The 1983 series is a follow-up to the original 1961–1962 series The Alvin Show, and it introduced the Chipettes, three female Chipmunk counterparts, along with their caretaker Miss Beatrice Miller, who joined the cast in 1986.

The show changed its production company and name multiple times over its run: it began as Alvin and the Chipmunks under Ruby-Spears Enterprises in 1983, became simply The Chipmunks under DIC Enterprises in 1988, and was finally renamed The Chipmunks Go to the Movies for its eighth and final season in 1990, with each episode spoofing a Hollywood film like Back to the Future or King Kong.

Simon Seville wore black glasses with white lenses only during season 1, matching his original look from the 1960s Alvin Show; starting season 2 his glasses became blue with clear lenses, though the original black-glasses design remained in the intro and title cards through season 5.

An episode dealing with the death of the Chipmunks' pet kitten Cookie Chomper III, who was hit by a car, was refused by most NBC stations due to its subject matter, although it was still released on VHS in the United Kingdom.

In 1990, the Chipmunks appeared alongside other famous cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Michelangelo, and Garfield in the drug-abuse-prevention television special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

Telepictures began distributing the series in syndication in June 1985 for a reported $30 million, with rights purchased at a record $385,000 per half-hour episode.

The 65-episode syndication package, produced to meet the standard syndication length, included all 52 Ruby-Spears episodes plus 11 additional episodes specially produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson to round out the count, and these episodes were time-compressed or trimmed to allow more commercial time.

During the show's fifth season in 1987, the Chipmunks' first animated feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure, was released theatrically by The Samuel Goldwyn Company, directed by Janice Karman.