How to explain the appeal of Alvin and the Chipmunks-the old ones, the ones who hit it big in 1958 with "Witch Doctor" and, more indelibly, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)"? Very simple: Helium voices. People think helium voices are funny. (Creator Ross Bagdasarian, who died in 1972, did all the voices, including Dave, the short-tempered father figure.) Also, Dave screaming out "Alvin!!!!" on cue-that was funny too, or at least "funny enough." Everyone was hollering in the '50s. Ralph Kramden. Lucy Ricardo. Little Richard. And Dave, with his "Alvin!!!!"

Enough sociology. The new film "Alvin and the Chipmunks," which goes in one eye and out the other, features a computer-animated Alvin, Simon and Theodore interacting with a human-ish world, the way Scooby-Doo has done in two films of his own, and the way Rocky & Bullwinkle did in "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle." Jason Lee plays struggling L.A. songwriter Dave Seville, who becomes manager of the singing sensations. In "Platoon" terms he's the good father figure; the evil one is a record company sleazeball (David Cross) who works the 'munks so hard, tabloid rumors of burnout proliferate.

So it's one of those Hip, Now updates, albeit with jokes riffing on pop-cult artifacts that are already Then. I mean: "Jerry Maguire"? Moratorium!

Lee's very easy to take, which saves "Alvin and the Chipmunks" from itself. Also, it's relatively free of the usual aggression and jacked-up rhythms common to CGI comedies. Director Tim Hill ("Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties") keeps things pain-free for about 45 minutes. Then the film devolves into protracted, soundtrack-peddling concert sequences and uninspired backstage chicanery and the sight, and sound, of Alvin and company having their way with "Funky Town" and by the end ... well. Me, I just wanted a hula-hoop.