''Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel'' is a 2009 American

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

jukebox musical A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known popular music songs, rather than original music. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while others confine themselves to songs perf ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Betty Thomas Betty Thomas (born Betty Lucille Nienhauser; July 21, 1948) is an American actress, director, and producer. She is known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Sergeant Lucy Bates on the television series '' Hill Street Blues''. As of March 2018, T ...

, written by

Jon Vitti Jon Vitti is an American writer best known for his work on the television series ''The Simpsons''. He has also written for ''King of the Hill'', ''The Critic'' and ''The Office'', and has served as a screenwriter or consultant for several animate ...

, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and produced by

Janice Karman Janice Felice Karman is an American actress, producer, writer, and director. She is the co-owner of Bagdasarian Productions with her husband Ross Bagdasarian Jr. Early life Karman was born in Los Angeles, California. Her father was psycholo ...

and Ross Bagdasarian Jr.. The second installment in its live-action film series and the sequel to '' Alvin and the Chipmunks'' (2007), the film stars

Zachary Levi Zachary Levi Pugh ( ; born September 29, 1980) is an American actor. He received critical acclaim for starring as Chuck Bartowski in the series '' Chuck'', and as the title character in '' Shazam!'' and its 2023 sequel, as a part of the DC Ex ...

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix si ...

and

Jason Lee Jason Lee may refer to: Entertainment *Jason Lee (actor) (born 1970), American film and TV actor and former professional skateboarder *Jason Scott Lee (born 1966), Asian American film actor * Jaxon Lee (Jason Christopher Lee, born 1968), American v ...

Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), '' Accepted'' (2006), ''Idiocracy'' (2 ...

Matthew Gray Gubler Matthew Gray Gubler (, ; born March 9, 1980) is an American actor, filmmaker, fashion model, painter, illustrator, director, and author. He is best known for his role as criminal profiler Dr. Spencer Reid in the CBS television show ''Criminal M ...

and

Jesse McCartney Jesse McCartney (born April 9, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He achieved fame in the late 1990s on the daytime drama ''All My Children'' as JR Chandler. He later joined boy band Dream Street, and eventually branched out into a solo m ...

return as the Chipmunks from the previous film.

Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy tro ...

Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris (; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her work in comedic roles, particularly the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has appeared in a number ...

and

Christina Applegate Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971) is an American actress. As a child actress, she gained recognition for starring as Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997). Applegate established a successful film a ...

voice the new characters, the

Chipettes The Chipettes are a group of three female anthropomorphic chipmunk singers: Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor who first appeared on the cartoon series '' Alvin and the Chipmunks'' in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as f ...

. The film sees the Chipmunks entering high school and being under the care of Dave Seville's cousin, Toby, while Ian Hawke recruits the Chipettes to restore his career. ''Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel'' was distributed by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

, and produced by

Fox 2000 Pictures Fox 2000 Pictures was an American film production company within The Walt Disney Studios. It was a sister studio of the larger film studio 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures specializing in producing independent films in mid-range re ...

Regency Enterprises Regency Enterprises (commonly referred to as Regency onscreen and copyrighting as Regency Entertainment (USA), Inc. in the U.S. and Monarchy Enterprises S.á.r.l. overseas) is an American entertainment company formed by Arnon Milchan. It was foun ...

and

Bagdasarian Productions Bagdasarian Productions (also credited as Bagdasarian Company) is an American production company founded by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (also known as David Seville) on February 20, 1961. The company holds the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks and rela ...

. It was released in theaters on December 23, 2009 by 20th Century Fox to generally negative reviews from critics, grossing $443.1 million on a $70 million budget. Two sequels were later released: '' Chipwrecked ''in 2011 and '' The Road Chip ''in 2015.

Plot

David Seville is seriously injured when a cardboard cutout of Alvin sends him flying across the stage during a charity benefit concert in Paris,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. While he recuperates in a French hospital, Dave asks his aunt, Jackie, to look after

the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three ...

, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. Arrangements are also made for them to attend West Eastman High School. After Jackie also has an accident at the airport, the Chipmunks are left in the care of Toby, Jackie's grandson and Dave's cousin. Former JETT Records chief executive Ian Hawke, who is broke and destitute, lives in the company’s basement. Three singing female chipmunks, Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor, a.k.a. the

, emerge from a FedEx package. Ian recruits the Chipettes to resurrect his career. While at school, two jealous jocks ridicule the Chipmunks and chase them around, flushing Simon's head in a toilet and poking at Theodore's backside. The Chipmunks are summoned to the principal's office after attacking the jocks. The principal, Dr. Rubin, who is a fan who saw them in Denver, Colorado, enlists their help to raise money for the school's music program by participating in a contest. Ian is shocked to find the Chipmunks on the front page of his newspaper. After he reads a story about them representing the school, he quickly enrolls the Chipettes at the same school. When the Chipmunks meet the Chipettes, both groups are smitten with each other. However, Brittany reminds the girls that Ian said the Chipmunks betrayed him and are untrustworthy. Alvin and the boys struggle to make it through a rehearsal because of their new crushes. Ian smugly walks in and introduces his new stars, the Chipettes. The boys are shocked to see the girls working with Ian, and a rivalry emerges when Ian convinces Dr. Rubin to let the Chipettes compete in the Battle of the Bands. Rubin sets up a concert for the two groups to compete to represent the school. Alvin becomes popular with the jocks and joins the football team, not realizing that the next game is during the concert. At the concert, Theodore and Simon tell the fans that Alvin failed to show up, and they cannot perform, leading to a victory for the Chipettes. Alvin arrives after the concert to an empty auditorium, and Brittany calls him out for his lack of responsibility. Alvin returns home and unsuccessfully tries apologizing to his brothers. Theodore runs away to the

Los Angeles Zoo The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens is a zoo founded in 1966 and located in Los Angeles, California. The city of Los Angeles owns the entire zoo, its land and facilities, and the animals. Animal care, grounds maintenance, construction, ed ...

the next day. Alvin and Simon save him from a

wedge-tailed eagle The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

, and the three make it out alive. Soon, the Chipettes are hired but learn they are to perform as an opening act for a Britney Spears concert on the same night as the school contest. Ian convinces them to call off the battle and perform at the concert, but refuses to give the same credit to Jeanette and Eleanor that he gives Brittany, who demands that they all perform together or not at all, until Ian threatens to send them to a barbecue restaurant unless they perform. Before the Battle of the Bands, Alvin receives a panicked phone call from the Chipettes, who tell him that Ian has locked them in a cage. Alvin races off to rescue them while Simon tells Jeanette how to pick the lock over the phone. Simon and Theodore are on the verge of going out to perform just by themselves until the others arrive just in time to perform at the contest. The Chipmunks and the Chipettes perform together for the first time and win the money for the music program. Dave, who had left the hospital upon learning that Toby was looking after the Chipmunks, returns during the contest, happy to see the Chipmunks again, and allows the Chipettes to stay with them. Meanwhile, Ian sets up for the girls when he attempts to imitate the Chipettes, only for the security guards to throw him out of the arena and in a dumpster.

Cast

Live-action cast

as Toby Seville *

as Ian Hawke *

as David "Dave" Seville *

Wendie Malick Wendie Malick (born December 13, 1950) is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles in various television comedies. She starred as Judith Tupper Stone in the HBO sitcom '' Dream On'', and as Nina Van Horn in the NBC si ...

as Dr. Rubin * Anjelah Johnson as Julie Ortega * Kevin G. Schmidt as Ryan Edwards * Chris Warren, Jr. as Xander *

Bridgit Mendler Bridgit Claire Mendler (born December 18, 1992) is an American singer and actress. In 2004, she began her career in the animated Indian film '' The Legend of Buddha'', later starring in the films ''Alice Upside Down'' (2007), ''The Clique'' (200 ...

