The Chipmunks

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

There's rumors swirling around the internet that Nick doesn't even like ALVINNN (I'm assuming because it's not their original property like the other shows are), and it seems kind of evident this week: there were supposed to be new episodes airing everyday this week (except for Halloween, of course), but each day when I've turned in, Loud House was on instead. Then again, Nick is becoming notorious for inconsisent and unreliable scheduling information, as this happens quite frequently: I remember there was a period of time where new ALVINNN episodes were supposed to air, but then Stanky Hanky would be on instead.

Stanky Hanky?

At the same time, I'm a little surprised Nick is still playing so much Loud House right now amid all of the sexual harassment allegations against Chris Savino dating back to his Cartoon Network days.

Well, the show will probably keep going without him, kind of like Clarence did.

 

[D'Snowth]

Stanky Hanky?

Henry Danger.

And if not him, then usually Nicky, Ricky, Mickey, Vicky, Dicky, Hicky, Icky, Picky, Sticky, Licky, Kicky, Wiki, and Clyde.

 

[Rugratskid]

Honestly, I wanna love ALVINNN, but it has some pretty big flaws, mostly in terms of mediocre, reused, or generic plots - a plot should come from the strengths and weaknesses of a character, not generic high school plots.

Character and song-wise, its largely great, but I'm just not invested in the offered stories. I plan on keep watching, but I don't expect much to change.

 

[D'Snowth]

ALVINNN seems to be in a roller coaster in terms of its stories: sometimes it'll go through a short spurt where the stories are actually pretty good and enjoyable, and other times, the stories simply fall flat. And I agree, a lot of the stories and plots have been done to death already.

Here's a few other flaws I find with ALVINNN:

1. The show seems to run on status quo. I'm not just talking about Derek going back to being a bully after his debut episode was an anti-bullying episode, but it's like so many episodes have Alvin realizing how much mischief and trouble he's caused not just for himself, but his brothers and the Chipettes as well, but then most episodes end on a "here we go again" note - and this is usually where "ALVINNN!!!" comes into play.

2. Most of the supporting characters can be unlikeable at times. Granted, previous Chipmunk projects lacked recurring, supporting characters, but most of them on ALVINNN can be pretty annoying at times - especially when they exhibit cliched, stereotypical personalities. Like how Annie and Amber can be typical snotty valley girls, or Kevin and Cheesy are typical pimply nerds (and Cheesy's even got that lateral lisp that many fictional nerds have). Ms. Croner is possibly the worst: she can be an outright jerk at times, and it seems rare that we see a more caring or sympathetic side to her. Just about the only supporting character I genuinely like is Officer Dangus, because he's actually funny.

3. Dave has just really fallen by the wayside. There's hardly ever any conflict in the dynamics between him and Alvin, it's almost as if he's become completely desensitized to Alvin's mischief and mayhem: he hardly ever loses his cool, he's hardly ever flustered . . . I think I can literally count on two fingers so far when Dave has actually snapped as a result of Alvin's trouble-making, and those were really the only two times he's shined on ALVINNN; otherwise, it's like he's just there, taking up space. I do like how they made him such a technophobe though.

 

[Rugratskid]

Totally agree with you on everything - the secondary characters often feel like last minute additions, something little thought was put into. As an aspiring animator (and just storyteller overall), cliché characters bug me to no end (and I'd guess you're in a similar spot with all the stuff you've done ) - Dangus is great, though, and I'm excited to see what they do with him.

The issues with Dave even stem back to the later 80's episodes, to an far smaller extent - I don't have examples offhand, but he treated Alvin as more of a "this happens every day" as opposed to the assertive Dave we saw in the 61-62 show. I suppose its just character development, but it irks me especially in ALVINNN.

Theo's new character kinda bugs me, too - which is ironic, because I love the new Ellie.

The voices are definitely less squeaky.. not sure if its a new speed technique or amount, or just Ross getting older.

 

[D'Snowth]

Dave's evolution over the years is interesting, because yeah, people often said of 80s Dave that he was too wimpy in comparison to 60s Dave, and I can see that to an extent: 60s Dave was Ross, Sr., who seemed to be that kind of assertive person in real life as well, Ross, Jr. not so much. But even so, when you compare ALVINNN Dave to 80s Dave, it's just as telling: 80s Dave may not have been as assertive or quick-tempered as 60s Dave, but he still was quick to jump on Alvin at times when he sees he's up to something.

