The Chipmunk Adventure
The Chipmunk Adventure is a 1987 American animated musical-comedy film based on the Saturday-morning cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks.[2] Directed by Janice Karman and written by Karman and Ross Bagdasarian Jr., it stars the voices of Karman, Bagdasarian, and Dody Goodman, and follows the Chipmunks and the Chipettes as they go on a hot air balloon race around the world that is the cover for a diamond smuggling ring.
| The Chipmunk Adventure | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Janice Karman |
| Written by |
|
| Based on | |
| Produced by | Ross Bagdasarian |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Tony Mizgalski |
| Music by | Randy Edelman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | The Samuel Goldwyn Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $6.8 million[1] |
Plot
When Dave Seville goes to Europe on a business trip, the Chipmunks—Alvin, Simon, and Theodore—are left home in Los Angeles with their babysitter, Miss Miller. Later, the Chipmunks and Chipettes—Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor—play the arcade game Around the World in 30 Days, and Alvin and Brittany argue over which would win an actual race around the world after Brittany wins the game. They are overheard by international diamond-smuggling siblings Klaus and Claudia Furschtein, who have $5 million worth of diamonds to distribute to buyers but no couriers who are unknown to their nemesis, Jamal. Claudia tricks the children into being unwitting mules, offering to arrange a real race around the world between the Chipmunks and Chipettes for a $100,000 prize. To participate, Alvin records a phone call to Dave and edits it to trick Ms. Miller into believing that Dave wants the Chipmunks to meet him in Europe.
The two teams set off by hot air balloon, each given a different route and twelve dolls made in their likenesses, which they are to exchange at designated locations for dolls in the likenesses of the other team to confirm they visited the locations. Unbeknownst to them, their dolls are filled with diamonds, and those they are receiving contain cash. The Furschteins' butler, Mario, is secretly an informant for Jamal, who dispatches two of his men to acquire the dolls. The Chipmunks' first stop is Mexico City, where they join in a fiesta. In Bermuda, the Chipettes scuba dive to make their first exchange and Brittany is almost eaten by a shark. The teams continue their journeys, exchanging their dolls in various countries along the way. Jamal's men tail them, but fail to get the dolls due to various mishaps. The teams cross paths in Athens, where they try to outperform one another in a musical number at the Acropolis and are almost spotted by Dave.
Frustrated by his men's failures, Jamal enlists the aid of a young sheikh who has his mercenaries capture the Chipettes in Giza. Rather than turn them over to Jamal, the prince desires instead to keep the girls and marry Brittany, and gifts her a baby penguin. The girls perform a song to charm the cobras guarding their dolls, escape in their balloon, and detour to Antarctica to return the baby penguin to its family. Learning that they have deviated from their route, Claudia sends her thugs after them. The girls escape, but discover the diamonds and cash inside the dolls, realize they have been deceived and set out to find the boys.
Meanwhile, the Chipmunks take a shortcut through a jungle, where they are captured by a native tribe who name Theodore their "Prince of Plenty" and force Alvin and Simon to be his slaves. They soon learn that Theodore and soon them are to be sacrificed by being dropped into a pit of crocodiles on a full moon. By performing the song "Wooly Bully" to entertain the natives, they stall their execution and are rescued by the Chipettes.
Claudia discovers Mario passing information to Jamal, who is revealed to be an Interpol Inspector. The children land at Los Angeles International Airport at the same time as Dave's returning flight, and are chased by the Furschteins, who get them to surrender by falsely saying that they have kidnapped Ms. Miller. Dave sees them being taken away in the Furschteins' car, and joins Jamal in pursuit. Ms. Miller is absentmindedly driving the wrong way on a one-way street on her way to pick up Dave, and accidentally runs the Furschteins off the road. They are arrested by Jamal, and the children are reunited with Dave. Alvin and Brittany argue over who won the race, much to the adults' frustration.
