Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983 TV series)

Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated television series featuring the Chipmunks, which was produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983 to 1987, Murakami-Wolf-Swenson in 1988 and DIC Enterprises from 1988 to 1990.[4]

Not to be confused with Alvin and the Chipmunks (2015 TV series).
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Series title card (seasons 1–5)
GenreComedy-drama
Musical
Sitcom
Adventure
Created byRoss Bagdasarian Jr.
Janice Karman
Based on
Written byRoss Bagdasarian Jr.
Janice Karman
Various
Directed byCharles A. Nichols (Seasons 1–5)
Rudy Larriva (Season 1)
John Kimball (Season 1)
Voices of
Theme music composer
Composers
  • Dean Elliott (Seasons 1–5)
  • Thomas Chase (Seasons 6–8)
  • Stephen Rucker (Seasons 6–8)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons8
No. of episodes102 (168 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Running timeApprox 22 minutes (11 minutes per segment)
Production companies
DistributorLorimar-Telepictures
(1988–1989)
Warner Bros. Domestic Television
(1989–1990)
Release
Original networkNBC[2][3]
Original releaseSeptember 17, 1983 (1983-09-17) –
December 1, 1990 (1990-12-01)
Chronology
Preceded byThe Alvin Show (1961–1962)
Followed byALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks (2015–present)

The show aired from 1983 to 1990 on NBC and is the follow-up to the original 1961–62 series, The Alvin Show.[5] The show introduced the Chipettes, three female Chipmunks with their own human caretaker, Miss Beatrice Miller (who joined the cast in 1986). In 1988, the show switched production companies to DIC Enterprises, with the first 11 episodes of Season 6 produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, and was renamed simply The Chipmunks.[6]

In 1987, during the show's fifth season, the Chipmunks' first 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 the show's 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.[7] In 1990, the special Rockin' Through the Decades was produced. That year, the Chipmunks also teamed up with other well-known cartoon characters (such as Bugs Bunny and Garfield) for the drug abuse-prevention special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

From 1998 to 2002, Cartoon Network aired the 65-episode syndication package of the series way after Nickelodeon from 1995 to 1997. It also aired in Canada on Teletoon Retro from 2008 until the channel shut down in 2015. It also aired on Boomerang from April 2011 to July 2011. The later episodes that were not included on the syndication package and not produced under the title The Chipmunks Go to the Movies have not aired in the United States since the series' cancellation in 1990.

Characters
  • The Chipmunks: The main characters of the series
    • Alvin Seville: The oldest brother and leader of the chipmunks, Alvin is the talented troublemaker and leader of the group. He tends to start chaos, but he's actually sweet and golden-hearted at his core.[8]
    • Simon Seville: The middle brother and tallest, Simon is the intelligent realist and the most responsible of the group.[8]
    • Theodore Seville: The youngest brother of the group, Theodore is the sensitive and lovable one of the group. . .[8]
  • The Chipettes: The Chipmunks' female counterparts and on-and-off girlfriends
    • Brittany Miller: The oldest sister, Brittany is Alvin's counterpart. She is as equally vain and self-centered as Alvin is, but like him, really does care about others.
    • Jeanette Miller: The middle sister and tallest, Jeanette is Simon's counterpart. However, unlike Simon, who is able to stand up to Alvin, she does not stand up to Brittany as easily. She is also very smart, which is what she does have in common with Simon. However, she is very shy and clumsy.
    • Eleanor Miller: The youngest sister, Eleanor is Theodore's counterpart. She shares his love for food and cooking, but she is more athletic, more intelligent, and more likely to stand up to Brittany than Theodore is to Alvin.
  • David (Dave) Seville: The Chipmunks' adoptive father, the Chipettes' guardian, songwriter and manager. Dave's patience is tested nearly every day by Alvin, usually to the point where he yells his trademark shout "ALVINNN!!!", he gets frustrated with Simon and Theodore too, sometimes, as Alvin often gets them into mischief, but despite all of this, he loves all of his boys equally.
  • Miss Beatrice Miller: The kindly, absent-minded adoptive mother of the Chipettes.
  • Cookie Chomper III: The Chipmunks' first pet, Cookie Chomper III was a stray kitten who found his way into the Seville residence one night while Dave was working late. For a time, the Chipmunks kept him a secret from Dave until the kitten made his presence known. Dave allowed them to keep Cookie Chomper III, and he became their pet. But one evening, Cookie Chomper left through an open window in the Chipmunks' bedroom, then was hit by a car and killed. The Chipmunks all grieved, but Alvin was hurt most of all and even blamed himself. Dave reassured the boys that it wasn't their fault and helped them remember the happy times they had with Cookie Chomper III.
  • Lilly: The Chipmunks' puppy who they adopted from the shelter following the death of their original pet, Cookie Chomper III.
  • Vinny: The Chipmunks' birth mother (originally voiced by June Foray, then by Janice Karman). 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. They return to Dave, but the brothers agree to keep in touch with their mother. In a later episode she and Dave clash on how to bring the boys up. Eventually, they make up.

