Alvin and the Chipmunks
Series, 1983, The mid '80s, Set in The Sevilles' house
Alvin and the Chipmunks is #5 of 16 in release order and #5 of 16 in chronological order in the NBC Saturday Morning Cartoons.
The story
Three chipmunk brothers, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are adopted by human, Dave.
Alvin and the Chipmunks recap
Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983) brings back Alvin, Simon and Theodore, the singing chipmunks, as kids living with their adoptive father, Dave Seville. Ross Bagdasarian Sr. created the characters; Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman created the series for NBC through Bagdasarian Productions, first working with Ruby-Spears. Bagdasarian Jr. voices Alvin, Simon and Dave, and Karman voices Theodore and the Chipettes. Alvin is the mischievous leader, Simon the responsible brain and Theodore the sensitive youngest. The first episode introduces the Chipettes, Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor, who argue with the boys over the band name and become their rivals and friends. In season 4's "Help Wanted: Mommy", social services finds the Chipettes living alone, and Alvin arranges for the neighbor Miss Beatrice Miller to become their guardian. Stories mix school, family trouble and the band's music career. The theatrical film The Chipmunk Adventure came out in 1987. From the 1988 season the show was renamed The Chipmunks, with DIC Enterprises producing, and the eighth season in 1990, The Chipmunks Go to the Movies, spoofs a Hollywood film in each episode. The series ran 8 seasons and 102 episodes on NBC, from September 17, 1983, to December 1, 1990.
Alvin and the Chipmunks ending explained
Alvin and the Chipmunks ends with "Funny, We Shrunk the Adults", aired December 1, 1990, a spoof of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids in which Simon's invention shrinks Dave and Miss Miller while the kids run riot. It is a regular movie parody rather than a finale. The Chipmunks returned in the 1990 special Rockin' Through the Decades, in live-action and computer-animated films from 2007, and in the series Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks (2015 to 2023), which reused this show's theme song.
Ratings
IMDb 5.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes 28%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Shirt Tales, before Mister T.
- Chronological order: after Shirt Tales, before Mister T.
Cast
- Ross Bagdasarian Jr. as Alvin / Simon / Dave Seville (voice)
- Janice Karman as Theodore / Brittany / Jeanette / Eleanor (voice)
- Frank Welker as (voice)
- Tress MacNeille as (voice)
- Booker Bradshaw as (voice)
- Johnny Brown as (voice)
- Ruth Buzzi as (voice)
- Henry Corden as (voice)
- Julie McWhirter as (voice)
- Alan Dinehart as (voice)
- Walker Edmiston as (voice)
- Al Fann as (voice)
Created by Ross Bagdasarian, Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., Janice Karman.