ALVIN!!!

With the release of the Transformers movie earlier this week, the subject of other beloved cartoons-to-big-screen-movies came up. Best Week Ever has a list of the top 10 movies that ruined their childhood memories, and I just discovered a new one to add to that list: Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Let's check out the metamorphosis of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, shall we?

The trio actually began as a fictional music group. Created by Ross Bagdasarian (who provided the voices until his death in 1972), they enjoyed success with their hit single, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)." The record won three Grammy awards and was even nominated for Record of the Year.



The first cartoon series ran for only one year, 1961 - 1962. It was originally broadcast in black-and-white, but was produced and later re-run in color.



The second cartoon series (the one that my generation is more familiar with) ran from 1983 - 1991, although it did switch names a few times. The series also brought us The Chipettes (female versions of The Chipmunks), an animated feature film, two direct-to-video animated movies, and one live-action direct-to-video movie.

Which brings us to...



This. I actually spent a few minutes looking at this poster, trying to figure out if "Dave" was Jason Lee (it is) or Stephen Colbert. Can you imagine Stephen Colbert as Dave? That would be awesome. Not that Jason Lee won't be, but c'mon. We've all seen the trailer for Underdog, right? So, yeah. Maybe this will be a decent movie. I mean, with CGI'd gansta-wannabe Chipmunks, and the director of Garfield at the helm, what could go wrong?

You can read more about Alvin & co on their Wikipedia page. Here's hoping they don't decide to go after Jem and the Holograms or Rainbow Brite next.