Chuck E. Cheese Phases Out Animatronic Band

Catch the farewell tour while you can, because the end of a mozzarella-topped era is upon us. Perennial kid-centric pizza palace Chuck E. Cheese is scuttling its infamously famous animatronic animal band in favor of a complete brand overhaul and new look, which means you’ll soon have to leave some of your childhood’s uncanniest (yet awesomest) memories forever in the past.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/chuck-e-cheese-animatronic-band-is-breaking-up

 

Hope the animatronic band doesn't get too miffed about retirement..

 

I had no idea that Chuck E. Cheese was still around.

 

They finally realized even 8 year olds thought they were f***ing stupid?

When I was a kid and it came out I didn’t see it as a restaurant, I saw it as a ball pit and arcade.

Then I realized places like Discovery Zone and Kids In Space exist that did the things so liked about it but way better and lost interest in Chuck E Cheese.

 

I just remembered, I left my favorite jacket at a Chuck E Cheese when I was 9. A red nylon jacket.

 

Ninjaed.

I came in to say that I thought Chuck-E-Cheese has phased itself out.

The only one that I know of closed recently.

 

I still don't get the name. Why would I want to chuck cheese, let alone chuck E cheese?

 

What the fuck is going on here ?

 

Let me guess, someone decided they were culturally insensitive....to robots?

 

I had no idea there were people who thought that. Though I'd admit people don't seem to make a big deal out of them compared to in the 80s.

 

Never been to one, but as I often have the TV tuned to Cartoon Network, commercials for the franchise restaurant are constantly aired, so I knew it still existed. However, I can't recall the last time a promo showed the animatronic band, so it could have been gone for years without my knowledge.

 

Is Nolan Bushnell behind this overhaul? It'll be interesting to see what replaces it.

Like the Atari 2600, Nolan's cheese palace did have a positive effect on so many kids' lives. The Atari brand and IP got sold time and again and became something quite different (and now is just any old name) but Chuck is still the bona fide original. Until now. Unless he's behind it.

This revamp, with Chuck as a human stuffed inside a rat costume and disco dancing with partiers much in the same way as the people looking at the camera in the video below (and you know what they're thinking, like the one at 1:59, "Why did I choose this week to get visible!"), just doesn't seem to be anything quite the same... it's like swapping labels at the grocery store - replacing "vanilla frosting" with "cellulose sawdust".


(It helps to pretend that the mascot is a big rat and not a big goose... or to really be there in 1976...)

 

I think someone decided they were really, really stupid and pointless, even to young children.

 

Reminds me of the Showbiz Pizza Place I used to love as a kid. They also had an animatronic band, called the "Rock-A-Fire Explosion". I remember the bandleader was a gorilla in a tuxedo.

 

And I’d imagine the upkeep was costly. I remember that they always seemed to be in need of repair and cleaning.

 

The history of the competition between Showbiz Pizza and Chuck E Cheese is a great story. Short version is Chuck E Cheese Sued Showbiz for infringement and won, but then then Chuck E Cheese went Bankrupt, Showbiz Pizza bought them and then Showbiz rebranded itself as Chuck E Cheese.

 

I remember going to Chuck E. Cheese's a couple times when I was little. They had these towers you could climb up into a UFO-looking thing and look out at the whole play area. I don't remember the animatronic band at all. It seems like something that would have freaked me out. I distinctly remember not liking the pizza.

Kor

 

The band would have been where you ate pizza. There should have been at least a wall draped in curtains.