# Alvin And The Chip....People? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** cartoons-animation\ **Created:** [November 20, 2020, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079 "2020-11-20T22:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/1 "2020-11-20T22:58:22Z")
The redesigned “Alvin And The Chipmunks” are off-putting. They look half human, like rejects from the Island of Dr. Moreau. Human hands and feet look weird on them. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtJ5ErUazXs) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/2 "2020-11-20T23:09:12Z")
Yikes. Forget about the hands and feet, the tails on what are now basically human children are extremely creepy. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/3 "2020-11-20T23:10:35Z")
I would never recognized them as The Chipmunks. They look like human kids with tails. Kind of like [The Littles.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Littles) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/4 "2020-11-20T23:11:55Z")
If all you had was a close-up of “Alvin’s” face, would you be able to guess who he was? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/5 "2020-11-20T23:12:50Z")
Yeech. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/6 "2020-11-21T03:12:11Z")
They’ve been re-running this on one of the kids channels and I’ve decided that this show has to be one of the worst shows for kids ever made. Seriously if this show is supposed to help kids learn positive life lessons they failed miserably. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/7 "2020-11-21T03:14:34Z")
If you think this is bad watch the Alvin animated cartoon that introduces the Chipettes. Talk about uncanny valley. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/8 "2020-11-21T09:42:21Z")
Yet somehow those Chipettes had a good-sized fandom, judging by all the Rule 34 stuff I skimmed past in a Usenet group. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/9 "2020-11-21T14:14:10Z")
A brown stripe on the nose does not a rodent make. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/10 "2020-11-21T14:20:40Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > They’ve been re-running this on one of the kids channels and I’ve decided that this show has to be one of the worst shows for kids ever made. Seriously if this show is supposed to help kids learn positive life lessons they failed miserably. > [@furryman](#): > > If you think this is bad watch the Alvin animated cartoon that introduces the Chipettes. Talk about uncanny valley. Should I/we be concerned about someone with your username having these interests? 😉 IOW, great username / post combos both of them. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/11 "2020-11-21T15:31:00Z")
I’m still dealing with the fallout from when someone linked to a video which slowed down an old Chipmunks song, revealing…several male troubadours singing in (normal) harmony. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/12 "2020-11-21T15:32:49Z")
This is madness. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/13 "2020-11-21T16:48:01Z")
😕 how in fuck are those chipmunks? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/14 "2020-11-21T17:47:20Z")
but it will get you a job on the Presidents legal team! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/15 "2020-11-21T19:11:01Z")
This is actually a well-known trope, where animated characters subtly become more human over time. Best exeplified by Arthur the Aardvark, [who completely lost his snout](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jEp5OsWgLZ4/T4JibkICD8I/AAAAAAAAGF0/ERzCnP-kAno/s1600/Arthur%2BEvolution.jpg). [Won’t display here directly for some odd reason] Happened to Garfield too of course. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/16 "2020-11-21T19:23:48Z")
Wait, Arthur is an _aardvark_? I always thought he was supposed to be a mouse! ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/17 "2020-11-21T20:29:50Z")
No. Just no. I’m ok with the “cuter” Arthur characters. It’s fun seeing the look on the face of a kid the first time they see the first couple of Arthur books, though. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2020, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/18 "2020-11-22T09:40:13Z")
I guess I’m the only one who doesn’t think they look any more human than they did in the cartoon. I remember the outcry when they made them look more like real chipmunks in the movie. I guess it’s the hair not being flesh colored? Other than that, they have the same mostly human face but with the chipmunk nose, just like the 1980s cartoon. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9d/6d/4e/9d6d4e27fe34c206a75cbc9b30d50c29.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9d/6d/4e/9d6d4e27fe34c206a75cbc9b30d50c29.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/19 "2020-11-22T13:58:01Z")
The cartoon picture you posted also has smaller ears and bigger cheeks, dark noses, and brownish faces. At least, for the three main (male) characters: Even then, the Chipettes looked a lot more human than the boys. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079/20 "2020-11-22T14:18:28Z")
I agree with @Chronos, but also you posted a still of hand-drawn animation. The OP is a still of CGI. Hand-drawn animation, for me and I suspect for the vast majority of people, rarely if ever enters the uncanny valley. It’s stylized. It’s probably possible to get uncanny valley effects for photorealistic hand drawn art, but not for the kind of Saturday morning cartoon art in your example. CGI, on the other hand, frequently plummets deep into the uncanny valley, and the OP’s example is pretty far down there for me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alvin-and-the-chip-people/926079.md?page=2)