Alvin and the Chipmunks (TV series)
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| Alvin and the Chipmunks | |
|---|---|
| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (characters) |
| Starring | Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. Janice Karman Dody Goodman |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 102 (168 distinct segments; usually 2 per episode) + 7 specials, 2 of which were syndicated as regular episodes + 6 movies. (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | Approx 30 minutes (11 minutes per segment) |
| Production company(s) | Bagdasarian Productions Ruby-Spears Enterprises (1983-87) Murakami-Wolf-Swenson (1988, 11 episodes) DiC Enterprises (1988-90) Lorimar (Distributor, 1983-1986) Lorimar-Telepictures (Distributor, 1986-1988) Warner Bros. Television Distribution (Distributor, 1988-present) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | September 17, 1983 – December 1, 1990 |
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an animated television series to feature the hit singing characters, The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983–87, and DIC Entertainment from 1988-90. It aired from 1983 to 1990 on NBC and is the follow-up to the original 1961–62 series, The Alvin Show. The show introduced The Chipettes, three female Chipmunks with their own human counterpart, Miss Beatrice Miller (who joined the cast in 1986). In 1988, the show switched production companies to DiC Enterprises (with 11 additional episodes produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson) and was renamed just The Chipmunks.
In 1987, during the show's fifth season, the Chipmunks' first animated feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure, was released to theaters by The Samuel Goldwyn Company. The film was directed by Janice Karman and featured the Chipmunks and Chipettes in a contest traveling around the world. In its eighth and final season, the show again switched titles to The Chipmunks Go to the Movies. Each episode was a spoof of a Hollywood film like Back to the Future or King Kong. Several television specials featuring the characters were also released. In 1990, the special Rockin' Through the Decades was produced. That year, the Chipmunks also teamed up with other well-known cartoon characters (such as Bugs Bunny and Garfield) for the drug abuse-prevention special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.
From 1993 to 2001 Cartoon Network aired the 65-episode syndication package of the series. From 1995 to 1997 Nickelodeon aired the show. While the show is currently no longer in syndication in the U.S., it is being broadcast in Canada on Teletoon Retro.
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[edit] Characters
- The Chipmunks: The main characters of the series
- Alvin Seville: The leader of the Chipmunks, Alvin is the talented troublemaker of the group.[1]
- Simon Seville: The tallest brother. Simon is the intelligent realist and the most responsible of the group.[1]
- Theodore Seville: The youngest brother. Theodore is the cute innocent butterball of the group.[1]
- The Chipettes: The Chipmunks' female counterparts and on-and-off girlfriends
- Brittany Miller: Brittany, the leader of the Chipettes, is Alvin's counterpart. She is as equally vain and self-centered as Alvin. But like him, she really does care about others.
- Jeanette Miller: Jeanette is Simon's counterpart. However, unlike Simon, who stands up to Alvin easily, she is unlikely to stand up to Brittany as easily. She is also very smart, which is what she does have in common with Simon. However, she is very shy and clumsy.
- Eleanor Miller: Eleanor is Theodore's counterpart. She shares his love for food and cooking. But she is more athletic, more caring, and more likely to stand up to Brittany than Theodore is to Alvin.
- David "Dave" Seville: The Chipmunks' adoptive father, songwriter and manager, Dave's patience is tested nearly everyday by Alvin, usually to the point where he yells "ALVIN!!!".
- Miss Beatrice Miller: The kindly, absent-minded adoptive mother of the Chipettes. She occasionally babysits the Chipmunks and has a crush on Dave, even though she's old enough to be his mother. In her youth, she was part of an all-girl singing group called "The Thrillers".
- Lilly: The Chipmunks' Rossini puppy who they adopted from the shelter following the death of their original pet, Cookie Chomper III, a kitten.
- Vinny: The Chipmunks' birth mother. The Chipmunks find their long-lost mother after days of searching. Alvin gets upset because he doesn't understand why she abandoned them. Their mother explains that the year she abandoned them there was a horrible winter and all of the animals in the forest were forced to leave their homes. She realized that they wouldn't survive the journey if she brought them with her, so she decided to leave them with a nice man who was always kind to the forest animals (Dave). She told them that when spring came and she could finally return to get them, she saw how happy they were with Dave, and thought they would be better off with him. Eventually, Alvin forgives his mother. They return to Dave, but the brothers agree to keep in touch with their mother. In a later episode she and Dave clash on how to bring the boys up. Eventually they make up. The song "Vinny's Lullaby" is performed by June Foray and Machiko Soga in the Japanese version.
