The Chipmunks' Triumphant Return

D'Snowth said:

And speaking of The Alvin Show, I just read that whatever network it was going to air on wanted it to have a laugh track, but Ross Bagdasarian Sr. refused.

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Wow! I'm glad he did because it just doesn't work with the pace of the show.

minor muppetz said:

I've read that the various song covers from Super Mario Bros. Super Show were included in video releases that were released at the time the show was still in production (though still edited), and the song covers were cut when the show was put into syndication.

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Yeah... but if they had the rights, they probably could have used the original versions. There's a Captain N web site that actually has sound files of the cut music numbers (as well as the sound alikes from season 2)

Drtooth said:

Yeah... but if they had the rights, they probably could have used the original versions. There's a Captain N web site that actually has sound files of the cut music numbers (as well as the sound alikes from season 2)

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I wonder if the original deal for the song covers only covered the shows original run, and video releases that were released when the showw as in production.

If season sets of Alvin and the Chipmunks get made, I wonder if whatever company releases them will want to spend a little extra time and money to include all the music numbers. Going from memory, most epsiodes only had one song cover, as opposed to The Muppet Show having many song covers per episode. And Alvin and the Chipmunks was during the 1980s, when it started to become more common for people to have VCRs. During the 1980s it was especially common for childrens TV shows to have video releases (even if most 1980s video releases of childrens shows only included one episode, even if the show was a half-hour long), so I would expect that the shows producers to have considered paying for the video rights when the TV rights were being made.

Here's a bigger view of the poster...

SSLFan said:

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=21742
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1950s? I thought the original animated series was from the 60s? Oh well, if that's what the movie is based on, then, yeah I can see now why the Chipettes would be excluded from the movie.

IMDB says original animated series ("The Alvin Show") was from 1961 to 1962.

I loved Clyde Crashcup and Leonardo btw, hilarious! Too bad they can't be in the movie.

And IMDb is pretty reliable.

They're a bit more realiable these days than they used to be, but I think that's because of this new thing they have where whenever you contribute something to the database, you have to chose an option stating you are someone who actually works/worked on the show, movie, special, et cetera, or not.

D'Snowth said:

1950s? I thought the original animated series was from the 60s? Oh well, if that's what the movie is based on, then, yeah I can see now why the Chipettes would be excluded from the movie.

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The Chipmunks were born in 1958. Ross Bagdasarian (under the name David Seville) recorded a novelty song, "Witch Doctor," using sped-up vocals to imitate the chants of the witch doctor. Later that same year, he recorded "The Chipmunk Song," utilizing the same process, but this time identifying his sped-up vocals as Alvin, Simon and Theodore, the Chipmunks. Later he re-recorded "Witch Doctor," with the credit, David Seville & The Chipmunks.

BTW, Bagdasarian played the songwriter in Hitchcock's Rear Window.

Winslow Leach said:

The Chipmunks were born in 1958. Ross Bagdasarian (under the name David Seville) recorded a novelty song, "Witch Doctor," using sped-up vocals to imitate the chants of the witch doctor. Later that same year, he recorded "The Chipmunk Song," utilizing the same process, but this time identifying his sped-up vocals as Alvin, Simon and Theodore, the Chipmunks. Later he re-recorded "Witch Doctor," with the credit, David Seville & The Chipmunks.

BTW, Bagdasarian played the songwriter in Hitchcock's Rear Window.

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I hear the original recording of "Witch Doctor" on the radio all the time, yet credited to David Seville and the Chipmunks.

D'Snowth said:

I hear the original recording of "Witch Doctor" on the radio all the time, yet credited to David Seville and the Chipmunks.

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Yeah, today it's mostly attributed to the Chipmunks, and even turns up on Chipmunk compilation albums as a Chipmunk track. But when "Witch Doctor" was originally recorded, I think it was only credited to David Seville, as this was prior to "The Chipmunk Song."