as Becca Kingston *

Alexandra Shipp Alexandra Ruth Shipp is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence for portraying singer Aaliyah in the Lifetime television film '' Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B'' (2014) and Kimberly Woodruff in the Oscar-nominated film '' Straight ...

as Valentina * Aimee Carrero as Emily * Brando Eaton as Jeremy Smith *

Kathryn Joosten Kathryn Joosten (born Kathryn Rausch; December 20, 1939 – June 2, 2012) was an American actress. Her best known roles include Dolores Landingham on NBC's ''The West Wing'' from 1999 to 2002 and Karen McCluskey on ABC's '' Desperate Housewives ...

as Aunt Jackie Seville

Voice cast

as Alvin Seville (voice) ** Ross Bagdasarian Jr. as Alvin Seville (singing voice) *

as Brittany (voice) **

as Brittany (singing voice) *

as Simon Seville (voice) ** Steve Vining as Simon Seville (singing voice) *

as Jeanette (voice) ** Janice Karman as Jeanette (singing voice) *

as Theodore Seville (voice) ** Janice Karman as Theodore Seville (singing voice) *

as Eleanor (voice) ** Janice Karman as Eleanor (singing voice)

Cameos

Jake Zyrus Jake Zyrus (formerly known under the mononym Charice; born 10 May 1992) is a Filipino singer and television personality. In 2007, after some appearances on Philippine television, Zyrus sang on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', and the followin ...

as himself * Honor Society as themselves *

Quest Crew Quest Crew is an American hip-hop dance crew from Los Angeles, California who were declared winners of the third season of ''America's Best Dance Crew''. They made their first few appearances individually on shows like ''So You Think You Can D ...

as Li'l Rosero Dancers *

Eric Bauza Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian-American voice actor and comedian. His most-known roles include Stimpy on '' Ren and Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'', Foop on '' The Fairly OddParents'' and its reboot '' Fairly Odder'', Thunderbol ...

as Digger (voice) *

Sean Astin Sean Patrick Astin (né Duke; February 25, 1971) is an American actor. His acting roles include Samwise Gamgee in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003), Mikey Walsh in ''The Goonies'' (1985), Daniel Ruettiger in '' Rudy'' (1993), Dou ...

Meerkat Manor ''Meerkat Manor'' is a British television programme produced by Oxford Scientific Films that premiered in September 2005. Originally broadcast on Animal Planet International for four series, until its cancellation in August 2008, the program ...

Narrator (voice)

Production

Originally, Dave Seville was written to have a larger role in the film, but it was reduced due to

’s filming schedule for the fourth and final season of ''

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Ja ...

''. During preproduction of ''Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel'' in 2008, most of his scenes were rewritten, with much of Lee's role being replaced with

’s character, Toby Seville.

Reception

Box office

On its opening Wednesday, the film opened to #1 with $18.8 million and finished the weekend at #3 behind Fox's own ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

'' and Warner Bros' '' Sherlock Holmes'' with $48.9 million and a $75.6 million 5-day total, eclipsing its budget in only 5 days. In the US, its the 9th highest-grossing film of 2009, and on March 7, 2010, it out-grossed its predecessor to become the second highest-grossing film to never hit #1 behind ''

My Big Fat Greek Wedding ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Joel Zwick and written by Nia Vardalos, who also stars in the film as Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos, a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with White Anglo-Sax ...

''. ''The Squeakquel'' ended its run with $219.6 million in the US and $223.5 million overseas for a total of $443.1 million worldwide.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 20% based on reviews from 84 critics and an average rating of 3.88/10. The site's consensus is that, "This ''Squeakquel'' may entertain the kiddies, but it's low on energy and heavily reliant on slapstick humor." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, it has a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 41 out of 100 based on 20 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A on scale of A+ to F. Owen Gleiberman of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' graded the film a C-, asking, "Will kids eat up this cutely fractious claptrap? Of course they will. They'll eat up whatever you put in front of them. But that doesn't make ''The Squeakquel'' good for them." Sue Robinson from '' Radio Times'' said that "even if there's little here for older viewers to enjoy, youngsters will love the slapstick action and catchy soundtrack."

