The Final Episode #99: Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983 - 1990)

 

   Ho boy! It's time for our third out of five Christmas Final Episodes! Today the blog's good friend countchoucla has chosen Alvin and the Chipmunks for us. Alvin and the Chipmunks has had a surprisingly long history. It was started in 1958 as a gag record by a man with a last name I cannot spell so to respect him I will not spell it. I do not want him spinning so fast in his grave he breaks through all the dirt and comes spinning after me. I do not do well running away so I would be a goner. Anyway he created that record and it was a hit. He made more and they even had a television cartoon series in the 1960s. We will get to that when we get to it. It's finally time to discuss Alvin and the Chipmunks.

I want to get one thing out of the way here, I consider The Chipmunks Go to the Movies to be an entirely different thing. I don't care if I'm alone on this but I do. It's kinda like Archie Bunker's Place. It had the same characters but they were doing different stuff. In Archie Bunkers Place he was running a bar or some shit. In The Chipmunks Go To the Movies they spoof popular movies of the time like Back to the Future or Batman. I will discuss that show within the Final Episode even though there were about 12 episodes of it. I just don't consider it apart of the original show. It was a last desperate attempt to keep the Chipmunks alive on Saturday Morning. It wasn't bad it was just "we gotta shake shit up", plus I wanted to discuss an episode that was about the actual characters and not the characters pretending to be the characters from the Dick Tracy movie. Portnoyd will complain about this but he can literally go and eat shit.

So Alvin and the Chipmunks was about them as a musical group and the wacky adventures they would go on. The very first episode produced by Ruby Spears was of them meeting Mr. T! It was called the C Team and while I don't think I've seen it, it clearly has to be the greatest first episode of all time. Nothing could top that, Nothing. Anyway it involved Alvin the conceited snotty bastard who was hilarious, Simon the intelligent one, and Theodore was the fat one. He liked to eat food. He was a cute little rascal and everyone loved him. This might be the one show that I can recall that had 3 animation studios work on it. From 1983 to 1987, it was Ruby-Spears. in 1989 and 1990 it was DiC. We have already talked about them. If you don't know about them you really probably shouldn't be on this blog.

The third company however we have not talked about it was Fred Wolf TV, or at that time Murakami-Wolf-Swenson. Jimmy Murakami, Fred Wolf, and Charles Swenson. They worked on all kinds of random shit that most people don't care about but they also did Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That alone makes them a giant in 80s/90s kids eyes. They also did The Toxic Crusaders. I am surprised I haven't reviewed one of those Toxic Avenger comics I somehow have. Troma is a weird company but not what we are talking about right now. Jimmy Murakami also worked on The Snowman. The one made from that British book with the awesome animation. Now that's cool as hell. Their original company lasted from 1967 to 1999. Yet they came back in 2013. Neat-o.

Anyway, I loved these guys as a kid. Alvin and the Chipmunks was a must watch for me as a kid. It had fun songs, all kinds of laughs, wonderful characters. It was a show that I would be sad if I had to miss, so this was an A-Tier cartoon of my youth. The weird thing was I was not really into The Alvin Show, the 1960s cartoon version. I much preferred the 1980s series. I had no problem with 1960s animation clearly because I love several Hanna Barbera products from crying out loud. I also loved Underdog and The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Yet I could never truly get into The Alvin Show. I didn't hate it. It was always a "Oh alright I guess I'll watch this". It just didn't have something that the 1980s show had for me. I dunno. Don't worry I will also do The Alvin Show. It wouldn't feel complete if I didn't.

So now we get into the meat of the story. I'll just come right out and say it. This is A Christmas Carol. Yep the book that has so many versions we don't even know where to start about it. I like A Christmas Carol. It's a very good sentimental story. It works incredibly well on film. I enjoy watching as many versions of it as can, so I enjoyed this episode. I like that people sometimes get creative with this story. I think my favorite version is the one with the Muppets but who could ever say something wasn't better with Muppets in it. I don't know where this version of the story would rate but I'd still say check it out if you enjoy the Chipmunks and Christmas.

So The Final Episode "Merry Christmas, Mister Carrol" starts out with Simon and Theodore telling Alvin it was nice of their teacher to let him have till Christmas Eve to finish his one page essay on the meaning of Christmas. He complaining that he didn't have enough time. Simon is like "she gave us three weeks to do it". Alvin goes "I was working on my CHRISTMAS LIST OF GIFTS, ya baloney fuck".  They go home. We see Mister Carrol working in his garden planting some plants. Even giving them names at first,  you see, Mr Carrol is lonely and also losing his mind apparently. It happens when you get lonely enough. Anyway Alvin being the little bastard he is runs over his plants. 

We now get to the house. Dave is wondering where Alvin is. Simon is working on his present to Dave. A sock sorting machine. It's big and unwieldly but hey it's the thought that counts. Dave IS very messy when it comes to socks I guess. Theodore is cooking cookies for Dave's Christmas gift. Alvin of course is writing a comically large list to his Grandparents and anyone else he can get to give him gifts. He actually later on just refers to his Grandparents as "major suppliers of Christmas gifts" Alvin is such a wonderful little shit. I love him. 

Dave forces him to go on his paper route, so Alvin does just that. Throwing papers all willy nilly so he can get back home. He throws Mr Carrol's paper into his bird bath. Mister Carrol loves his damn newspaper so much and he demands Alvin to get another or he will call Dave. This gets Alvin to call him a grouch but I'm like "Dude you ruined HIS NEWSPAPER". Alvin then has to go all over the place to get him a newspaper. He does but returns home with no time to send Grandpa and Grandma his Christmas List! Oh my god HOW WILL HE SURVIVE without the 82,000 toys he wanted! So he goes to bed but not before realizing he has to do his homework. So he stays up trying to finish his homework but falls asleep.

This is where the first Ghost shows up. I wish I took a picture of it because Dave Seville reminds me of Khan from Star Trek II. It's very weird. He brings them to their first Christmas together where their gifts to him inspire him to write the Christmas Song. You know the one about planes that loop de loop and hula hoops. That one. Alvin is still a bit snotty like usual but is starting to get the picture. In comes the Ghost of Christmas Present, which is Theodore. He shows Alvin how bad he's going to act in a few days and how bad Mr. Carrol has it. The poor bastard daily highlight is to read the paper. That's how sad his life has gotten. Jesus man. That's rough.

Then incomes Simon with a tv screen thing to show him the Future. Alvin has bought all the gifts he can for himself. He also ends up eating all the food and becoming fatter than Theodore. He also wrecks the shit outta the Grandparents and even the house. This is enough to teach Alvin the lesson of giving instead of receiving. He then writes his little essay before going out to do everything he can. Get gifts. Help Simon. Actually be excited to see his Grandparents and not their gifts. Everything he can. He even wraps a damn Newspaper for Mister Carrol, AND brings him and his cat Ebeneezer to the Seville house. He's so up Chrismas's ass that we'll never see him again. Sad.  

FINAL VERDICT: If you like A Christmas Carol and the Chipmunks you'll probably get a kick out of this episode. If you don't this isn't the version of the story that will turn you into a fan. That's about it really. Nice enough but nothing amazing.