David Seville

David "Dave" Seville is a fictional character, the producer and manager of the fictional singing group Alvin and the Chipmunks. The character was created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. Bagdasarian had used the name "David Seville" as his stage name prior to the creation of the Chipmunks, while writing and recording novelty records in the 1950s. One of the records, recorded under the David Seville stage name, was "Witch Doctor", featuring a sped-up high-pitched vocal technique that Bagdasarian would later use in "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", which would introduce both Alvin and the Chipmunks as a singing group and Bagdasarian's music producer "Dave". Bagdasarian would go on to create The Alvin Show, based on the Alvin and the Chipmunks group, where he voiced the fictional character David Seville.

Bagdasarian Sr. died in 1972, and his son Ross Bagdasarian Jr. took over ownership of Bagdasarian Productions. He reprised the David Seville character, first in a series of novelty albums beginning with 1980's Chipmunk Punk and later on the TV series Alvin and the Chipmunks, which ran in original episodes from 1983–1990. Bagdasarian Jr. has voiced David Seville in all official animated and recorded incarnations of David Seville since taking over for his father in the 1970s, including TV series, animated specials, and direct-to-video productions. He most recently voiced the character in the 2015 reboot of the Alvin and the Chipmunks television show.

Actor Jason Lee also portrays David Seville in a series of films about Alvin and the Chipmunks which uses a combination of live-action acting and computer animation. While Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. does not do any voices for the film series, the films are all produced in association with Bagdasarian Productions, which owns the rights to all of the characters.

Portrayed by

• Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (1950s–72) (recordings until 1972 and The Alvin Show)
• Ross Bagdasarian Jr. (1979–present) (recordings since 1972, Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983 TV series) and Alvin and the Chipmunks (2015 TV series))
• Jason Lee (films series only) (2007–present)

Filmography

Films

see Alvin and the Chipmunks (film series) made by Fox 2000 Pictures production with Bagdasarian Company and Regency Enterprises Distributed by 20th Century Fox. New film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (release date December 18, 2015 U.S and UK on February 12, 2016).

Television

See also

• Alvin and the Chipmunks § Main characters
• Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. § Discography (without the Chipmunks)