Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks (English Alvin and the Chipmunks ) is a musical group invented by Ross Bagdasarian . The group consists of three anthropomorphic singing chipmunks (Engl. Chipmunks) with the name of Alvin , Simon and Theodore . The three are managed by their human foster father David "Dave" Seville . In reality, David Seville Ross was Bagdasarian's stage name .
Emergence
The Chipmunks' music was first released in 1958 under the name David Seville and the Chipmunks . Together with their manager Dave they had several appearances in various cartoons and films. This was the starting point for the Chipmunks, who from now on also presented themselves as cartoon characters .
The characters' voices are all from Bagdasarian himself, who accelerated the playback to create the typical, high-pitched chipmunk sound. The Chipmunk song became the No. 1 hit in the United States . After Ross Bagdasarian's death, the voices of all future releases were recorded by his son Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and his wife Janice Karman .
The Chipmunks themselves are named after the management staff of the original Liberty Records label , Alvin Bennett (President) , Theodore Keep (Founder and Owner) , and Simon Waronker (Chief Engineer) .
history
The chipmunk song
The Chipmunk Song or Christmas Don't Be Late was released in 1958. Within seven weeks, more than four million records were sold and the trio's career began. The song was number 1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart list from December 27, 1958 to January 19, 1959 . They won with the song three Grammy -Awards and a nomination for Record of the Year .
Imitations
During the preparations for the television series, the Chipmunks imitation The Nutty Squirrels ( The Crazy Squirrels ) was released, but was not successful with their singing.
The Alvin Show
The first television series to include the Chipmunks was called The Alvin Show , and it was one of many short animated series that aired on CBS between 1961 and 1962 . The show was unsuccessful and was discontinued after one season.
Based on the Alvin cartoons , the series included the characters Clyde Crashcup and his partner Leonardo , but they were not included in the later series. However, Clyde Crashcup made a guest appearance on an episode of Alvin and the Chipmunks .
The series was produced by Format Films for the Bagdasarian Film Corporation . The series was initially broadcast in black and white, but was re-produced in color for later repeats.
A Chipmunk Christmas
After Ross Bagdasarian's death in 1972, the Chipmunks' careers stalled until NBC showed interest in the original show and released a new album of the previous songs, sung by Ross Bagdasarian Jr. The success of this album and the re-airing of the Alvin Show seemed reason enough to produce a new series. On December 14, 1981, the Chipmunks and David Seville came back on television for the first time in a long time. The Christmas special A Chipmunk Christmas , produced by Chuck Jones , was a huge hit.
Alvin and the Chipmunks
In 1983, the second Chipmunks animated series, produced by Ruby-Spears, started . The name was chosen very simply with Alvin and the Chipmunks , the plot was similar to that of the Alvin Show. With the end in 1991, the series could have eight seasons.
In the first season the fans were presented with the female counterpart to the Chipmunks, the Chipettes . Brittany , Eleanor and Jeanette , like their male counterparts, were out for a singing career and also had a human companion, Miss Miller .
In 1987, in the middle of the fifth season, the first Chipmunk film, The Chipmunk Adventure ( Alwin and the Globetrotters ) was released, directed by Janice Karman . It is about a competition between the Chipmunks and the Chipettes, which makes them travel around the world.
For the sixth season they switched to the production company DiC Entertainment , the series name was changed to The Chipmunks .
In the eighth and final season, the series was titled The Chipmunks Go to the Movies ( Die Chipmunks go to the film ). Every single episode of the season was a mixture of joke and homage to famous Hollywood films like Back to the Future or King Kong .
additional
Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the characters in 1996. As a result, the film Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein ( Alvin and the Chipmunks meet Frankenstein ) was released in 1999 as a video cassette . The film was successful enough for the quasi- sequel Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman ( meet Alvin and the Chipmunks the Wolfman! ), Which in 2000 came on the market.
In 2000, Universal Pictures was sued by Bagdasarian Productions for breach of contract, also in the hope of regaining the rights to the characters. Ross Bagdasrian Jr. won the 2002 trial. If the trial hadn't gone well, the Chipmunks would have remained in Universal Pictures' hands until 2006. Until then there would have been no publications of the Chipmunks of any kind. Bagdasarian Productions sued Thomas Lee, inventor of the Chipmunkz Gangsta Rap parody in 2006 . The process is ongoing.
On December 14, 2007, a movie with actors and computer-animated chipmunks by 20th Century Fox was released in US cinemas and on December 20 in German cinemas under the title Alvin and the Chipmunks - Der Kinofilm . On December 23, 2009, the sequel, Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, was released in American cinemas and on December 24, 2009 in German cinemas. Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipbruch followed in 2011, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip was released in 2015 .
There is a German version of the Chipmunk song from 1958. In this case it is about three singing ducks. The vinyl single was released by Electrola under the title Enten-Song - Mr. Watschel and his duck trio - Franz Thon and his orchestra , and the ducks were called Jacky, Theodor and Erwin. Hans Blum is hiding behind Mr. Watschel .
Furthermore, the chipmunks of ducks can be read on some single records made in Germany.
Recording technology
The voices of the chipmunks were initially created by recording the voices on a tape at half speed and then playing the tape back at normal speed. This made the voices twice as fast or a full octave higher. Today, however, this effect is created digitally. The term chipmunk voiced has found its way into English usage and generally refers to an artificially generated higher voice . The name of the hip-hop production style Chipmunk Soul goes back to this effect.
