Alvin und die Chipmunks

Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were three characters young boys could relate to: one was brainy, one hungry, and the other naughty. They practically represented the personalities of all boys. However, the plots mainly centered around the world of males. Unfortunately, the creators of the show brought in female characters in reaction to this, each the antithesis of their male counterparts. Invariably, they would often compete with the boys, and the boys ALWAYS lost. They never won, and while these scenarios might have given girls inspiration and confidence in the real world; the show's creators completely forgot about the young boys who originally tuned in to watch the chipmunks harmless antics. Ultimately, the message the show gave young boys was that girls are competition. The creators of the show should have emphasized a message of cooperation like they do in many present day cartoons. Instead, by having the girls beat the boys in practically every episode they were in, many young boys grew to resent the idea of female empowerment-- an idea no young boy should learn to resent.

I have wrote either one or even a couple of reviews for this show. If it weren't for Alvin coming up with a lot of wild ideas or anything like that, perhaps Dave, Simon, and Theodore wouldn't get so upset with him. On the other hand, both the Chipmunks and the Chipettes have even been adorable as babies. I sometimes feel sorry for Alvin, but it has been his own fault that his family, especially Dave gets very angry with him. All the same, the ways that they have sung either offscreen or onscreen are just wonderful. Their songs are very nice. The show deserves at least a "B" or "B+" for effort!!!

The Chipmunks are almost unknown here in Sweden, but in the mid-1990s one TV channel showed the 1980-90s series on Sunday mornings. I found it by sheer coincidence while zapping between channels, and it was love at first sight! I was a nearly 30-yrs old cartoon buff with the penchant for classic Looney Tunes and the like, I couldn't dream of falling for a cutesy-pootsy "kiddies" cartoon like that. But I simply HAD TO get up early every Sunday morning to watch it! The plots were usually rather tame (with some brilliant exceptions), but the dialog was fun and witty with lots of jokes a grown-up could appreciate. And these little guys were soooo CUTE and so COOL! The animation was so well done, and then there was the MUSIC!! It was so fun hearing those classic rock-and-roll tunes sung with those silly Chip&Dale-type voices.

But I must admit it took a few episodes to get the grip of things. Like: What are these very peculiar-looking little boys supposed to be? "Chipmunks"???!!!... They doesn't look the slightest like chipmunks to me. Why are they goofing around in those ridiculous nightshirts all the time? Why are they living with that human guy in a realistically drawn human world? All other talking cartoon animals live among other cartoon animals, not among humans. Weird, weird...

For many years I assumed The Chipmunks was something new, that David Seville was just a cartoon character, and Alvin, Simon and Theodore had always looked like their 1980-90s versions. I didn't knew there had been something before! So it was rather confusing to come across songs written by "David Seville", plush animals from 1959 resembling an ugly rat or distorted guinea-pig but supposed to be "Alvin from the Chipmunks", gramophone records from 1960 showing the boys as "real" chipmunks on the cover, and so on! But the Internet soon made all clear to me. Anyway, a great cartoon, so unlike the mass produced cheap crap of today (but the "Chipmunks goes to the Movies" series were rather poor -the movie spoofs were often not even funny).

I just came across the theme song (we're The Chipmunks ooohhhh!). I started crying when I heard it because it reminded me of a happier time. A time when my entire week was built up toward Saturday morning TV. Once Saturday morning TV was over, a cloud of darkness appeared because I knew that I had school on Monday. This cartoon was one of the classic cartoons of all time. I feel sorry for todays generation, they don't get to experience the Saturday morning TV that my generation got to experience.

This cartoon is up there with Captain Planet, Thundercats and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Another Saturday morning cartoon I have a soft spot for...I even got a Chipmunks coloring book for Christmas one year! Cute characters and stories, and I thought it was so cool that Alvin, Simon and Theodore sang and did videos to the hot pop songs of the day (Up Where We Belong, Hungry Like The Wolf, etc). OK, it's cheesy now but it was great fun. By the way, has anyone else noticed that the Chipmunks theme song and Van Halen's "Jump" sound awfully similar?