Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman! [2000]

Better than Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein, but still cartoon nonsense. Alvin, obsessed with monsters, is sure silver-cane-carrying next-door-neighbour Lawrence Talbot [Maurice LaMarche] is a werewolf [yup!], and Dave throws out all his monster memorabilia. In a lift from Fright Night, Alvin consults a horror hostess for useless tips about the crisis – which gets complicated when Theodore is bitten and turns into a werewolf puppy, prompting a lift from Teen Wolf as he gets back at a bully [voiced by Elizabeth Daily], does well in the school play rehearsals [as Mr Hyde] and becomes mildly unpleasant until biting Talbot cures them both [!]. It climaxes with the messed-up school play, featuring real monsters and improv and role-switching – which, of course, turns out to be a big hit.

The usual dud songs are included, and the trio of Chipmonks get female counterparts, Chip-ettes. The horror hostess raises the rarely-mentioned fact that the chipmunks are, well, chipmunks – apparently, chipmunk werewolves transform every night rather than just on the full moon.
KIM NEWMAN

First published in this form here.

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