Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally known as David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunk brothers named Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. The characters have since featured in several television series and films, as well as other media.
Bagdasarian provided the group's voices by producing sped-up recordings of his own, a technique pioneered on the successful "Witch Doctor". Later in 1958, Bagdasarian released the similarly engineered "The Chipmunk Song " for which he came up with the chipmunk characters and their human father, attributing the track to them. The Chipmunks were first depicted in animated form in The Alvin Show. David Seville and the Chipmunks released several more records over the following decade until Bagdasarian's death in 1972. The franchise was revived in 1973, with the characters' voices provided by his son Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and the latter's wife Janice Karman.
Through the successful franchise, the Chipmunks have become one of the most successful children's artists of all time. It has garnered two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and won five Grammy Awards, having four Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 and three certified platinum albums. "The Chipmunk Song" became one of the best-selling singles of all time at 5 million physical copies sold. In 2019, The Chipmunks received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
History
"Witch Doctor"
In 1958, Ross Bagdasarian Sr. released a novelty song about being unsuccessful at love until he found a witch doctor who told him how to woo his woman. Seville had bought a tape recorder and he experimented recording himself at different speeds to create a duet between him and the witch doctor. The voice of the witch doctor was in fact Seville's own voice, sung slowly but recorded at half speed on the tape recorder, then played back at normal speed, thereby speeding up the voice into a high-pitched squeaky one.The song was a hit, holding number one for three weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, ranked by Billboard as the No. 4 song for 1958. Bagdasarian re-recorded the song for the second Chipmunks album, Sing Again with the Chipmunks, in 1960.
Bagdasarian recorded a follow-up song, "The Bird on My Head", singing a duet with his own sped-up voice as the bird. It also reached the Top 40, peaking at No. 34. While driving in Sequoia National Park, Bagdasarian saw a chipmunk dash in front of him. That moment inspired him to create his chipmunk characters. He again used the same technique to pitch up the voice to create the chipmunks.
"The Chipmunk Song"
After the success of "Witch Doctor", Liberty Records asked Bagdasarian to create another successful novelty record. He then came up with three singing chipmunks who were named after executives at Liberty Records: Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. The Chipmunks first officially appeared on the scene in a novelty record released in late fall 1958 by Bagdasarian. The song, originally listed on the record label as "The Chipmunk Song ", featured the singing skills of the chipmunk trio. The novelty record was highly successful, selling 4.5 million copies in seven weeks, eventually selling 12 million copies. The song launched the careers of its chipmunk stars. The song won three Grammy Awards in 1958 and was nominated for Record of the Year. "The Chipmunk Song" appeared on the Chipmunks' debut album, Let's All Sing with the Chipmunks, in 1959, and was repeated on Christmas with the Chipmunks, released in 1962.''The Alvin Show'' (1961–1962)
The first television series to feature the characters was The Alvin Show. The series ran from 1961 to 1962 and was one of a small number of animated series to be shown in prime time on CBS. It was not a prime-time ratings success and was subsequently canceled after one season. Ratings improved significantly in syndication. The television series was produced by Format Films for Bagdasarian Film Corporation. Although the series was broadcast in black and white, it was produced and later re-run in color. This show also introduced David Seville as an animated caricature.New albums and ''A Chipmunk Christmas'' (1969–1982)
The final Chipmunks album in the project's original incarnation, The Chipmunks Go to the Movies, was released in 1969. After Bagdasarian's death in 1972, the Chipmunks' careers stalled until 1979, when NBC began airing reruns of The Alvin Show as a mid-season replacement. The following year, Excelsior Records released a new album of contemporary songs performed by the Chipmunks. That album, Chipmunk Punk, featured Bagdasarian's son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., doing the voices of the characters. That album and the continued reruns of the series proved to be popular enough to warrant further new records as well as new television productions. Further, on December 14, 1981, the Chipmunks and Seville returned to television in the NBC Christmas special A Chipmunk Christmas, produced by the Bagdasarians with Chuck Jones as a creative consultant. It was accompanied by a soundtrack album. The following year, two more albums were released.''Alvin and the Chipmunks'' (1983–1990)
The group's name changed from "the Chipmunks" to "Alvin and the Chipmunks". In 1983, a second animated television series for the group, titled Alvin and the Chipmunks, was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions and released. The first season introduced The Chipettes. The show's success led to the release of a soundtrack album in 1984, Songs from Our TV Shows. After 1988, the show was renamed just the Chipmunks. In 1985, the Chipmunks, along with the Chipettes, were featured in the live stage show, Alvin and the Chipmunks and the Amazing Computer. In 1987, during the fifth season of the television show, the Chipmunks had their first animated feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure, directed by Janice Karman and Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and released in theaters by The Samuel Goldwyn Company.In the 1988–89 season, the show switched production companies to DIC Entertainment and Murakami Wolf Swenson. In 1990, the show switched titles again to The Chipmunks Go to the Movies. In 1990, a documentary was produced about the show entitled Alvin and the Chipmunks/Five Decades with the Chipmunks. In that year, the Chipmunks teamed up with other famous cartoon stars for the drug abuse-prevention special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.
Music releases and Universal acquisition (1991–2002)
On January 18, 1991, NBC aired a television special starring the Chipmunks entitled Rockin' Through the Decades. The same year, the band released the album The Chipmunks Rock the House. In 1992, the group released the country album Chipmunks in Low Places. Released on September 29, 1992, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA, becoming the group's first platinum record and making it the Chipmunks' best-selling album followed by a greatest hits release and a reissue of 1981's A Chipmunk Christmas. By 1993, Urban Chipmunk was re-released as a compilation album The Chipmunks' 35th Birthday Party with a double album, called The Chipmunks Sing-Alongs. Their fourth Christmas album, A Very Merry Chipmunk, saw a release in 1994, then When You Wish Upon a Chipmunk in 1995, and Club Chipmunk: The Dance Mixes in 1996 which peaked in the Top 10 on Billboard's Top Kid Audio.In 1996, Universal Studios purchased the rights to the characters. In 1998, Sony Wonder and Columbia Records released The A-Files: Alien Songs and Greatest Hits: Still Squeaky After All These Years on September 21, 1999. The purchase of the rights to the characters by Universal resulted in the Chipmunks' 1999 reappearance, in the form of the direct-to-video movie Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein, released on September 28, 1999. Five new songs were composed for the film and were made available via a soundtrack released by MCA Records. Later that year, The Chipmunks' Greatest Christmas Hits was released. The movie was successful enough to spark interest in a sequel, and in 2000, Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman appeared. Three new songs were composed for the film, that were also made available on a soundtrack by MCA. Both movies featured the original cast of the second series reprising their roles as the tone was very similar to the series. Universal lost the rights to the characters in 2002 due to a breach of contract with Bagdasarian Productions.
Return to independency, movies and merchandise (2003–present)
On September 17, 2004, Fox 2000 Pictures, Regency Enterprises, and Bagdasarian Productions announced a live-action animated film starring Alvin and the Chipmunks. Tim Hill directed the 2007 adaption Alvin and the Chipmunks, with voices by Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney. Further live-action installments were The Squeakquel, Chipwrecked, and The Road Chip. The projects have achieved commercial success, grossing over a billion dollars collectively. Accolades received include five Grammy awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Reel Award, three Kids' Choice Awards, and Emmy nominations.A television series, Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks was created by Janice Karman and produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Technicolor Animation Productions.