Alvin and the Chipmunks (TV series)

Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks, as seen on the show's opening sequence.
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	101 (168 distinct segments; usually 2 segments per episode). (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	Approx 30 minutes (15 minutes per segment)
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 17, 1983 – December 1, 1990
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Alvin and the Chipmunks is the second American animated television series to feature the singing characters The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions, Ruby-Spears Productions, and Lorimar-Telepictures (which became Lorimar Television in 1988). It aired from 1983 to 1990 on NBC and closely paralleled 1961–62's The Alvin Show. The show introduced The Chipettes, three female versions of the Chipmunks with their own human counterpart, Miss Beatrice Miller (who joined the cast in 1986). In 1988, the show switched production companies to DiC Entertainment and was renamed just The Chipmunks. In 1987, during the show's fifth season, the Chipmunks' only 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 documentary Alvin and the Chipmunks: Five Decades with the Chipmunks was produced. That year, the Chipmunks also teamed up with other contemporary cartoon characters (such as Bugs Bunny and Garfield) for the drug abuse-prevention special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

Characters

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• The Chipmunks: The main characters of the series
  • Alvin Seville: The middle brother, Alvin is the talented troublemaker of the group.
  • Simon Seville: The eldest brother and an IQ just north of Einstein, Simon is the intelligent realist of the group.
  • Theodore Seville: The youngest and chubbiest, Theodore is the cute innocent butterball of the group.
• The Chipettes: The Chipmunks' on-and-off girlfriends.
  • Brittany Miller: The middle sister, Brittany is the pretty drama queen of the group and seems to have a love/hate relationship with Alvin because of the fact that they argue a lot.
  • Jeanette Miller: The eldest sister with a similarly high IQ as Simon, Jeanette is the sweet klutz of the group.
  • Eleanor Miller: Despite being the youngest and chubbiest like Theodore, Eleanor is the strong-minded, caring one of the group.
• David "Dave" Seville: The Chipmunks' adoptive father, song writer 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' puppy who came along following Cookie Chomper III the kitten's death.
• 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, and they all part ways on a good note: promising to keep in touch. The song "Vinny's Lullaby" is performed by June Foray and Machiko Soga in the Japanese version.

Voice actors

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• Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. - Alvin, Simon, David "Dave" Seville, "Uncle" Harry
• Janice Karman - Theodore, Brittany, Eleanor, Jeanette
• 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
• Natalie Brown
• Roger Bumpass
• Peter Cullen
• Julie Dees
• Walker Edmiston
• June Foray
• Gary Gallati
• Linda Gary
• Joan Gerber
• Johnny Haymer
• Kerrigan Mahan
• Gail Matthius
• Clive Revill
• Amy Tunick

Episodes

Main article: List of Alvin and the Chipmunks episodes

Specials

1. A Chipmunk Christmas (1981)
2. I Love the Chipmunks Valentine (1984)
3. A Chipmunk Reunion (1985)
4. Merry Christmas, Mr. Carol (1988)
5. Rockin' with the Chipmunks (1990)
6. Trick or Treason (1994)

Movies

1. The Chipmunk Adventure (1987)
2. Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1999)
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (2000)
4. Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks (2003)
5. Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) (a live-action film adaptation starring Jason Lee as David "Dave" Seville)