David "Dave" Seville is a fictional character, the adoptive father and producer and manager of the fictional singing group ''

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

''. The character was created by Ross Bagdasarian, who had used the name "David Seville" as his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

prior to the creation of the Chipmunks, while writing and recording novelty records in the 1950s. One of the records, recorded in 1958 under the David Seville stage name, was "

Witch Doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor), or witchcraft doctor, is a kind of magical healer who treats ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is often misunderstood, and they could more accurately be called "anti-witch doctors ...

", featuring a sped-up high-pitched vocal technique. Bagdasarian would later use that technique in " The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", which would introduce both Alvin and the Chipmunks as a singing group and Bagdasarian's

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

"Dave". Bagdasarian would go on to create '' The Alvin Show'', based on the Alvin and the Chipmunks group, where he voiced the semi-fictional character David Seville, based largely on himself, with Alvin based on Ross's sometimes rebellious son Adam. Ross Bagdasarian Jr. took over ownership Bagdasarian Productions when his father died in 1972. He reprised the David Seville character, first in a series of novelty albums beginning with 1980's '' Chipmunk Punk''. Bagdasarian Jr. subsequently assumed the role on the TV series ''

'', which ran in original episodes from 1983 to 1990. Bagdasarian Jr. has voiced David Seville in all official animated and recorded incarnations of David Seville since taking over for his father in the 1970s, including TV series, animated specials, and

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

productions. He most recently voiced the character in the 2015 TV show version of the ''Alvin and the Chipmunks'' television series. Actor Jason Lee also portrays David Seville in the live-action films, ''

'' (2007), '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel'' (2009), '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked'' (2011) and '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip'' (2015) which use a combination of live-action acting and

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...

. While Ross Bagdasarian Jr. does not do any voices for the film series, the films are all produced in association with Bagdasarian Productions, which owns the rights to all of the characters.

Portrayed by

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links