Voice cast
- Ross Bagdasarian Jr. as Alvin, Simon, and David Seville
- Janice Karman as Theodore Seville, and Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor Miller
- Dody Goodman as Miss Miller
- Susan Tyrrell as Claudia Furschtein
- Anthony De Longis as Klaus Furschtein
- Frank Welker as Sophie, Baby Penguin, Native Chief, and additional voices
- Ken Sansom as Inspector Jamal
- Nancy Cartwright as the Arabian prince
Production
Origin and development
After the success of the animated cartoon series on NBC, several studios were interested in financing the movie based on Alvin and the Chipmunks.[3] The idea originated while Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and Janice Karman built successful doghouses.[3] Ross told Janice to create and finance the movie themselves.[3] Although Janice disliked the idea, they found the film's director.[3] The unknown director created story sketches that set the tone of the film.[3] Two months after production started, the unknown director was replaced by Karman, who was pregnant with her first child at the time.[3][4] Karman was initially reluctant about being a director of the film.[4]
Animation
The box-office failure of Disney's The Black Cauldron in 1985 had led to the layoff of a number of Walt Disney Productions animators (such as Glen Keane, Dan Haskett and Dave Pruiksma), whom Bagdasarian promptly hired to work on the film.[3]
After returning the first part of the film to the overseas animation productions, Bagdasarian, Jr. and Karman only received six seconds of animation several months later and five minutes of animation a year later.[3] It was due to the animators suffering from "sore hands."[3] As a result, they hired another 150 animators to finish the film.[3] Within nine months before the film's release, they sent animation to Canada, New York, Utah, Spain, and Asia.[3] Several parts that were difficult to animate or not close enough to be completed were cut from the script.[3] Locations cut in the film include the Zoo and Russia.[4]
Music
| The Chipmunk Adventure: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 1987 | |||
| Genre | Children's music | |||
| Label | Buena Vista Records | |||
| Producer | Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. Janice Karman | |||
| The Chipmunks and the Chipettes chronology | ||||
| ||||
Before the film's release, Bagdasarian, Jr. visited London to hire composer Randy Edelman and the London Philharmonic Orchestra to score the film.[3] The soundtrack of The Chipmunk Adventure was performed by the Chipmunks and the Chipettes and includes a mix of original tunes and covers. Several songs throughout the film were performed by both the Chipmunks and the Chipettes. The soundtrack was originally released by Buena Vista Records.[5] On April 1, 2008, the soundtrack was re-released as a bonus CD with the film's DVD.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Chipmunk Adventure Theme" | Randy Edelman & the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | |
| 2. | "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi/Cuanto le Gusta" | The Chipmunks | |
| 3. | "Off to See the World" | The Chipmunks & the Chipettes | |
| 4. | "The Girls of Rock and Roll" | The Chipmunks & the Chipettes | |
| 5. | "Flying with the Eagles" | The Chipmunks & the Chipettes | |
| 6. | "Getting Lucky" | The Chipettes | |
| 7. | "My Mother" | The Chipettes | |
| 8. | "Wooly Bully" | The Chipmunks | |
| 9. | "Diamond Dolls" | The Chipettes |
Release
The film was promoted one year before its release, at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.[6]
Though initially scheduled for Christmas 1986,[6] The Chipmunk Adventure opened on May 22, 1987 through The Samuel Goldwyn Company and Bagdasarian Productions. With an opening weekend take of $2,584,720, it ultimately grossed $6,804,312 in North America alone.[1][7]
Critical reception
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 75% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10.[8] Janet Maslin of The New York Times commentated that the film is enjoyable for both parents and children.[9] In his Family Guide to Movies on Video, Henry Herx deemed the film a "charming, lighthearted diversion for the younger set", and remarked that it resembled "a musical revue of pop tunes".[10] Johanna Steinmetz of Chicago Tribune gave the film three stars out of four, stating that the inclusion of the minor characters (especially the villains) would "[keep] an adult viewer from insulin crisis."[11] Richard Freeman of Newhouse News compared the film to An American Tail as "less gloomily pretentious" and the Care Bears and Rainbow Brite cartoons as "less sickly-sweet". He described the animation as "not on a par with Disney[...] but better than Saturday morning TV" and praised the score and soundtrack of the film.[12]
