The Chipmunk Adventure/Production

After the success of his animated cartoon series on NBC, Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. began developing a concept for a full-length feature film. Fortunately for Bagdasarian Productions, the box-office failure of Disney's The Black Cauldron in 1985 had led to the layoff of a number of Disney animators, whom Bagdasarian promptly hired to work on his film. The result was extremely high-caliber animation.

Bagdasarian and his wife Janice Karman decided to finance the project themselves, having generated so much revenue from the Alvin and the Chipmunks TV series. Their decision to work with several overseas studios led to major production delays. By late 1986, production had fallen far behind schedule, and a shortage of time and money resulted in major cuts being made to the film.

The film was promoted one year before its release, at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.

Soundtrack

The film score of The Chipmunk Adventure was composed by Randy Edelman and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Several songs throughout the film were performed by both The Chipmunks and The Chipettes. On April 1, 2008, the soundtrack was re-released as a bonus CD with the film's DVD.

Tracking list:

1. "Chipmunk Adventure Theme" - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
2. "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi/Cuanto le Gusta - The Chipmunks
3. "Off to See the World - The Chipmunks and the Chipettes
4. "Weekend in France, Italy, England, Amsterdam, Greece..." - David Seville and the Chipmunks (heard instrumentally in the film)
5. "The Girls and Boys of Rock and Roll" - The Chipmunks and the Chipettes
6. "Flying with the Eagles" - The Chipmunks and the Chipettes (a shortened instrumental version of the chorus heard as part of a longer piece of music during the start of the race)
7. "Getting Lucky" - The Chipettes
8. "Mexican Holiday" - The Chipmunks (heard instrumentally in the film)
9. "My Mother" - The Chipettes
10. "Wooly Bully" - The Chipmunks
11. "Diamond Dolls" - The Chipettes

Songs heard in the film but not on the album

1. "Underwaterture" - Randy Edelman. Lengthy piece of music recorded for the underwater sequence. Unreleased on record.
2. "Come On-a My House" - Dody Goodman. Unreleased on record. Sung briefly by Miss Miller.
3. "A Matter of Fact" - Electric Light Orchestra. Recorded in 1986 by that band as source music for the film's "Wooly Bully" sequence. First released as the B-Side to the UK version of that band's "So Serious" single, four months ahead of the film's release. Unavailable in the U.S. until 1990 in its inclusion on that band's first box set, Afterglow.
4. "Witch Doctor" - Dody Goodman. Unreleased on record. Sung briefly by Miss Miller.