Many years ago, our family faced a major crisis. My little granddaughter fell in love with a rodent named Alvin and insisted she would marry him when she grew up. Now, when Marie sees Alvin and the Chipmunks, a new animated/live action film about these cartoon icons, she’ll probably laugh while remembering her childhood obsession. But I doubt if she’ll be surprised at how popular the mischievous singing trio remains with the younger set. Unfortunately, this movie relies too much on its human actors, who are no match for Alvin, Simon and Theodore.           

My husband and I had more fun watching and listening to the little ones in the audience at the screening we attended than we did looking at the film. “Oh, that wasn’t a very good idea,” one 3-year-old yelled at Dave, played by Jason Lee, when -- out of frustration -- he prepares a box to place the chipmunks in after they’ve practically destroyed his house. “No, don’t do that!” chimed in another worried tot. Several little ones even cried whenever anything bad happened to their tiny heroes, and all of them giggled at the flatulence gags. Clearly, Alvin and the Chipmunks is a winner for this target audience.

However, many adults may find the story a bit too familiar. We’ve seen the search-for-family theme and parodies of the music business done a gazillion times before on film. Where’s the creativity here? Alvin, Simon and Theodore deserve more. After all, they’re singing and dancing their little hearts out for us. David Cross (Arrested Development), playing an evil music manager, spends most of his time on screen attempting a smarmy smile, and Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl), as the chipmunks’ reluctantly caring songwriter, simply shouts “Alviiiiiiin!” as many times as possible. The lame romance between Lee’s character and Claire (Cameron Richardson) doesn’t help either.

Still, who can resist those amusing musical numbers by Alvin and the Chipmunks? Cleverly staged, they’re the most entertaining part of the film. The lively chipmunks really move and groove, especially in the “Witch Doctor” sequence. No wonder they’ve earned a special place of honor in our popular culture.

Kudos to singer and songwriter Ross Bagdasarian for inventing Alvin, Simon and Theodore way back in the 1950s. That's over 50 years ago! And they’ll probably be around for many more years to come. But for their next film, how about something like The Best of Alvin and the Chipmunks, a movie featuring their performances only?

(Released by Fox 2000 Pictures and rated “PG” for some mild crude humor.)