''Is it...silent?'' ''Well, there's a percussion track''

#991; The Chipmunks, and What Came After

  — December 23rd, 2013

[ Tags: , , , ]       Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/991/

It wasn’t until my mid-twenties that I realized the Chipmunks (which I had always known as cartoon characters from my childhood) were actually, as pop-cultural entities, much older — dating back to their eponymous novelty Christmas record in 1958 or, arguably, the “Witch Doctor” song all the way back in 1952. There was a short-lived cartoon in 1961, but the Saturday-morning cartoon that I and people of my generation are most familiar with didn’t come around until more than 20 years later (1982-1990).

The audio trick that creator Ross Bagdasarian used to create the sound of the Chipmunks’ voices was so simple, and the resulting songs so popular in the late 50s and early 60s, that I figured they must have spawned some knockoffs. Sure enough — enjoy the squeaky sounds of:

The Nutty Squirrels (singing “Uh Oh”)
The Grasshoppers (singing “Shortnin’ Bread”) (More info)
The Three Happy Crickets (“We Wish You a Merry Christmas”)
Woody Woodchuck’s Christmas Sing Song (info only)
Sing Along with the Busy Beavers (album download)
BONUS LINK: The Happy Hamsters sing “Ghostbustin'”, a few decades later. Full album here.

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Bolted! BACK TO LIFE on Kickstarter

November 25, 2025 by David Malki !

While my card game Bolted! is being prepped at the factory, there’s a little window of time here for an additional round of pre-orders!

If you missed the first round of preorders earlier this year, Bolted! is available again for a limited time. Reserve your copy now:

Bolted! on Kickstarter

I spent a ton of time on the promo video and I had a lot of fun! I hope you like it.

A couple of things worth highlighting:

  • Want this to be a holiday gift? The game won’t ship to backers until the spring, but all backers WILL get a downloadable certificate that you can wrap as a present, if you like!
  • I’ll be doing livestreams all month long, playing the game with some of my creative friends! The first one already happened – with Ryan North, Gillian Goerz, and Pat Race – and you can watch it here:

Upcoming scheduled livestreams include:

  • Wed Nov 26 • 5:15pm Pacific • Good As Hell Block Already happened!
    🐈‍⬛ Sara McHenry (Your McHenries, Hey Pais)
    🐎 Tom McHenry (Your McHenries, Horse Master)
    ⚙️ Jess Fink (Chester 5000 XYV)
    🍄 Eric Colossal (Rutabega the Adventure Chef)
    ↪ Watch the replay!
     
  • Mon Dec 1 • 12:15pm Pacific • Sickos Block
    🐶 KC Green (Gunshow, Greatures)
    ✒️ Mattie Lubchansky (Boys Weekend, Simplicity)
    💧Tom Harrison (Anime Sickos)
    ↪ Add event to your calendar
     
  • Wed Dec 3 • 12:15pm Pacific • Webcomics Weekly Block
    🐤 Dave Kellett (Sheldon, Drive)
    😈 Brad Guigar (Evil Inc, The Webcomics Handbook)
    📺 Kris Straub (Chainsawsuit, Local58)
    ↪ Add event to your calendar

All livestreams will be at: twitch.tv/davidmalki

More are still TBD! I’ll be posting schedule updates on Bluesky!

If you have backed any of my previous Kickstarter projects, be sure to send me a DM and I’ll include a bonus card with your pledge for free!

(If you backed Bolted! on BackerKit earlier this year, the same offer applies! We should already have your details on file from that one!)


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