[edit] Voice actors
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This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (November 2007) |
- Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. - Alvin, Simon, David "Dave" Seville, Harry, other various voices
- Janice Karman - Theodore, Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor
- Dody Goodman - Miss Beatrice Miller
- Thomas H. Watkins - Uncle "Adventure" Willy, Lilly the dog, numerous incidentals
- Alan Young - Grandpa Seville
- Rainy Hayes - Chipette Song vocal artist
- Sherwood Ball - Chipmunk Song vocal artist
- Nancy Cartwright - Additional voices
- Tress MacNeille - Additional voices
- Frank Welker - Additional voices
- Vanessa Bagdasarian - Additional voices
- Michael Bagdasarian - Additional voices
- Derek Barton - (voice)
- Natalie Brown - (voice)
- Cathy Cavadini - (voice)
- Rodger Bumpass - (voice)
- Peter Cullen - (voice)
- Julie Dees - (voice)
- Walker Edmiston - (voice)
- June Foray - (voice)
- Deborah Kruse - (voice)
- Gary Gallati - (voice)
- Linda Gary - (voice)
- Johnny Brown - (voice)
- Joan Gerber - (voice)
- Johnny Haymer - (voice)
- Kerrigan Mahan - (voice)
- Gail Matthius - (voice)
- Clive Revill - (voice)
- Amy Tunick - (voice)
- Booker Bradshaw - (voice)
- Arthur Burghardt - (voice)
- Ruth Buzzi - (voice)
- Henry Corden - (voice)
- Alan Dinehart - (voice)
- Al Fann - (voice)
- Ron Fineberg - (voice)
- Johnny Haymer - (voice)
- Stan Jones - (voice)
- Barry Livingston - (voice)
- Keye Luke - (voice)
- Shepard Menken - Clyde Crashcup (one episode)
- Howard Morris - (voice)
- Rudy Ramos - (voice)
- Bob Ridgely - (voice)
- Marilyn Schreffler - (voice)
- Bill Scott - (voice)
- Janet Waldo - (voice)
- Eric Wallace - (voice)
- B.J. Ward - (voice)
- Cameron Young -(voice)
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Original Network Run
The series made it debut on September 17, 1983 on NBC, originally under the name Alvin and The Chipmunks, and was animated by Ruby-Spears Productions. Beginning with the 1988-89 season, the series was renamed to simply The Chipmunks, and production switched to DiC Enterprises for the remainder of the series' run (with the exception of 5 episodes produced for the syndication package by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, which aired on NBC in fall 1988 when the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike caused production on the DiC episodes to be delayed). For its final season in 1990, the series was renamed again, this time, The Chipmunks Go to the Movies, as all episodes in this season were spoofs of popular Hollywood movies.
[edit] Syndication Package
The series went into syndication in the fall of 1988 under the original Alvin and The Chipmunks title, distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures (and later Warner Bros. Television after Warner Communications' purchase of Lorimar). The package contained all 52 episodes produced by Ruby-Spears (#901-952), as well as the Valentine's and Reunion specials. To round the package out to the common-practice syndication package length of 65 episodes (5 days a week for 13 weeks, allowing for exactly four cycles a year), an additional 11 episodes were produced specifically for the package by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson. In the syndication order, these episodes followed the 54 Ruby-Spears shows; in the fall 1988 cycle (September 12-December 9), they aired from November 25-December 9. (5 of these episodes would air first on NBC in September-October, when the DiC episodes were delayed due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike.)
Also, in an attempt to make way for more commercials, most of, if not all of the syndicated reruns of the show were not only edited, but also time compressed, thus resulting in the episodes running faster than the way they originally ran. All episodes of the show that have been released on VHS and DVD thus far, have the original proper speed reinstated. The title cards that opened each episode were intact on local syndication, and on Nickelodeon, but were completely absent on Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network kept Alvin's introductions from the first season that featured clips from today's episode(s), which were shown on NBC but not included in syndication or on Nickelodeon. The introductions originally aired before the opening credits on NBC, but were shown after on Cartoon Network. The initial syndication run in 1988 added commercial bumpers that were voiced by both Alvin and Dave Seville, as well as voiceovers for the titlecards on the Ruby Spears episodes (also voiced by Alvin and Dave). These bumpers and voiceovers were also used when the show aired on Nickelodeon from 1995-1997. A variation of the 1987 Bagdasarian Productions logo, but with the words "Produced by" instead of "Produced in association with", replaced the earlier logos that were used from 1983-1987.
Junior Channel in Germany showed all the episodes from all 8 seasons (including both Valentine's and Reunion specials), in their original speed, and with all the scenes and original closing logos intact.
[edit] Home Media Releases
- Some VHS and DVD releases have the title card, and others do not. No news yet on possible future single season DVD sets for all eight seasons of the series.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Grounded Chipmunk". Alvin and the Chipmunks. NBC. 2008-08-29. No. 127, season 8.
