Official Synopsis:
The Chipmunk Adventure –

Get set for high-flying song-filled fun with Alvin and The Chipmunks in their original motion picture! The hilarious hi-jinks begin when David Seville takes off for Europe on a solo business trip, leaving the disappointed boys at home with Miss Miller. All three chipmunks dream of world travel, but Alvin has a foolproof scheme to make it happen! Before Simon can say, "Are you out of your mind?" Alvin has entered them in a daring hot-air balloon race around the world against the Chipettes - Britney, Jeanette and Eleanor. From the tropics to the arctic, from wild to mild, from peril to paradise, it's a world-class voyage with the masters of music and mischief, The Chipmunk Adventure is incredible fun!

Alvin & The Chipmunks Go To The Movies –

Join the Chipmunks for an amazing trip through Hollywood, as they re-enact your favorite silver screen classics. In Funny... We Shrunk The Adults, Simon's experimental shrinking machine accidentally shrinks Dave and Ms. Miller and the boys have to pull together to clean up the GIANT mess they made. In Back to Our Future, the boys visit the doo-woping days of 1958, the year they were actually created, in an attempt to make their present lives a rockin' reality. While in the past they meet their retro counterparts and find a lesson to be learned about history, and how it affects the events of today. Bouncing back to current times, Alvin wishes he was a grown-up in the tall-tale story Bigger. Alvin's big wish is granted when he encounters a magical jukebox, but after discovering how much work and responsibility it takes being a grown-up, Alvin sees the value of just being a kid. Tinseltown will never be the same!

Our Take:
I always forget that Alvin & The Chipmunks have been around since the 1960’s. To me, the quintessential version of the animated rodents with the helium voices is the 80’s cartoon, which of course I grew up with. The show has been represented poorly on DVD, however, with scattered releases here and there and no season collections or definitive sets. That’s still the case, unfortunately, but Paramount has put together two nice discs for fans, clearly brought about by the success of the Alvin & The Chipmunks live-action movie.

The Chipmunk Adventure is a full-length movie that, if memory serves me correctly, was originally a multi-episode story arc on the cartoon. I don’t claim to be a Chipmunk historian, so that may not be entirely accurate, but I do remember watching it when I was a kid. It’s a fun international romp that sees the ‘Munks competing with their female counterparts Britney, Jeanette, and Eleanor. What makes this package better in terms of value is that it includes a music CD of the Chipmunk songs from the movie as well. Personally, I don’t know who’d want to really listen to the Chipmunks on a CD, but hey, it’s there for those of you who want it. I mean, the songs are fun in the context of the show, but I can’t imagine spinning Chipmunks tunes on my iPod. The disc also includes Original Artwork from The Chipmunk Adventure, but other than that there are no making-of features or anything.

The second release is equally as much fun, if not more so. While not a full-length story like The Chipmunk Adventure, Alvin & The Chipmunks Go To The Movies features three movie-themed episodes of the show that parody Honey, We Shrunk the Kids, Back to the Future, and Big. There are other movie references sprinkled throughout the episodes as well, so for people like me who love the cartoon and are also movie buffs, this disc is pretty fun. There are no extra features on this one, though.

Both of these new Alvin & The Chipmunk DVD’s are solid discs that don’t offer too much in the way of extra value, but are at least quality in terms of content. You can choose from a full length movie or three themed episodes, or both!

Overall Picture:
Show: B+
DVD:

Chipmunk Adventure: B-

Go to the Movies: C

- Mike Spring

Editor