Alvin and the Chipmunks

[Halo Infinity]

It seems like it's safe to assume that any fans of Alvin and the Chipmunks on here would most likely have been fans of the 1983 series. I grew up watching it in the 1990s and thought it was a 1990s show before I got Internet. I'm so happy it was re-ran a lot back then on Cartoon Network because I could've easily missed this show on the account of it debuting before I was born. I also don't think I've watched this show since 1999, and for almost a good 20 years never really followed anything related to Alvin and the Chipmunks until I checked out the CGI films, which made me want to re-visit the 1983 series. It was then, I also was reminded of the original 1961 series and that actual records of them were released, which then reminded me how wide and varied the fan-base actually is.

What truly shocked me the most was also finding out that there was a 2015 series, which I didn't stumble upon until 2016. I couldn't believe that it came back, especially on Nickelodeon. I was still trying to process it all, but I'm at least thankful it returned, and enjoyed how it translated in the 2010s with references to the Internet, computers and smartphones these days, and how will be translated in the soon to be 2020s. Ross Bagdasarian Jr. has also admitted that he'd try to make it last at least until 2025. At first I wondered how it would be pulled off, but it didn't take so long for me to enjoy it, even in spite of the negative reception reboots tend to get. I will still say that the 1983s does pull on my heartstrings though, and even more so when I learned that one of the reasons for doing Alvin and the Chipmunks was a way for Ross Bagdasarian Jr. to cope and fill in the void of the early death of his father Ross Bagdasarian Sr. all along.

After binging on this franchise, thanks for finding it being streamed online, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that aside form nostalgia, it was actually much better than I remembered it, especially now that I'm more aware of the references and cover songs, and if I still don't get some of them, at least I have Google and Wikipedia by my side now, so that also helped me appreciate the 1983 series even more. It's a shame that the 1983 series never made it to DVD as proper seasons and/or box-sets, but I've also figured that perhaps it suffered a similar fate of the Beavis and Butt-Head series due to the copyright of actual songs being covered.

At least the 1961 and 2015 shows are available on DVD though.

This show from a very early age taught me that family isn't always about blood and was also my introduction to rock and pop and general and helped in a way explain to appeal of rock and pop in general, and is actually one of the main/largest reasons why rock and pop are still among my main genres to this day.

Oh right, and as for the CGI films, if you're actually going to put yourself through them, since I know those stick out like a sore thumb, if you never saw them before and would like to give them a chance, I'd at the very least recommend checking out Alvin and the Chipmunks and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel should you even get past the first film. It also helped that I enjoyed seeing David Cross on the first 3 CGI movies.

I know it goes without saying, but the 1987 movie, The Chipmunk Adventure is a must-see for fans. My binging also gave me a chance to also catch up with Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman and Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein.

And as much as I like all of the six main characters aside from Dave, Simon and Jeanette have always been my favorites, in a way similar to how Donatello was among my favorite characters on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It also reminded me that Alvin and Simon were also my Cartman and Kyle long before South Park.