Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 American musical comedy film based on the characters created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. It was directed by Tim Hill from a screenplay by Jon Vitti, Will McRobb, and Chris Viscardi. The film stars Jason Lee, David Cross, and Cameron Richardson, with Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney in voice roles. It follows the chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, and Theodore), who move in with struggling songwriter Dave Seville after losing their home.
Development began in 1997 when Ross Bagdasarian Jr. expressed interest in creating a live-action film. The project saw multiple changes before it was announced in September 2004 as a live-action animated hybrid collaboration between Fox 2000 Pictures, 20th Century Fox Animation, and Bagdasarian Company. The animation for the film was handled by Rhythm & Hues Studios, which studied real chipmunks and previous versions of the characters to design computer-generated models that retained their original essence. The integration of CGI with live-action footage required match-moving techniques and advanced visual effects software. The music was composed by Christopher Lennertz. The film is dedicated to the memory of Ross Bagdasarian, creator of the Chipmunks.
Alvin and the Chipmunks was released in the United States on December 14, 2007 by 20th Century Fox. Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, the film was a commercial success, grossing $365.4million worldwide against its $55–60 million budget. Its commercial success led to it becoming the first in a film series, followed by three sequels: The Squeakquel in 2009, Chipwrecked in 2011, and The Road Chip in 2015.
Plot
Talking chipmunk brothers Alvin, Simon, and Theodore reside in a fir tree, which is cut down and driven to Los Angeles after record label JETT Records purchases it as a Christmas tree. Meanwhile, struggling songwriter Dave Seville has his latest demo rejected by their chief executive and Dave's college roommate Ian Hawke, who suggests that Dave should quit writing songs. Dave heads home as the Chipmunks, finding themselves in the same building, leave the tree and follow him.
A struggle between Dave and the Chipmunks leaves the former knocked unconscious. He awakes and, terrified, initially forces the Chipmunks to leave his house. When he hears them sing "Only You (And You Alone)" and "Funkytown", Dave then makes a deal with the Chipmunks to sing his songs in exchange for food and shelter. The next day, the Chipmunks practice Dave's song, "Christmas Don't Be Late". However, when Dave tries to present the Chipmunks to Ian, the Chipmunks fail to sing because of stage fright. The day worsens as Dave is fired from his marketing job due to the Chipmunks having unknowingly ruined his presentation boards. While hosting dinner with former girlfriend Claire, Dave struggles to hide the Chipmunks after Alvin attempts to create a romantic atmosphere, causing an uncomfortable Claire to leave.
To make amends to Dave, the Chipmunks take a taxi to Ian's lavish mansion where they sing Dave's song, prompting Ian to sign a record deal and restore the songwriting career of Dave, now the Chipmunks' manager. The Chipmunks begin to view Dave as family, which Dave attempts to dismiss. After a successful performance of "Witch Doctor", Ian encourages Dave to explore more aggressive marketing of the Chipmunks. Concerned for their wellbeing, Dave insists the Chipmunks are too young to handle fame; Ian nonetheless convinces them Dave reduces their success.
After a falling out with Dave and finding and reading an old letter he wrote about their return to the forest, the Chipmunks decide to live with Ian. While pampering the Chipmunks with luxury and fame, Ian exploits their naivety by constantly overworking them throughout their tour. The Chipmunks and Dave begin to miss each other, but Ian wrongly assures them Dave is uninterested in the Chipmunks.
Ian's plan to take the Chipmunks (rumored to have voice exhaustion) on a twelve-month international tour is revealed on the news. Dave then decides to infiltrate their concert at the Orpheum Theatre to get them back; he admits his sentimentality for the Chipmunks to Claire, who helps him. Seeing Dave and realizing Ian lied about Dave being uninterested in their show and that Ian has tricked them all along, the Chipmunks cause chaos onstage. Dave is stopped by security as Ian locks the Chipmunks in a cage, preparing for their concert in Paris. Ian escapes in his limousine with Dave pursuing him. Dave rushes to Ian until the Chipmunks show up in his car before reconciling with Dave. Afterwards, Ian discovers their escape, which ultimately results in the collapse of his career and financial ruin.
