Product Description

Chipmunk singing sensations Alvin, Simon and Theodore are back for an encore in this hilarious “squeakquel” packed with more action and more nutty fun for the whole family! When a concert mishap lands Dave in the hospital, the Chipmunks take a break from superstardom and enroll in school to fit in with kids their age. But they soon face some stiff competition when they meet the Chipettes — a beautiful, talented trio of chipmunks discovered by Ian, the boys’ evil ex-manager!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1152 in DVD
• Brand: Fox
• Released on: 2010-03-30
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Dimensions: .16 pounds
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.com
Dave (Jason Lee) isn't exactly the typical father figure with an average family, but he cares deeply about his adoptive chipmunks Alvin (Justin Long), Theodore (Jesse McCartney), and Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler). While the performing life presents its own unique challenges, Dave always does his best to instill a sense of compassion and familial love into his young charges. When Alvin begins to get a little too caught up in his own stardom, Dave reminds him to share the spotlight with his fellow chipmunks, but Alvin gets carried away and ends up inadvertently injuring Dave on location in Paris. Aunt Jackie (Kathryn Joosten) steps in to look after the Chipmunks, but when her wheelchair rolls down a flight of stairs, only her irresponsible grandson Toby (Zachary Levi) is left to watch over the boys. An unemployed video gamer who lives with Jackie, Toby is completely unprepared for the responsibility of caring for the Chipmunks, but he agrees nonetheless. Starting school is not easy for the Chipmunks, and they are the target of bullying from their very first day. But Alvin eventually works his way in with the popular crowd, leaving Theodore and Simon to fend for themselves with little support from Toby. The school principal (Wendie Malick) is one of the Chipmunks' biggest fans, and when the school's music department is about to be shut down due to lack of funds, she decides to enter them in a competition that will save the music program. Enter the Chipettes--female chipmunks Brittany (Christina Applegate), Eleanor (Amy Poehler), and Jeanette (Anna Faris), who are seeking their own chance for singing stardom--and the Chipmunks' dishonest ex-agent, Ian (David Cross), and the stage is set for some serious backstabbing competition. Craziness reigns as the two groups wage a musical war against one another, but in the end it all comes down to a question of what's more important--stardom or friendship. As in the first Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, the music is strangely appealing despite being performed mostly in falsetto, the characters are cute, the action is comical, and the life lessons ring true. (Ages 6 and older with parental guidance due to some mild rude humor) --Tami Horiuchi

Video Description
From KIDS FIRST!: AAAAlllllvvvviiiin, Simon and Theodore are back in town, and this time they have some competition. The Chipettes! As the brothers get used to school life and try to get over the betrayal of their former agent, Ian, they discover that Ian is up to his old tricks with the Chipettes. It’s up to Alvin, Simon and Theodore to help the girls. That’s not easy to do when the girls just think they are just jealous. It also doesn’t help that the brothers aren’t getting along as well as they usually do. In the end they are reminded that there is nothing as great as true brotherly love. With catchy tunes and darling animation, the chipmunks will steal your heart and have you singing along as you are reminded about the power of love. This DVD is engaging and entertaining for both adults and children although some viewers might not appreciate the bathroom humor such as the bullies doing swirlies. It exhibits cinematographic and musical excellence. KIDS FIRST! Child Juror Comments: The storyline was good. It kept both older and younger audiences entertained. All the younger children and the teens laughed and commented that it was like their everyday life being on film, and parents were able to see it, too. The music was also great. “It's interesting to see all the songs I normally listen to re-done with chipmunk voices.” I liked the acting, it was really good. I can only imagine how hard it would be to try to talk with something that wasn't really there like the animated chipmunks.

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
Blu-ray: Hilarious and fun for the entire family! Solid PQ, lossless audio
By Dennis A. Amith (kndy)
When Ross Bagdasarian Sr. created the Alvin and the Chipmunks, I often wonder if he knew at the time of how popular those characters, their music and the animated series would be for American pop culture.

Popular for the music, it was in 1961 when the three went from being puppets to an animated show. Bagdasarian using his stage name Dave Seville, the music composer and father/caretaker of three talented chipmunks who tend to get into a little mischief. The animated series "Alvin and the Chipmunks" is one of those animated series that has been part of the childhood of several generations. An even more animated series continued throughout the '80s and '90s.

And as "Alvin and the Chipmunks has been a part of the childhood of children for five decades, for this generation of children, they are now getting acquainted by Alvin, Simon and Theodore through their animated CG films. And what a remarkable success the first film had been for Twentieth Century Fox as "Alvin and the Chipmunks" made over $361 million worldwide (the budget of the film was $60 million).

Needless to say, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" earned their right for a sequel and before Christmas 2009, the $75 million dollar sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" made even more money than the first earning over $442 million worldwide and now, this popular film which introduces us to the female chipmunks ala "The Chipettes": Brittany, Eleanor and Jeanette and featuring more star-power providing the voices for the characters.

VIDEO:

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" is presented in 1080p High Definition (Widescreen 1:85:1). Immediately, the first thing that catches your attention is the wonderful CG animation of the chipmunks and how they flawlessly work with the real life backgrounds and props.

Many scenes are shot outdoors and with very good lighting indoors that a lot of the detail can be seen in the trees, the plants, outdoor areas to the pores in the skin of the humans and of course, seeing the fur of the chipmunks with such detail. The film looks absolutely vibrant and detail is very good for this film. Skintones are natural, blacks are nice and deep and I saw no problems with artifacts, DNR or blurring.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby Digital Descriptiive Audio and Spanish/French 5.1 Dolby Digital. The film is dialogue and music driven through the center and front channel speakers. But there are special effects such as Alvin tossing a Wiimote into the TV, a wheelchair falling off Toby's car and various sound effects like that. Surround channels tend to utilize the crowd ambiance much more in the film.

