Alvin and the Chipmunks (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | November 20, 2007 | |||
Length | 48:17 | |||
Label |
| |||
Producer | Ali Dee Theodore | |||
The Chipmunks chronology | ||||
|
Alvin and the Chipmunks (Original Motion Picture Score) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Film score by | ||||
Released | September 19, 2008 | |||
Recorded | 2007 | |||
Genre | Film score | |||
Length | 35:39 | |||
Label |
| |||
Christopher Lennertz chronology | ||||
|
Alvin and the Chipmunks (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2007 jukebox musical comedy film Alvin and the Chipmunks based on the characters of the same name created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. Released on November 20, 2007, through Rhino Records, Razor & Tie and Chipmunk Records, the album featured original songs as well as existing musical numbers from the Chipmunks' discography. Ali Dee Theodore served as an executive producer on the soundtrack. An album, consisting of an original score composed by Christopher Lennertz, released as Alvin and the Chipmunks (Original Motion Picture Score) as a limited edition album on September 19, 2008 through La-La Land Records.
Alvin and the Chipmunks is directed by Tim Hill and starred Jason Lee, David Cross and Cameron Richardson while Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney voice the titular Chipmunks; Bagdasarian Sr., Steve Vining and Janice Karman provides the playback singing for the Chipmunks.
The soundtrack eventually peaked at Billboard 200 and topped the soundtrack charts within the few weeks of its release. It sold over 1 million copies in the United States and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, thereby becoming the group's sixth album, third Platinum album and first since Chipmunks in Low Places (1992). It also won the American Music Award for Top Soundtrack in 2008.
The film featured eight original songs written by Ali Dee Theodore who served as the executive producer of the album. However, his contributions were credited to the DeeTown Syndicate under the DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. [1] [2] The film features a re-recorded version of "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" (1958) and "Witch Doctor" (1961), along with covers performed by the Chipmunks include—Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" (2005), "Funkytown" (1980) by Lipps Inc. "Only You (And You Alone)" (1955) by the Platters. [1] The soundtrack was released through Rhino Entertainment and Razor & Tie labels on November 20, 2007, three weeks before the film's release. [1] A soundtrack sampler was released along with the DVD of the film on April 1, 2008 in a two-pack sold exclusively at Walmart and featured five original songs exclusively produced for the album. [3]
James Christopher Monger of AllMusic wrote "kids who missed out on the Chipmunks' '70s heyday or the trio's animated series a decade later will probably discover a lot of potential Christmas presents in the experience, and the inclusion of the original "Christmas Song" and "Witch Doctor" shows that the producers at least feel a little bit guilty about dressing the furry critters up as gangsta rappers on the cover." [4] Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly wrote "The soundtrack's producer shows us how to get that squeaky helium sound. But didn't anyone think to film celeb Chipmunk voices Jesse McCartney and Justin Long enunciating at half speed?" [5]
In December 2007, the album debuted at number 133 on the Billboard 200. [6] [7] In its second week of sales, the album jumped to number 67 on the chart, [8] and saw an upward trend within the consecutive weeks. The album's highest peak was number 5 on the Billboard 200, making it the group's highest on the chart album since Chipmunks in Low Places (which peaked at number 21). [9] Following Alvin and the Chipmunk's DVD release, the soundtrack went back into the top ten from number 16 to number five with a 111% sales increase; [10] [11] it sold 51,000 copies of what was its 18th week on the chart and was the issue's greatest gainer. [12] According to Robert Kraft, executive vice president at Fox Music, he attributed the soundtrack's success as it offered "groovy music that people dig". [13]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Bad Day" | Daniel Powter | The Chipmunks | 3:47 |
2. | "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" (DeeTown OG Mix) | Ross Bagdasarian Sr. | The Chipmunks | 2:34 |
3. | "Follow Me Now [upper-alpha 1] " | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks featuring Jason Gleed | 3:07 |
4. | "How We Roll [upper-alpha 1] " | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks | 3:54 |
5. | "Witch Doctor" | Ross Bagdasarian Sr. | The Chipmunks featuring Chris Classic | 3:03 |
6. | "Come Get It [upper-alpha 1] " | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks featuring Rebecca Jones | 3:34 |
7. | "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" (DeeTown Rock Mix) | Ross Bagdasarian Sr. | The Chipmunks | 2:14 |
8. | "Funkytown" | Steve Greenberg | The Chipmunks | 3:34 |
9. | "Get You Goin' [upper-alpha 1] " | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | 3:16 | |
10. | "Coast 2 Coast [upper-alpha 1] " | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks | 2:47 |
11. | "Mess Around [upper-alpha 1] " | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks | 3:20 |
12. | "Only You (And You Alone)" | Buck Ram, Ande Rand | The Chipmunks | 2:50 |
13. | "Ain't No Party [upper-alpha 1] " | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks featuring Rebecca Jones and Chris Classic | 2:43 |
14. | "Get Munk'd [upper-alpha 1] " | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks featuring Al D | 3:01 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
