This was a hip cartoon show that I've watched during my childhood - about three chipmunks named Alvin, Simon, and Theodore and their misadventures, with their adopted owner, Dave, thrown into the mix. I've always remember Alvin to be the adventurous one, Simon to be the brainy one, and Theodore to be the cuddly and thoughtful one. A different cartoon that shows the hipness and a little bit of young-adult fun that attracts an audience of all ages. A catching opening tune and some unique stories. Grade B

As a child, I used to spend a lot of time in the United States during the late 1990s and if there was anything that invokes good memories of that innocent time of my life, it has to be the three singing Chipmunks, Alvin, Simon and Theodore Seville. Although the show's original run had ended before I was born, reruns could still be seen on Cartoon Network's Saturday Morning Show, and it as just great. I remember sitting in front of our Television in Vermont watching this show with a bowl of cereal in my lap. For me and my brother, such a brilliant little show was a stark difference to the nothingness that was on at home, and when we had to go back to the UK, we essentially died inside when it came to the fact that we couldn't watch Alvin and the Chipmunks until we went back to the USA. Eventually we got a Skybox but by that time it had been taken off the air.Now you may be wondering, what's to like about 3 singing Chipmunks? The answer is, everything! The stories, the songs, the characters and most of all, the innocence of it all. Unlike the swarm of Japanese shows that were starting to invade Cartoon Network like Digimon, Pokemon and Beyblade, where start to finish was non stop cartoon barbarism, Alvin and the Chipmunks was almost a last shred to that time of the 1980s where kids shows were made to be unintentionally innocent but still have their fair share of innuendos, almost like an earlier Animaniacs except for the Cartoon Barbarism. Also, the show wasn't like modern equivalents in the sense that it didn't go out of its way to be deliberately disgusting. Most shows that took AATC's place on the Saturday morning show had prolonged scenes of disgust and toilet humour that really should have been run during the middle of the day during school time, I saw no real enjoyment in it and sometimes felt physically sick. AATC on the other hand managed to blend humour with innocence without having to resort to the lowest common denominator of toilet humour and disgusting, overly violent stereotypes. All this innocence and humour would always be wrapped up in a song, and you have to hand it to Ross Bagdasarian, his ability to write really good songs of continuing originality must make him one of the great songwriters, up there with Jeff Lynne or Freddie Mercury. It could also be said that AATC got me into my Rock n' Roll choice of music as they would often use existing songs from bands of the 70s and 80s, songs which were actually worth a listen and weren't fully laden with swear words and descriptions of one's sexual fantasies.Of course the most important things were the stories. Each story had a moral and each story was unique in itself. I can't say I've watched every episode, but I don't seem to remember any episodes that didn't have at least some originality in them from the previous episodes. Most of the episodes had the tale of Alvin getting into trouble and it was up to him to get out of it before Dave found out, but each and every situation he was put it was unique and what happened between start and finish was always different and always had you wondering whether he would be able to fix his messes in time.Overall, this has to be one of my favourite TV shows from my childhood, bringing back some of the best memories of my holidays as well as my youthful years of innocence. When and if I ever have children, I wish to introduce them to this show as well so they can get a true idea of what kids programming in the 80s and 90s was really like.

The Chipmunks are almost unknown here in Sweden, but in the mid-1990s one TV channel showed the 1980-90s series on Sunday mornings. I found it by sheer coincidence while zapping between channels, and it was love at first sight! I was a nearly 30-yrs old cartoon buff with the penchant for classic Looney Tunes and the like, I couldn't dream of falling for a cutesy-pootsy "kiddies" cartoon like that. But I simply HAD TO get up early every Sunday morning to watch it! The plots were usually rather tame (with some brilliant exceptions), but the dialog was fun and witty with lots of jokes a grown-up could appreciate. And these little guys were soooo CUTE and so COOL! The animation was so well done, and then there was the MUSIC!! It was so fun hearing those classic rock-and-roll tunes sung with those silly Chip&Dale-type voices.But I must admit it took a few episodes to get the grip of things. Like: What are these very peculiar-looking little boys supposed to be? "Chipmunks"???!!!... They doesn't look the slightest like chipmunks to me. Why are they goofing around in those ridiculous nightshirts all the time? Why are they living with that human guy in a realistically drawn human world? All other talking cartoon animals live among other cartoon animals, not among humans. Weird, weird... For many years I assumed The Chipmunks was something new, that David Seville was just a cartoon character, and Alvin, Simon and Theodore had always looked like their 1980-90s versions. I didn't knew there had been something before! So it was rather confusing to come across songs written by "David Seville", plush animals from 1959 resembling an ugly rat or distorted guinea-pig but supposed to be "Alvin from the Chipmunks", gramophone records from 1960 showing the boys as "real" chipmunks on the cover, and so on! But the Internet soon made all clear to me. Anyway, a great cartoon, so unlike the mass produced cheap crap of today (but the "Chipmunks goes to the Movies" series were rather poor -the movie spoofs were often not even funny).

I was channel surfing when I came across "Alvin and the Chipmunks." I decided to watch it, it might be amusing. I was surprised, I was expecting a corny 80's cartoon with dumb jokes. And, well, it IS a corny 80's cartoon, but the jokes are much better than I expected. I don't know how to explain it; picture this: Alvin and the chipmunks have run away from home, and they order coffee at a diner. The waitress asks, "Aren't you a little young for coffee?" to which Alvin replies in a surly tone and that ridiculously high voice: "We're orphans. No one cares if we stunt our growth." Just re-watch it with an open mind. And...ignore the dumb songs in each episode.