Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.

Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.
Born Ross Dickran Bagdasarian
(1949-10-25) October 25, 1949
Fresno, California, United States
Residence Montecito, California.
Nationality American
Citizenship United States
Occupation Actor, filmmaker, musician, film producer
Years active 1978–present
Employer Bagdasarian Productions
Chipmunk Records
Known for President of Bagdasarian Productions and Chipmunk Records
Son of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
Television See full List below
Spouse(s) Janice Karman (m. 1979)
Children 2
Parent(s) Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (1919–72)
Armen Bagdasarian (née Kulhanjian)

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

Early life

Ross, Jr. was born in Fresno, California, the son of Armenuhi (née Kulhanjian) and Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. He is of Armenian descent. As a child, Ross, Jr. worked with his father on The Alvin Show by helping edit and coordinate the soundtracks and falsetto voice-overs of The Chipmunks.

Career

Bagdasarian went to law school[3] but after his father's death in 1972,[3] succeeded him as the President of Bagdasarian Productions, which had fallen into obscurity after significant success between 1958 and the late 1960s. His wife Janice Karman, whom he married in 1979, is co-president. Bagdasarian and Karman have two children and live in Montecito, California.

Under Ross, Jr.'s supervision, new Chipmunks records were created shortly after his marriage to Karman, including Chipmunk Punk. In 1981, the Chipmunks returned to television in the cartoon special A Chipmunk Christmas. Three 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. Ross, Jr. voices Alvin, Simon, and Dave Seville, and Karman voices Theodore and The Chipettes (Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor).

Ross, Jr. 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, Ross, Jr. bought the Chipmunk rights from brother Adam and a sister (a stay-at-home mother), to take complete control.[3]

Universal Pictures lawsuit

Ross, Jr. 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 Ross, Jr.[4] The case was decided in Ross, Jr.'s favor. "For us, it was a custody battle", Karman said. "They finally realized 'OK, these two are really fighting for their kids'."[3]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Producer Writer Actor Role Notes
1987 The Chipmunk Adventure YesYesYesAlvin
Simon
Dave Seville
1999 Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein YesNo YesDirect-to-video
2000 Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman YesNoYes
2005 Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks YesNo Yes
2007 Alvin and the Chipmunks YesYesYesAlvin & Simon (singing voice)
Songwriter
2009 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel YesNo YesSinging Voice
2011 Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked YesNo Yes
2015 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip YesNo Yes

Television

Year Title Producer Writer Actor Role Notes
1981 A Chipmunk Christmas YesYesYesAlvin
Simon
Dave Seville
TV movie
1983–1990 Alvin and the Chipmunks YesYesYes TV series
1984 I Love the Chipmunks Valentine Special YesYesYesTV movie
1985 A Chipmunk Reunion YesYesYes
1990 Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue NoNoYes Alvin
Simon
TV short
Rockin' Through the Decades YesYesYesAlvin
Simon
Dave Seville
TV movie
1994 Alvin and the Chipmunks: Trick or Treason YesYesYes
A Chipmunk Celebration YesYesYes
1995 The Easter Chipmunk YesYesYes
2015–present ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks YesYesYesAlvin
Simon
Dave Seville
TV series

References

  1. Keates, Nancy (September 9, 2011). "Luxury Real Estate: The House Built by 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  2. o (December 21, 2007). "Chipmunks legacy is a family affair - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Pearson, Ryan (December 14, 2007). "The Chipmunks have a very close family". The Providence Journal. Associated Press. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  4. "'Chipmunks' Creators Sue Universal". New York Times. September 14, 2000. Retrieved March 11, 2014.

External links

Business positions
Preceded by
Ross Bagdasarian, Sr
President of Bagdasarian Productions
1978 – Present
Succeeded by
N/A
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 01, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.