| Alvin and the Chipmunks | |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 102 (168 segments)(list of episodes) |
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| Running time | 22 minutes (11 minutes per segment) |
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| Network | NBC[2][3] |
| Release | September 17, 1983 (1983-09-17) – December 1, 1990 (1990-12-01) |
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Alvin and the Chipmunks is an Americananimated sitcom featuringthe Chipmunks, which was produced byBagdasarian Productions in association withRuby-Spears Enterprises from 1983 to 1987,Murakami-Wolf-Swenson in 1988 andDIC Enterprises from 1988 to 1990.[4]
Much of the overseas animation was done byHanho Heung-Up for seasons 2-5.[5] Season 6 episodes were animated by A-1 Productions. The last two seasons were animated bySei Young Animation andKK C&D Asia.
The show aired from September 17, 1983, to December 1, 1990, onNBC and is the follow-up to the original 1961–1962 series,The Alvin Show.[6] The show introducedthe Chipettes, three female Chipmunks with their female caretaker, Miss Beatrice Miller (who joined the cast in 1986). In 1988, the show switched production companies toDIC Enterprises and the series was renamed toThe Chipmunks; the sixth season was co-produced byMurakami-Wolf-Swenson.[7]
In 1987, during the show's fifth season, the Chipmunks' first animated feature film,The Chipmunk Adventure, was released in cinemas byThe Samuel Goldwyn Company. The film was directed byJanice 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 toThe Chipmunks Go to the Movies. Each episode was aspoof of aHollywood, film likeBack to the Future orKing Kong. Several television specials featuring the characters were also released.[8] In 1990, the specialRockin' Through the Decades was produced. That year, the Chipmunks also teamed up with other well-known cartoon characters (such asBugs Bunny,Daffy Duck,Michelangelo, andGarfield) for thedrug abuse-prevention specialCartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 13 | September 17, 1983 (1983-09-17) | December 10, 1983 (1983-12-10) | |
| 2 | 13 | September 8, 1984 (1984-09-08) | December 1, 1984 (1984-12-01) | |
| 3 | 10 | September 14, 1985 (1985-09-14) | November 16, 1985 (1985-11-16) | |
| 4 | 8 | September 13, 1986 (1986-09-13) | November 1, 1986 (1986-11-01) | |
| 5 | 8 | September 12, 1987 (1987-09-12) | October 31, 1987 (1987-10-31) | |
| 6 | 24 | September 10, 1988 (1988-09-10) | February 18, 1989 (1989-02-18) | |
| 7 | 13 | September 9, 1989 (1989-09-09) | December 16, 1989 (1989-12-16) | |
| 8 | 13 | September 8, 1990 (1990-09-08) | December 1, 1990 (1990-12-01) | |
The series made its debut on September 17, 1983, on NBC, originally under the nameAlvin and The Chipmunks, and was animated by Ruby-Spears Enterprises. Beginning with the 1988–89 season, the series was renamed to simplyThe Chipmunks, and production switched toMurakami-Wolf-Swenson (for 11 episodes of the 6th season) andDIC Enterprises (for 13 episodes of the 6th season, and for the 7th and 8th season) for the remainder of the series' run. 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.
The series went into syndication in the fall of 1988 under the originalAlvin and The Chipmunks title, distributed byLorimar-Telepictures (and laterWarner Bros. Television afterWarner Communications' purchase of Lorimar, Warner Bros. would later buy the pre-1991 library of Ruby-Spears in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner, where the library previously sat). 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. Episodes were time-compressed (similar to aPAL speed-up) and/or trimmed in an effort to make room for more commercials.Telepictures began distributing the series in June 1985[10] for $30 Million,[11] with the rights purchased for a record $385,000 a half-hour.[12] The syndication package did not include the episodes that aired on NBC from season six onward, meaning that the final thirty-nine episodes of the series were not shown in reruns outside of the network.
The 65-episode syndication package was later carried byNickelodeon andCartoon Network in the United States. In Canada, the original run of the series was aired on theGlobal Television Network, while the package was later carried onYTV from 1994 until 2005 and laterTeletoon Retro from October 1, 2007 until that channel's dissolution on September 1, 2015. After the dissolution of Teletoon Retro, the show hasn't aired on television in North America since then, but in the United States, the show hasn't been seen on U.S. television since Cartoon Network's last run of the series on May 31, 2002. The show also made it through French Canadian television, whenTQS and laterSuper Écran began airing the series in 1991.
The syndication package was also carried overseas in the 1990s when it aired onChildren’s BBC, laterNickelodeon, and finallyChannel 5'sMilkshake! block in the United Kingdom. Elsewhere in Europe, the original run of the series was carried in France onCanal+ (while the syndication package of carried onFrance 3), Germany onTele 5, and Italy onItalia 1. In Australia, the original run of the Ruby-Spears show aired onNetwork Ten, while the later episodes by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson and DiC were aired onABC. The syndication package there was picked up onNickelodeon for a short period of time. In Brazil,TV Globo aired the syndication package with Brazilian dubs. During that time,HIT Entertainment distributed the series outside North America.[13]
| "We're the Chipmunks" | |
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| Song byAlvin and the Chipmunks | |
| Recorded | 1983 (re-recorded 1987 and 2008) |
| Studio | Bagdasarian Productions |
| Length | 1:01 (TV Size) 2:58 (Remix Version) |
| Label | Razor & Tie (2008) Rhino (2015) |
| Songwriters | Ross Bagdasarian Jr.[14] Janice Karman[14] |
"We're the Chipmunks" is a song performed by the fictional groupAlvin and the Chipmunks. It serves as the theme song for their animated series in 1983 and2015.[15] A remixed version was recorded in 2008 for the Chipmunks' albumUndeniable.[16]
Bagdasarian and Karman also wrote new songs for the show, including the theme song, 'We're the Chipmunks.'
Bagdasarian and Karman also wrote new songs for the show, including the theme song, 'We're the Chipmunks.'
