The Alvin Show (1961)

Genre

animation

Country

United States

Length

1 season, 26 episodes

Rating

8.4 of 10 from 8 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This 1960s animated series follows the singing Chipmunk trio, focusing on the mischievous Alvin. His antics contrast with his brainy brother Simon and gluttonous brother Theodore, and trouble their manager father figure David Seville.

playfullightheartedfast-pacedwhimsicalmischievouscomedicfamily-friendlydated

What happens

The Alvin Show is an American animated television series that aired on CBS in the early 1960s. This was the first series to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Alvin Show aired for one season, from October 4, 1961, to March 28, 1962 and was originally sponsored by General Foods through its Jell-O gelatin and Post Cereal brands. Although the series was created in color, it was initially telecast in black and white. It was later rebroadcast in color from 1962–65 for Saturday mornings on CBS and again Saturday mornings on NBC in 1979. The series rode the momentum of creator Ross Bagdasarian Sr.'s original hit musical gimmick and developed the singing Chipmunk trio as rambunctious kids—particularly the show's namesake star—whose mischief contrasted to his tall, brainy brother Simon and his chubby, gluttonous brother Theodore, as well as their long-suffering, perpetually put-upon manager-father figure, David Seville. The animation was produced by Herbert Klynn's Format Films. The pilot episode, an early version of the fifth episode "Good Neighbor", was written and produced to sell the show to CBS. The actual show featured a re-worked version, which aired as part of the fifth episode. With producer Fred Calvert (who would later work on The Thief and the Cobbler) calling them in, the opening sequence was animated by Bobe Cannon and assistant animated by Iwao Takamoto. Each episode consisted of a Chipmunks and Clyde Crashcup segment, both of them seven minutes long. Following each segment was a musical number with Dave and the Chipmunks. Most of the songs came from the first three albums that had already been released by the time the show premiered (Let's All Sing with The Chipmunks, Sing Again with The Chipmunks, and Around the World with The Chipmunks). By the second half, all the songs from the new fifth album, The Chipmunk Songbook, were also featured. In addition to the non-album Alvin for President, "Maria from Madrid", which was previously released as a non-Chipmunks B-Side to "Judy" in 1959 under Bagdasarian's stage name of David Seville, and two unreleased Chipmunk covers, "Clementine" and "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", rounded out the remaining song segments. The show was followed in 1983 by another Chipmunks series, Alvin and the Chipmunks which aired on NBC. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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