Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

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Alvin and the Chipmunks
The Theatrical Trailer Poster
Directed by	Tim Hill
Produced by	Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. Janice Karman Steve Waterman
Written by	Jon Vitti
Starring	Jason Lee Justin Long Matthew Gray Gubler Jesse McCartney David Cross Cameron Richardson Jane Lynch Celestina Kevin Symons
Music by	Christopher Lennertz Ross Bagdasarian Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. Janice Karman Daniel Powter Lipps, Inc.
Cinematography	Peter Lyons Collister
Editing by	Peter Berger
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	December 14, 2007 December 20, 2007 December 21, 2007 January 3, 2008 April 3, 2008
Running time	90 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$55 million
Gross revenue	$358,887,596
Preceded by	Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 live-action/CGI film based on the popular musical group and animated series of the same name. It was directed by Tim Hill and distributed by 20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions. The film was panned by critics, but was a huge financial success, making nearly $220 million in North America alone and nearly $360 million to date in total worldwide receipts, while being made on a budget of just $55 million. Jason Lee and the film won his and its first award at the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Movie.

[edit] Plot

The story begins in a hill backdrop in a forest during the winter. Three singing chipmunks named Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) are singing Daniel Powter's "Bad Day". Alvin complains about the food storage when he accidentally empties their stock. Alvin then complains about his own tough life to struggle for his survival and even called their tree a "stupid, stupid, tree". Then the tree is chopped down (with the unfortunate trio on it). But while chopping, as the tree shakes, Theodore thought that Alvin had made the tree angry. The tree is netted down to a truck and driven to a city in the process of becoming a Christmas tree. Meanwhile, struggling songwriter David "Dave" Seville, or how Theodore calls him, "Dav", (Jason Lee) is late for his arrival at JETT Records. Dave submits his song to JETT records, but is rejected by executive Ian Hawke (David Cross), who says he hates Dave's latest song. The Chipmunks and the tree end up in the lobby of JETT records. The Chipmunks manage to escape the tree and get into Dave's car via a muffin basket he was carrying. When Dave gets home, he dumps the muffin basket in the garbage can and sets about throwing all his musical writing gear out the door. Dave hears the Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon and Theodore) go into his cabinet or pantry. The Chipmunks set about raiding his cupboards, while Dave watches television. When Dave discovers them, Theodore is caught eating Milano cookies while Alvin attacks Dave.

Alvin finally causes Dave to lose consciousness by dropping a glass jar onto his head. When Dave wakes up, he realizes that "squirrels" can talk, but Alvin corrects him that they're chipmunks. Dave then forces them to leave his house after they introduce themselves. Dave hears the Chipmunks singing "Only you" and brings them back into his house. Later, Dave makes a deal; if they sing his songs, they get to sleep at his house. Then Alvin reminds him about all his musical equipment, and he runs back to get them in order to make more music again.

Dave puts them to bed in an armchair; whilst the Chipmunks sleep, their snores accumulate into a song, sparking Dave's inspiration. Having retrieved his musical equipment, he writes The Chipmunk Song. When Dave awakens the next morning, the Chipmunks are trying to catch Waffles, but when Simon tries to catch it, it drops right in front of him and he doesn't see it. Dave holds up two fingers and Simon says Dave was holding up four. Realizing Simon is nearsighted, Dave finds a tiny pair of round-framed glasses from a decorative Santa and gives them to Simon. After he pushes them back towards his face, Simon can now see perfectly.

Dave goes back to JETT records and shows Ian his surprise, the three Chipmunks with his jingle in the background. Though the Chipmunks sang the song perfectly earlier, they get stage fright and refuse to sing, so Ian leaves. In the car journey back to Dave's house, they tell him that they colored. When Dave finally gets to his job, he begins presenting his advertising pitch about the "Goodable Energy Bar" commercial, but Simon calls him on the cell-phone because Alvin and Theodore are inside the vacuum cleaner, and Simon is thinking of making an indoor-swimming pool because he doesn't know how to turn off the sink faucet. Then, when Dave tries to clear his mind off the trouble, he discovers that the Chipmunks have drawn all over his Goodable energy bar proposal, getting him fired. He is furious when he gets home and is mad at Simon and Theodore while they are watching television. Theodore is scared because he cannot fix Dave's anger with numerous apologies, and he elbows onto the phone's answering machine button.

Dave is reminded by Theodore's action that he has a date with his crush, Claire Wilson (Cameron Richardson). Dave realizes that she'll be arriving at 7:00, so he quickly runs to the grocery store to buy the food, but he has a problem with the refrigerator because they have gathered up all the junk into it. Then, Alvin turns on the heater, plays the CD Player, breaks things, and tries to spy on Dave and Claire when they are having a dinner. When Dave admits that "My life is being sabotaged by talking Chipmunks!", Claire doesn't believe him and leaves, thinking he hasn't changed at all. Dave realizes that the plan is not successful, and he tries to put them in a box with waffels, plastic water bottle, blanket, and pencil holes in the box. He tries to write a letter of apology that he cannot keep them like this, but then he crumbles the letter up, and then throws it away. Then, he tries to find the Chipmunks(who took a taxi to Ian's mansion), and he gives up his search and goes to sleep.

