Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman

***Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman*** is a 2000 animated horror-themed direct-to-video film, produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Universal Animation Studios, distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and based on characters from *Alvin and the Chipmunks*. It was released on VHS in 2000, on DVD (included in the *Monster Bash Fun Pack*) in 2004, and again on DVD (included in the *Scare-Riffic Double Feature*) in 2007.

## Plot

Alvin is having a nightmare of being attacked by the Wolfman. Dave and Simon conclude that Alvin's been watching too many horror films at night. Alvin says that it’s because their new neighbor, Mr. Lawrence Talbot, creeps him out.

Their school is rehearsing the play for the famous horror story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. When yet another accident caused by Alvin when mixing unknown chemicals results in a huge explosion and mess of the school auditorium, along with Dave getting a call from Miss Miller about the Chipettes being scared after being spooked by something while walking home with the Chipmunks one night, Principal Milliken and Dave decide that Alvin be pulled out of his role as Mr. Hyde, and is given the role of the butler instead with Dave confiscating all of Alvin's monster paraphernalia. To boost his self-esteem, they decide to have Theodore replace the role. Milliken expects Theodore to start standing up for himself when Dave sees Nathan, a bully, causing him trouble.

Alvin and Simon begin searching for proof that Mr. Talbot is a werewolf. ("Munks on a Mission"). Theodore gets bit by a large dog (though it was actually a werewolf) on his way home after giving a necklace to Eleanor, whom he has a crush on. The next day at the rehearsal, Theodore does a terrifying impression of Mr. Hyde. Despite this triumph, Theodore transforms into a puppy-like werewolf by night, and his personality continues to drastically change by day. Alvin and Simon search for a way to help Theodore and save the play without Dave finding out. ("The Monster out in You").

Despite their best efforts, they find no solution. They eventually decide to take up advice from psychic Madame Raya. She says that Theodore is close to the animal state and will turn into an adult werewolf soon. Simon and Alvin ask her if there is any way to cure him without also killing him. She suggests knocking him out with a silver cane, before the next full moon when the transformation will be complete. Alvin later breaks into Mr. Talbot's home and steals his silver cane, which is then broken in two by Theodore after Alvin knocks him with it, but Theodore isn't cured. However, as he runs away with it, he knocks into Dave. That night, Dave goes to see Mr. Talbot to apologize and explain everything to him. During the conversation, in which Talbot mentions an ancestor killed by a silver bullet, the full moon rises and he transforms. Terrified, Dave runs to the school to warn the boys. However, he's knocked unconscious by a pole. Having followed Dave, Mr. Talbot makes his way inside and chases after Alvin (who realizes he was right to suspect Mr. Talbot).

Later in the play, Theodore changes into a werewolf and starts to attack Eleanor. However, after cornering her, the necklace Theodore gave her earlier shines by the moon, causing Theodore to remember his feelings towards her and to flee. Eleanor follows him, determined to help him, only to almost be attacked by Mr. Talbot, who was the werewolf that bit Theodore. Theodore quickly defends her and attacks Mr. Talbot and the two battle. Theodore cures them both by biting Mr. Talbot, As a result of the bite, Theodore turns back into a chipmunk and Talbot returns to normal. Talbot then runs off the stage. Confused by what happened, Simon explains to everyone how the bite cured them by causing the effect to reverse them both. Alvin quickly runs up to the stage to join in the applause by the crowd, who believes the entire incident was just an act. Later, they find out Mr. Talbot is going to be their new principal, because Ms. Milliken has decided to retire at 31, and begin a new job transporting explosives across rough terrain in South America. The Chipmunks and The Chipettes end the wrap party by performing "Everything's Gonna Be Alright", and soon everyone else follow the rhythm.

## Cast

* Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. as Alvin, Simon, and Dave Seville
* Janice Karman as Theodore, Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor
* Maurice LaMarche as Lawrence Talbot
* Miriam Flynn as Principal Milliken
* Rob Paulsen as Mr. Rochelle
* April Winchell as Madame Raya
* E.G. Daily as Nathan
* Frank Welker as Werewolf Vocal Effects

### Singing Vocals

* Randy Crenshaw (lead & background)
* Susan Boyd (lead & background)
* Beth Anderson (background)
* Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. (background)
* Jon Joyce (background)
* Janice Karman (background)
* Donna Medine (background)
* Gene Merlino (background)

## Songs

* "Munks on a Mission" - Alvin and Simon
* "The Monster out in You" - Alvin and Simon
* "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" - The Chipmunks and The Chipettes

