After grossing more than 355 million dollars worldwide over the winter, 20th Century Fox’s 21st Century take on a cartoon classic finds its way to retail shelves today. Featuring a blend of live action and CG animation, Alvin and the Chipmunks arrives along with a pair of other Chipmunk adventures that have been polished up just in time for the feature film’s home video debut. The visual effects (and killer credit sequence) of director Tim Burton’s filmed adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd can also be appreciated as the pic comes packaged for home viewing.
Alvin and the Chipmunks stars Jason Lee (My Name is Earl) as David Seville, a guy whose life is turned upside-down by Alvin, Simon and Theodore, three singing rodents brought to the screen via CG technology by Rhythm & Hues. The film was directed by Tim Hill, who previously co-wrote and directed Fox’s Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties and directed Disney’s Max Keeble’s Big Move and Sony’s Muppets from Space. He has also served as head writer on SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie, and created a number of shows for Nickelodeon.
Bonus features on the Alvin and the Chipmunks DVD include the featurettes Chip-Chip-Hooray! Chipmunk History and Hitting the Harmony. There’s also an inside look at 20th Century Fox Animation’s recently released Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!, a glimpse at the fantasy flick The Seeker: Dark is Rising, trailers and something called Garfield Fun Fest. The title is also available on Blu-ray Disc.
Fans who want more Alvin, Simon and Theodore can also pick up the Paramount Home Entertainment releases Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Chipmunk Adventure Special Edition and Alvin & The Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Funny, We Shrunk the Adults. Both programs were produced in the 1980s by Bagdasarian Prods., the shingle of Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian.
The first-ever Chipmunk feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure from 1987 has Alvin scheming to realize the Chipmunks’ dream of traveling the world by entering them in a daring hot air balloon race. Along the way, the critters sing such pop tunes as ‘Wooly Bully,’ ‘Girls of Rock ‘N’ Roll’ and ‘My Mother.’ The collectible DVD has been digitally re-mastered from the original 35mm film and includes a CD featuring 11 tracks.
Alvin & From The Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Funny, We Shrunk the Adults offers three episodes from the 1983 animated series. The stories follow the trio on an amazing trip through Hollywood as they spoof favorite big-screen comedies in ‘Back to Our Future,’ ‘Bigger’ and ‘Funny, We Shrunk the Adults.’ Each DVD is available for the suggested retail price of $16.99.
Sweeney Todd is available in standard and two-disc special collector’s editions. Both contain the featurette Burton + Depp + Carter = Todd, and the special edition adds a Sweeney Todd press conference from November of 2007 and the featuretes Musical Mayhem: Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, Sweeney Todd Is Alive: The Real History of the Demon Barber, Sweeney’s London, The Making of Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Grand Guignol: A Theatrical Tradition featurette, Designs for a Demon Barber and A Bloody Business. There’s also an installment of Moviefone Unscripted with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, plus a photo gallery.