But since the film is primarily dialogue and music driven, dialogue is clear and understandable while the music definitely comes alive with the lossless audio soundtrack.

Subtitles are presented in English, English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" features the following special features:

* Munking History: 50 Years of Chipmunk Mischief, Mayhem & Music - (09:20) A special feature on the creation of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and various clips of the chipmunks in animated format.
* Munk Music Machine - Allows viewers to select only the music-based portions from the film.
* Meet the Chipettes - (8:35) The Chipette voice talent Amy Poehler, Anna Faris and Christina Applegate talk about their characters and how and why Janice Karman created the Chipette's.
* Rockin' Rising Stars - (6:20) A featurette about the inclusion of the band Honor Society and singer Charice Pempengco into the film and their experience of working on a film.
* Music Mania - (9:02) The making of the music competition segment in the film.
* Meet the Stuffies - (3:08) The cast and crew talk about their experience working with the "stuffies".
* Shake Your Groove Thing! with Rosero - (8:59) Choreographer Rosero and crew show off choreography for the song "Shake Your Groove Thing!".
* Music Videos & Sing-Alongs - Featuring sing-alongs for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," "We Are Family",
and "Shake Your Groove Thing".
* Music Videos - "You Really Got Me" featuring Honor Society & "The Song" featuring Queensberry.
* A-l-v-i-n-n-n-n!!! Album Maker - A feature that allows one to create an Alvin and the Chipmunks (or Chippetes) album maker. Your creations can be saved.
* Music In A Nutshell: Song Trivia - While watching the film, viewers can watch the film with song trivia.
* The Chipmunks: Behind the Squeaking - (9:40) A documentary like featurette about life outside of the movie. Talent and crew talk about their experience of working with Alvin, Simon and Theodore.
* A-NUT-omy of a Scene - (2:39) How the stuffed animals are used for the choreography portions on the film to help guide the animators and the talent.

EXTRAS:

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" comes with a DVD and a digital copy of the film. The DVD is presented in widescreen 1:85:1, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 5.1 Dolby Digital Descriptive Audio, Spanish and French Dolby Surround. Subtitles are in English SDH, Spanish.

The digital copy works with portable Media Players and works with iTunes.

JUDGMENT CALL:

I grew up with "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and can easily remember watching the television series during my younger years and have watched a fair share of the anime series on DVD as well, introducing it to my seven-year-old son who absolutely loves the first film.

Sure enough, we watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and he was laughing and enjoying the film. As for me, I enjoyed the humor of the film and granted, I may not be the intended demographic for this film, but as a parent, watching my son and seeing him enjoy characters that I grew up with as a child was definitely a fun, family moment. In fact, he enjoyed the film so much that we watched it for a second time (along with the wife) and continued to laugh at the jokes and hijinks... "the dutch oven" joke was just hilarious!

I definitely enjoyed the picture quality of this Blu-ray release and how alive the lossless audio soundtrack (especially from the music) coming through my speakers. Needless to say, there are plenty of music featured in "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and again, watching my son bop to the songs, I have no doubt that this film will do the same for the children watching this film. Also, for parents, there are plenty of special features and fun sing-a-longs and if you are commuting, you also get a DVD and digital copy of the film as well.

Overall, "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" was an entertaining film which I enjoyed much more over the first film. The addition of the Chipettes was pretty cool and definitely enjoyed the animation and overall storyline for this sequel. As mentioned earlier in my review, there is a good number of star power in this film and a lot of of music covers. Definitely interesting to see "Chuck" actor Zachary Levi in a more comedic role and also to see Filipino singer Charice Pempengco jamming on the film as well! But of course, the star power behind the voices of Alvin and the Chipmunks and the Chipettes did a wonderful job. For Amy Poehler, Anna Faris and Christina Applegate, the three did a wonderful job.

If you are a parent looking for a fun, family film...you can't go wrong with "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and if you are an adult who grew up with Alvin and the Chipmunks, you'll definitely enjoy this film as well! Definitely recommended!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
The Chipmunks are Back
By A Customer
I am almost thirteen years old, and, even though it seems like a childish movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel was fun for me, and even my parents.
This movie is about teamwork and working together. It also teaches you that the good guys always win, and that evil gets you nowhere in life. Alvin, Simon, and Theodore (the Chipmunks), start school, but they don't start pre-k or 1st grade. They start high school. To these furry little animals, getting though an eight hour day is a fight for survival.
That's not the only story in this movie. At the same time, three new chipmunks find their way to Hollywood. Brittney, Eleanor, and Janet call themselves the Chipettes, and they want a career in the music business like the Chipmunks. Unfortunately, they wind up working for the Chipmunks mean, selfish ex-producer, Ian Hawke. These two groups are set against each other by Ian, but, in the end, the Chipmunks and the Chipettes team up together against him. Like I said, the good guys ALWAYS win.
This movie was very good with its special effects. The fact that the people who work on the movie can make six talking chipmunks look real is pretty amazing. All the scenes in the movie had everyone in the theater gasping, as if it was all 100% real. Even my family forgot about being in a movie theater at sometimes. I didn't even think for one minute that anything in that movie was on a green screened or faked!
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel is good clean fun for everyone in the family. I hope you go see it and enjoy it as much as I did.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Awesome Movie! Great Comedy! Spectacular!
By A Customer
I can't believe how awesome this movie was. The humor, comedy, and music was all awesome. Sure, I didn't expect such a rivalry between the Chipmunks and the Chipettes, but the movie, and the dvd, are worth the wait...

P.S. I would agree, "A Great Squeakquel"