Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 American live-action/CGI comedy film starring Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Jane Lynch and the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney. The film is based on the popular musical group and animated series of the same name. It was directed by Tim Hill who is an animator of SpongeBob SquarePants, and distributed by 20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions. The film was panned by critics, but was a huge financial success, being made on a modest budget of $60 million, it made nearly $220 million in North America alone and nearly $360 million worldwide, and sold 5.6 million DVDs.^[2]

The story begins in a hill backdrop in a forest during the winter. Three singing Chipmunks named Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (voiced by Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (voiced by Jesse McCartney) are singing "Bad Day". Alvin complains about the food storage when he accidentally empties their stock. He then complains about his own tough life to struggle for his survival and even calls their tree a "stupid, stupid tree". Then the tree shakes; Theodore thinks that Alvin has "made the tree angry." However, the tree is chopped down (with the trio in it), netted down to a truck, and driven to Los Angeles to become a Christmas tree. Meanwhile, struggling songwriter David "Dave" Seville (played by Jason Lee), is late for his meeting at JETT Records. Dave submits his song but is rejected by executive Ian Hawke (played by David Cross), who says he hates Dave's latest song. During Dave's meeting, the Chipmunks and the tree wind up in the lobby of JETT Records; the trio manages to escape and get into Dave's car via a muffin basket he is carrying. When Dave gets home, he puts the muffin basket in the garbage can and throws all his music equipment out the door. The Chipmunks set about raiding his cupboards while Dave watches television. When Dave discovers them, there's a scuffle, and Alvin finally causes Dave to lose consciousness by dropping a glass jar onto his head.

When Dave wakes up, he realizes that "squirrels" can talk, but Alvin tells him that they're chipmunks. Dave then forces them to leave his house after they introduce themselves. Dave then hears the Chipmunks singing "Only You", and realizes that the Chipmunks can sing as well, to which Alvin replies "that's not singing, this is singing", and they sing "Funkytown". Enjoying their singing, Dave brings them back inside, and proposes a deal: if they sing his songs, they get to stay with him. Alvin then reminds him about his music equipment outside, where Dave then frantically runs out in the pouring rain to get it. Before Dave could find a song to rehearse for the Chipmunks, Simon throws a paper airplane made of Dave's sheet music. Then Alvin plays with a towel rack and using it as a hula hoop, while singing a Hawaiian song. Dave puts the towel rack away, and Alvin describes the fun "Killjoy". Dave asks the Chipmunks if they're always like this, but Simon tells him that they're kids. Dave then asks them where their parents are, and Simon tells him, "When you're a chipmunk, your parents take care of you for a week, then they take off." Then Alvin reveals, "Our parents were hippies. They left early to join a commune." Meanwhile, a robot chases Theodore. Dave turns the robot off and puts it on the table and says that he got it for Christmas. The Chipmunks loved Christmas. Even though, they never actually celebrated it, but they wanted to. Theodore thinks that maybe they could celebrate it with him.

Dave puts them to bed in an armchair, and while the Chipmunks sleep, their snores accumulate into a song, sparking Dave's inspiration, and causing him to write "The Chipmunk Song". When Dave awakens the next morning, the Chipmunks are trying to catch waffles shot out of the toaster, but when Simon tries to catch one, it drops right in front of him and he doesn't see it. Realizing Simon is farsighted, Dave finds a tiny pair of round-framed glasses from a decorative Santa and gives them to Simon. With his new glasses, Simon can now see perfectly. The Chipmunks then sing Dave's song successfully.

Dave returns to JETT records and shows Ian his surprise: the three chipmunks with his jingle in the background. Though the chipmunks sang the song perfectly earlier, they get stage fright and refuse to sing, causing Ian to think Dave is crazy and leaves. While Dave drives the chipmunks home, they explain why they didn't sing (stage fright). When Dave finally gets to his job, he begins presenting his advertising pitch about the "Goodable Energy Bar" commercial, but Simon calls him on his cell phone and tells him Alvin and Theodore have been sucked inside the vacuum cleaner and the house is flooding because Simon doesn't know how to turn off the sink faucet. Dave says he'll deal with the problems later and hangs up, however, when he begins his presentation, he discovers that the chipmunks have drawn all over his presentation boards. Dave decides to clean out his office, as he knows that he is fired.

Dave is furious when he gets home. As he sits the trio down for a talk (after finding Alvin taking a shower in the dishwasher), Theodore elbows onto the phone's answering machine button. A message plays that reminds Dave that he has a dinner date with his crush, Claire Wilson (played by Cameron Richardson), and she'll be arriving at 7:00. When Dave realizes that it's now 6:30, Simon tells Dave to go get food for the dinner, and he and the others will clean up the house. Much to Dave's surprise, the house is spotless when he gets home from the grocery store; however, he soon realizes that the chipmunks have simply shoved the mess into the refrigerator.

During the dinner, Alvin attempts to "help" by playing music on the CD player, dimming the lights, and making a romantic fire in the fireplace, all to Dave's embarrassment and Claire's confusion. When Claire demands to know what's going on, Dave admits, "My life is being sabotaged by talking chipmunks." Claire doesn't believe him and leaves, thinking he hasn't changed at all (a conversation earlier in the movie implied that their relationship originally failed due to Dave's immaturity).

The chipmunks realize that Dave is mad at them and feel guilty; they then get an idea and leave the house. Meanwhile, Dave, completely exasperated with the three, puts together a box with waffles, a plastic water bottle, a blanket, and holes in the lid. He begins to write a letter of apology that their living arrangement is not working out. However, he changes his mind, crumples the letter up, and tosses it on the floor, where it rolls under his bed. Realizing that the chipmunks have left the house, he begins to search for them. Eventually, he gives up and goes to sleep. It is then shown that the chipmunks have taken a cab to Ian's mansion. After singing Dave's Christmas song, Ian is impressed and responds, "Welcome to Jett Records."

