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Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

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This article is about the feature-length film. For the animated musical group, see Alvin and the Chipmunks. For the 1983 TV series based on the musical group, see Alvin and the Chipmunks (TV series). For the video game based on the film, see Alvin and the Chipmunks (video game).
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTim Hill
Written byJon Vitti
Will McRobb
Chris Viscardi
Produced byRoss Bagdasarian, Jr.
Janice Karman
StarringJason Lee
David Cross
Cameron Richardson
Jane Lynch
and the voices of:
Justin Long
Matthew Gray Gubler
Jesse McCartney
CinematographyPeter Lyons Collister
Edited byPeter Berger
Music byChristopher Lennertz
Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.
Janice Karman
Daniel Powter (song)
Lipps, Inc. (song)
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
December 14, 2007
Running time
91 min.
CountryTemplate:FilmUS
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60,000,000
Box office$359,350,661

Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 American live-action/CGI holiday-comedy and Musical film starring Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Jane Lynch and the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney. The film features Alvin and the Chipmunks and is based on the animated series of the same name. It was directed by Tim Hill who is an animator of SpongeBob SquarePants, and distributed by 20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions.

The film was panned by critics as one of the worst films of the year, but was a major financial success: on a budget of $55[2]-$60 million, it made nearly $220 million in North America box office, nearly $360 million in box office worldwide[3], and was the third-best selling DVD of 2008, earning over $127 million.[4]

Plot synopsis

The tree that the chipmunks Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (voiced by Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (voiced by Jesse McCartney) live in is cut down and driven to Los Angeles to become a Christmas tree. Once in LA, the Chipmunks meet struggling songwriter David "Dave" Seville (Jason Lee) who had his latest song rejected by JETT Records executive Ian Hawke (David Cross), who was Dave's college roommate. Dave once had a relationship with his beautiful next door neighbor, Claire (Cameron Richardson). She broke up with him because she felt he was too busy and irresponsible and he didn't have any time for her.

Once the Chipmunks sing Dave's song, however, they become extremely successful. Managed and promoted by Ian, the Chipmunks continue to be wildly popular. When Dave expresses concerned for their well-being and insists that the Chipmunks are "kids" who don't need so much craziness in their lives, Ian tells the Chipmunks that Dave is holding them back.

Eventually, Dave and the Chipmunks have an argument and, in anger, Dave tells them that if they like "Uncle Ian" so much, they should just go live with him. Although their life with Ian starts off great (they arrive at his mansion to a room full of expensive toys and the declaration is that the only rule is that there are no rules), after they set out for their coast-to-coast tour, Ian suddenly becomes a jerk and begins to change their image completely and overwork them to the point of exhaustion.

Right before a big concert is supposed to begin, a doctor says that the Chipmunks can't sing because their voices have given out. Ian doesn't want to hand out refunds and orders the Chipmunks to lip sync (which Simon calls "cheating"). With the help of Claire, Dave sneaks into the concert, but is grabbed by the security guards. When the Chipmunks see Dave being taken away, they realize they've been tricked, decide that they've had enough of Ian, reveal that they were lip-syncing and run amok, ruining the concert. They are soon caught by Ian just when Dave is about to rescue them. He locks them up in a cage (where Alvin screams "You'll never take us alive!" and Simon replies "They just did take us alive, Alvin"). Dave tries to convince Ian to let the boys go but Ian refuses. Ian then leaves in his limo with the boys and Dave chases them but the boys have mysteriously ended up in his Car. The boys thought they wanted to live with "Uncle Ian" to make more money for him. Dave immediately pulls over and admits that he loves them like his own family. Meanwhile, Ian looks in the cage and sees the boys have replaced themselves with ugly look-alike dolls (something Ian tried to get Dave to sell earlier in the film - Ian had mentioned earlier in the film to Dave that these dolls speak Spanish, however, they were actually speaking Japanese).

Sometime later, the boys are now "Sevilles" and they invite Claire over for a meal (toaster waffles). Alvin mistakenly breaks Dave's priceless china cabinet and short out the circuits trying to open champagne. Dave decides not to say it, but it causes a blackout. Dave decides to say it, and receives his trademark "ALLLLVINNN!!", and Alvin responds with "Okay!"

Cast

File:Chipmunkmoviescreensoht.jpg
The Chipmunks (L. to R. Theodore, Alvin and Simon).

Voices

Critical reception

The film was a critical failure, receiving only a 26% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes classifying it as "Rotten"[5], and a 39 out of 100 at Metacritic, indicating "generally negative reviews".[6]

Variety magazine called the film a "harmless and frequently humorous trifle that might be a potent B.O. performer, if only by default, during a holiday season surprisingly short on kidpics" and noted that "homevid prospects are huge"[7]; the home video prediction later proved to be accurate. Roger Ebert gave it two stars out of four (), saying it is "about as good as a movie with these characters can probably be...at some level, the movie may even be doing something satirical about rock stars and the hype machine."[8] The critics for The Guardian and The Observer were split, with Philip French saying its a "film that kids will love and adults will find tolerable" and Peter Bradshaw giving it one star out of five () and calling it a "thoroughly brain-dead semi-animated family comedy"[9] Though many people in the populous of america disagree with these statements because it is a family film and the critics generally bash family films.

