The Chipmunk Adventure

"At last! Alvin's first motion picture."

1987 1h 17m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 127

AnimationFamilyAdventureComedyMusic

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The Chipmunks and the Chipettes go head to head in a hot air balloon race, and the winner gets $100,000. Unbeknownst to the participants, the "race" is actually a diamond smuggling ring!

“At last! Alvin's first motion picture.”

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Cast

Ross Bagdasarian Jr.
David Seville / Alvin Seville / Simon Seville (voice)
Janice Karman
Theodore / Brittany / Jeanette / Eleanor (voice)
Dody Goodman
Miss Rebecca Miller (voice)
Susan Tyrrell
Claudia Furschtien (voice)
Anthony De Longis
Klaus Furschtien (voice)
Frank Welker
Sophie / Native Chief / Baby Penguin / Additional Voices (voice)
Nancy Cartwright
Arabian Prince (voice)
Philip L. Clarke
Additional Voices (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Janice Karman
Writers: Janice Karman, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., Dan Haskett
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 77-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 68% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Randy Edelman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tony Mizgalski shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman and Dody Goodman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "At last! Alvin's first motion picture.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0092752 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Janice Karman directs. Randy Edelman scores. Tony Mizgalski cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 77-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Earned back only 68% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
339 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Original score by Randy Edelman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Tony Mizgalski shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman and Dody Goodman carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "At last! Alvin's first motion picture.".
8IMDB entry: tt0092752 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 31 themes, including "sibling relationship", "single parent", "rome, italy", "journey around the world".

The technical file

Original score: Randy Edelman
Editing: Tony Mizgalski
Production design: Carol Holman Grosvenor
VFX supervisor: Kathleen Quaife-Hodge
Sound: Jeffrey J. Haboush
Runtime: 77 min · 1h 17m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.78:1 (16:9)
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Box office: $6,804,312
Return: 68% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: The Chipmunk Adventure (1987)

Also by

Janice Karman

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Community reviews

What people are saying

RealZero2026-02-13
★ 7/10
I was positively surprised by this one. I'm not a fan of the high-pitched Chipmunks and Chipettes music, but I grew up with the cartoon show and, yes, I like the live action movies because all six + Dave always have quite likable personalities. And that's the same in this movie. If you like the 1983 show, this is a perfectly fitting movie to it with the characters actually engaging in a quite serious adventure including criminals, smuggling and kidnapping. The plot isn't crazy special, and certainly off to an unrealistic start, but hey, if you wanna see the girls and boys having an adventure, just like what they're always about, it's certainly fun! I was surprised about the backgrounds. Like in many bigger animated movies with theatrical release at that time, many of the scebe backgrounds look really lovely and detailed. Several statues in Greece, detailed trees and other plants in the jungle, the movie really uses the "travel around the world" theme to show off some really nicely painted locations! In addition to that, the characters, well, mostly the Chipettes, are even shown in several different kind of outfits of several styles, and I always love when cartoons actually give characters different outfits from time to time. With the quite serious antagonists, parts of the movie even felt like a slightly more lighthearted, slightly less emotionally deep "Rescuers" adventure, and thr variety of music moods is nice, as well. I mean, hey, there's a dance scene with snakes! So, yeah, if you liked the 1983 show, Chipmunks and Chipettes in general, or just a cute, mostly child-friendly adventure, you might like this. I certainly did. Fair warning: Like other reviews said, this movie DOES contain several racial stereotypes, like dangerous Arabs and human sacrifice indigenous people. But that aside, a fun and cute movie. As usual I like Simon and Jeanette the most! 😊

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