Alvin and the Chipmunks

by James Harper


When this movie was announced, the question came to mind WHICH Alvin and the Chipmunks were they going to present. Were they going to use the little furry creatures that were on the first record covers, or the more kid like TV version that appeared a couple of years later, or any of the other versions that have popped up over the years? I have always been a huge Alvin and the Chipmunks fan, though I have always like the original TV version the best, where they are portrayed more like regular kids, instead of the small rodents of their first record covers.

The Chipmunks were the brain child of Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., way back in the late 50s. Ross used the stage name of David Seville for the Chipmunk records and for "The Witch Doctor." During the 50s Ross released several records under different names (and he even appears in Hitchcock's Rear Window as the composer next door as well as some small parts in other movies). His music is always very square but at the same time usually very inventive. He finally hit it big with "The Witch Doctor" which contained a speeded up voice in the nonsense lyric chorus. If you go listen to it today, it is was, and still is, one catchy record. The record was a huge hit, and he quickly followed it up with the first Alvin and the Chipmunks record, "The Chipmunk Song," which was also a big hit. This was followed up by more records and then the Alvin TV show, which originally ran, oddly enough, in prime time on its first go around, later rerunning on Saturday morning on NBC.


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