Voice actors

Main
  • Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. – Alvin, Simon, Dave Seville, Grandpa Seville (second voice), most additional male voices (1988–1991)
  • Janice Karman – Theodore, Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor, most additional female voices (1988–1991)
  • Dody Goodman – Beatrice Miller
  • Thomas H. Watkins – Uncle "Adventure" Willy, Lilly the dog (1988–1991)
  • Rainy Hayes – Chipette Song vocal artist
  • Sherwood Ball – Chipmunk Song vocal artist
  • Vanessa Bagdasarian
  • Michael Bagdasarian
  • Derek Barton
  • Natalie Brown

Additional

Episodes
Main article: List of Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983 TV series) episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
113September 17, 1983 (1983-09-17)December 10, 1983 (1983-12-10)
213September 8, 1984 (1984-09-08)December 1, 1984 (1984-12-01)
310September 14, 1985 (1985-09-14)November 16, 1985 (1985-11-16)
48September 13, 1986 (1986-09-13)November 1, 1986 (1986-11-01)
58September 12, 1987 (1987-09-12)October 31, 1987 (1987-10-31)
624September 10, 1988 (1988-09-10)January 28, 1989 (1989-01-28)
713September 9, 1989 (1989-09-09)December 16, 1989 (1989-12-16)
813September 8, 1990 (1990-09-08)December 1, 1990 (1990-12-01)

Original network run

The series made its debut on September 17, 1983, on NBC, originally under the name Alvin and The Chipmunks, and was animated by Ruby-Spears Enterprises. Beginning with the 1988–89 season, the series was renamed to simply The Chipmunks, and production switched to Murakami-Wolf-Swenson (for 11 episodes of the 6th season) and DIC Enterprises (for 13 episodes of the 6th season, and for the 7th and 8th season) for the remainder of the series' run, for reasons currently unknown – this was not due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike, which did not affect any animated series. For its final season in 1990, the series was renamed again, this time, The Chipmunks Go to the Movies, as all episodes in this season were spoofs of popular Hollywood movies.

Syndication package

The series went into syndication in the fall of 1988 under the original Alvin and The Chipmunks title, distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures (and later Warner Bros. Television after Warner Communications' purchase of Lorimar, Warner Bros. would later buy Ruby-Spears in 1996). The package contained all 52 episodes produced by Ruby-Spears (#901–952), as well as the Valentine's and Reunion specials. To round the package out to the common-practice syndication package length of 65 episodes (5 days a week for 13 weeks, allowing for exactly four cycles a year), an additional 11 episodes were produced specifically for the package by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson. In the syndication order, these episodes followed the 54 Ruby-Spears shows; in the fall 1988 cycle (September 12 – December 9), they aired from November 25 – December 9.

References
  1. Cawley, John; Korkis, Jim (1990). Encyclopedia of Cartoon Superstars. Pioneer Books. Retrieved June 16, 2015. Bagdasarian and Karman also wrote new songs for the show, including the theme song, 'We're the Chipmunks.'
  2. "Alvin And The Chipmunks Celebrate Holidays On Stage". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  3. "Top 100 animated series". IGN. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  4. "How Did a Disc Jockey's Joke Inadvertently Lead to an Alvin and the Chipmunks Comeback?". Legendsrevealed.com. 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  5. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 24–26. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  6. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 75–78. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  7. "Alvin And The Chipmunks – The Chipmunks Go To The Movies". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  8. "Grounded Chipmunk". Alvin and the Chipmunks. Season 8. Episode 127. 2008-08-29. NBC.
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