The Chipmunks

[D'Snowth]

Sometimes The Chipmunks fandom can through a lot of the same kind of toxicity that the Muppet and Sesame fandoms endure, and right now is no exception: as of this week, all but one episode of the 80s Chipmunks cartoon series have been found and are available for fans to download - this is actually a very big deal, because only a limited number of episodes (65, to be exact, due to syndication regulations) have been aired in reruns, and only a few select episodes that weren't included in the syndication packages have seen legit DVD releases (usually on compilation DVDs that tend to only include three or more episodes); so there's actually a ton of episodes that have been "lost" all these years, and in many cases, the only versions of them that have been found online were foreign dubs.

Naturally, a lot of fans are excited and grateful for just this, but of course, much like Sesame Brats, there are some fans who aren't satisfied with this, and are demanding that one episode be found to complete the series.

 

[LittleJerry92]

I mean, every fandom is gonna have one rotten apple at the end of the day.

 

[D'Snowth]

One of the biggest similarities of toxicity among fandoms is the generational toxicity. Much like Sesame Brats and such with their "70s SS was the best!" "No, 80s SS was the best!" "ATC sucked!" "No, ATC was the best!" "You're all wrong, SS with Elmo's World is the best!" The Chipmunks fandom has the same thing: "Original Chipmunks from the 50s and 60s was the best!" "No way, the 80s are the definitive best Chipmunks!" "I like the CGI movies!" "You're wrong, the CGI movies are a travesty!" "ALVINNN is actually better than the 80s cartoon!" "Nothing's better than the 80s cartoon!"

Don't get me started on ship wars; that almost drove me away from the fandom entirely!

 

[datman24]

Honestly, you're going to find toxicity in any online fandom, especially when it comes to children's properties like Alvin and the Chipmunks. As for myself, I don't find much value in The Chipmunks brand. Don't get me wrong, I have fond memories watching them on both Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, but nothing truly sticks out for me (well, except for that movie where they met Frankenstein or something). Re-watching the the 1980s show years later, I don't find it bad, but I don't find great, either. For what it is, it's just alright.

 

[D'Snowth]

I was just talking about this the other day: the 80s cartoon, animation-wise, has not aged well, at all. The seasons that were animated by Ruby-Spears have such a Hanna-Barbera-esque look to them that it makes it look even older than it is - like it came from the 60s or something; the seasons animated by DiC have that obviously cheap, pen-drawn look that a lot of Saturday Morning cartoons of the late 80s/early 90s had.

Personally, I appreciate the character development: over the span of all these decades, each of the characters evolved and developed beyond being just one-note/one-dimensional trope personifications (well, admittedly, with this new Nick show, we can argue that at least Alvin and especially Theodore have become Flanderized) - that's something you don't see a lot of in kids entertainment, because most people in that field (like Charles Schulz for one) discourage it.

 

[datman24]

Though, I think most of us can agree that the live action films are awful. Admittedly, however, I've only seen the first one, and I doubt any of the subsequent films are any better.

 

[D'Snowth]

Some of the younger crowd out there do like them, but I mean hey, if they like them, then that's fine. Like you I only saw the first one, and while I didn't care for it (I felt Jason Lee was horribly mis-cast as Dave, and the characters' personalities felt too forcibly contemporary and "hip" to appeal to modern audiences), I at least acknowledge that it got me interested in previous incarnations of the franchise.

Really, the main problem with those movies is 20th Century Fox having too much corporate influence over them.

 

[D'Snowth]

I will say this: I wish Drtooth was still hear to rant about this Sunday's upcoming new episode of the Nick series being a preachy, heavy-handed sermon about saving bees. Kind of like that ARTHUR episode about Sue Ellen going vegetarian.

 

[D'Snowth]

So, here's something that's going on that I'm surprised the Sesame Brats haven't tried doing before (not that I'm trying to give them any ideas or encourage them, mind you):

Bagdasarian Productions has been making another sweep on YouTube, nuking fan uploads, and terminating entire channels as a result . . . and the fans are not happy about this. So much so, in fact, that some of them have actually contacted Bagdasarian about this, requesting some middle ground: either commercially release some of this content (like episodes of the 80s cartoon, or songs that have yet to be released albums) so fans can actually purchase them, thus financially supporting the franchise, or instead of removing videos for copyright, monetize them so they can make a profit off of rare content uploaded by fans.

 

[D'Snowth]

Holy crap, Bagdasarian Productions has evidently gone full-blown copyright nazi on everybody: they're removing any and all traces of fan-generated content on YouTube - including an entire fan channel that they previously had no problems with, and even gave the channel owners their grace and permission to run the channel and create the content therein. Now, they've done a complete 180, and are disallowing and prohibiting any fan-generated content on YouTube on the grounds that it infringes their copyrights and trademarks, and will somehow misguide and deceive other fans out there who believe the content to be official.

Even the bigger companies, entities, and franchises like Disney, Star Wars, and others have become more lenient in recent years and even allow fan films, so long as they're not monetized.