"The Chipmunk Adventure" is an underrated movie musical gem

Chances are if you were born in the last 1970s or early 80s like I was, your childhood featured some interesting animated films. The Disney renaissance was still a decade away and in the meantime, we were being traumatized by the likes of The Black Cauldron, The Secret of Nimh and An American Tale (not to mention Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure, seriously don’t show your children that one).

But in the midst of this weird decade for animation, in 1987 a film came out that I would later realize had a huge impact on my love of singing and dancing, The Chipmunk Adventure.

Out of nowhere, a movie based on the Saturday morning cartoon, Alvin & the Chipmunks, not only was this surprisingly good, it’s become sort of a cult favorite. The plot is preposterous but great, the music is sweet and catchy, and it features funny and emotional moments. Not what you would expect by watching the TV show. But let’s dive into some of the many things I love about this movie.

The plot is absurd-amazing

Imagine this pitch - Let’s take sweet Saturday morning cartoon show characters and get them involved in an international diamond smuggling ring. Needless to say, I’m glad this got the greenlight.

The movie follows the Chipmunks and the Chipettes as they go on a hot air balloon race around the world that is the cover for a diamond smuggling ring. While playing an arcade game, Alvin and Brittany argue over which would win an actual race around the world. They are overheard by international diamond-smuggling siblings Claudia and Klaus Furschtein, who have $5 million worth of diamonds to distribute to buyers. Claudia tricks the children into being unwitting mules, offering to arrange a real race around the world between the Chipmunks and Chipettes for a $100,000 prize.

The two teams set off by hot air balloons, each given a different route and twelve dolls made in their likenesses, which they are to exchange at designated locations for dolls in the likenesses of the other team to confirm they visited the locations. Unbeknownst to them, their dolls are filled with diamonds, and those they are receiving contain cash.

And from there, we’re off to see the world. The two groups go to various countries to make exchanges while almost being arrested or eaten by sharks. It’s fantastic.

Where is Dave Seville in all of this? He’s in Europe on business, who almost bumps into the boys on multiple occasions.

The music

The music is great. Written by composer Randy Edleman, we get some fantastic, catchy songs who deserve more attention than they’ve gotten through the years.

First is the great traveling montage song, “Off to See the World”.

Then there is the incredibly sweet ballad, “My Mother”. Eleanor gets a solo! A student once used this in an audition and I gave them a standing ovation at the end of it.

And of course, the anthem that is “The Girls of Rock and Roll”.

Which has inspired some fantastic recreations in the past.

The animation isn’t great but it’s great

If I’m being honest, the quality of the animation work isn’t great but it results in some fantastic errors. The dubbing is off in several scenes. During the song "The Girls of Rock and Roll," when the Chipettes sing the line "The things they're trying to sell us," their lips aren't moving at all. The same thing happens again later in the song when the Chipmunks sing the line "We'll never stop believing" without moving their lips.

There are continuity issues all over the place. When the Chipettes are about to go scuba diving Eleanor's eye color changes from blue to brown. When Simon is about to drop a doll down a "pipe" in Venice, it is an Alvin doll. In the next shot, it is a Simon doll.

But these errors are fun to spot. The reasoning could be due to the film’s rush through production. Apparently, production of the movie became too time-consuming, and with the deadline for the completed project fast approaching, several scenes in the original script had to be re-written to make them simpler for the animators to animate, or cut from the script completely, thus resulting in a much shorter movie with fewer locations The Chipmunks and Chipettes actually visit.

I would love to see The Chipmunks Adventure: Extended Cut.

In any case, if you’re looking for some fun entertainment while we’re stuck in our homes or looking for a new animated film to show your kids or maybe just want a trip down memory lane, give The Chipmunk Adventure a watch, you won’t regret it.