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Ross Bagdasarian Jr.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ross Bagdasarian Jr.
Born
Ross Dickran Bagdasarian

76 (October 25, 1949)
Fresno, California, U.S.
Other nameRoss Bagdasarian
Occupations
  • Animator
  • filmmaker
  • voice actor
Years active1973–present
Employers
TelevisionSee full List below
Title
  • President of Bagdasarian Productions and Chipmunk Records
  • Founder of PettuniaMedia
Spouse
​
(m. 1980)​
Children2
FatherRoss Bagdasarian
Relatives

Ross Dickran Bagdasarian (born October 25, 1949) is an American animator, filmmaker, and voice actor, known for his work on the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise. He is the son of the franchise's creator, Ross Bagdasarian.[1][2]

Early life

[edit]

Bagdasarian was born in Fresno, California in October 25, 1949,[3] the son of Armenian-American parents Armenuhi Bagdasarian (née Kulhanjian) and Ross Bagdasarian (1919–1972). As a child, he worked with his father on The Alvin Show by helping edit and coordinate the soundtracks and falsetto voice-overs of the Chipmunks.

Career

[edit]

Bagdasarian graduated from law school.[4] He succeeded his father[4] as president of Bagdasarian Productions in 1972 after the death of the elder Bagdasarian. The company had fallen into obscurity after significant success between 1958 and the late 1960s. Bagdasarian was also admitted to the California bar as an attorney in 1975.[5]

Under Bagdasarian's supervision, new Chipmunks records were created shortly after his marriage to Janice Karman, including Chipmunk Punk. In 1981, the Chipmunks returned to television in the cartoon special A Chipmunk Christmas. Two years later, Ruby-Spears Productions' Alvin and the Chipmunks Saturday morning cartoon series debuted on NBC. Based on that series, a feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure was released in 1987. Bagdasarian voices Alvin, Simon, and Dave Seville, and Karman voices Theodore and the Chipettes (Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor).

Bagdasarian and Karman hold tight creative and financial control over the Chipmunk franchise, reviewing each and every business contract in great detail. In the mid-90s, Bagdasarian bought out his brother's and sister's portions of the Chipmunk rights, to take complete control of the franchise.[4]

Universal Pictures lawsuit

[edit]

Bagdasarian licensed the rights to the Chipmunk characters to Universal Pictures in 1996, resulting in a string of Universal-produced direct-to-video films. Four years later, he and Karman sued them for breach of contract, claiming that Universal failed to properly utilize, market, and merchandise the characters and hence resulting in a loss of royalties to Bagdasarian.[6] The case was decided in Bagdasarian's favor. "For us, it was a custody battle", Karman said. "They finally realized 'OK, these two are really fighting for their kids'."[4]

Personal life

[edit]

Bagdasarian married Janice Karman in 1980. She is the co-president of Bagdasarian Productions.[7]

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Main article: Alvin and the Chipmunks in film
Year Title Producer Writer Actor Role Notes
1987 The Chipmunk Adventure Yes Yes Yes Alvin Seville
Simon Seville
Theodore Seville
David Seville
1999 Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein Yes No Yes Direct-to-video
2000 Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman Yes No Yes
2004 Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks Yes No Yes
2007 Alvin and the Chipmunks Yes No Yes Alvin Seville (singing voice)
 Songwriter
2009 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Yes No Yes Singing Voice
2011 Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked Yes No Yes
2015 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip Yes No Yes

Television

[edit]
Year Title Producer Writer Actor Role Notes
1981 A Chipmunk Christmas Yes Yes Yes Alvin Seville
Simon Seville
Theodore Seville
Dave Seville		 TV film
1983–1990 Alvin and the Chipmunks Yes Yes Yes TV series
1984 I Love the Chipmunks Valentine Special Yes Yes Yes TV film
1985 A Chipmunk Reunion Yes Yes Yes
1990 Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue No No Yes Alvin Seville
Simon Seville
Theodore Seville		 TV short
Rockin' Through the Decades Yes Yes Yes Alvin Seville
Simon Seville
Theodore Seville
Dave Seville		 TV film
1994 Alvin and the Chipmunks: Trick or Treason Yes Yes Yes
A Chipmunk Celebration Yes Yes Yes
1995 The Easter Chipmunk Yes Yes Yes
2015–2023 Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks Yes No Yes TV series

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Keates, Nancy (September 9, 2011). "Luxury Real Estate: The House Built by 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  2. ^ o (December 21, 2007). "Chipmunks legacy is a family affair". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  3. ^ "Squeak of Success". people.com.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Pearson, Ryan (December 14, 2007). "The Chipmunks have a very close family". The Providence Journal. Associated Press. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  5. ^ "Ross Bagdasarian # 65100 - Attorney Licensee Search".
  6. ^ "'Chipmunks' Creators Sue Universal". The New York Times. September 14, 2000. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  7. ^ "The Chipmunks: Ross Bagdasarian Jr. & Janice Karman". NPR.org.
[edit]
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