Ross Bagdasarian Jr

Ross Dickran Bagdasarian Jr. (born October 25, 1949) is an American animator, filmmaker, and voice actor. He is known for his work on the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise. He is the son of the franchise's wife, Janice Karman, and creator, Ross Bagdasarian.

Early life
Bagdasarian was born in Fresno, California on October 25, 1949, the son of Armenian-American parents Armenuhi Bagdasarian (née Kulhanjian) and Ross Bagdasarian (1919–1972). As a child, he worked with his father on The Alvin Show by helping edit and coordinate the soundtracks and falsetto voice-overs of the Chipmunks.

Career
Bagdasarian graduated from law school. He succeeded his father as president of Bagdasarian Productions in 1972 after the death of the elder Bagdasarian. The company had fallen into obscurity after significant success between 1958 and the late 1960s. Bagdasarian was also admitted to the California bar as an attorney in 1975.

Under Bagdasarian's supervision, new Chipmunks records were created shortly after his marriage to Janice Karman, including Chipmunk Punk. In 1981, the Chipmunks returned to television in the cartoon special A Chipmunk Christmas. Two years later, Ruby-Spears Productions' Alvin and the Chipmunks Saturday morning cartoon series debuted on NBC. Based on that series, a feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure was released in 1987. Bagdasarian voices Alvin, Simon, and Dave Seville, and Karman voices Theodore and the Chipettes (Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor).

Bagdasarian and Karman hold tight creative and financial control over the Chipmunk franchise, reviewing each and every business contract in great detail. In the mid-90s, Bagdasarian bought out his brother's and sister's portions of the Chipmunk rights, to take complete control of the franchise.

Universal Pictures lawsuit
Bagdasarian licensed the rights to the Chipmunk characters to Universal Pictures in 1996, resulting in a string of Universal-produced direct-to-video films. Four years later, he and Karman sued them for breach of contract, claiming that Universal failed to properly utilize, market, and merchandise the characters and hence resulting in a loss of royalties to Bagdasarian. The case was decided in Bagdasarian's favor. "For us, it was a custody battle", Karman said. "They finally realized 'OK, these two are really fighting for their kids'."

Personal life
Bagdasarian married Janice Karman in 1980. She is the co-president of Bagdasarian Productions.

Filmography
Film

 Year  Title  Producer  Writer  Actor  Role  Notes 1987  The Chipmunk Adventure Alvin SevilleSimon SevilleDavid Seville  1999  Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein  Direct-to-video 2000  Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman  2004  Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks   2007  Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin Seville (singing voice)  Songwriter 2009  Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel  Singing Voice 2011  Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked   2015  Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip  

Television
 Year  Title  Producer  Writer  Actor  Role  Notes 1981  A Chipmunk Christmas Alvin SevilleSimon SevilleDave Seville  TV film 1983–1990  Alvin and the Chipmunks  TV series 1984  I Love the Chipmunks Valentine Special TV film 1985  A Chipmunk Reunion 1990  Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue  Alvin SevilleSimon Seville  TV short Rockin' Through the Decades Alvin SevilleSimon SevilleDave Seville TV film1994  Alvin and the Chipmunks: Trick or Treason  A Chipmunk Celebration  1995  The Easter Chipmunk  2015–2023  Alvinnn!&excl;! and the Chipmunks TV series
References

Other websites
History at Chipmunks.com

Category:1949 births
Category:Living people
Category:Alvin and the Chipmunks (franchise)
Category:American voice actors
Category:American animators
Category:Movie producers from California
Category:Actors from Fresno, California
Category:Record producers from California
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:20th-century American actors
Category:21st-century American actors
Category:Screenwriters from California