Alvin and The Chipmunks is one of my all-time favourite cartoons alongside Johnny Bravo and Thundercats. The success of the show later spawned remakes in 1983, 1989 and The Chipmunks Go To The Movies: a cartoon that featured renditions of famous Hollywood movies such as Frankenstein, Indiana Jones, Back To The Future and a chipmunk version of Batman entitled: Batmunk to name.
The stories were great, the characters were extremely likable and cute plus, the music was your standard pop and rock fare. Of course music was an important part of the 80s decade and from there onwards, it has become a cultural phenomenon. But very rarely were there cartoons where popular music was used as a theme within the narratives- and yet Alvin and The Chipmunks was the only animated programme that I know of, which successfully combined animation and great story lines with renditions of contemporary Popular and Rock anthems. These anthems included Michael Jackson's 'Beat It', Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 'I Love Rock'n'roll' performed by The Chippettes and The Beatles 'A Hard Day's Night'. The personalities of the three chipmunks brothers couldn't be any more different: Alvin was the so-called hell-raiser/trouble maker and lead vocalist of the band, whose antics often upset Dave, their adoptive father; Simon was the geek and intellectual who was on keyboards and/or the piano whilst Theodor was the slightly overweight,but innocent and sweet looking one, of whom played the drums.
This show was shown a lot on TV during the 80s and I used to tune in from school to watch these guys. As I mentioned, the opening sequence was excellent, the theme song is one of the most instantly recognisable, not to mention sing-a-long TV anthems, ever and the stories were varied but wonderful. And whilst this was originally a 60s creation on the part of Ross Bagdasarian, he and his son and wife Janice Karman have rightfully carried the touch for this show and thus their efforts have, in the process, gained a new generation of fans alongside the older generation throughout the 80s, 90s and today.
Watching these episodes brings back so many great memories. As an 80s child, it was a great decade for cartoons and Alvin and The Chipmunks was entertaining,great nostalgic fun that people of all ages can enjoy. And this was a great show.
The stories were great, the characters were extremely likable and cute plus, the music was your standard pop and rock fare. Of course music was an important part of the 80s decade and from there onwards, it has become a cultural phenomenon. But very rarely were there cartoons where popular music was used as a theme within the narratives- and yet Alvin and The Chipmunks was the only animated programme that I know of, which successfully combined animation and great story lines with renditions of contemporary Popular and Rock anthems. These anthems included Michael Jackson's 'Beat It', Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 'I Love Rock'n'roll' performed by The Chippettes and The Beatles 'A Hard Day's Night'. The personalities of the three chipmunks brothers couldn't be any more different: Alvin was the so-called hell-raiser/trouble maker and lead vocalist of the band, whose antics often upset Dave, their adoptive father; Simon was the geek and intellectual who was on keyboards and/or the piano whilst Theodor was the slightly overweight,but innocent and sweet looking one, of whom played the drums.
This show was shown a lot on TV during the 80s and I used to tune in from school to watch these guys. As I mentioned, the opening sequence was excellent, the theme song is one of the most instantly recognisable, not to mention sing-a-long TV anthems, ever and the stories were varied but wonderful. And whilst this was originally a 60s creation on the part of Ross Bagdasarian, he and his son and wife Janice Karman have rightfully carried the touch for this show and thus their efforts have, in the process, gained a new generation of fans alongside the older generation throughout the 80s, 90s and today.
Watching these episodes brings back so many great memories. As an 80s child, it was a great decade for cartoons and Alvin and The Chipmunks was entertaining,great nostalgic fun that people of all ages can enjoy. And this was a great show.