## Trivia/Goofs

* The clothing that Brittany wears is somewhat different in this movie, notably her scarf and leg warmers are gone, (giving her a more modern and "in style" look, from her 1980's outfit). Also, she and Jeanette have slightly different footwear (Jeanette wearing sneakers instead of loafers for most of the movie).
* Like Simon, Jeanette wears black glasses instead of pink-framed.
* Simon is seen with his glasses on upside down at one point.
* Actors Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen had previously worked together as the voices for *Pinky and the Brain*.
* Larry Talbot is the name of the werewolf character created for the 1941 film *The Wolf Man*, one of the classic Universal monsters. The animated likeness bears no resemblance to his original actor Lon Chaney Jr.
* Some of the Chipmunk dolls from *The Chipmunk Adventure* can be seen when Theodore first begins to turn into a werewolf.
* Theodore shows a lot of affection for Eleanor in the movie and is portrayed as a vegetarian (first mentioned in the episode How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?).
* Instead of Thomas Edison Elementary, the school that The Chipmunks and The Chipettes go to is called Clyde C. Crashcup Elementary School. This is a reference to Clyde Crashcup, the inventor from the 1961 series, *The Alvin Show*.
* On the Alvin and the Chipmunks *Scare-Riffic Double Feature* DVD, on the front and back cover is a Were-wolf which was supposed to be the wolf-man from *Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman*, but was the wolf-man from *Monster Mash*, another Universal Studios animated Halloween movie; his hands don't even match the hands that he had in *Monster Mash*.
* Dave has blue eyes rather than brown eyes in this film, which he had in most other occasions that required "colored eyes" (like in *The Chipmunk Adventure*).
* Normally, the Chipmunks' beds are ordered (from left to right): Theodore, Alvin and Simon, instead the beds are ordered: Simon, Alvin and Theodore. The boys also seem to have a different room than in the TV series. It is bigger and located in the opposite end of the house.
* Alvin has a poster above his bed for the 1954 film *Creature from the Black Lagoon*.
* This film marks the first (and so far only) two instances in the franchise where blood is shown. First when Mr. Talbot gets his finger pricked on a thorn during "Munks on a Mission", and second when the werewolf bite wound is seen on Theodore's hand.
* A Frankenstein monster poster is in Alvin's room, though it is unclear whether this is a generic representation of the character or a specific reference to Frankie from *Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein*.
* This movie has plenty of callbacks to the original 1941 film:
	+ *"Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright"* is a direct quote stated by multiple of the townsfolk in *The Wolf Man*.
	+ Larry Talbot had been killed by a silver cane shaped as a wolf, similarly to how Alvin tried to cure Theodore by attempting to knock him on the head with the wolf-head cane (Alvin and Simon had also discussed the topic of werewolves and ways to defeat them with Madame Raya, in parallel to how Larry Talbot had talked to Maleva, a travelling gypsy woman).
	+ The mark of the wolf, known as the sign of the werewolf in *The Wolf Man*, was instead of being a paw print shape that appeared on the palm of the monster, was a pentagram that appeared where a werewolf victim was attacked (considering they lived), and could be seen in the palm of the werewolves' next victim by the creature itself.
	+ The necklace Theodore gives Eleanor mirrors the pendant that Larry gave to Gwen, a woman he fancies, in order to protect her from him when he finally turns into a werewolf. The original charm had the image of the pentagram - the sign of the werewolf.
* Early in the movie when Dave is pouring milk into a cup for Theodore, the milk carton has a wanted picture of a werewolf on the side with the subheading, "Have you seen me?":
	+ Later when Simon reads out a list from a book of people Alvin's accused of being monsters, he lists the milkman being one of them.
* Dave's outfit consisting of a black shirt tucked into brown slacks with a watch on his wrist is an outfit that his voice actor, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., commonly wears in real life.
* Theodore and Eleanor's first time performing their lines is reflective of how their dynamic plays out throughout the film and is a mirrored version of what is to come:
	+ Eleanor backs away from Theodore as he approaches her, practicing their scripts the day after he was bitten, reciting her lines after Theodore tells her he's Mr. Hyde, saying "*But I-I don't know you!*".
	+ Near the end of the film after Theodore's fully transformed into a werewolf, Eleanor is backed into a wall again as he approaches her asking "*Theodore, don't you know me*?".
* This is the first Alvin and the Chipmunks film overall to have its music score composed by the same composer as its predecessor followed by *Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip*.
* After being pulled out of his role as Mr. Hyde, Alvin was sadly thinking about what happened in Phantom Of The Rock Opera.