From the moment the music listening public heard the squeaky voices of Alvin, Simon and Theodore on "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)," a cultural phenomenon was born. What started as a silly goof-off track by singer/songwriter Ross Bagdasarian became a national hit song that eventually gave birth to a series of albums, television shows and movies.

Bagdasarian is better known to the public as David Seville, the fictional recording artist who happens to be the Chipmunks' parental guardian. In the ‘50s, Bagdasarian was recording under the name of David Seville, and discovered a novel in-studio trick-Speeding up the vocal tracks to make them sound high-pitched. In 1958, he released "Witch Doctor," which became a minor hit. Shortly thereafter, he released the well-known Christmas song that introduced the world to the Chipmunks. It skyrocketed to the top of the charts and stayed put for four solid weeks. Subsequent singles, like "Alvin's Harmonica," were also successful.

Having proved their appeal, the Chipmunks (aka Bagdasarian) began issuing more albums. Besides the landmark Christmas with the Chipmunks, there was an album of covers of famous songs from movies (The Chipmunks at the Movies) and an album filled with Beatles covers (The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles Hits). A Saturday morning cartoon show proved very popular in the ‘60s, and was resuscitated in the ‘80s, introducing a whole new audience of children to the Chipmunks and their antics.

After the passing of Ross Bagdasarian, his son, Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., provided the voices of the three Chipmunks. They appeared in the 1990 anti-drug campaign movie Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, and have subsequently appeared in direct-to-video releases and the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks.

No matter how much time passes, children and adults still seem to love the Chipmunks- brainy Simon, the shy but voracious Theodore, and Alvin with his mischief.