Alvin & The Chipmunks: Classic Holiday Gift Set (A Chipmunk
Christmas/Alvin’s Thanksgiving
Celebration/Trick or Treason/Paramount
DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: D Episodes: C+
Allllllllllllvin! The Chipmunks are back and overflowing with
holiday joy; but luckily for us the studio was able to control all that joy
into one compact box set. The Alvin and the Chipmunks: Classic Holiday
Gift Set contains 3 discs each with their own holiday theme; from
Thanksgiving to Christmas all the fall and winter holidays are hit. Now where are my Kwanza or Yom Kippur
Chipmunks’ sets?
Usually
these sets that just throw together random shorts are bad, but with the holiday
themes backing the 3 discs the set does not seem all too bad; especially for
the little ones that need the holiday aesthetics to get through the day. Most of the shorts are from the 1980’s reboot
run of the Chipmunks, but a few of the shorts that are slipped in are from the
early 90’s. The best short on the entire
3 disc, 12 episode set is by far the 1981 Chuck Jones short A Chipmunks Christmas; which if
restored correctly and enough extras were found, could make a great standalone
release.
A Chipmunk Christmas:
A
Chipmunk Christmas (1981)
- The most notable short on the
set is this gem by Chuck Jones. It
features the Chipmunk boys trying to raise enough money to get a very sick
little boy his favorite toy by Christmas.
Merry
Christmas Mr. Carroll (1989)
Dave’s
Wonderful Life (1988)
Alvin’s Thanksgiving Celebration:
A
Chipmunk Celebration (1994)
Food for
Thought (1988)
Cookie
Chomper III (1989)
Dave’s
Getting Married (1988)
Trick or Treason:
Trick or
Treason (1994)
Babysitter
Fright Night (1988)
Theodore’s
Life as a Dog (1988)
Nightmare
on Seville Street (1989)
No
Chipmunk is an Island (1988)
The
picture and sound on this set slide by on a sled as adequate at best. The picture lacks good blacks, vibrant
colors, and depth in its simple 1.33 x 1 full screen presentation; all while
having a degree of debris and grit on the screen as well. The sound on all shorts is a simple Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo presentation that gets the job done with all songs
projecting crisply and strongly. No
extras under the tree this Christmas.
All in
all a good set for the kids, but true Chipmunk fans may want to hold off for
something better.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
