Those who can't get enough of the trio of singing, bushy-tailed rodents are in for a happy surprise: There is more of their warbling kind.

But for anyone over age 8, the arrival of "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" may not be the most welcome news.

The sequel to 2007's "Alvin and the Chipmunks" introduces a threesome of sassy female chipmunks. We know they're sassy and female because they sport ponytails and wear pink and are called the Chipettes. Not only can they sing as tunefully as Alvin, Theodore and Simon, they match up physically with each of the guys, too. There's even a nerdy, bespectacled Chipette.

Several comic actors lent their vocal chords for squeak-tweaking in the chipmunk parts. Justin Long, Jesse McCartney and Matthew Gray Gubler reprise their roles as Alvin, Theodore and Simon, while Amy Poehler, Christina Applegate and Anna Faris play Chipettes Eleanor, Brittany and Jeanette.

The Chipmunks' "dad," Dave Seville (Jason Lee), is not in the picture much this time around. He took a bad fall, thanks to the antics of Alvin, and is holed up in a hospital in Paris, where the singing chipmunks were performing. Everything is telegraphed for the very young or the very dense. The hospital sports a classic Parisian view of the Eiffel Tower.

Alvin and his brothers must go home to be looked after by their Aunt Jackie (Kathryn Joosten) during Dave's recuperation. But things take an unexpected turn. The singing furballs wind up in the care of distant cousin Toby, a video-game-loving twentysomething slacker (Zachary Levi). Accidents — usually involving tumbling down stairs — are a common hazard for the humans in the movie, as Dave and Aunt Jackie learn.

Shortly after Dave takes his bone-breaking tumble, his elderly aunt is inadvertently knocked down a long flight of stairs in her wheelchair.

Falling gags are unfunny enough, but the bathroom humor that follows is no improvement. A "Dutch Oven" gag is particularly silly and base. And the evil Ian (David Cross) is punished with an assault to his manhood for putting chipmunks in a cage and threatening to barbecue them — or is it for his arrogance and bad dancing?

The Chipmunks are sent to school for the first time, where they are stepped on, kicked and bullied, but drooled over by the creepy rabid fan of a principal (Wendy Malick). Apparently, they're teenage chipmunks, because they're placed in high school. Who knew? Alvin even makes the football team.

But little time seems to have been spent casting the humans and even less in providing essential acting guidance by director Betty Thomas.

In fact, it seems as if no professional actors were hired in the making of this motion picture.