Film critic Paul McKie praised the "superior" animation and the "delightful pair of villains", but criticized the Chipettes for "[not having] personalities of their own."[13] Charles Solomon of The Los Angeles Times commented "listening to six little characters talk and sing in speeded-up falsetto voices for 76 minutes becomes a real test of the viewer's endurance." Solomon also said that the villains resembled those from a Ralph Bakshi film and did not fit with the world of the Chipmunks.[14] Roger Ebert commented that the animation is slightly better than the TV series, but criticized the film's "dumb and predictable" story, while Gene Siskel criticized the plot for being right out of a Saturday morning cartoon, especially through the film's introduction of the Chipettes.[15] Both Ebert and Siskel also criticized the plot and the Chipmunks' voices, with Ebert comparing them to "fingernails on the blackboard".[15] Siskel and Ebert ultimately gave the film two thumbs down.[15]
Home media
The film was released on VHS by Lorimar Home Video in late 1987,[16] Warner Home Video in 1992, and Universal Studios Home Video on March 17, 1998. On May 23, 2006, the film was released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment digitally remastered from the original 35mm film and presented with 5.1 surround sound. A special edition DVD re-release of the film with a bonus CD (which is the same soundtrack disc) was released on April 1, 2008, which matches that of the live-action/computer-animated Alvin and the Chipmunks and another DVD volume of Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies.[17] On March 25, 2014, the film was released on Blu-ray for the first time.[18]
References
- ^ a b "The Chipmunk Adventure (1987) – Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 173. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m . Alvin and the Chipmunks. Archived from the original on July 26, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ a b c Nydell, Tim (May 31, 2022). "Janice Karman podcast interview". Saturday Morning Rewind. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Disneyland/Vista Set For Chipmunk Launch". Cash Box. April 4, 1987. p. 25. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
- ^ a b Coburn, Marcia Froelke (May 18, 1986). "Bashes 'N' Cash Amid Fears of Clash; Cannes Fest Lives Up to Its Hot Image". Chicago Tribune. p. 10 (Arts). Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office". The Los Angeles Times. May 27, 1987. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
- ^ "Chipmunk Adventure (1987)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (May 22, 1987). "FILM: ANIMATED MUSICAL, 'CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE'". The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- ^ Herx, Henry (1988). "The Chipmunk Adventure". The Family Guide to Movies on Video. The Crossroad Publishing Company. p. 54 (pre-release version). ISBN 0-8245-0816-5.
- ^ Steinmetz, Johanna (May 22, 1987). "'Chipmunk Adventure' Circles Globe And Corrals Attention". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
- ^ Freeman, Richard (May 26, 1987). "Cartoon adventure film is fun without the hard sell". Doylestown Intelligencer. p. 43. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
- ^ McKie, Paul (May 25, 1987). "Chipmunks enter '80s in cleverly made film". Winnipeg Free Press. p. 21. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
- ^ Solomon, Charles (May 22, 1987). "'Chipmunk Adventure' Just So Much Hot Air". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Beverly Hills Cop II, Amazing Grace and Chuck, Ishtar, The Chipmunk Adventure, 1987". Siskel And Ebert Movie Reviews. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
- ^ "Top Kid Video Sales, Billboard". December 26, 1987. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
- ^ "DVDizzy.com DVD Release Schedule – April 2008 Calendar". dvdizzy.com. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ "The Chipmunk Adventure Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
External links
- The Chipmunk Adventure at IMDb
- The Chipmunk Adventure at the TCM Movie Database
- The Chipmunk Adventure at AllMovie
- The Chipmunk Adventure at Box Office Mojo
- The Chipmunk Adventure at Rotten Tomatoes