Joe Leydon Joseph Patrick Michael Leydon (born August 22, 1952) is an American film critic and historian. A critic and correspondent for ''Variety'' since 1990, he is the author of ''Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See'' (Michael Wiese Prod ...

, writing for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', called it "a frenetic but undeniably funny follow-up that offers twice the number of singing-and-dancing rodents in another seamless blend of CGI and live-action elements." Betsy Sharkey of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' commented on Betty Thomas' direction, saying that she brings "a light campy touch as she did in 1995's ''

The Brady Bunch Movie ''The Brady Bunch Movie'' is a 1995 American comedy film that parodies the 1969–1974 television series ''The Brady Bunch''. The film was directed by Betty Thomas, with a screenplay by Laurice Elehwany, Rick Copp, and Bonnie and Terry Turner, an ...

''." After the film had garnered $112 million worldwide at the box office over its first weekend, some critics were disappointed that it was more popular than other movies in wide release aimed at a family audience. Richard Corliss of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' wrote that families "could have taken the cherubs to ''

The Princess and the Frog ''The Princess and the Frog'' is a 2009 American animated musical fantasy romantic comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 49th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the ...

'' or ''

Disney's A Christmas Carol The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

'', worthy efforts that, together, took in only about a fifth of the Chipmunks' revenue in the same period".

Accolades

2010 Kids' Choice Awards The 23rd Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards was held on March 27, 2010, on the Nell and John Wooden Court of Pauley Pavilion, on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California with Kevin James as host. With the launch of Nickelodeon Canada ...

: Favorite Movie (winner) * ''2010 BAFTA Children's Awards'': BAFTA Kids' Vote - Feature Film (winner)

Soundtrack

''Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' is the soundtrack based on the film. It was released on December 1, 2009. Bands Honor Society and Queensberry, along with Filipino singer

Charice Jake Zyrus (formerly known under the mononym Charice; born 10 May 1992) is a Filipino singer and television personality. In 2007, after some appearances on Philippine television, Zyrus sang on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', and the followin ...

, were all featured artists for both the movie and soundtrack.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Marketing

Video game

''Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel'' is a video game based on the movie. It was released on December 1, 2009 (the same day as the movie's soundtrack) for the Wii and Nintendo DS.

Home media

''Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel'' was released on DVD/Blu-ray/digital copy on March 30, 2010 in North America, on April 12, 2010 in the United Kingdom and on June 2, 2010 in Australia.

Sequels

Shortly after the film's release on DVD and Blu-ray,

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

and

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

had announced that ''Alvin and the Chipmunks 3D'' was scheduled to be released on December 16, 2011. The title was then changed to '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked''. On January 22, 2011,

started production on the film during a Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Dream ship. Filming took place primarily on the ship's upper, open decks with scenes featuring actor Jason Lee (reprising his role as David Seville) and the antics of The Chipmunks in the Carnival Dream's outdoor recreation areas. Stops on the itinerary included

Cozumel Cozumel (; yua, Kùutsmil) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucat� ...

, Roatan,

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

and

Costa Maya Costa Maya is a small tourist region in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, the only state bounded by the Caribbean Sea to its east. This municipality is close to Chetumal (capital of the state) on the border ...

(which provided tropical backdrops for many of the film's shipboard scenes). A fourth film, '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip'', was released on December 18, 2015.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Alvin and the Chipmunks films 2009 films 2009 soundtrack albums 2000s musical comedy films 20th Century Fox films American fantasy films American musical comedy films American sequel films American films with live action and animation Dune Entertainment films Films directed by Betty Thomas Live-action films based on animated series Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Paris Films set in Mexico City Films shot in California Films shot in France Films shot in Mexico Regency Enterprises films Films scored by David Newman Films with screenplays by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger 2009 comedy films Films produced by Ross Bagdasarian Jr. Films produced by Janice Karman 2000s English-language films 2000s American films