Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983 TV series)

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983 TV series) logo
Created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (characters)
Based on Alvin and the Chipmunks
by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
Written by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.
Directed by Ross Bagdasarian
Voices of Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.
Janice Karman
Dody Goodman
Thomas H. Watkins
Frank Welker
Theme music composer "We're The Chipmunks"
Ross Bagdasarian[1]
Janice Karman[1]
Composer(s) Dean Elliott (Seasons 1–5) Thomas Chase (Seasons 6–8)
Stephen Rucker (Seasons 6–8)
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 8
No. of episodes 102 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time Approx 22 minutes (11 minutes per segment)
Production company(s) Bagdasarian Productions
Ruby-Spears Enterprises (1983–1987)
Murakami-Wolf-Swenson (1987–1988, 11 episodes)
DIC Entertainment (1988–1990)
Release
Original network NBC[2][3]
Original release September 17, 1983 (1983-09-17) – December 1, 1990 (1990-12-01)
Chronology
Preceded by The Alvin Show (1961–1962)
Followed by ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks (2015–)

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

It aired from 1983 to 1990 on NBC and is the follow-up to the original 1961–62 series, The Alvin Show. 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 11 additional episodes produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson) and was renamed just The Chipmunks.

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 its eighth and final season, the show again switched titles to The Chipmunks Go to the Movies, but it was same as The Chipmunks. 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.[5] 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. It also aired in Canada on Teletoon Retro from 2008 to 2015 when the channel shut down. The later episodes that were not included on the syndication package have not aired in the United States since the series' cancellation in 1990.

Characters

Main voice actors

  • Ross Bagdasarian - 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 - (voice)
  • Natalie Brown - (voice)

Additional

Episodes

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 Productions. Beginning with the 1988–89 season, the series was renamed to simply The Chipmunks, and production switched to DiC Enterprises for the remainder of the series' run (with the exception of five episodes produced for the syndication package by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, which aired on NBC in fall 1988 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. 1 2 Cawley, John; Korkis, Jim (1990). Encyclopedia of Cartoon Superstars. Pioneer Books. Retrieved 2015-06-16. 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 2010-10-23.
  3. ↑ "Top 100 animated series". IGN. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
  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. ↑ "Alvin And The Chipmunks - The Chipmunks Go To The Movies". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  6. 1 2 3 "Grounded Chipmunk". Alvin and the Chipmunks. Season 8. Episode 127. 2008-08-29. NBC.

External links

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