This technique has already been used on many comedy albums by various artists. The Ying Tong Song by The Goons , Transistor Radio by Benny Hill or The Laughing Gnome by David Bowie are just a few examples.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 AT
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1962 | Christmas with the Chipmunks, Vol. 1 | - | - |
US170  (3 weeks)US |
Top placement only in 2012
|
| 1963 | Christmas with the Chipmunks, Vol. 2 | - | - |
US64 (17 weeks) US |
Top place only in 2009
|
| 1964 | The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles Hits | - | - |
US14 (23 weeks) US |
|
| 1980 | Chipmunk punk | - | - |
US34  (26 weeks)US |
|
| 1981 | Urban chipmunk | - | - |
US56 (35 weeks)US |
|
| 1982 | Chipmunk Rock | - | - |
US109 (6 weeks) US |
|
| A Chipmunk Christmas | - | - |
US72 (9 weeks)US |
||
| 1992 | Chipmunks in Low Places | - | - |
US21st (28 weeks)US |
|
| 1994 | A very merry chipmunk | - | - |
US147 (3 weeks) US |
|
| 2007 | Alvin & the Chipmunks OST | - |
UK21st  (10 weeks)UK |
US5 (58 weeks)US |
|
| 2008 | Undeniable | - | - |
US78 (14 weeks) US |
|
| 2009 | Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel OST |
AT75 (1 week) AT |
UK6th (17 weeks)UK |
US6th (33 weeks)US |
|
| 2011 | Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip break OST | - |
UK63 (4 weeks) UK |
US36 (12 weeks) US |
|
| 2012 | Chipmunks Christmas | - | - |
US111 (9 weeks) US |
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More albums
- 1959: Let's All Sing with the Chipmunks
- 1960: Sing Again with the Chipmunks
- 1961: Around the World with the Chipmunks
- 1961: The Alvin Show
- 1962: The Chipmunks Songbook
- 1965: The Chipmunks a Go-Go
- 1965: The Chipmunks Sing with Children
- 1965: Supercalifragelisticexpialidocious
- 1968: The Chipmunks See Doctor Dolittle
- 1969: The Chipmunks Go to the Movies
- 1982: 20 All Time Golden Greats
- 1982: Chipmunks en Español
- 1984: Alvin and the Chipmunks
- 1987: The Chipmunk Adventure
- 1990: Rockin 'Through the Decades
- 1991: Rock the House
- 1992: Greatest Hits
- 1993: Alvin's Christmas Carol
- 1993: Sing-Alongs
- 1994: Here's Looking at Me!
- 1995: Alvin's Daydreams
- 1995: Chipmunk Celebration
- 1995: Easter Chipmunk
- 1995: When You Wish upon a Chipmunk
- 1995: Very Best of Chipmunks
- 1996: Club Chipmunk: The Dance Mixes
- 1996: Christmas with 2
- 1998: The A-Files: Alien Songs
- 1999: Alvin & the Chipmunks Greatest Hits: Still Squeaky After All These Years
- 2003: Merry Christmas from the Chipmunks
- 2004: Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks
- 2010: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1958 | The Chipmunk Song |
- |
US1 (13 weeks) US |
|
| 1959 | Alvin's Harmonica |
- |
US3 (15 weeks) US |
|
| Ragtime cowboy Joe |
- |
US16 (9 weeks) US |
||
| 1960 | Alvin's Orchestra |
- |
US33 (5 weeks) US |
|
| Alvin for President |
- |
US95 (2 weeks) US |
||
| Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer |
- |
US21 (8 weeks) US |
||
| 1962 | The Alvin Twist |
- |
US40 (8 weeks) US |
|
| 1992 | Achy Breaky Heart |
UK53 (3 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 2008 | Witch Doctor |
- |
US62 (3 weeks) US |
feat. Chris Classic
|
| Bad day |
- |
US67 (2 weeks) US |
||
| Funkytown |
- |
US86 (2 weeks) US |
||
More singles
- 1958: DUCK SONG
- 1960: America the Beautiful
- 1963: Alvin's All Star Chipmunk Band
- 1963: Eefin 'Alvin
- 1963: The Night Before Christmas
- 1964: All My Lovin '
- 1965: Do-re-mi
- 1965: I'm Henry VIII
- 1968: If I Could Talk to the Animals
- 1968: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Film adaptations
- Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Movie (2007)
- Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 (2009)
- Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Broken Chip (2011)
- Alvin and the Chipmunks - Road Chip (2015)
Awards and nominations
- 1959: Three Grammy Awards for "Best Album for Children", "Best Comedy Performance", and "Best Engineered Record"
- 1960: A Grammy Award for Best Engineered Record
- 1961: A Grammy Award for Best Album for Children
- 1962: Nominated for the Grammy Award in the Best Engineered Record category
- 1963: Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Record and Best Album for Children
- 1966: Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Record and Best Album for Children
- 1985: Nominated for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Animated Program (Daytime) category
- 1987: Nominated for the Young Artist Award in the Exceptional Family Animation Series or Specials category
- 1987: Nominated for an Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Animated Program (Daytime)
- 1988: Nominated for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Animated Program (Daytime) category
- 1988: Nominated for the Young Artist Award in the Best Motion Picture - Animation category
- 2000: A Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing - Direct to Video - Sound Editorial
- 2019: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mr. Watschel And His Duck Trio. In: Music Collectors. Retrieved February 13, 2012 .
- ↑ a b Chart sources: AT [1] US1 US2 US soundtracks
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK US
- ^ Alvin & The Chipmunks | Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved March 14, 2019 .
Web links
- The Alvin Show in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Alvin & the Chipmunks in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Chipmunk Adventure in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- “The Chipmunk Song” slows down so that the original voices of the Chipmunks come out