The Chipmunks attempt to make it up to him by going to Ian's mansion and singing Dave's Christmas song, to which Ian responds, "Welcome to Jett Records." While shopping with the Chipmunks, he admits he is lacking in money, due to the Chipmunks piling waffles into his shopping cart. At that point, his song appears on the store radio and Dave is rung up by Ian, who gives Dave a job.

On Christmas Eve, Theodore tells Dave that he had a nightmare and that he wants to sleep with him. Dave says, "Okay, sure, but stay on that side of the bed." The next morning, Alvin and Simon wake up Dave and Theodore and they exchange gifts. Simon gets Dave a paper clip compass that he made, Alvin gets Dave his own wallet, and Theodore gives Dave a moving card with Pineapple-like images of the four as a family, but Dave is firm that they are friends and nothing more. Dave gets the Chipmunks savings bonds which they can spend in seven years, much to Alvin's displeasure, and he asks if Dave he has any that he bought seven years ago which makes Simon punch him. Suddenly Ian bursts in (dressed as Santa Claus and carrying a bag stuffed with presents) and gives the Chipmunks lots of toys, leading them to calling him Uncle Ian.

When the Chipmunks have their first concert (in which they sing "Witch Doctor"), they are further separated from Dave by Ian, who tells them that they could be amazing if they were with him and says that Dave calls them "rats" behind their backs. That night, Theodore discovers a letter from Dave he had written after his dinner disaster with Claire telling the Chipmunks to leave. Saddened, they decide to leave Dave and live with Ian.

The Chipmunks start their coast to coast tour, but before the next concert, Simon finds his old pair of glasses and switches them around with the pair that Ian gave him. Later, while Dave is shaving, he gets onto the cell phone call that Ian is taking Alvin and the Chipmunks away for 12 months, if they can get to Paris, France and China.

At the LA concert, a doctor says that they can't sing because their voices have given out. Ian, who doesn't want to hand out refunds, asks them to lip sync (which Simon calls "cheating"). The chipmunks are convinced that Dave really doesn't want them back when Ian tells them that Dave called and said that he is happy and doing great and that Dave didn't go to their concert because he's too busy. Dave manages to get in to see the Chipmunks (the security had been tipped off by Ian about him after Ian talked to Dave on the phone). The security grabs Dave and ignores his press pass, and Dave tries yelling for Alvin two times. The Chipmunks leave Ian with an exit that makes the crowd angry that they lip-synched. Dave then warns Ian that since the Chipmunks ruined the concert, word will soon get out, and their popularity will decline. Ian however, remains unfazed by this, stating that because they are talking animals, people will still want to see them.

Security corners them and Ian locks the Chipmunks up in a cat carrier, placing them near the new dolls of them while he quickly gets ready to board the plane for the Chipmunks Paris concert. Ian runs out with the cat carrier and starts to drive off. Dave sets after him, egged on by the real chipmunks standing on the front passenger seat. Dave stops the car after realizing that the real Chipmunks were with him. After admitting that they are a family, Dave lets the Chipmunks steer his car, honk the horn, and operate the window wipers. Later on, Ian looks into the carrier case and is shocked to find the Chipmunks dolls instead of the Chipmunks.

Dave finally gets home and sees that the Chipmunks have prepared breakfast for Dave and Claire. Alvin is trying to get the cork out of a champagne bottle. When he succeeds, the cork flies into a glass china set, and all the liquid pours out of the glass. Dave's patience is tested as he tries "not to say it." The liquid damages the power outlet which causes a blackout. Dave decides to "say it," and yells his name. Alvin responds with "Okay!"

[edit] Cast

• Jason Lee as David Seville
• David Cross as Ian Hawke
• Justin Long as Alvin (speaking voice)
• Matthew Gray Gubler as Simon (speaking voice)
• Jesse McCartney as Theodore (speaking voice)
• Cameron Richardson as Claire Wilson
• Jane Lynch as Gail
• Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. as Alvin (singing voice)
• Steve Vining as Simon (singing voice)
• Janice Karman as Theodore (singing voice)