Box office

Despite negative reviews, Alvin and the Chipmunks was released in North America on December 14, 2007 and grossed a surprising $44,307,417 in 3,475 theaters its opening weekend averaging to about $12,750 per venue, and placing second at the box office behind I am Legend, with nearly sold out showings.[10] According to Box Office Guru, the first weekend was twice as much as Fox originally expected. Its second weekend was still well-$28,179,556, behind National Treasure: Book of Secrets and I Am Legend. Then on its third weekend, it surpassed I Am Legend for #2 at the box office, still behind National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The film closed on Thursday June 5, 2008, making $217,326,974 domestically and $141,560,622 overseas for a total of $358,887,596 worldwide, making it a huge commercial success considering the film's modest $55 million budget.[10] According to MTV, it also has become the highest-grossing talking animal/live-action cartoon adaptation to date. It is also 20th Century Fox's highest grossing film domestically to be released in 2007.[2]

The box-office success of the film surprised executives of 20th Century Fox, which produced it. Elizabeth Gabler of Fox 2000 said to The Los Angeles Times:[2]

"I look at the numbers every day, and we just laugh." Since it cost only $55 million to produce, it was far more profitable than the two other films that it was against, I Am Legend and National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

Home Media

Alvin and the Chipmunks was released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 1, 2008. The DVD release is presented on a flipper disc featuring both full screen (1.33:1 aspect ratio) and widescreen formats (1.85:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 Dolby Surround, Spanish and French Dolby Surround with English and Spanish subtitles. Special features will be the Chip-Chip-Hooray! Chipmunk History and Hitting the Harmony featurettes and an Inside Look at Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!.[citation needed] The Wal-Mart edition includes a bonus exclusive music CD.[citation needed] The K-Mart edition includes a free junior novel of the movie.[citation needed] The Best Buy edition includes 3 mini plush toys of Alvin, Simon and Theodore in a collectible box.[citation needed]

The Blu-ray release is presented in widescreen format on a 25GB single-layer disc authored in AVC (MPEG 4) compression with English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital plus English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and French subtitles.[citation needed] Bonus content includes a digital copy for download, a Chip-Chip-Hooray! Chipmunk History featurette, a Hitting the Harmony featurette, and several trailers.[citation needed]

In some DVDs[specify], instead of an Inside Look at Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!, the DVD has a Get Munk'd featurette, it's when the dancers of the movie will teach the viewers the action to the song The Witch Doctor.[citation needed]

Awards

Soundtrack

Main article: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released November 20, 2007, three weeks before the film's opening and contains new versions of old songs such as Witch Doctor and The Chipmunk Song (Christmas, Don't Be Late) (as made famous by David Seville and The Chipmunks), cover versions of songs such as Bad Day (as made famous by Daniel Powter) and Funkytown (as made famous by Lipps Inc.) and new songs such as Coast 2 Coast, Get You Goin' and Get Munk'd. The second track on the album is "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas's Don't Be Late)", a remake version, with an unknown male as the voice of Dave. However, the seventh track, the rock version of the song features Jason Lee as the voice of Dave.

Video game

Main article: Alvin and the Chipmunks (video game)

The video game for this film was released December 4, 2007 for the Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and the PC, just ten days before the film was released. It was written and produced by DeeTown Entertainment.

Sequel

Main article: Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel

A sequel to Alvin and the Chipmunks was confirmed. It was originally set to be released on March 19, 2010, but is now confirmed for December 25, 2009. The film will introduce the Chipettes and is called Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel.[1] On July 28, 2008, it was confirmed that Jason Lee will return as Dave Seville and that Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney will return as the voices of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.[11] Anna Faris and Jojo will voice two of the Chipettes: Brittany & Jeanette.[11] The movie is being filmed at Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, CA. Alvin, Simon, & Theodore are with David 'Dave' Seville. Brittany, Jeanette, & Eleanor are with Claire Wilson.

In the sequel, Dave makes Alvin, Simon, and Theodore go to school, saying it's "good for them." Little did he know, the Chipmunks feel like "Chipmunks Out of Water" because of all the (human) kids around. Meanwhile, Ian (after the Chipmunks dealt him a serious blow) is freed from jail and searches the world for animals who can sing and dance. He finds the Chipettes and can't wait to make them famous and get revenge on the Chipmunks.[1]

In 2009, Betty Thomas signed on to direct the sequel.[12]

The teaser trailer of the film premiered with Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and can be seen at the movie's official website.

References

  1. ^ a b c "'Alvin And The Chipmunks' Producers Reveal 'Squeakuel' Details -- And The Chipettes Are In!". MTV. 2008-07-28. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  2. ^ a b c ""Alvin & The Chipmunks To Meet Chipettes in Sequel?"". MTV Movie Blog. Retrieved 18 January 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) from Box Office Mojo
  4. ^ Top-Selling DVDs of 2008 from The Numbers
  5. ^ Alvin and the Chipmunks at Rotten Tomatoes
  6. ^ Alvin and the Chipmunks at Metacritic
  7. ^ Review of Alvin and the Chipmunks by Variety magazine
  8. ^ Review of Alvin and the Chipmunks by Roger Ebert
  9. ^ Alvin And The Chipmunks Reviews from The Guardian and The Observer
  10. ^ a b "Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  11. ^ a b "Justin Long Confirms 'Chipmunks' Sequel, But Will The Chipettes Be In It?". 2008-07-28. Retrieved 2008-07-28. Cite error: The named reference "JLChipmunks" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  12. ^ 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' sequel lands helmer, a December 2008 article from The Hollywood Reporter
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