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Chipmunks Adventure (The)
R1 - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Andreas Petersen (26th April 2008). |
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The Film
 It’s always fun to go back and take a look at the cartoons or movies that you remember loving as a child. Recently, I’ve gone back and watched such gems as "101 Dalmatians"(1961), "The Brave Little Toaster" (1987), "The Secret of NIMH" (1982), as well as others, and usually I am pleasantly surprised with how well the films hold up to me now that I am an adult. With the release of the new "Alvin and the Chipmunks" (2007) film, Paramount has decided to release a few of the cartoons on DVD as well, including "The Chipmunk Adventure" I remember adoring as a child. So does it hold up? Well, sort of. Let me explain. Watching "The Chipmunk Adventure" again definitely gave me great feelings of nostalgia. I loved watching the adventure of Alvin, Simon (both Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.), and Theodore (Janice Karman), as they race around the world against The Chipettes, the girl version of The Chipmunks. They trios race around the world for what they think is a bet, but is actually a diamond smuggling operation being run by Claudia (Susan Tyrrell) and Klaus (Anthony De Longis), two diabolical Germans. In their journeys, the two groups of chipmunks travel the world, seeing all that is has to offer. One thing I don’t remember about this film is how annoying every chipmunk character sounds. I know what they sound like, and they are supposed to be squeaky, I just don’t remember it being THAT squeaky. I sort of felt like my brain was straining just to grasp what the chipmunks were saying. Secondly, I remember the movie being much more entertaining. Not to say the movie is boring, but it’s just so bland. None of the musical numbers are very entertaining, the writing isn’t anything special, and the animation doesn’t really set itself apart from anything else, at least no in the way other classic 80’s cartoon movies do. I hope I don’t come off as a hater, because that’s far from how I felt about watching The Chipmunk Adventure. It can obviously entertain children well enough (did me just fine when I was four years old), and watching it now offered more than enough nostalgia for me to pop it in again in another few years, or maybe when I have children of my own. However, I’m not sure how much I can recommend the movie to people who aren’t under six years old, or didn’t see it when they were younger. There are just so many better 80’s cartoon films out there, that this will probably come off as mediocre at best. So keep it mind that my score for this movie is coming from a person who has the film engrained in his childhood DNA.
Video
"The Chipmunk Adventure" is offered in a new digitally restored 1.33:1 transfer from the original 35mm print of the film. For the past 15 years, all I’ve had of this movie was a crappy VHS version that I taped off TV, so in that regard, this film is looking its best since the theatrical run probably. However, there are still some signs of aging in the film, where colors seem to flicker. I can’t blame them for not giving us a Disney DVD level of picture quality, but I wish this had looked a little better.
Audio
The film is offered in a decent English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround transfer, as well as an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track. Every shrill chipmunk voice comes through clear enough, but I was very impressed with how good the background noise of the film’s scenes came through. Many times in the film, the trios stop in famous locales to take in the scenery and culture, and in these scenes I was impressed with the amount of work that must have gone into the transfer of the background sound. This disc does not include any optional subtitles.
Extras
Paramount has released this film as a 2-disc set which includes original artwork from "The Chipmunk Adventure" as well as the soundtrack CD as the second disc. DISC ONE: The sole feature on this disc is some original artwork which features 95 images, in which you get to look at some of the pre-production storyboards of the film. This was actually pretty interesting, as the storyboards contain some deleted and alternate scenes not included in the film. DISC TWO: This release also includes a CD of the film’s soundtrack. The tracks include: - "Chipmunk Adventure Theme" - Royal London Philharmonic Orchestra - "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi" - The Chipmunks - "Off to See the World" - The Chipmunks and the Chipettes - "Weekend in France, Italy, England, Amsterdam, Greece..." - David Seville and the Chipmunks - "The Girls and Boys of Rock and Roll" - The Chipmunks and the Chipettes - "Flying With the Eagles" - The Chipmunks and the Chipettes (not heard in movie) - "Getting Lucky" - The Chipettes - "Mexican Holiday" - The Chipmunks - "My Mother" - The Chipettes
Overall
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