Alvin and the Chipmunks (animation)/Trivia
The 1980s animated series
- Cross-Dressing Voices:
- Theodore voiced by Janice Karman (wife of Ross Bagdarsian Jr.).
- The Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon and Theodore) for the Italian dub.
- Edited for Syndication: 65 episodes were syndicated by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1988. They were the first five seasons, both Valentines and Reunion prime-time specials, and the 11 Murakami-Wolf-Swenson episodes from Season 6. In most markets, almost every episode from the first three seasons, as well as a handful from the fourth are sped up (similar to PAL) to conserve time for longer commercial breaks. Some Season 3 episodes left the speed alone, but trimmed certain scenes out. In the U.S., a later broadcast on the Cartoon Network left out the the individual episode title cards from the Ruby-Spears episodes, though international markets always retained them.
- Keep Circulating the Tapes:
- Bagdasarian Productions keep re-releasing the exact same compilation DVDs (with maybe an additional entry or two with certain releases) year after year, under different titles.
- Different episodes, in different forms, continually pop up on various different video sharing sites, such as YouTube or Dailymotion, though they do suffer from being pulled for copyright, whether from Bagdasarian Productions, or other companies such as Warner Bros (particularly uploads from Cartoon Network recordings).
- Show Accuracy, Toy Accuracy: In their debut episode, The Chipettes don matching pleated yellow dresses for concerts and public appearances. It was the only episode of the series to feature them in these dresses. However, when The Chipmunks Posable Play Pals line was released, figures of The Chipettes wearing the dresses were released.
- Talking to Himself: Alvin, Simon, Theodore, and David Seville are all voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in "The Chipmunk Song."
- Since the '80s, Alvin, Simon, and Dave have been voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., while Theodore and all three Chipettes are voiced by his wife, Janice Karman.
- Later still, when the series switched to Di C for animation, almost all of the additional one-shot characters were voiced by their associate producer Thom Watkins, with Ross occasionally stepping in for other additional male characters, while Janice voiced most additional female characters.
- Averted in the Live Action Adaptation, where each chipmunk is voiced by a different actor.
- Since the '80s, Alvin, Simon, and Dave have been voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., while Theodore and all three Chipettes are voiced by his wife, Janice Karman.
- Technology Marches On: Many times you see Simon referencing the latest computers as being incredible, despite graphics which have visible pixels and being roughly the size of a microwave oven. Audio equipment is similarly out-dated, using reel-to-reel recording devices instead of digital media which was gaining popularity even in the late eighties when this show was produced.
- Back to our Future lampshades this phenomenon by having the 60's Chipmunks all amazed at the advances in technology.
60's Alvin: Incredible! There's music coming from these little silver thingies! |
The films:
- Creator Backlash: Actor David Cross has said that the third film was the most unpleasant experience he's had in his life as a professional.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: because his name is Dave.
- And Teddy Duncan goes to West Eastman in the 2nd film.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Although you'll be doing well to pick out Roxas, Spencer Reid and the Mac guy as the titular chipmunks.
- And Elenor is Bessie Higgenbottom
- The principal in the sequel is Burdine Maxwell
- The Japanese dubbed version got two different dubs: One for TV (NHK) in the 80s and another for cable TV in the 90s and 2000s (WOWOW):
- Alvin in the TV dub was Dende as a kid. Cable TV dub Alvin is Pikachu (and also can be considered as an Actor Allusion and Hilarious in Hindsight at the same time)
- Simon in the TV dub is Cammy and Cable TV Simon is Soi Fon and Yurika Misumaru