Alvin & the Chipmunks question my room-mate had

K

Klueril

New member
As you know, when the show is released onto DVD, it has to be edited to kingdom come, because of all the music they can no longer get the rights to.

So my room-mate wants to know- they did a CD boxed set several years ago, FEATURING all those covers- if they could get the rights THEN, why can't they get it NOW?

I'd like to know this as well, in fact.

And btw, fun yet disturbing fact- the Chipmunks did their own rendition of that atrocious Right Said Fred song "I'm Too Sexy"- DEAD serious.
 
Different media, different rules, that's the short answer. The regulations permitting the usage of material for DVD aren't the same as for CD.
 
Also, it's pretty optimistic to say "When the series will be released on to DVD." You may one day get a DVD for The Alvin Show, since most of the songs performed on that show are either public domain or original, but the 80s Alvin and the Chipmunks series may never see the light of day again.
 
Is The Alvin Show coming to DVD? I keep hearing rumors of that. I hope so, especially if the movie is popular.

All I want is the Alvin Show, that was a great show.
 
I imagine it depends on the deals that were made as well. If the original deals did not include future media, they still can be negotiated for a new DVD release. It just gets costly.
 
I saw a DVD for Chipmunks Go to the Movies the other day. Though I suppose those are just parodies and don't use real clips like Muppet Babies did with Star Wars and such... I still expected that one to remain in rights limbo.
 
Muppet Babies. Well, I would tend to think that George Lucas, considering he has a good relationship with the Hensons and Disney, would let the Star Wars bits in. And Jefferey Scott would protest if they took out the Three Stooges clips (seeing as how he's Moe's Grandson). But a lot of other clips would have me worried.

That isn't to say that later episodes featuring public domain footage wouldn't be seen, thoug.

Same thing with the Chipmunks. I mean, quite a few episodes I remember don't have copyrighted music. If somehoe we got a DVD release, we'd probably get those episodes. But then again, I feel that they would be able to negotiate with most of the song owners and get as many rights as possible. Might take a while. The Muppet Show Season 1 had quite a few cuts, and the second season was delayed to work those rights out.

That could easily be the case.

But still, considering Alvin show has mostly original or public domain songs, that really should be released soon.
 
Personally, I'd rather see a DVD for "Alvin and the Chipmunks" than one for "The Alvin Show." I grew up with AATC and am more familiar with that one. I also think that they could work around the 'song copyright' rules. They could just cut out the songs like they did for 'The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.' Though it might be harder to do that on a 'Chipmunks' DVD since they're more known for their music. Plus a lot of the episodes focused on their singing. I guess I should head to work now, but I'll think about this a little more.
 
Well, as far as Mario goes (as well as Captain N), the songs were already deleted in syndication after a while. maybe during the "Super mario Super Stars" show from The Family Channel. And Captain N lost them when they syndicated it. But then again, it also explains why they have parodys and sound a likes in further seasons. But with the Chipmunks, editing out the music, replacing it or cutting a scene, would kill the show. I admit, I was disappointed that White Wedding was missing from "Do you Princess take this Koopa?" but it's hardly noticable. The Chipmunks is a very music oriented show. Unless they used sound a likes or something, I can't see any episodes not being slaughtered.

Luckily, I grew up with Both The Alvin Show and Alvin and the Chipmunks, so I was able to have the best of both worlds. Though I do wish Clyde Crashcup didn't go totally missing after "A Chipmunks Christmas" until the Chipmunks got to the movies episode "Back to Alvin's Future."
 
If memory serves, only the Ruby/Spears episodes had copyrighted music in the show. The DIC (Do It Cheap) episodes featured original music.

But that's another thing that can hold up the DVD releases. WB owns the Ruby/Spears episodes, and a few of the first DIC produced episodes, but I believe Paramount holds the rights to the rest of the series (The Chipmunks/Chipmunks go to the Movies).

So getting a full series release, even edited, might never happen because one company might not want to do season sets if the other did.
 
*checks Chipmunk Christmas DVD...

What appears to be a later DIC-era episode is listed as a bonus feature. And the DVD was released by Paramount.

Man, I can't ever see a full DVD happening, and that's a crying shame. A lot of fans curious/nostalgic about the old show after seeing the new movie are going to be disappointed that they can't get the show on DVD.
 
Now, my memory may be hazy about Scott's lineage to Moe Howard, but I do know that Moe's son-in-law, Norm Maurer, worked with Scott at Hanna-Barbera in the late 70's. Maurer worked on Super Friends & Skatebirds in particular (esp. the Robonic Stooges).
 
Yes Universal did do to DTV movies in the late 90's/early 2000s, I believe and I'll check my copies of a Chipmunk Christmas and the Chipmaunk Adventure when I get home this evening, but I believe that Paramount is the current rights holder of Alvin & the Chipmunks, thier have been 4 Chipmunks DVDs so far, the frist three were themed around holidays one for Christmas including the Christmas special, a Halloween themed one and one for Valentine's Day. The last releases so far was made up of three episodes from Chipmunks go to the movies. And of course the 1987 movies has also been released onto DVD.

I believe the reason they've been doing them in these themed volumes instead of season sets is because, since most of the songs were "performed" by the Chipmunks it's easier to go and get the rights were a few songs than to get the rights for an entire seasons worth of songs.
 
Back
Top