Page 21 - Old School Gamer Magazine Issue #42 FREE Edition

For kids today, singing animatronics are a staple of the horror video game genre, with
Five Nights at Freddy’s raking in millions of dollars and launching a movie series. For the older crowd, however, they’re a nostalgic, yet sometimes off-putting memory of birthdays past. The most iconic of all animatronics were the Chuck
E. Cheese Munch’s Make Believe Band and Showbiz Pizza Place’s Rock-afire Explosion bands, mascot characters for each brand that would mime singing and playing instruments. Something that is now seen as spooky and menacing was once an essential piece of atmosphere that made two kid- focused pizza places a major part
of the childhoods of hundreds of thousands of people.
The histories of Chuck E Cheese and Showbiz Pizza are intertwined, as one wouldn’t exist without the other. Nolan Bushnell, also known as one of the creators of the mainstream gaming console and the founder of Atari, had the idea for a kid-focused food and gaming establishment
since the '70s, with Warner purchasing the concept from him when they bought Atari in 1976. With Warner’s blessing, Bushnell opened the first Chuck E. Cheese location, even though Warner was originally hesitant to do so.
Parallel to these events, a man named Aaron Fechter was experimenting with pistons and animatronics in Orlando, Florida. Originally, he wanted to create a fuel-efficient car to offset the oil crisis at the time, founding his company Creative Engineering as a manufacturing business. While the car experiments didn’t go
very far, a commission to create an animatronic made him realize that his passion was in moving mascot characters. He had many ideas and would shift focus even if it wasn’t immediately financially viable. In the documentary The Rock-afire Explosion, Fechter
said, “Some people say I’m a puppeteer, some people say I’m unemployed, but really what I
am is an inventor.” Fechter set
out to create a full animatronic band, and in 1978 he debuted The Wolf Pack 5, five fully automated machines that emulated a touring music group. Creative Engineering became well-known in the field quickly after the showcase at an event held by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, with Fechter and Creative Engineering becoming a well-known name in the industry.
The original Chuck E. Cheese location, opened in 1977, was a massive boon to Bushnell. Not only did it bring video games to kids, they were his company’s
games. Atari arcade machines
were the focus of Chuck E. Cheese, so Bushnell and Warner would
be directly profiting from each machine, instead of worrying about licensing. Pizza was used as the food of choice for the establishment, as it was quick and easy to make, kids weren’t picky about its quality, and it didn’t take long to eat, so the children could get back to spending money on the games after refueling with some cheesy goodness.
Kids would be entertained by half- body animatronics called The Pizza Players, a gaggle of characters headlined by the eponymous Chuck E. Cheese, a rat with a New York accent who would snark at the other characters. The original crew were Chuck, a banjo-playing dog named Jasper T. Jowls, an Italian chef named Pasqually, chicken vocalist Helen Henny, Crusty the Cat, and a backup group called the Warblettes. New characters were added over time, such as a disco singing skunk Sally Sashay and Mr. Munch, a purple monster who became a main
ROBOTIC REMEMBRANCE
THE HISTORY OF SINGING ANIMATRONICS AND PIZZA ARCADES
By John Michonski
SEPTEMBER 2024 • WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
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SEPTEMBER 2024 • WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
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