Alvin & the Chipmunks

"Alvin and the Chipmunks" was, and is STILL one of my childhood favorites. This show had good story plots, characters, humor, and it was original. The music was great as well. I loved it when Alvin, Simon and Theodore were singing songs from that time, and years earlier. This show is indeed one of the best. P.S. Don't watch the episodes where they lampoon movies. Those ones suck.

This gets a perfect 10!

Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were three characters young boys could relate to: one was brainy, one hungry, and the other naughty. They practically represented the personalities of all boys. However, the plots mainly centered around the world of males. Unfortunately, the creators of the show brought in female characters in reaction to this, each the antithesis of their male counterparts. Invariably, they would often compete with the boys, and the boys ALWAYS lost. They never won, and while these scenarios might have given girls inspiration and confidence in the real world; the show's creators completely forgot about the young boys who originally tuned in to watch the chipmunks harmless antics. Ultimately, the message the show gave young boys was that girls are competition. The creators of the show should have emphasized a message of cooperation like they do in many present day cartoons. Instead, by having the girls beat the boys in practically every episode they were in, many young boys grew to resent the idea of female empowerment-- an idea no young boy should learn to resent.

The Chipmunks are almost unknown here in Sweden, but in the mid-1990s one TV channel showed the 1980-90s series on Sunday mornings. I found it by sheer coincidence while zapping between channels, and it was love at first sight! I was a nearly 30-yrs old cartoon buff with the penchant for classic Looney Tunes and the like, I couldn't dream of falling for a cutesy-pootsy "kiddies" cartoon like that. But I simply HAD TO get up early every Sunday morning to watch it! The plots were usually rather tame (with some brilliant exceptions), but the dialog was fun and witty with lots of jokes a grown-up could appreciate. And these little guys were soooo CUTE and so COOL! The animation was so well done, and then there was the MUSIC!! It was so fun hearing those classic rock-and-roll tunes sung with those silly Chip&Dale-type voices.

But I must admit it took a few episodes to get the grip of things. Like: What are these very peculiar-looking little boys supposed to be? "Chipmunks"???!!!... They doesn't look the slightest like chipmunks to me. Why are they goofing around in those ridiculous nightshirts all the time? Why are they living with that human guy in a realistically drawn human world? All other talking cartoon animals live among other cartoon animals, not among humans. Weird, weird...

For many years I assumed The Chipmunks was something new, that David Seville was just a cartoon character, and Alvin, Simon and Theodore had always looked like their 1980-90s versions. I didn't knew there had been something before! So it was rather confusing to come across songs written by "David Seville", plush animals from 1959 resembling an ugly rat or distorted guinea-pig but supposed to be "Alvin from the Chipmunks", gramophone records from 1960 showing the boys as "real" chipmunks on the cover, and so on! But the Internet soon made all clear to me. Anyway, a great cartoon, so unlike the mass produced cheap crap of today (but the "Chipmunks goes to the Movies" series were rather poor -the movie spoofs were often not even funny).

This was probably the one cartoon made by Ruby-Spears Enterprises that lasted more than two seasons, but this is still a great cartoon. Even today, it looks more meticulously drawn and animated than a lot of other American cartoons now. I am a child of the '80s, and I grew up watching this show. It makes me wonder why we don't draw cartoons to this caliber anymore.

Most of the episodes are about the Seville brothers Alvin, Simon and Theodore, who often get themselves into a jam, and needing to get out of it, without causing too much more trouble (and without getting Dave too angry). The three chipmunks kept their old personalities from "The Alvin Show" (1961), but they now have different voices. Sometimes they also involve the Chipettes, known as Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor.

They also did some spoofs on TV shows of the '80's era. They included "The A-Team", "Miami Vice", "Charlie's Angels", "Moonlighting", (that episode is a favorite of mine) etc. The Chipmunks also occasionally go into a song number, but it's not stupid Disney-like garbage. They performed "Surfin' USA", "Uptown Girl", "Do you Love me", "Monster Mash", and even classic '80's hits like "Beat It". Makes you feel all nostalgic inside...

"The Chipmunks Go To the Movies" offered parodies of late '80's/early '90s movies, like "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", "King Kong", "A Christmas Carol", and "Batman".

This cartoon is currently running in syndication on Cartoon Network. If you can, I suggest to try it. You'll love it. And if anyone hates the boys just because they're chipmunks who appear to be living in a human world...well, Bugs Bunny is taller than Elmer Fudd, but no one gripes about it. "Anyting's possible inna cartoon!" -Bugs Bunny

Ross Bagdasarian's son, Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., did this cartoon in 1983, and had a movie, "The Chipmunk Adventure", in 1987. Pick it up today!

The 1980s had some of the coolest cartoons. It's, like, the stuff of legend, dude. Alvin and the Chipmunks forever....

Music has always been a very important part of The Chipmunks history, which is way throughout this series, you'd often hear the Chipmunks singing their own rendition of a popular song...

...a major feature in the 80's revival of a cartoon dating back to the late 1950s.

Alvin and the Chipmunks is not only an extension of a famous cartoon into the next generation, but generally a showcase of what life was like back in the 1980's. Back then, rock n' roll (as it was often called) served as the backbone of the American music industry. Usually, Alvin, with the help of Simon and Theodore, would take advantage of any given opportunity to get their 15 minutes of fame.

Of course, they sometimes find themselves competing with the Chipettes. These girl 'munks are the friends/rivals of the boy 'munks, and are a little more than a manifestation of politically-correct casting that was prominent during the 1980's.

When these six characters weren't caught up in get-rich-quick schemes, or jumping the popular bandwagon, they went thru what most middle-schoolers have trouble with; homework, peer pressure, crushes, family issues, friends, and so on.

I really enjoyed watching this show during the 1990's, because it gave me a clue as to what life was like during the 1980's. This was before HDTV, DVD's, and the Internet, and just when CD's, skateboards, and cellphones were introduced. Back then, they had Rubix Cubes, boom boxes, and hackeysacks, and stuff like Michael Jackson, the Care Bears, and Pac-Man were totally popular. Not all of these are seen in the show, but there are underlying messages of what was big at the time, and most of it brings back a lot of memories.

The spin-off movie was beautiful. All I'm waiting for now is for both the series and the movie to come out on DVD.