#chipmunkmania

[chipmunkmania1958]

despite whats going on with their yt thumbnails im so relieved to hear they're against using AI.. it seems like things are a lot more complicated than we initially thought and I feel like this is a good opportunity to be patient with everything thats going on 😅 needless to say im so happy to hear the news about the stuff theyre working on! especially when it comes to releasing songs/content

The problem that I have with the whole YouTube channel thing is the fact that when I bought it up, they didn't believe me. Michael insisted it was just human error. It's obviously not and it's clear the Bagsasarians aren't able to see that. That terrifies me because it means BigShot can essentially do whatever they want with the brand and the Bagsasarians would be none the wiser.

Not being believed has also discouraged me from speaking up about it again. I kept my cool with Michael and went along with what he had to say. But I haven't spoken to him since. I probably won't unless he starts a conversation himself. It's clear my efforts will be wasted. The brand is being fed into AI and there isn't a single thing I can do about it.

While I trust the Bagsasarians themselves won't use AI, I do NOT trust BigShot. Those thumbnails are atrocious and everyone in this fandom was able to pick up on it instantly. But the fact that fans were told they were wrong when alerting the Bagsasarians to them really does frustrate me. It really does give the impression that they only fixed Golden because it was too obvious to ignore.

There's also the issue of media releases. Michael specifically stated the reason there haven't been any is because of budget. And he also said that part of the reason they partnered with BigShot is to get their help with releasing media. Part of me doesn't want to sabotage the partnership because it may be the only chance we get to have songs and other media released officially. Since BP keeps attacking my channel, this is essential to us as a community. It's a real tricky situation.

[chipmunkmania1958]

You achieved every AATC fan’s dream: meeting a Badgasarian. I salute you for that.

I'm not the only fan he's talked to. Michael is really really chill and has talked to many fans in the past. Some of those fans still have his contact info and so were able to reach out about the whole AI situation. I just don't want to go around sharing his personal instagram account because I don't want him to get bombarded with dozens of messages from fans all at once. I'll take it from here.

I decided to take matters into my own hands since I already run all the news sharing and stuff for this fandom. So might as well cut out the middle man and talk to Michael directly. That way nothing gets left out or misinterpreted.

This started because another fan got a message from him and reached out to me to spread the news. That was where the message from Ross and Janice came from. I didn't find out until a little later on that they weren't the only person who heard from him about this. Munk Media reached out and got the same message.

I'm actually talking to Michael on my personal instagram account because I lost the login info for the ChipmunkMania one lmao. At some point i do intend to plead for my case here with this project and try to convince them to let it coexist with their own youtube channel. They need to know how much fans rely on ChipmunkMania to share old, obscure content.

[chipmunkmania1958]

So. Let's talk about this.

I know this looks... concerning. And it certainly is. But I need to remind everyone to please stay calm and not make assumptions about the situation. We saw where that got us last time.

So what's going on with this? I'm not sure. But I highly doubt Michael is lying to us. From what he's told me, it doesn't seem like the Bagsasarians themselves are involved with managing things like the YouTube channel. It's very likely none of them are even aware of this, just like with Golden. But I will let Michael know.

I've been busy as a bee doing damage control on this whole situation and I am just one person, so I need a little patience here. You're right to be concerned and you're right to be upset. But please don't go spreading assumptions around. Let me handle things and I will relay information as soon as I can.

I've always dreamed of being the link between the fandom and the Bagsasarians, but that dream comes with a lot of responsibility. I need to proceed with caution or I might ruin the opportunity for ANY of us to have a link with them. Michael hasn't even seen the last response I sent to him, he's probably very busy. I don't want to overwhelm him and push him away by constantly nagging, so I'm going to take this slowly.

[chipmunkmania1958]

Bit of a late update. I've been chatting with Michael on Instagram while also doing damage control on the whole reboot situation. Here's what I know about Golden.

Michael was working on a completely different project at the time and wasn't involved with Golden at all. Not even a little bit. He hadn't even SEEN the image until I bought it up. So he had no definite answer on what happened with it.

His response to seeing it for the first time was "I hate it haha"

He explained that multiple projects were being worked on at the same time when Golden was made and released. So it's likely that it was sent off to a third party who was the one responsible for the AI generated image. Ross and Janice were completely unaware.

He also said they do plan to re-release it with a different image. Likely something from ALVINNN.

The original announcement post for Golden has been removed from the Instagram page (Not sure about the YouTube and Facebook posts)

With that we can safely say that they've listened to our concerns and are taking action to fix the issue!

[chipmunkmania1958]

HUGE UPDATE ON THE NEW AATC REBOOT!!!

Michael Bagdasarian (son of Ross and Janice) has reached out to fans on Instagram to explain the situation and confirm that there will be ABSOLUTELY NO AI used in the upcoming Alvin and the Chipmunks reboot.

