Today, we link to the opening of The Alvin Show, a 1961 prime time cartoon series starring Alvin, Simon and Theodore (aka The Chipmunks). The show is rarely seen these days, which is a shame because it was a pretty clever show with some very nice graphics by the folks at Format Films, a company that mainly did commercials. Each half hour featured an "adventure" of the three helium-voiced rodents, plus two short cartoons which were built around their pre-existing recordings. Those records, made by and starring Ross Bagdasarian (aka David Seville) were quite wonderful and they seem to have inspired the animators to match their energy and fun.
Each episode also featured a cartoon lecture by the eminent genius, Clyde Crashcup, voiced by Shepard Menken. As a kid, I recall being bored by Crashcup but I saw some recently and thought they were pretty funny.
Someone oughta put the 26 episodes of The Alvin Show out on DVD. Until they do, you'll have to settle for the opening, which I think has one of the jazziest theme songs in TV history.
