Anyone old enough to remember the cartoon of the same name from the 80s and early 90s needs no introduction to this movie. I was pleasantly surprised to find the film true to the cartoon and more fun than I thought it would be.
At the very start we meet Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, three chipmunks in the forest who are storing nuts for the winter. Their tree is cut down and transported to a downtown office building to be to be decorated for Christmas. The three brothers are amazed at their new surroundings. We also meet Dave Seville, a struggling amateur music writer who is unsuccessfully trying to sell his work to a studio that is headquartered in the same building. When he is rejected, he mopes his way home and the chipmunks stow away with him.
When Dave first meets the crazy kids, he thinks he is going insane and kicks them out. But when he discovers they have singing talent he provides them a home in exchange for their musical skills. Before long, Alvin and the Chipmunks become the next hit sensation and have a record deal.
This movie does many things well and is very accurate to how we remember these characters from watching the TV show so many years ago. The voices are correct (not hard considering that they are just pitch shifted very high), Dave portrays his role well (Alllllviiiinnnnn!!!!), even their look is well done. While they are computer generated, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore look realistic and at the same time extremely familiar, right down to Simon’s glasses and the outfits they wear. Even the plot is decent, as we hear the creation of one of our favorite songs from the Chipmunks Christmas album. This is a great film for kids, with cute characters and catchy musical numbers that are fun and recognizable. Devon’s little sister was dancing in the aisle at one point! And it has great nostalgic value for adults who had any fondness of Saturday mornings with this troublesome trio. I give it a pleasantly unexpected high recommendation, worth theater price.
