All The Tropes

Alvin and the Chipmunks (animation): Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Alvin and the Chipmunks (animation) (view source)

Revision as of 14:55, 13 July 2021

10 bytes added ,  2 years ago
m
Reverted edits by Gethbot (talk) to last revision by Robkelk
VisualWikitext
m (→‎top: clean up)
Tag: Reverted
m (Reverted edits by Gethbot (talk) to last revision by Robkelk)
Tag: Rollback
 
Line 6:
The history of the chipmunks begins in the 1950s. Songwriter Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. had his first success as a singer when he released a catchy little tune titled "Witch Doctor" under the stage name "David Seville". The success of "Witch Doctor" was mostly due to the simple but cute sound technique (doubling playback speed) he used to render the voice of the Witch Doctor for the song's nonsensical refrain, "Ooh-eee-ooh-ah-ah ting-tang walla-walla bing-bang".
 
Bagdasarian decided to capitalize on this success by assigning the voice technique to a trio of singing chipmunks—brainychipmunks -- brainy Simon, gluttonous Theodore and [[High School Hustler]] Alvin—forAlvin -- for the best-selling Christmas tune "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", in which an increasingly annoyed David Seville's attempts to keep his chipmunk singers on-message served as a [[Framing Device]], and led to Dave Seville's trademark [[Catch Phrase]], [[Say My Name|"Alvin? Alvin? ALLLLLLLVIN!"]]
 
In 1961, after releasing several albums as "Dave Seville and the Chipmunks", Bagdasarian was able to persuade Format Films and [[CBS]] to launch a prime-time cartoon, ''The Alvin Show'', based on the exploits of the Chipmunks in addition to the misadventures of inventor Clyde Crashcup (who invents pretty much everything that already exists), which ran for only one season on CBS due to low ratings. (Competition from [[NBC]] juggernaut ''[[Wagon Train]]'' was a factor, but the main reason for the low ratings was production delays which were largely caused by disagreements between Bagdasarian and Format Films over acceptable character designs for The Chipmunks. In addition, Bagdasarian insisted that ''The Alvin Show'' skip the addition of a laugh track, against the wishes of CBS.) A number of further Chipmunk albums were released, but interest eventually died down and Bagdasarian retired in the late '60s. ''The Alvin Show'' did get replayed on NBC at mid-season of the 1978-79 season (where TV listings billed it as ''Alvin And The Chipmunks'') followed by a syndication run and another on Nickelodeon in the early 1990s.
Line 12:
In 1977, though, his son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., took on the mantle of Dave Seville and revived the franchise. In 1981, an animated TV movie was made, based (loosely) around the original "Chipmunk Song", in which somewhat cuddlier Chipmunks helped an [[Inspirationally Disadvantaged]] boy perform alongside Alvin at Carnegie Hall.
 
This animated special formed the basis for the 1983-1990 [[Animated Series]] ''Alvin And The Chipmunks''. The series also introduced [[Distaff Counterpart|Distaff Counterparts]]s to the Chipmunks, "The Chipettes": Jeanette, Brittany and Eleanor. In addition to the usual [[Sitcom]] and [[Animated Series]] plots common to the era, the show features a great deal of musical numbers, with the Chipmunks and their female counterparts covering popular eighties hits in musical sequences, which is why the series (save for the last season) [[Keep Circulating the Tapes|will never EVER see the light of day on DVD.]] Although, with the success of the new live-action movies, some select episodes have been released by Paramount.
 
The show ultimately got rebooted in its final year to feature [[Something Completely Different]] episodes casting the Chipmunks in satires of the various shows and movies of the era -- ''[[Moonlighting]]'', ''[[Miami Vice]]'', ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'', etc. (They were not limited to their contemporaries, either; they also cast Simon as [[Sherlock Holmes]], facing Alvin's Moriarty). It also spawned a nostalgiariffic feature film ''The Chipmunk Adventure'', which involved the Chipmunks and the Chipettes going around the world on a scavenger hunt.
Line 152:
* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: The episode "Ask Alvin".
* {{spoiler|[[Parental Abandonment]]: Alvin felt this way when he wonders why their mother, Vinnie, left them with "a stranger". Vinnie revealed that during the great winter migration, there wasn't enough food to feed her children; she gave them up to David Seville, [[Friend to All Living Things|whom she knew that he was friendly to the animals]]. She later tried to come back for them, but she sees how happy they are with him; Alvin feels guilty for thinking otherwise}}.
* [[Pretty in Mink]]: Given that the Chipmunks and Chipettes frequently try mingle with, or get into, high society, quite a few furs appear, usually by [[Socialite|Socialites]]s.
* [[Raised by Humans]]
* [[Random Events Plot]]: ''Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks'' has Dave put the Chipmunks and the Chipettes under the care of a woman named Lalu for a few days, and the screentime is filled out with things varying from Theodore overflowing the toilet with toys, to Alvin and Simon fighting over a cape, to Jeanette eating Brittany's lipstick and having to make money to buy a new one for her (while wearing a ridiculous costume to help Lalu clean up).
Line 191:
*** The snakes are also absolutely humongous as well.
*** But if you're talking about the two live action ''Alvin and The Chipmunks'' movies, where The Chipmunks and the Chipettes are normal-sized chipmunks, then their fear of snakes is perfectly justified.
** Also justified in the episode of the '80s cartoon which shows how the Chipmunks came to live with Dave—theyDave -- they were babies, and much smaller, and Dave was torn to pieces when he thought they'd been eaten by a snake at the zoo.
* [[Wise Beyond Their Years]]: Simon (who nevertheless gets a lot of [[Not So Above It All]] moments to remind us he's still a kid), and to a lesser extent all the Chipmunks and Chipettes except Theodore.
 
Line 204:
[[Category:Saturday Morning Cartoon]]
[[Category:Western Animation]]
[[Category:Alvin and the Chipmunks (animation){{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Pages with working Wikipedia tabs]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 1980s]]
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1912743"