In his message he states the following:

"There's some Alvin updates and I wanted to send you a message Ross and Janice wanted to send out:

Long overdue message, but we've been squirreling away working on creating projects and opportunities for chipmunk fans. Janice has been working on multiple stories, but we wanted to quickly write you to say that we're very excited to announce that we've partnered with a company that can help us create a direct link to our fans.

They will be focusing on sharing our stories and programs in a way that's accessible to you all.

We can't wait to start delivering our old and new chipmunk projects along with official merchandise you all have asked for and more opportunities for fan engagement. Exciting chipmunk opportunities lay ahead. Thank you so much for your patience.

All of our gratitude,

Ross and Janice."

He also went on to say:

"Alvin is not going to be an influencer, and we are not using AI. That version of Alvin isn't an official final look [and] the video [posted] today was meant to let people know that the "headshot" is not how Alvin is going to look."

Munk Media also reached out to Michael and got more information about the situation. They've posted a video on it.

In his messages to Munk Media he states:

"I have a strong refusal to use any AI unless forced to via Google search or Meta AI."

"I'm really happy to report that that image is not the Alvin used in the reboot but was more of a promotional/announcement image."

He also explains how they've been working with dozens of artists and animators on this project, and that much of it is still in very early production.

We still have no answers on what happened with "Golden" but I decided to reach out to him myself (on my personal account) to both thank him and see if he has an explanation. If he responds to me, I'll share the news here. For now I just want to say. Please don't go hunting him down. He was kind enough to talk to the fans he already had contact with but I don't want dozens of fan accounts spamming him with questions. We'll find out information when they're ready to give it to us.

But anyway, we can rest easy and look forward to new AATC content!!!

[chipmunkmania1958]

What do you think about the whole new Alvin and The Chipmunks coming in 2028 because i'm at a loss for words...

I just made a post on this actually. But long story short, I'm pissed.

[chipmunkmania1958]

Let's talk about the current AI situation.

So, as you may be aware, there was a recent announcement about the future of the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise.

In this article, it's announced that there will be a new, digital only reboot of AATC including short form social media content and a full theatrical film. The film, backed by Sony, is slated to come out in late 2028. Which will be right around the 70th anniversary.

All of this SHOULD be good news to us, but unfortunately we can't have nice things. Bagdasarian Productions made a deal with Big Shot Pictures, giving them a 25% stake in the franchise. Big Shot Pictures will be in charge of the short form social media content. This company exclusively uses generative AI to make its content...

So basically, it's gotten even worse than the Golden situation and this franchise is essentially going to become an AI slop factory. This is DEVASTATING news and I couldn't be more disappointed in Bagdasarian Productions. It's clear now that they learned literally nothing.

As for ChipmunkMania, I'm not going anywhere. You'll have to kill me and drag my dead body through the door. I'm just NOT going to be engaging in the AI generated content. If it's made with AI, it WILL NOT be posted on any of the ChipmunkMania platforms. I wont even acknowledge it. I will, however, continue archiving and preserving the already existing media.

If there's another case like Golden, where a genuine cover made by actual people is released, I will archive that music. I just will separate it from the AI content like I did with Golden.

There isn't much info to go off of as of right now. No content has been made yet, and it's not entirely sure when things will start rolling out. But I'll be keeping an eye on it and continuing to share news when I get it.

In the meantime, I encourage anyone who can to send BP letters expressing their concerns about this situation. They clearly didn't read our comments last time, and we have to make our voices heard.

Their address is

1192 East Mountain Dr., Montecito California 91308

[chipmunkmania1958]

I'm going to start uploading songs again soon. But I do want to tread carefully. Albums have just been randomly popping up on streaming, so it's really starting to look like they might actually be doing their jobs for once. As of June 2026 the following albums have been released on all music streaming platforms The Chipmunks Sing with Children The Very Best of the Chipmunks Rockin' Through the Decades

Chipmunks In Low Places and Undeniable are also available on Pandora radio.

While these albums aren't available for purchase, which would be the ideal situation, the fact that they're on streaming at all is definitely a step in the right direction. Rockin' Through the Decades especially is an anomaly here. None of the 90s albums have ever been re-released in any form.

If they did in fact nuke the old channel so they could start releasing songs themselves, that would be the best case scenario. But with how things usually go with this franchise, it's really hard to tell what's going on. If it was just the 60s gen albums I wouldn't even bat an eye. Those getting put on streaming is nothing new. Almost all of them are there already. But the later albums? That's intriguing.

When I upload album songs specifically, they will be unlisted. But I'll have them in playlists that can be accessed. Any albums that get released officially will NOT be uploaded and will instead have the official uploads organized into playlists. Episode cut songs will be public unless I see them getting attacked. Time will tell with those.

I appreciate everyone's patience while I deal with all this.