196

Your example is from the '80s cartoon show, but Alvin and the Chipmunks are far older than that. They were a band (originally David Seville and the Chipmunks) formed in 1958, using a sped-up technique developed by David Seville (real name Ross Bagdasarian).

It did have a cartoon spinoff in 1961 named The Alvin Show, then later after David Seville's death, an '80s cartoon show named Alvin and the Chipmunks. And then in the early 2000s, a series of live-action/CG films.

When I was a kid (in the early '80s), my parents had several vinyl records of David Seville and the Chipmunks and I used to listen to them on repeat all the time. They also had a vinyl record of David Seville's "Witch Doctor" single, which pioneered the sped-up chipmunk voice effect. That song was an earworm! We'd be singing it for days after hearing it once. It's no wonder Alvin and the Chipmunks became a hit sensation.