Alvin and the Chipmunks (1990s TV series)/Tropes

Alvin and the Chipmunks (alternately known as Steven Spielberg Presents: Alvin and the Chipmunks and Warner Bros.' Alvin and the Chipmunks) was an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger, based on the original characters by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. It was produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Amblin Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Fox Kids during 1994, later moving to Kids' WB between 1995 and 1997.

General

 * Animation Bump: The first season had more fluid animation than the rest of the entire series.
 * Art Evolution:
 * Art Shift: The episode Alvin's Road Show was done entirely in the style of the Chipmunks' first animated incarnation, The Alvin Show.
 * Densier and Wackier: This series is a bit more fast-paced than your typical 1980s Saturday Morning cartoon.
 * Doing it for the Art
 * Later Installment Weirdness: The first season originally almost stayed close to the original characters as they were in the 1980s TV series. But by the second season, the show became increasingly fomulaic and stale after Bagdasarian and Karman left the show. Even Daisy Belle returned and was given a lot more screen time than the rest of the characters. The show started using water tower gags at the end of each episode, in a similar manner to the other show, Animaniacs. Even Simon, Theodore and Brittany started copying the Warners. And Dave being more like Dr. Otto Scratchansniff wasn't actually safe from this.
 * Off-Model: The animation quality in Season 2 onwards had suffered some animation errors.

Trivia

 * Broken Base: Many people who loved the 80s animated series is very unfamiliar with the Animaniacs-like personalities of the Chipmunks and Chipettes, and are considered to be cheap knock-offs of Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs as well. However, this is not the case with the first season.
 * Cross-Dressing Voice: Janice Karman as Theodore.
 * Disowned Adaptation: Subverted. Bagdasarian and Karman apparently disliked this adaptation after their departure, due to many of the show's inappropriate gross-out humor and adult jokes in later seasons.
 * Fanon Discontinuity: Many fans of the show would pretend that the episodes after Bagdasarian and Karman's departure didn't happen.
 * Growing the Beard: One episode from Season 1, entitled Alvin's Road Show stayed more true to the Chipmunks' first animated incarnation, The Alvin Show. Fans were praised by this and despite Rusty Mills (the director of this episode) being disappointed with that, it was Bagdasarian and Karman's only favorite episode out of all the others in the series. According to Ross Bagdasarian Jr., this episode brings back memories to where his dad, Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., worked on The Alvin Show back in the early 60s.
 * The Scrappy: Daisy Belle from The Alvin Show. She was originally a cameo character in the first season, only appearing in two episodes.
 * What Could Have Been: Pet Show was planned to be an Animaniacs segment, however. But Warner Bros. had made the biggest mistake of the studio's life. Replacing Animaniacs characters with Alvin and the Chipmunks characters was the cause of flanderizing a few characters. Alvin (in the final scene) and Stanley (in the rest of the episode) are Pesto, Simon is Yakko, Theodore is Wakko, Brittany is Dot, and Dave is Dr. Otto Scratchansniff. Many changes and the extension of the original script were made to feature the characters instead. It was the reason why Bagdasarian broke its contract with Warner Bros. because he was very furious about the ending scene.
 * There was also going to be a fifth season renewed, but was abandoned after the termination of the WB/Amblin contract. However, Bagdasarian and Karman had produced another animated incarnation produced by Paramount Television Animation.

YMMV

 * Seasonal Rot: The show became increasingly formulaic and stale, compared to the episodes of the first season. This is due to Bagdasarian Jr. and Karman leaving the show to work on their television specials with their respective characters after the first season's production wrapped up, so the later episodes were made without their input. It kept recycling plots from Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs, plus many of its gross-out humor and adult jokes. According to Janice Karman, the show's writing seemed to take a nosedive, including the animation.