The Very First Alvin Show (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

September 15, 2009 by Dennis Amith 

“For fans of ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’, this DVD release is awesome as you get the 1st episode (which aired back in 1961), the 1985 special ‘A Chipmunk Reunion’ and the 1990 special ‘The Chipmunks present Rockin’ Through the Decades’ hosted by Will Smith and featuring several celebrities celebrating 30 years of  music by Alvin and the Chipmunks.  A great starting point for families to introduce their children to ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ and a DVD release that is definitely recommended for the fans!”

Images courtesy of © 1961, 1985, 1991, 2009 Bagdasarian Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE:  The Very First Alvin Show

DURATION: 74 minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Full Screen Format, Dolby Digital: English Stereo, English Mono

COMPANY: Paramount Home Entertainment

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE:  September 8, 2009

Created by Ross Bagdasarian

Directed by Hal Ambro, Osmand Evans, Rudy Larriva, Gil Turner and Alan Zaslove

Executive Producer: Herbert Klynn

Produced by Jules Engel

Associate Produced by Leo Salkin

Music by Ross Bagdasarian, Charles E. King

Art Direction: Jules Engel

Featuring the voices of:

Ross Bagdasarian as Alvin, Simon, Theodore and David  Seville

The very first broadcast show of the classic Chipmunk series from 1961 that started it all, never released before on VHS or DVD! The Chipmunks humor, mischief and music are on full display! The DVD includes this classic episode, plus two additional episodes, “Rockin Through The Decades” and “A Chipmunk Reunion.”

When Ross Bagdasarian Sr. created the Alvin and the Chipmunks, I often wonder if he knew at the time of how popular those characters, their music and the animated series would be for American pop culture.

Popular for the music, it was in 1961 when the three went from being puppets to an animated show.  Bagdasarian using his stage name Dave Seville, the music composer and father/caretaker of three talented chipmunks who tend to get into a little mischief.

With 26 episodes shown on television, the 1961-1962 show titled “The Alvin Show” has only been featured on VHS back in 1994.  No DVD releases were made until this release titled “The Very First Alvin Show”.

Each episode contained two episodes and two musical segments.  In the first episode, the first segment is titled “Stanley the Eagle”.   With the Alvin, Simon and Theodore bored, the three discover an eagle in their back yard who somehow has forgotten to fly.  With Dave not so happy that a wild eagle is in his home, he calls the authorities to get the wild bird but Alvin and the Chipmunks come up with an idea to help the Stanley the eagle to escape.  The second segment features the scientist Clyde Crashup who tries to invent the sport “Baseball”.  The two musical segments are Alvin and the Chipmunks singing “Oh, Gondaliero! and “I Wish I Could Speak French”.

Although “The Very First Alvin Show” contains only the first episode, the DVD also contains two specials.

The first special is titled “A Chipmunk Reunion”, a 24-minute special shown on television back in 1985 and is about how Alvin and the Chipmunks lived with Dave Seville but the three going on a search of their real mother.

The second special is titled “The Chipmunks Present Rockin’ Through the Decades” which is a 23-minute special hosted by Will Smith (during the same year when Will Smith was on the NBC show “Fresh Prince of Bel Air”) and was shown on NBC back in 1990 and has been released once on VHS back in 1992.  The special shows Alvin and the Chipmunks singing a variety of songs from their first Christmas song back in the late 50′s to various covers of songs by Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and many more.  The special featured the Alvin and the Chipmunks singing the songs or taking part in the actual music videos such as Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and “Smooth Criminal”.

Also, the special featured talent such as Ben Vereen, Richard Moll, Kenny Loggins, Raven-Symone, Shelley Duvall, Markie Post, Little Richard and more.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“The Very First Alvin Show” DVD is quite interesting.  For the very first broadcast in 1961, it looks quite clean and vibrant.  I often wondered if the first episode was remastered or if the original 1961 film stock was in great condition because it looks much better than a lot of the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” cartoons shown in the 80′s and 90′s.  Granted, the first episode was not as detailed or had the artistic backgrounds of the later animated series but on this DVD, it looks very good.

As for the specials, this is where see the aging from the 80′s and 90′s film stock.  We see scratches and dust throughout the first special “A Chipmunk Reunion” and it’s not clear and vibrant but the animation does show much more detail, especially in the artistic backgrounds.  But it was great to see a special that has never been released on DVD to appear on this DVD release.

As for “The Chipmunks Present Rockin’ Through the Decades”, this special fares much better and is a TV broadcast featuring a lot of mixed footage from the Chipmunks past up to the 1990′s.  So, certain scenes have different picture quality but for the most part, I didn’t notice any major scratches and very little dust.

As for audio, audio is presented in Dolby Digital and dialogue and music is clear and understandable.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are no special features included.  But there is a preview for upcoming “Alvin and the Chipmunk” DVD releases.

As a person who grew up on “Alvin and the Chipmunks”, the release of “The Very First Alvin Show” is a very awesome release.  Not only do you get the first episode featuring Alvin and the Chipmunks but you also get the special of how they were raised by Dave Seville and then you get the Alvin and the Chipmunks music special from 1990 hosted by Will Smith all on one DVD.

The incentive for many fans of the animated series is that the classic television show and the specials have not been made available on DVD only on VHS and that was back in the early 90′s. But now you can own it on DVD as we near the 50th Year anniversary of “Alvin and the Chipmunks”.

As mentioned on my the video and audio portion, the first episode from 1961 looks very good on DVD and I’m not sure if its remastered or restored (it doesn’t mention on the packaging) but for a 48-year-old episode, it looks fantastic!

The episodes are definitely family friendly and episodes that children can definitely get into and enjoy.  And to think that many generations have grown up with this animated series and now, you can share it with the next generation and your own children.  For my six-year-old son, he’s only familiar of hearing the “Chipmunks” Christmas song and “Alvin and the Chipmunks Goes to the Movies” is parodies of films that he is too young to be familiar with, but with the release of “The Very First Alvin Show”, it’s definitely a release that is a great starting point for parents to introduce to their children.

For “Alvin and the Chipmunks” fans, this DVD is highly recommended!