Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1999)

The sped-up voice novelty singers, whose act was completely ripped off from the UK's Pinky and Perky, had a cartoon show in the 1980s, and have returned in a couple of animated TV features. This 1999 picture is from Universal, so it can feature the Karloff-look copyrighted Frankenstein Monster.

In a stylised black and white prologue, the usual torch-carrying peasant mob attacks the castle of Dr Frankenstein (Michael Bell), who dismantles the monster (voiced inevitably by Frank Welker) and takes a job in Hollywood on a Universal-style studio backlot with a failing theme park. Alvin, identifiable by the huge A on his dress, and his backing singers Simon (glasses, smart) and Theodore (timid, stupid) are appearing on the lot and get mixed up in a lot of chases and the like when trapped overnight. Alvin is dosed with a Jekyll-and-Hyde-type potion and goes crazed at a premiere (A Midsummer Night's Car Crash). The Monster turns out to be nice and gets a job as a tour guide, while the nasty mad scientist's horrible fate is to get stuck in a 'Sammy Squirrel' costume and have to sing a theme song to tourists.

There are above-the-target-audience's-head jokes about the movie business (a minion called Mr Yesman) but it's mostly running about doing not very amusing shouting. The relationship of the chipmunks' human guardian / parent Dave (Janice Karman) to the creatures is hard to gauge, but I guess that's the talking point.
KIM NEWMAN

First published in this form here.

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