Cast
Jason Lee as David "Dave" Seville, a struggling and aspiring songwriter and a father figure to Alvin, Simon and Theodore Justin Long as Alvin, the middle-sized brave, mischievous and musical chipmunk who is the leader of the brothers Ross Bagdasarian Jr. as Alvin's singing voice Matthew Gray Gubler as Simon, the tall intelligent and musical chipmunk of the brothers Steve Vining as Simon's singing voice Jesse McCartney as Theodore, the short timid and musical chipmunk of the brothers Janice Karman as Theodore's singing voice David Cross as Ian Hawke, the CEO of JETT Records who is Dave's former college roommate and his rival who wants the Chipmunks for a career Cameron Richardson as Claire Wilson, Dave's ex-girlfriend Jane Lynch as Gail, an advertising executive and Dave's ex-boss Frank Maharajh as Barry Veronica Alicino as Amy Kevin Symons as Ted
Production Origin and development
In 1958, Ross Bagdasarian (using the pseudonym David Seville) experimented with speed-altered vocals to create "Witch Doctor", a novelty song about asking for love advice from a witch doctor. Its success, which included topping the Billboard charts, inspired Bagdasarian to apply the recording technique to create The Chipmunks: Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. Their debut song "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" sold over 4 million copies and won multiple Grammy Awards. This popularity led to the first animated show, The Alvin Show, airing in 1961. After Bagdasarian's death, his son Ross Bagdasarian Jr. revived the Chipmunks with a successful Christmas special in 1981.
Ross Bagdasarian Jr. dreamed of making a live-action film since 1997 "and the dream has had many nightmare moments". In June 1997, Robert Zemeckis was assigned to direct a live action adaptation with Steven Spielberg producing with Universal Pictures, but the project was put on hold after the estate of Ross Bagdasarian Sr. filed a lawsuit against Universal in September 2000, claiming the studio had failed to properly license products featuring Alvin and his singing companions. In September 2004, Fox 2000 Pictures, 20th Century Fox Animation and Bagdasarian Productions announced they would collaborate to create a live-action computer-generated film starring Alvin and the Chipmunks. In April 2005, Jon Vitti, a former writer for The Simpsons, was revealed to be writing the screenplay. In January 2007, it was announced Tim Hill, former writer of Rocko's Modern Life and SpongeBob SquarePants, was in talks with Fox to direct the film, having previously directed Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties.
Pre-production Chevy Chase, Tim Allen, John Travolta, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Paul Rudd, Vince Vaughn, John Stamos, Jim Carrey, Jason Bateman, James Marsden, and Bill Murray were originally considered for the role of David Seville. In March 2007, Jason Lee joined the project to play David Seville, and Cameron Richardson joined that month to play Claire. Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn were approached to play Ian Hawke but all declined before David Cross landed the part. Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney voiced the Chipmunks, replacing Bagdasarian Jr. and his wife Janice Karman, who had voiced the chipmunks since they revived the franchise. For recording, the chipmunk voice actors spoke their lines slowly to be sped up to normal speed in post-production; McCartney described it as a "tedious process", where "it could take 40 takes for one line." He owned the album Chipmunk Punk (1980) and studied 1980s Alvin cartoons for his role in the film.
Filming
Principal photography began on March 28, 2007, with filming taking place primarily in areas of Los Angeles. Seville's house was built on Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, and contains references to Bagdasarian Sr.'s life. The set pieces included an upright piano he used to write his songs and a flower visual he painted; the house's address number includes 1958, the year he created the chipmunk characters; and the house design is based on a cottage built in 1919, the year Bagdasarian Sr. was born.
In shots where human characters interacted with the chipmunks, the actors rehearsed with small stuffed animals indicating where the chipmunks would be; the animals were then removed when it was time to shoot, and the actors used their memory of where the animals were. In the mid-credits scene where Ian tries to get squirrels to sing, the actor and the animals were filmed separately. Using nuts, a trainer would bait squirrels in order to get them to turn their heads in different directions.
Visual effects and animation
The Chipmunks were animated by visual effects company Rhythm & Hues Studios, who previously animated creatures for projects such as Hocus Pocus (1993), Babe (1995), Stuart Little (1999), Cats & Dogs (2001), Scooby-Doo (2002), Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat (2003), Garfield: The Movie (2004), and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), the latter of which garnered Rhythm & Hues an Academy Award. As with past projects, Rhythm & Hues used its own software for animating Alvin and the Chipmunks. Programs Voodoo and Icy were used for placing the CGI into live-action shots, with Autodesk programs like Flame and Maya used as well.
According to Bagdasarian Jr., getting the look of the chipmunks suited for a live-action setting while maintaining the essence of the cartoon designs was challenging, and it took until September 2006 for the artists to get it right. Hill instructed the artists to make the chipmunks look realistic, but not entirely like chipmunks. In addition to observing real chipmunks offered by Universal Studios Inc., Rhythm & Hues studied all versions of the chipmunk characters from past Alvin media for conceiving, fur-texturing, and animating designs for the film. Human dancers were referenced for animating the dance movements of the chipmunks, and YouTube videos of famous guitarists playing the guitar influenced how Alvin's guitar-playing was animated. High-dynamic-range images of sets were also used for lighting the chipmunks to fit the live-action shots. The most difficult part of integrating the chipmunks in the shots was match moving for instances when they climb on Seville's head. For scenes where the chipmunks interacted with props, some were live-action props while others, such as a paper airplane, were produced and animated.
Music