This show grew out of a 1958 novelty record titled The Chipmunk Song which sold over four million copies. The voices of the chipmunks were created by speeding up recorded vocal tracks to create ridiculously high-pitched voices.
Conceived and created by Ross Bagdasarian (who used the stage name David Seville), the trio of singing chipmunks from the record began their own CBS TV series – The Alvin Show – in April 1961.
Chipmunks Theodore and Simon were beyond reproach, but their brother Alvin was a problem child. He was the lead singer and the most mischievous of the three.
Each half-hour show featured two regular cartoon segments: The Adventures of Clyde Crashcup, concerning a deranged professor (voiced by Shepard Menken) who took credit for the invention of any and all objects mentioned in the episode (and always paid a heavy price for assuming the responsibility), and Sinbad Jr. which featured the “thrilling” adventures of the titular sailor (voiced by Tim Matthieson) and his parrot companion, Salty (voiced by the great Mel Blanc).
There was also at least one musical interlude in each episode.
Ross Bagdasarian retired from show business in 1967 and died in 1972, only 11 days before his 53rd birthday. His son Ross Jr. revived Alvin, Simon and Theodore in 1979, and original episodes of The Alvin Show began airing under the title of Alvin and the Chipmunks on NBC Saturday mornings for a short period.
Twenty years after The Alvin Show’s original run, the Chipmunks returned to animation in a prime-time special, A Chipmunk Christmas, airing on NBC in 1981.
More animated specials followed through the Eighties and into the Nineties, including Ruby-Spears Productions’ Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983, Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1989) and Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (1990).
Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks ran on Nickelodeon from 2015 through 2023 (with a more human version of the characters). The Bagdasarians finally brought Alvin and company to the big screen with the 1987 animated theatrical feature The Chipmunk Adventure.
Eventually, computers brought the franchise to life, with CGI-created chipmunks appearing in several films starting with Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007), co-starring Jason Lee (pictured).
Alvin/Theodore/Simon/David Seville
Ross Bagdasarian Clyde Crashcup
Shepard Menken Sinbad
Tim Matthieson Salty
Mel Blanc Other voices
June Foray
Lee Patrick
Bill Lee
William Sanford
Res Dennis
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More animated specials followed through the Eighties and into the Nineties, including Ruby-Spears Productions’ Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983, Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1989) and Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (1990).
