unlikely it is Tommy will make it through Christmas. Angela, kept in the dark on the seriousness of Tommy's condition, doesn't understand, but Alvin does. At the recording session, Alvin is off his cues and he asks Dave for a quick break. During this, Alvin rushes over to the Waterford apartment and tells Tommy that he's won a department store raffle and his prize is a Golden Echo harmonica. In a touching scene, Alvin selflessly hands over his most prized possession before returning to the studio to sing "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas, Don't Be Late)" as the audience was waiting for.

   That night, the boys trim the Christmas tree as Dave speaks on the telephone. Simon and Theodore are proud of Alvin for giving Tommy his beloved harmonica, but Alvin knows that he must replace the instrument as it was originally a gift from Dave. As soon as Christmas is over, he'll raise the money to buy a replacement from the department store. Then Dave comes into the room to let the boys know that they'll be playing the prestigious Carnegie Hall for a sold-out Christmas show. What's more, Alvin will be doing a harmonica solo! This means Alvin can't wait to buy a new harmonica and must come up with the money now.

   (This harmonica business, by the way, is in keeping with the original versions of the characters. The 1959 single "Alvin's Harmonica" displayed the titular chipmunk's love for his harmonica. The song was later used as a segment on The Alvin Show, and later was recreated for the previously mentioned episode of The Chipmunks Go To The Movies. Amusingly, the ending of that episode had 90's Alvin giving his harmonica to 50's Alvin and telling him it'll come in handy.) 

   Hearing the other kids in the neighborhood, and the barking dogs of their neighbor, the boys come up with a quick plan to charge quarters for kids to have their pictures taken with Santa Claus and his reindeer. Alvin dresses as Old Saint Nick while the dogs are dressed up as his reindeer. Since he's so small, Alvin doesn't let the kids sit on his lap but is instead lowered down to their laps on a rope looped over a tree branch. Dave overhears and investigates, but all is going fine until a little girl shows up with her cat. The dogs make a mad dash and Dave ends up covered in snow.

   Dave tries to point the boys in the right direction that Christmas is about giving rather than getting, not knowing why Alvin needs the money. Thinking Alvin is in the wrong, Dave sends the Chipmunks to bed. As Alvin tosses in his sleep, he has an odd dream sequence in which he visits Professor Clyde Crashcup. Crashcup was a character featured in back-up cartoons run on The Alvin Show, and was a well-meaning but mixed-up scientist who tried to help his fellow man by inventing things he needed -completely unaware that his inventions had already been around for a good while. Here, Clyde tries to invent the Christmas Spirit and then money (the perfect follow-up to his previous invention of the I.O.U.). 

   Dave goes up to the boys' room, but hears Alvin screaming in his sleep that he needs money and gives up on trying to teach Alvin the true meaning of the season. The next morning, Simon and Theodore give Alvin what little cash they can and he heads to the department store. Meanwhile, Mrs. Waterford telephones Dave to let him know how much Alvin's gift has helped Tommy pull through. Now having the whole picture, Dave takes Simon and Theodore and heads out to find Alvin.

   At the store, Alvin laments that he's still short the price of a Golden Echo harmonica. All seems lost until a kindly older lady approaches Alvin to tell him her ambition is to buy him his harmonica. Alvin is puzzled, then stunned, then delighted to be presented the harmonica he needs. The old lady wants no thanks, but would like to hear Alvin play the harmonica. Alvin plays a touching version of "Silent Night" to the delight of the crowd of shoppers. The old lady is gone when Dave catches up to Alvin and apologizes before taking the kids to Carnegie Hall, where a surprise will be waiting for them. There, Alvin does another rendition of "Silent Night" before going backstage and finding Tommy has made a full recovery. Alvin invites Tommy on stage to do a harmonica solo of his own. Back stage, Dave looks on alongside Mrs. Waterford and Angela. (A couple of these shots get placed out of order, resulting in Dave seen with his arms around the girls before cutting back a second later and showing him putting his arms around them.)

   As the Chipmunks sing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" we cut to the sky above the city to find Santa Claus making the last of his rounds (and oddly, he's drawn with a rather stern face in this first shot). Flying home, Santa nestles into a chair to relax as he and Mrs. Claus discuss the notion of her getting out on some Christmas night herself. She's content to be a home body, but the camera reveals Mrs. Claus to be the sweet old lady who bought the harmonica for Alvin.

   As Christmas specials go, this one is pretty near perfect. Absolutely charming, sporting a fine sense of comic timing, and very fine on a technical level, one can see how it paved the way for a whole new era in Chipmunk history. It breaks somewhat from the traditional format, in which a kid like Charlie Brown or Davy Hansen must go searching to re-discover the meaning of Christmas, by instead having Alvin already doing the right thing and then having those around him not understand what he's done. In addition to spawning a hugely popular LP, the special was turned into a book in 1985, and of course it paved the way for what is fondly remembered as the greatest era of the Chipmunks.

   The regular series did a somewhat more traditional Christmas story with the episode "Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll." This one finds Alvin in a far more selfish mood as he can think only about the gifts he'll be receiving. On his paper route is a hermit named Mr. Carroll, who unknown to Alvin looks forward to nothing so much as his daily newspaper. Christmas spirits in the shape of Dave, Simon, and Theodore open Alvin's eyes to the truth. A similar tactic was used for "It's A Wonderful Life, Dave" and the episode is included among the Christmas video releases despite it not actually involving the Christmas season. The live-action movies, meanwhile, were all released around the Christmas season, further tying the Chipmunks to the Most Wonderful Time of The Year. There have also been multiple album releases of Chipmunk Christmas songs.

   A CHIPMUNK CHRISTMAS has been released twice to VHS, once in 1989, and again in 1992. It has similarly been issued twice on DVD as part of Chipmunk Christmas collections. (In fact, the first Christmas collection was the very first DVD release of 80's series Chipmunk episodes. It was subsequently re-issued in a boxed-set with the Thanksgiving and halloween collections.) The more recent release, direct from Bagdasarian Productions as opposed to Paramount who distributed the earlier DVD releases, has a notation of the special being "fully restored" although I saw nothing different from the previous release. One of the releases was part of a special collector's pack which included a CD of Chipmunk Christmas songs.

   The special is really the Chipmunks at their best, despite the little aesthetic changes from what we're most familiar with. It's a warm and delightful episode, which gave birth to a most charming franchise.  A fine effort from all involved, and from now on a regular part of my Christmas viewing. 

   It's certainly a step up from last year's review subject, in which a child kidnapped Santa Claus with the help of a snide Christmas tree which spoke with the voice of Vanity Smurf...

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!   

Revisiting Alvin and the Chipmunks

   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!