[edit] Characters

• David Seville: Dave is the adoptive father of the Chipmunks who is very strict with the boys. He is the main protagonist of the film. Although he won't admit it at first, he loves the trio like a father and thinks of them as family. He appears to have an on and off relationship with Claire Wilson.
• Ian Hawke: The music producer and executive of JETT records who schemes to push the Chipmunks to fame to earn money off of them. He is the main antagonist of the film.
• Alvin : Alvin is synonymous with trouble. He’s charming, egotistical, arrogant, playful and mischievous. Alvin often thinks up schemes that get him and his brothers in trouble. He is commonly known as the leader of his brothers. His signature color is red. He didn't wear his baseball cap for most of the film, but in a magazine and at the end, he does.
• Simon : He’s the smartest of the three chipmunks. He often unsuccessfully tries to stop Alvin’s “hair-brained schemes”, but somehow always gets sucked into them. Simon is known for his round, black-rimmed glasses (because of his poor eyesight) and also for having dry sense of humor. His signature color is blue. He flirts once in the film to a housekeeper.
• Theodore : Theodore is the cute, sweet, chubby, and sensitive chipmunk. He is often seen as the youngest of the three. When he gets nightmares, he asks Dave if he can sleep beside him. His signature color is green.
• Claire Wilson: She is Dave's love interest. As they became famous, she fell in love with the chipmunks right away, however, firstly doubted Dave's words when he tried to tell her about them.

[edit] Reception

The film was a critical failure, receiving only a 24% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes classifying it as "Rotten", and received only a 39 out of 100 at Metacritic, indicating "generally negative reviews", and fans of the original show complained it did not represent the Chipmunks in a respectful manner.

Despite negative critical reception, Alvin and the Chipmunks was released in North America on December 14, 2007 and grossed $44,307,417 in 3,475 theaters its opening weekend averaging $12,750 per venue, and placing second at the box office behind I Am Legend, with nearly sold out showings.^[1] Its second weekend was still well-$28,179,556, behind National Treasure: Book of Secrets and I Am Legend. Then on its third weekend, it surpassed I Am Legend for #2 at the box office, still behind National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The film closed on Thursday June 5, 2008, making $217,326,974 domestically and $141,560,622 overseas for a total of $358,887,596 worldwide, making it a huge commercial success considering the film relatively modest $55 million budget.^[1] According to MTV, it also has become the highest-grossing talking animal/live-action cartoon adaptation to date. It is also 20th Century Fox's highest grossing film domestically to be released in 2007.^[2]

The box-office success of the film has surprised executives of 20th Century Fox, which produced it, as much as industry analysts and especially movie critics who gave it bad reviews. Elizabeth Gabler of Fox 2000 said to The Los Angeles Times, "I look at the numbers every day, and we just laugh." Since it cost only $55 million to produce, it is likely to be far more profitable than the two other films that it was against, I Am Legend and National Treasure: Book of Secrets.^[2]

[edit] DVD and Blu-Ray releases

Alvin and the Chipmunks was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on April 1, 2008. The DVD release is presented on a flipper disc featuring both full screen (1.33:1 aspect ratio) and widescreen formats (1.85:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 Dolby Surround, Spanish and French Dolby Surround with English and Spanish subtitles. Special features will be the Chip-Chip-Hooray! Chipmunk History and Hitting the Harmony featurettes and an Inside Look at Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who. The Wal-Mart edition includes a bonus exclusive music CD. The K-Mart edition includes a free junior novel of the movie. The Best Buy edition includes 3 mini plush toys of Alvin, Simon and Theodore in a collectable box.

The Blu-ray release will be presented in widescreen format on a 25GB single-layer disc authored in AVC (MPEG 4) compression with English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital plus English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and French subtitles. Bonus content will include a digital copy for download, a Chip-Chip-Hooray! Chipmunk History featurette, a Hitting the Harmony featurette, and several high definition trailers.

The film is so far the second top-selling DVD of 2008, according to the-numbers.com, with 5.2 million units sold and revenue of $83.5 million.

[edit] Sequel

An Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel, introducing the Chipettes, is in early planning stages. It is set to be released on March 19, 2010.^[3][4] It will be distributed by 20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions. It will also star Jason Lee and the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney.

[edit] Awards

Kids Choice Awards:

• 2008 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Movie

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released November 20, 2007, three weeks before the film's opening and contains new versions of old songs such as Witch Doctor and The Chipmunk Song (Don't Be Late) (as made famous by David Seville and The Chipmunks), cover versions of songs such as Bad Day (as made famous by Daniel Powter) and Funkytown (as made famous by Lipps Inc.) and new songs such as Ain't No Party and Get Munk'd.

[edit] Video game

Main article: Alvin and the Chipmunks (video game)

The video game for this film was released December 4, 2007 for the Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and the PC, just ten days before the film was released.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Alvin and the Chipmunks at the Internet Movie Database
• Alvin and the Chipmunks at Rotten Tomatoes
• Alvin and the Chipmunks at Metacritic
• Alvin and the Chipmunks at Box Office Mojo
• Alvin and the Chipmunks at Allmovie