EDIT 2021: Project complete! Upgrades could be made with better sources but with what’s available, all work is finished. Working on an extras set but that’ll come a bit later. DM for more info!
Hey, everybody! Kinda new here, was here a while back but never really said/did much. Anyway, I’m currently working on a preservation/restoration project for the 1980’s cartoon incarnation of “Alvin and the Chipmunks”. The show ran for 8 seasons, which would sound like a lengthy process, but the first five seasons are readily available in consistently solid quality. I’m mostly working on seasons 6 - 8; I may work on the early shows a bit later, but the later stuff is the worst in quality/availability so that’s where I’m starting.
What I’ve already completed:
s06e12 - Dave’s Getting Married (DVDrip)
s06e13 - No Chipmunk is an Island + Babysitter Fright Night (DVDrips)
s06e14 - Alvin’s Summer Job (retail VHSrip)
s06e15 - Once Upon a Crime (DVDrip)
s06e16 - Mad About Alvin + The Phantom (NBC broadcast)
s06e17 - Vinny’s Visit
s06e19 - Theodore and Juliet + Quarterback in Curlers
s06e20 - The Wall + The Amazing Chipmunks (NBC broadcast audio/Italian retail video)
s06e22 - Psychic Alvin + A Special Kind of Champion (retail VHSrip/DVDrip)
s06e23 - Alvin’s Obsession + Alvin’s Not So Super Hero (NBC broadcast audio/Italian retail video)
s07e01 - Cookie Chomper III (DVDrip)
s07e02 - Home Sweet Home + All Worked Up (UK VHSrip, not mine)
s07e05 - Like Father, Like Son + Dr Simon & Mr Heartthrob (NBC audio+Italian video/DVDrip)
s07e06 - Too Hip To Be Dave + Hearts & Flowers (NBC audio/Italian video)
s07e08 - Unfair Science + Shaking the Family Tree (retail VHSrip/NBC broadcast)
s07e11a - The Return of Uncle Adventure
s07e12 - Alvin in Neverland (LOW QUALITY NBC AUDIO+Italian video)
s07e13 - Merry Christmas, Mr Caroll (DVDrip)
s08e09 - Irrational Buffoon’s European Vacation (Australian Broadcast - thanks to jordan200 for this one!!)
As for s08 (Chipmunks Go To The Movies), I have everything done in high quality, except two episodes.
s08e08 - S.T. The Space Traveler
s08e11 - Gremlionis
Kong (s08e03) is my own personal VHSrip, but the rest are DVDrips from the US discs.
Only episode I’m entirely missing in English is s07e11b - The Princess and the Pig. However, I’m still looking to upgrade the audio on some of my English episodes:
s06e18a - Uncle Adventure
s07e04 - Bye, George + A Day in the Life
s07e07a - Maltese Chipmunk (worst one I have)
s07e09a - Inner Dave
s07e11 - The Return of Uncle Adventure/Princess and the Pig (11a sounds pretty bad, 11b is missing entirely in English)
s08e08 - S.T. The Space Traveler
s08e11 - Gremlionis
These in particular vary from not great to nearly unbearable. The s08 episodes are nearly unusable, but better than nothing. If anyone has access to any of these episodes in English (or any other languages, as I could always benefit from upgraded video), please lemme know, as they may be of great value to the project!
My main sources right now are Retail Italian VHS tapes for the best video (sadly the only Italian rips are on YouTube so they’re sorta compressed, but still better than the US off air recordings I have, for the most part), English audio from original NBC broadcasts (some sound great, but others are from third generation tapes so they’re not ideal), and retail VHS/DVDrips, almost all from my own discs. There’s also a UK tape I’m looking for (it has Home Sweet Home/All Worked Up on it), but I can’t really afford to buy a PAL VCR for transferring, so I’m stuck on that regard.
The Chipmunks Go To The Movies (season eight) did air on the USA Network, on the USA Cartoon Express block in 1994 and 1995, so if anyone has some of that, that’d be amazing top priority stuff.
I’m not entirely sure where I’ll release these when I’m done, but definitely on Myspleen and via my Twitter (which would be the public alternative for them; I’ve already started offering them there).