As far as the other characterizations go, I'll agree, Theodore seems to have been Flanderized in terms of his babyish and naive personality, and I too love what they've done with Ellie - she's got a lot of sassiness and other qualities that she lacked previously that makes her seem like she was a bland, flat character before. I also like how Brittany is less b!+c#y and more thoughtful towards the others (very similar to how I used to write her in my fanfics), and it's nice Jeanette's a little more outgoing than before.

And yes, the voices kind of bother me too, but interestingly, everyone else seems to actually prefer these less squeaky voices as opposed to how they used to sound. To each their own I guess, but the less squeaky quality kind of takes a little away from the characters to a degree. But this is something that's been happening for a while: I remember when "Ho Ho Ho" was first released, I thought Theo sounded more like Alvin and Alvin sounded almost like Simon.

 

[D'Snowth]

It's also worth noting they recently relaunched the Chipmunks' official YouTube channel, and are even uploading throwback material regularly so far, but the down side is they're cropping the throwback clips into widescreen. In fact, last week they uploaded the ostrich segment from THE ALVIN SHOW, and there were several posts where not only were the tops of characters' heads cut off from the cropping, but a few spots where almost the entire ostrich's head was cut off because of it.

Again, this is why I hate widescreen: this is where you lose a percentage of your picture, not the other way around like consumerism tries to get us to believe.

 

[D'Snowth]

You know, the more I think about it, we really need a big Chipmunks history/guide book right about now while people are actually still into books: I mean, guide books for shows (the SST 40 years book), celebrities (Brian Jay Jones's book about Jim), and franchises, with hundreds and hundreds of pages have been doing well, why can't we get one for the Chipmunks? I'm sure that Ross and Janice not only have a lot of stories to tell spanning six decades of Chipmunk history, but I'd love to see some rare behind-the-scenes photos and material. I can even think of a decent table of contents:

- Chapter 1: Details about Ross, Sr.'s life, including his childhood, his early days as a struggling songwriter, and anecdotes from Ross, Jr.'s childhood growing up with his siblings with their father.
- Chapter 2: Details about Ross, Sr. writing and performing "The Witch Doctor" as a last ditch effort to make a hit selling record, and the genesis of the Chipmunks.
- Chapter 3: The early success of the Chipmunks, detailing the creative process that went into producing and recording their records, and how it all eventually lead to THE ALVIN SHOW.
- Chapter 4: The period of time of the Chipmunks falling into obscurity following the death of Ross, Sr., and the early days of Ross, Jr. and Janice's relationship.
- Chapter 5: Ross and Janice bringing the Chipmunks back for a new generation of fans, including details of the Chipmunk Punk album that relaunched them into the public eye, the Christmas special, the creation of the Chipettes, and the creation of the 80s cartoon.
- Chapter 6: Chipmunkmania. A successful animated series, successful albums and merchandise, and how it all lead to TCA, and all of the behind-the-scenes drama that went into making that movie.
- Chapter 7: The rocky period time from the waning days of the 80s series, through the holiday specials, the less-than-stellar albums, the crooked Universal deal that only gave us the two monster movies, and the struggle to revitalize the franchise after the deal, such as the Minimunks.
- Chapter 8: Behind-the-scenes details of the Fox movies, and how their success was the rebirth of the franchise for the modern era of entertainment.
- Chapter 9: How the rebirth of the franchise and the success of the Fox movies eventually lead to ALVINNN, and other personal ancedotes of how the Chipmunks have managed to withstand the test of time and maintain their appeal for these past six decades.

How's that for an outline for a most excellent Chipmunks guide book?

 

[TheWoodringman]

That's actually pretty good.
I'd buy it. (Even though I don't read books that much)
If I recall correctly, on the old Chipmunks website, Ross Jr. Mentioned that he was writing a book about Ross Sr. But, since we haven't gotten any new information about it in years...I don't think it's happening.

 

[D'Snowth]

They're getting a star on the Walk of Fame:

http://www.walkoffame.com/pages/press