15. | "Witch Doctor [upper-alpha 2] " (classic version) | Ross Bagdasarian Sr. | The Chipmunks | 2:15 |
16. | "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) [upper-alpha 3] " (classic version) | Ross Bagdasarian Sr. | The Chipmunks | 2:17 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "How We Roll" | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks | 3:54 |
2. | "Get You Goin'" | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks | 3:16 |
3. | "Get Munk'd" | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks featuring Al D | 3:01 |
4. | "Ain't No Party" | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks featuring Rebecca Jones and Chris Classic | 2:41 |
5. | "Mess Around" | The DeeTown Syndicate for DeeTown Entertainment, Inc. | The Chipmunks | 3:20 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Main Title" | 1:07 |
2. | "I'm Late" | 0:40 |
3. | "Ever?" | 2:07 |
4. | "Dave's Theme" | 0:48 |
5. | "No More Nuts/Storing Food for the Winter" | 4:43 |
6. | "Rescue the Gear/Toaster Waffles" | 1:44 |
7. | "Leave Me Alone" | 2:17 |
8. | "I'll Clean Out My Office" | 1:35 |
9. | "Are You Awake?" | 1:13 |
10. | "Christmas Morning" | 4:09 |
11. | "Live with Uncle Ian" | 2:36 |
12. | "Dinner!" | 2:07 |
13. | "Dave Remembers/Missing the Boys" | 1:08 |
14. | "Get Them!" | 1:03 |
15. | "Dave's Phone Call" | 1:06 |
16. | "Theodore's Nightmare" | 1:05 |
17. | "I Want to Go Home" | 1:28 |
18. | "Alvin!!!/You'll Never Take Us Alive" | 4:09 |
|
|
Title | Performer(s) | Peak chart positions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
US [23] | US Digital [24] | CAN [25] | ||
"Witch Door" (2007 version) | The Chipmunks featuring Chris Classic | 62 | 16 | — |
"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" (2007 version) | The Chipmunks | 66 | 28 | 64 |
"Bad Day" | 67 | 51 | — | |
"Funkytown" | 86 | — | — | |
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart. |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [26] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [27] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
American Music Awards | Top Soundtrack | Won | [28] [29] |
Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks named Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.
Brittany and the Chipettes are a fictional girl group from the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise consisting of three female anthropomorphic chipmunk singers: Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor, alongside their adoptive human mother, Beatrice Miller. They first appeared in the animated television series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, Brittany and the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes. The title of the show was changed from Alvin and the Chipmunks to simply The Chipmunks in 1988 to reflect this. In the animated television series and the 1987 animated film The Chipmunk Adventure, all of the Chipettes were voiced by their creator, Janice Karman, the wife of Ross Bagdasarian Jr.. Karman also wrote and voiced the Chipettes' dialogue on their studio albums, while studio singers Susan Boyd, Shelby Daniel and Katherine Coon provided their singing voices. In the animated television series Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks, Eleanor is voiced by Vanessa Bagdasarian, the daughter of Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman.
David "Dave" Seville is a fictional character, the adoptive father and producer and manager of the fictional singing group Alvin and the Chipmunks. The character was created by Ross Bagdasarian, who had used the name "David Seville" as his stage name prior to the creation of the Chipmunks, while writing and recording novelty records in the 1950s. One of the records, recorded in 1958 under the David Seville stage name, was "Witch Doctor", featuring a sped-up high-pitched vocal technique. Bagdasarian would later use that technique in "The Chipmunk Song ", which would introduce both Alvin and the Chipmunks as a singing group and Bagdasarian's music producer "Dave". Bagdasarian would go on to create The Alvin Show, based on the Alvin and the Chipmunks group, where he voiced the semi-fictional character David Seville, based largely on himself, with Alvin based on Ross's sometimes rebellious son Adam.
Ross S. Bagdasarian Sr., known professionally by his stage name David Seville, was an Armenian-American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor, best known for creating the cartoon band Alvin and the Chipmunks. Initially a stage and film actor, he rose to prominence in 1958 with the songs "Witch Doctor" and "The Chipmunk Song ", which both became Billboard number-one singles. He produced and directed The Alvin Show, which aired on CBS in 1961–1962.
The Chipmunk Adventure is a 1987 American animated musical-adventure comedy film based on the Saturday-morning cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks and the Alvin and the Chipmunks virtual brand and media franchise created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr.. Directed by Janice Karman and written by Karman and Ross Bagdasarian Jr., it 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 while their owner David is out on a trip and being hunted down by Claudia and Klaus Furschtein.
A Chipmunk Christmas is a 1981 animated Christmas television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. Produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Chuck Jones Enterprises, it first aired on NBC December 14, 1981, nine years after the death of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian Sr.. This was the first time that Alvin, Simon and David Seville were voiced by Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and the first time that Theodore was voiced by Janice Karman.
Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman is a 2000 American animated horror musical dark comedy film produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Universal Cartoon Studios and based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. It is the second Alvin and the Chipmunks direct-to-video film following Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein, and the third of three Universal Cartoon Studios productions to be animated overseas by Tama Productions in Tokyo, Japan. The film introduces the voices of Maurice LaMarche and Miriam Flynn.
Chipmunk Punk is an album by the Chipmunks, as well as being the first album released by Ross Bagdasarian Jr., after he took over the voices of the Chipmunks after the death of his father in 1972. Despite the title of the album, none of the songs listed are considered to be in the style of real punk rock music. It was released in June 1980. The album peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard 200. It was certified gold by the RIAA on October 14, 1980, becoming the Chipmunks' first gold record. In 2005, it was re-released on CD, although the CD was only available through the official Chipmunks website. In Canada, the album reached No. 59.
A Very Merry Chipmunk is a 1994 music album by Alvin and the Chipmunks, released by Sony Wonder. It is their fourth Christmas album. The album reached #147 on the Billboard 200.
"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" is a novelty Christmas song written by Ross Bagdasarian (under the stage name of David Seville) in 1958. Bagdasarian sang and recorded the song, varying the tape speeds to produce high-pitched "chipmunk" voices, with the vocals credited to Alvin and the Chipmunks, Seville's cartoon virtual band. The song won three Grammy Awards in 1958, for Best Comedy Performance, Best Children's Recording, and Best Engineered Record (non-classical); it was also nominated for Record of the Year.
Sing Again with The Chipmunks is Alvin and the Chipmunks' second album, released by Liberty Records in January 1960. The album follows the same format as their first album, and contains the group's fifth and sixth singles—"Alvin's Orchestra" and "Comin' 'Round the Mountain". Since its initial release, Sing Again with The Chipmunks has appeared twice on CD; both releases utilized the revised 1961 cover artwork, minus the song lyrics printed on the original back cover.
The Alvin Show is a music album by Alvin and the Chipmunks. It is the soundtrack album to the Chipmunks' first animated television series The Alvin Show. Upon the release of the album, the Chipmunks' first three albums were reissued with revised album cover art that utilized the cartoon redesigns of the characters.
"Alvin's Harmonica" is a song from the fictional musical group, Alvin and the Chipmunks, which also features additional vocals by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. who plays David Seville in the song. The song was released as the second single from the group's debut album, Let's All Sing with the Chipmunks in 1958. Like "Witch Doctor" and "The Chipmunk Song", it was adapted as one of the musical segments featured in The Alvin Show.
Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 American jukebox musical comedy film directed by Tim Hill from a screenplay by Jon Vitti and the writing team of Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, based on the characters of the same name created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr.. The film stars Jason Lee, David Cross and Cameron Richardson, while Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney voice the titular Chipmunks. The film follows the Chipmunks, who move in with struggling songwriter Dave Seville after they lose their home. When Dave discovers they have rare singing talent, he has them perform in front of JETT Records executive Ian Hawke, who then plans to trick them into living with him to profit off their success with a world tour.
The Chipmunks Go to the Movies is a 1969 music album by David Seville and Alvin and the Chipmunks, released by Sunset Records, the budget-line subsidiary of Liberty Records.
Undeniable is a 2008 album by The Chipmunks. Its release was connected to the version of the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise from Alvin and the Chipmunks, but contains no music from the film. It was released on November 4, 2008, as the follow-up to the Alvin and the Chipmunks: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Chipmunks as a franchise.
Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks is a Canadian-American animated musical comedy television series created by Janice Karman. Produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Technicolor Animation Productions with the participation of M6, it features Alvin and the Chipmunks and Brittany and the Chipettes and marks their first television appearance together since 1990. First announced by Bagdasarian Productions in 2010, a promotional trailer for the series was posted on YouTube.
Bagdasarian Productions is an American production company founded by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (1919-1972) on February 20, 1961. The company holds the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks and related intellectual property assets. The company is currently owned and operated in by Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman. The company has co-produced many television series, specials, and films and initiated multiple lawsuits to protect the characters.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is the soundtrack to the 2009 film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. It was released on December 1, 2009. It featured musical performances from the Chipmunks and Chipettes, with the bands Honor Society and Queensberry, along with Filipino singer Charice, were featured artists for both the film and the soundtrack. Like its predecessor, the soundtrack was commercially successful, selling around 650,000 units and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and Australian Recording Industry Association.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is the soundtrack to the 2011 film Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. Released through Atlantic Records on November 15, 2011, the album featured 13 songs that consisted of licensed popular hits covered by the Chipmunks and Chipettes and an original song specifically written for the film. The soundtrack was moderately successful in comparison to the predecessor's soundtracks.