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My little boy has been making these funny noises at me for some time. Today, I finally asked him what it was he was doing, and why it sent him into hysterical fits of laughter. 'It's the chipmunks, daddy!' he said. It turns out he had seen a trailer for 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' on TV, and can't stop laughing every time he thinks of it. So, off we went this afternoon to watch the film version of what was one of my favourite cartoons as a child.

The History

In 1958, Ross Bagdasarian Jr, for some reason decided he wanted to create a trio of talking, singing chipmunks. I have no doubt that there would have been those around him scoffing at the suggestion, but he persevered and created three of the most lovable characters I can remember from my childhood. Made into a cartoon, the tale is of a regular guy named Dave who is as a 'father' to the three lovable chipmunks: the leader, Alvin, the short-sighted brainy one, Simon, and the cute, chubby one, Theodore. The cartoon always had the chipmunks getting into trouble, or getting Dave into trouble, so I was curious as to what the film would do for a plotline, and whether it would stay true to the cartoon series that was aired on our screens for so long.

The Plot

The film is billed as a comedy, and it opens with the three chipmunks singing in a tree. In keeping with modern times, they are singing Daniel Powter's 'Bad Day', which made my little boy laugh immediately. Winner, I thought. Keep him amused for the duration! The plot continues, as by luck, the chipmunks find themselves hiding in a tree which is cut down and used as a Christmas tree. The trio of rodents find themselves escaping into a fruit basket carried by ............. A regular guy named Dave, a down on his luck part-time songwriter struggling to find the hit song to catapult his musical career. There is naturally shock when Dave finds out that not only are there stowaway chipmunks in his fruit basket, but they can talk and sing too! I won't continue here for fear of spoiling the plot, save for saying that the story develops along these themes, with a money-hungry record manager looking for a hit and a love interest for Dave all part of what is essentially a very well created comedy storyline.

The plot deals with many issues, such as responsible parenting and the difference between right and wrong, and I found my 4-year-old asking why this was happening and why that was happening, and what that meant. By the end of the film, he was telling me that so and so

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