A Familiar Childhood Group of Friends: Alvin and the Chipmunks

When one thinks back to their childhood, the thought of favorite toys and cartoon shows comes to mind. One of the most well known cartoon shows is Alvin and the Chipmunks, and it has become a childhood memory etched in the minds of people around the world.
Alvin and the Chipmunks was first introduced not as the cute cartoon that people are familiar with today, but as high pitched 'chipmunk' sounding voices in 1958.
It all began when Mr. Ross Bagdasarsian produced the record "Witch Doctor" in 1958. Mr. Bagdasarian sang the four voices of the characters known as David Seville, Theodore, Alvin, and Simon. Ross recorded exclusively for Liberty Records and named his characters after Liberty executives: Al Bennett(Alvin), Si Warnoker(Simon),and Ted Keep(Theodore). So who is the character of David Seville named after? Well the name of David Seville was actually used by Ross Bagdasarian as a stage name! It was not this subliminal reference to the Liberty executives that made this record popular, but instead, it was the unique high pitched voices of the three 'boys' Alvin, Theodore, and Simon that made the record an instant classic.
Ross created this groundbreaking and unique sound of the voices by first recording the voices sung slowly, and then speeding them up twice as fast. When Ross first created these three characters he had originally thought to make them rabbits or butterflies, but obviously this did not happen. So why did Mr. Bagdasarian decide to make Alvin, Theodore and Simon into chipmunks ? Well, the idea actually came from his three children, Ross jr., Carol, and Adam, who all agreed that the voices, in their opinions, sounded like chipmunks. And the three adorable chipmunks that we have come to know today debuted in the 1958 record "The Chipmunk Song". The album was a hit, and within just seven weeks of its release, it had sold more then four million copies!
Just a few weeks after "The Chipmunk Song" record debut the Chipmunks made their first television appearance, but they looked much different then they do today. They first appeared as puppets on CBS's Ed Sullivan Show; And, with the huge success of the Chipmunks on television and on records, CBS offered Ross and his Chipmunks an animated cartoon series. The creation, animation, and development of the Chipmunks took much time, causing numerous time delays on the Chipmunks debut. This time delay created a snag in the road for Ross and his Chipmunks because during this time imitators of the Chipmunks were attempting to gain fame. One example of a successful imitator of the Chipmunks was 'The Nutty Squirrels', whose animation-show- television debut was a full year before Ross Bagdasarian's Chipmunks. In 1959 the Nutty Squirrels had a Top 40 hit named'Uh-Oh', but this did not stop CBS or Ross from debuting the Chipmunks. On October 14, 1961, the 26 episode series The Alvin Show debuted on CBS's Wednesday night line up.

The series was named "The Alvin Show", and the three chipmunks were casted as 'orphaned brothers'. The series revolved around the antics of the mischief causing elder brother Alvin, the smart know it all Simon, and the cute, innocent, chubby brother Theodore. All three brothers were given a home by Dave Seville, a songwriter, and a father figure to the Chipmunks. Each episode Dave would belt out his signature "A-A-L-V-I-I-N-N-!!!!" whenever the boys were caught causing mischief, and each episode also included the adventures of the brotherly chipmunks, along with a sing-a-long segment.
Unfortuantly, people were not quite ready for the Chipmunks and Dave, and after the first season the series was cancelled due to a lack of a size able audience. After the Alvin Show lost its prime time position it became one of the first 'Saturday morning cartoons' that children look forward to all week long. First on CBS: 1962-1965 and then NBC brought back the Alvin Show on Saturday mornings on March 10, 1979 - September 1, 1979.

While the television career of the Chipmunks was in a continuous re-run loop for over 20 years, Bagdasarian was working on the Chipmunks next record. The Chipmunks Go to the Movies was released in 1969, but little did Ross Bagdasarian know that this would be his final record.In 1972 Ross Bagdasarian died from a heart attack and with the death of Mr. Bagdasarian NBC executives feared that the Chipmunks and their unique voices would be taken to the grave with Ross.

In 1980 Excelsior Records released the NEW album of songs by the Chipmunks named Chipmunk Punk! Now you may be thinking: "But you just said that Ross Bagdasarian died, how it this possible?!?" But the unique voices that were believed to be secluded to the voice of Ross Bagdasarian lived on in his son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., who did the voices of the Chipmunks in their 1980 album.
With the continuing popularity of the Chipmunks for over 20 years of re-runs, and the popularity of the Chipmunk albums, NBC decided to give the Chipmunks a television special. On December 14, 1981, A Chipmunk Christmas premiered, and its success lead to talk among NBC executives of creating a new season for the Chipmunks.
In 1983 the new series of the Chipmunks debuted, but not as the Alvin Show, as the original series was named, but instead the new series was named Alvin and the Chipmunks. The new series of Alvin and the Chipmunks paralleled very closely with the original Alvin show, but the success rate of the 80's series was much higher. Instead of constant re-runs of the first seasons of Alvin and the Chipmunks, the new series had eight production series on NBC.

Alvin and the Chipmunks date back to 1958 and can still be found producing new material in the 21st century. In 2007 the Chipmunks appeared as 'real' chipmunks in the big screen movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks the Movie. In 2008, the Chipmunks released their most recent album Undeniable. In 2009, as a sequel to the 2007 Chipmunk movie, the Chipmunks appeared on the big screen in, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.
And what is this? A third film of the Chipmunks? That's right! You've heard it hear first by a Contemporary Citizen: 20th century Fox has announced that on December 16, 2011, Alvin and the Chipmunks 3D will premiere worldwide. For numerous generations Alvin, Theodore, and Simon have been symbolic childhood figures because they have been found in popular culture since the 1950s and are still found producing new material in the popular culture of the 21st century.