The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

27 July 2007

Hoping Christmas is late for once

I just watched the trailer for Alvin and the Chipmunks, due out in December, and while the voices are blessedly correct — IMDb credits them to Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., and wife Janice Karman, who've done them ever since 1972 — I've got a very bad feeling about this.

Maybe it's because the Chipmunks, who originated on black and white television, are just not supposed to be three-dimensional; more likely, it's the coprophagia joke in that trailer. The real David Seville (Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.) would never have countenanced such a thing.

Posted at 7:16 PM to Almost Yogurt


3-D CAN be hip, funny, even nostalgic (The Incredibles). Problem is, this 3-D affair isn't Pixar-esque, it's of the Dreamworks pop-sleaze school of schlocky pop fare.

What could have fixed it:

1) Pixar
2) A Henson's Muppet treatment (retro characters deserve a retro solution)
3) Someone like Jerry Seinfeld to lend it a detached irony, intsead catering to a cliche-ridden script. (I could see Seinfeld screaming "Alvin!", and I could see me enjoying it a whole lot more.)
4) Most Seville music than the film will probably have (Witch Doctor, Alvin's Harmonica - and Almost Good, to start with. Guy was pretty prolific - did you know he wrote 'C'mon to my House, My House'?)
5) Brian Setzer Band as back-up. (Just a hunch.)

Posted by: Mister Snitch! at 7:42 PM on 27 July 2007

I did know that. (I have a few pre-Chipmunk Seville tracks, including the infamous "The Trouble with Harry" and a three-track stereo mix of "Witch Doctor.")

Posted by: CGHill at 8:08 PM on 27 July 2007