Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983 TV series)

Not to be confused with Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks.
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Series title card (seasons 1–5)
Also known as
  • The Chipmunks (seasons 6–7)
  • The Chipmunks Go to the Movies (season 8)
Genre
Created by
Based on
Written by
Directed by
  • Charles A. Nichols (seasons 1–5)
  • Rudy Larriva (season 1)
  • John Kimball (season 1)
  • Kent Butterworth (season 6, eleven episodes)
  • Bill Wolf (season 6, eleven episodes)
  • Don Spencer (season 8)
Voices of
Theme music composer
  • Ross Bagdasarian[1]
  • Janice Karman[1]
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons8
No. of episodes102 (168 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time22 minutes (11 minutes per segment)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNBC[2][3]
ReleaseSeptember 17, 1983 (1983-09-17) –
December 1, 1990 (1990-12-01)
Related
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

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]

Much of the overseas animation was done by Hanho Heung-Up for Seasons 2-5.[5] The Murakami-Wolf-Swenson episodes were animated by A-1 Productions. The last Season was animated by Sei Young Animation.

The show aired from September 17, 1983, to December 1, 1990, on NBC and is the follow-up to the original 1961–1962 series, The Alvin Show.[6] The show introduced the Chipettes, three female Chipmunks with their female caretaker, Miss Beatrice Miller (who joined the cast in 1986). In 1988, the show switched production companies to DIC Enterprises; the first 11 episodes of season 6 were produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, and the series was renamed to The Chipmunks.[7]

In 1987, during the show's fifth season, the Chipmunks' first animated feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure, was released in cinemas 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's name was changed 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.[8] 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, Daffy Duck, Michelangelo, and Garfield) for the drug abuse-prevention special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

  1. ^ a b 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. 27 November 1992. 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. ^ "Dream Creator Hanho". www.hanho.co.kr. Archived from the original on 13 July 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  6. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 24–26. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  7. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 75–78. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  8. ^ "Alvin And The Chipmunks – The Chipmunks Go To The Movies". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-10-23.