The next day at the supermarket, while Dave and the chipmunks are shopping, The Chipmunks' song plays on the store radio to Dave's amazement. Dave gets a call for Ian, who gleefully tells Dave that The Chipmunks' song--as well as their video on YouTube--is a hit (10,000,000 views within the first night). A montage follows, showing The Chipmunks' increasing fame. During the montage, Dave cuts up his old sweaters and gives the chipmunks their trademark clothing. Alvin gets a red hoodie with a hat (only seen in the movie twice, however) and a yellow A on it. Simon has a blue one and Theodore has a green one.

On Christmas Eve, Theodore tells Dave that he had a nightmare and that he wants to sleep with him. Although Dave tells Theodore that he can only if he stays on the other side of the bed; Theodore curls up on Dave's shoulder and Dave doesn't have the heart to make him leave. The next morning, Alvin and Simon wake up Dave and Theodore and they exchange gifts. Simon gets Dave a paper clip compass that he made, Alvin gets Dave his own wallet, and Theodore gives Dave a moving card with Pineapple-like images of the four as a family. Dave is firm that they are friends and nothing more, however, the chipmunks continue to insist that Dave is their family. Dave gets the chipmunks each a $100 savings bond, which they can spend in seven years, much to Alvin's displeasure. Ian bursts in (in his Santa Claus hat and carrying a bag stuffed with presents) and gives the chipmunks lots of gifts, leading them to calling him Uncle Ian and making Dave's practical gift look bad by comparison.

One week later, Ian throws a launch party for The Chipmunks' new CD. At the party, The Chipmunks perform (where they sing "Witch Doctor"), and Ian insists to Dave that they should market the boys more to make more money. Concerned for their well-being, Dave insists that The Chipmunks are "kids" and don't need so much craziness in their lives. After warning Dave that he "never loses," Ian tells the chipmunks that Dave is holding them back and calls them "rats" behind their backs. The next day, Dave and the chipmunks have an argument; in anger, Dave tells them that if they like "Uncle Ian" so much, they should just go live with him. That night, Theodore discovers the letter Dave wrote following the dinner disaster. The chipmunks believe that Dave meant what he said to them earlier and, saddened, decide to leave Dave and go live with Ian.

Although their life with Ian starts off great (they arrive at his mansion to a room full of expensive toys and the declaration is that the only rule is that there are no rules), after they set out for their coast-to-coast tour, Ian begins to change their image completely and overwork them to the point of exhaustion. A concerned Dave calls and asks to speak to them; Ian refuses, saying that they're too busy. When he gets off the phone with Dave, he lies to the chipmunks, telling them that Dave said that he was doing great without them. After informing the chipmunks that he sent Dave a ticket to their concert and Dave sent it back, Ian privately tells his head of security to not allow Dave into the concert for any reason.

Later, Dave sees Jillian Reynolds on the news, who talks about the rumors that The Chipmunks are being overworked, however, Ian has assured the press that the boys are doing just fine. Reynolds also talks about how The Chipmunks are about to set out on their global tour, starting with a concert in Los Angeles. Dave realizes that he has to put a stop to this, and sets out to get the chipmunks back.

Right before the concert is supposed to begin, a doctor says that the chipmunks can't sing because their voices have given out. Ian doesn't want to hand out refunds and orders the chipmunks to lip sync (which Simon calls "cheating"). Dave attempts to get into the concert and is helped by Claire, who provides him with her press pass. The Chipmunks begin their performance, and as Dave makes his way to the stage, he is grabbed by security. As he's being dragged away, Dave yells for Alvin. The chipmunks see Dave being taken away and realize they've been tricked; they decide that they've had enough of Ian, reveal that they were lip-syncing, and run amok, ruining the concert. Dave escapes and makes it backstage, after a scuffle with security, Ian traps the chipmunks and locks them in a cat-carrier. Dave insists to Ian that since the chipmunks ruined the concert, word will soon get out, and their popularity will decline. Ian however, remains unfazed by this, stating that because they are talking chipmunks, people will still come.

The detained chipmunks are left with Ian's luggage, next to a pile of talking Chipmunk dolls, while Ian quickly gets ready to board the plane to take the chipmunks to Paris for their next concert. Alvin tells Simon to use his brain to think of a way out. Minutes later, Ian grabs the cat carrier, hops into his chauffeured car, and starts to drive off. Dave sets after him, determined to rescue the trio. However, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore stand up on the front passenger seat of his car and egg him on. Dave stops the car after realizing that the real chipmunks are with him; Simon explains, "We're talking chipmunks, Dave. We can get out of a cat carrier. Not even hard to do it..." After admitting that they really are a family, the four drive home, by Dave letting Alvin steer, Theodore honk the horn, and Simon operate the window wipers. Later on, Ian looks into the carrier and is shocked to find three talking Chipmunk dolls instead of the real chipmunks.

Later, Claire comes over, and Dave and the Chipmunks have prepared toaster waffles and champagne. Alvin tries to get the cork out of the champagne bottle, but when he succeeds, the cork flies into a glass china set, and all the liquid pours out of the bottle. Dave's patience is tested as he tries his best not to "say it". The spilled champagne then damages the power outlet, causing a blackout. Dave decides to "say it", and lets out his trademark yell "AAAALLLLVIIIIINNNNN!!" Alvin responds with "Okay!"

During the closing credits, a hopeless Ian is seen attempting to teach three squirrels to sing, but the squirrels do not respond, and Ian drops his head down as the credits continue.