Ross Dickran Bagdasarian (born May 6, 1949)[1] is an American filmmaker and musician, best known for his work on the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise. He is the son of the franchise's creator, Ross Bagdasarian Sr.[2][3] He is called Ross Bagdasarian Jr., although his name is not the same, to distinguish himself from his
father.
Early life[]
Bagdasarian was born in Fresno, California, the son of Armenuhi (née Kulhanjian) and Ross Bagdasarian Sr. He is of Armenian descent. As a child, he worked with his father on The Alvin Show by helping edit and coordinate the soundtracks and falsetto voice-overs of The Chipmunks.
Career[]
Bagdasarian went to law school[4] but after his father's death in 1972,[4] succeeded him as the President of Bagdasarian Productions, which had fallen into obscurity after significant success between 1958 and the late 1960s. His wife Janice Karman, whom he married in 1979, is co-president. Bagdasarian and Karman have two children and live in Montecito, California.
Under Bagdasarian's supervision, new Chipmunks records were created shortly after his marriage to Karman, including Chipmunk Punk. In 1981, the Chipmunks returned to television in the cartoon special A Chipmunk Christmas. Three years later, Ruby-Spears Productions' Alvin and the Chipmunks Saturday morning cartoon series debuted on NBC. Based on that series, a feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure was released in 1987. Bagdasarian voices Alvin, Simon, and Dave Seville, and Karman voices Theodore and The Chipettes (Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor).
Bagdasarian and Karman hold tight creative and financial control over the Chipmunk franchise, reviewing each and every business contract in great detail. In the mid-90s, Bagdasarian bought the Chipmunk rights from brother Adam and a sister (a stay-at-home mother), to take complete control.[4]
Universal Pictures lawsuit[]
Bagdasarian licensed the rights to the Chipmunk characters to Universal Pictures in 1996, resulting in a string of Universal-produced direct-to-video films. Four years later, he and Karman sued them for breach of contract, claiming that Universal failed to properly utilize, market, and merchandise the characters and hence resulting in a loss of royalties to Bagdasarian.[5] The case was decided in Bagdasarian's favor. "For us, it was a custody battle", Karman said. "They finally realized 'OK, these two are really fighting for their kids'."[4]
Filmography[]
Film[]
- Main article: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film series)
| Year | Title | Producer | Writer | Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | The Chipmunk Adventure | Yes | Yes | Yes | Alvin Seville Simon Seville David Seville |
|
| 1999 | Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein | Yes | No | Yes | Direct-to-video | |
| 2000 | Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| 2005 | Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| 2007 | Alvin and the Chipmunks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Alvin (singing voice) |
Songwriter |
| 2009 | Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel | Yes | No | Yes | Singing Voice | |
| 2011 | Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| 2015 | Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip | Yes | No | Yes | ||
Television[]
| Year | Title | Producer | Writer | Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | A Chipmunk Christmas | Yes | Yes | Yes | Alvin Seville Simon Seville Dave Seville |
TV movie |
| 1983–1990 | Alvin and the Chipmunks | Yes | Yes | Yes | TV series | |
| 1984 | I Love the Chipmunks Valentine Special | Yes | Yes | Yes | TV movie | |
| 1985 | A Chipmunk Reunion | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1990 | Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue | No | No | Yes | Alvin Simon |
TV short |
| Rockin' Through the Decades | Yes | Yes | Yes | Alvin Simon Dave Seville |
TV movie | |
| 1994 | Alvin and the Chipmunks: Trick or Treason | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| A Chipmunk Celebration | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| 1995 | The Easter Chipmunk | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2015–present | ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Alvin Simon Dave Seville |
TV series |
References[]
- ↑ Ross Dickran Bagdasarian — California Birth Index at Family Search
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
External links[]
| Preceded by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. |
President of Bagdasarian Productions 1978–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |