- Charles Entertainment Cheese was likely born sometime
in the early 1970s in the northeast United States. We don't know exactly when
his date of birth was, in fact, nobody does. Because his parents passed
away when he was young and his earliest recorded history was when he was first moved into St. Marinara's
orphanage as an infant. Charles resented being an orphan because he never got to
celebrate his own birthday party. And to add insult to injury, there were so many kids at this orphanage that somebody's birthday was
being celebrated every week. Despite the bubbling depression building up under this forced smile, the caretakers at the
orphanage apparently refused to throw Charles a
celebration of any kind. It seems like it would've been easy to just pick the day that he
showed up at the orphanage and celebrate that, but I'm guessing that these people had a cruel prejudice against rats. In fact, he seems to be the only rat enrolled at the orphanage. Charles Entertainment, or
as he would become known by his contemporaries, Chuck E, was primarily interested in playing games and making music. In a tragic twist of fate, one of his favorite songs
was "Happy Birthday." He also had a third passion,
albeit a much less healthy one, a passion for pizza. In fact, it seems that this might have been
one of the only things that kept him going through the countless
birthday parties of others and cruel mistreatment by
the orphanage caretakers. But despite Charles' optimistic mindset during a bad situation in his youth, his later years would break him down as he would be hit with
bankruptcy, horrifying opponents, potential drug and gambling problems, public health conspiracies,
alleged predatory behavior, more bankruptcy and identity
scandal, and much, much more during his rise to power. - [Man] A powerful rat named
Charles Entertainment Cheese. - [Woman] Chuck E. Cheese is filing for bankruptcy protection. - [Man] Losing over 28
million last year alone. - [Man] The meth must be a hell of a drug. - There is something
wrong with Chuck E., guys. - [Man] They've reported losses
five of the last six years since the acquisition. - [Man] Vomit, disinfectant. - [Man] I got to experience it. I got to experience the truth. - So I have a theory that
I have wanted to talk about for a long time. - [Man] Vomit disinfectant. - [Woman] There is in fact a sex den in every Chuck E. Cheese. - That was like my first introduction to the sound that you hear at the casino. - [Man] He chuckled and responded, don't worry about that, bud, this job is off the books. - [Woman] Those are hand
prints on the window. ♪ You just found ♪ ♪ The Chuck E. Cheese ♪ (Chuck E. Cheese screams) (dramatic metal music) - Welcome to "Horror History." I am your professor, apparently a less
successful Macaulay Culkin. I mean, he is pretty successful. In today's lesson, I'll be analyzing the entire known history of big pizza's most infamous mascot. Sorry Papa, it's rodent season. - He has no pizza experience. - Chuck is most known as the
musically inclined mammal who serves as the figurehead
of CEC Entertainment's primary cash cow or... cash rat?
Chuck E. Cheese Restaurants. So come on down for some rat
pizza at our child casino and join me in covering the entire history of Charles Entertainment Cheese. To fully understand the
whiskered wheeler dealer, I'm gonna take it back to his childhood at St. Marinara's orphanage. (dramatic suspenseful music) Charles spent a lot of
time playing the game Pong and became very good at it. So he decided to test his
skills in a tournaments, where he won a trophy and $50 prize money. He used the money to pay for
a bus ticket to New York city. But it's not entirely clear to
me why a rat who at this time was smaller than the size of a pizza would need to pay to use the bus. He didn't really think
this trip through, I guess because he had nowhere to
stay when he got there. So he slept above a pizza kitchen because he was attracted to the smell. It was there that he discovered
Pasqually P Pieplate, an Italian pizza chef by
day and a drummer by night. Pasqually loved to listen
to music while he worked. So being an aspiring musician himself, Chuck E. felt right at home. That is until one
treacherous evening in 1977. After Pasqually went home for the night, Charles liked to come down
and explore the kitchen and making him very
similar to other media rats like Remy from Ratatouille
or Chef Marcel Toing from Ratatoing. (laughing) What are they doing? What is this, what is this? Only on this occasion, Pasqually
had not actually left yet and Charles was discovered. Mouse, screamed Pasqually, incorrectly identifying him. Pasqually grabbed a rolling pin and savagely chased Chuck E. around with the intention of murdering him. Eventually Chuck E. was cornered
and with no nowhere to go, he just accepted the ferocious blood bath that was about to ensue. To calm his nerves in his final moments, Chuck E. decided to sing
and Pasqually was so shocked that he dropped his rolling pin and said, "A mouse that can sing. My restaurant is a saved, I'm
going to make you a star." It's not entirely clear to
me if anthropomorphic rats are commonplace in the
Chuck E. Cheese canon, because nobody up to this
point seemed all that shocked by Charles living at an orphanage, winning a video game
tournament or paying bus fair. But I guess Pasqually just really thought this was something special. It's also worth noting that Mr. Cheese would eventually end up playing in a band with a performing dog, bird
and whatever this guy is. So take that as you will. But whatever the case may
be, dollar signs lit up in Pasqually's eyes. And the two brokered an agreement. Pasqually would let his
furry little intruder live in exchange for free labor. To prepare for the arrival
of the singing mouse, Pasqually changed the
name of his restaurant to Chuck E. Cheese's, home of the world's famous singing mouse which was inaccurate considering
he wasn't famous at all yet because the restaurant had yet to open and as I mentioned earlier,
Charles is clearly a rat. On opening night in May 1977, the place was packed as
Pasqually introduced Chuck E. Ladies and gentleman, please welcome a Chuck E. Cheese. (laughs) Okay dude, I can't anymore
with the Italian accent. However, when it was time to perform Chuck E. got stage fright. So the crowd just started booing because they saw this
rat sitting on a stool not doing anything. Understandably, they probably
wanted their money back and everyone just started leaving. And as they hit the streets, Charles just watched them out the window. That's when he noticed a
little boy in a birthday crown and almost instinctively
started singing happy birthday. At this time, the song was owned by the estate
of Mildred and Patty Hill. And Mildred just came outta
the shadows and just 360, choke slammed the little
Chuck E. with a lawsuit. Okay, that didn't happen. But what did happen was the kid ended up
having his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. And that's basically what
they became known for. However, much to Charles chagrin that would not become
all they became known for as the expansion of the chain led to the coverup of
a slew of dark secrets. (dramatic suspenseful music) (bright upbeat music) As Chuck E's restaurant
blew up in popularity, he would also blow up in size. Eventually becoming larger
than Pasqually himself, gaining a ton of weight and towering over his young restaurant patrons. I imagine his obsession with pizza contributed to his rapid obesification. But this major growth
spurt would not stop him from doing what he loved, making music. The popularity of Chuck E. and Pasqually's musical performances led them to expand this
part of the business by bringing in additional performers to form an in restaurant band. They would call themselves,
The Pizza Time Players. - Pizza time. - And the original lineup
consisted of Chuck E. on vocals, Pasqually seemingly also a vocalist. ♪ Halaa, you know I'm
here to make it a pizza ♪ A banjo playing hound,
dog named Jasper T Jowls and a feline named Crusty the Cat who didn't seem to have an instrument other than this baseball bat. He may have just been there to
intimidate audience members. There were also three backup vocalists known as the Warblettes, and the band was often joined
by a female guest performer. It was at this time that
Chuck E. took up smoking and it seems that being the front man or front rat of the band
gave him a considerable ego as he would often berate
his fellow band mates while performing on stage. - That's 'cause it's not
your birthday, nitwit. Geez folks, I gotta tell you it's a tough way to make a living sitting up here plugged
in to the same computer as that (beep) dog. - This verbal abuse may
have been part of the reason that Crusty left the band in November 1978 and was replaced by Mr. Munch, who can only be described as
a horrifying purple monster who played the keyboard. Like Chuck E., Mr. Munch loved pizza. And I think the two boned. (laughs) I accidentally wrote the two boned. Like Chuck E., Mr. Munch loved pizza and I think the two
bonded over this passion. They seemed to jive better
than Charles and Crusty did. Unfortunately it would
appear that Mr. Munch's love did not stop with pizza. ♪ You were 16 ♪ ♪ Not seven, but six ♪ ♪ My pizza queen ♪ ♪ Not the king but the queen ♪ Yike. In 1981, Pasqually went
public with the company. And a couple years later, Charles would find the
missing piece of the band that he'd been searching for. Helen Henny was one of the
previous guest musicians who cycled into the band in the late 70s. So they brought her on
full time to play guitar. I'm guessing Pasqually had
some kind of requirement for all of the other band members to be some kind of giant
talking animal or monster. He probably had more faith in the novelty of giant humanoid creatures
attracting customers than their actual musical ability. (disturbing scream) Yeah, I can see why. The lineup of Charles, Pasqually,
Jasper, Munch and Helen would become the core lineup
for years and years to come. There were other characters who filled small roles over the years, like a giant disco singing
skunk named Sally Sashay. A suggestive blues piano playing hippo named Dolly Dimples and my
personal favorite, Building, a high rise building who
provided backup vocals with a horrifying human mouth. The band thrived into the 1980s, but the company was not
just based on music. There was also an arcade, which is one of the main draws for kids because it allowed them to
partake in legal gambling. - Come on, come on, come on, come on. Ah, dang it. - To this day, I still don't understand why you have to be 21 years
old to gamble in a casino where you exchange money for chips that represent monetary value, but children of all ages
can gamble at an arcade like Chuck E. Cheese or Dave & Busters. Where you exchange money for tokens that represent monetary value. I guess the main difference
is that at a casino, you can cash your chips
back in for well, cash. And at Chuck E. Cheese's, you win tickets that can only be exchanged
for really sh**ty prizes except for the a disco ball,
that thing was awesome. - I got a blue monster. - But if the point of a gambling age is because gambling is recognized
as an addictive behavior akin to drugs or alcohol,
you're still gambling your money even if it is in the form of tokens. So if you're a kid, you're
still wiring your brain with that behavior. It would be like if they said it was okay for kids to drink alcohol, as long as they buy it with tokens. - Chuck E. Cheese, you
know the place where a kid could be a kid, the place with a giant rat
that loves pizza and beer. Imagine that, a kid-friendly
establishment serving beer. - But anyways, games were a
big part of Chuck E. Cheese's. And the 1980s saw gamers
migrating from the arcade into the living room, thanks to the popularity of home consoles like the Atari 2600 and the
Nintendo Entertainment System. - Zelda!! (native battle cry and pig squeal) - Which meant you could get
your hands on plenty of high, but mostly low quality titles without visiting Chuck E. Cheese, which was not good news for
this overgrown rat conglomerate. Chuck and Pasqually were forced to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy
on March 28th, 1984. With losses upward of $15 million. - He need the cash. - Hang in there, Howie. - [Zac] The rat was in a trap
and to make matters worse, they were feeling pressure
from their competitors. One Chuck E. Cheese imitator
known as Showbiz Pizza had their own band of disturbing
humanoid animal performers known as The Rock-a-fire Explosion. As the sound of the name would
imply, this band was heavier, buffer and holy sh*t, who the f*ck thought it would be a good idea for
these things to entertain five to 10 year old children? Chuck E. and the gang were about to be in for the fights of their lives. (dramatic suspenseful music) - [Tommy NC] I've been
looking at this honestly. So please tell me that
this is not frightening. It blinks, it talks, it's a robot. But tell me that's not frightening. It may be Chuck E. Cheese,
but that's frightening. - The early to mid 80s
were a very trying time for Charles and his band of misfits. At one point, they were in
such dire financial straits that Mr. Munch actually
resorted to eating trash, a haunting telltale
sign of things to come. (jazz music) After two difficult years following the great
video game crash of 1983, ShowBiz Pizza Time Incorporated made a deal to purchase Chuck
E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater in May of 1985. Lucky for Chuck E, he had made a name for himself
over the last eight years. And despite the failing company, was more of an icon than his
arch rival, Billy Bob Brockali, the front man for The Rockafire Explosion. So the business decision was made to make Charles the face
of the unified franchise. Now this is just speculation, but it seems like Chuck E.
might have been afraid of Billy and his goons, and it's not hard to understand why. We don't exactly know what
went on behind the scenes between these two bands but we do know that Chuck
E's life continued to spiral. It's speculated that
Charles became a victim of his own environment and
began to deal with drug and alcohol issues. It would appear that it got so bad that he lost control of his own band and Mr. Munch became the face of the act. In 1989, they rebranded to
Munch's Make Believe band. Not that make believe. It was also around this
time that Pasqually switched from playing the
accordion to the drums. Although it seems like he may have possibly also
been on drugs as well. (upbeat music) Over the next decade, Chuck E. Cheese did recover
from the financial strain, but this would not be without
new new problems arising. Look at this horrifying
birthday party footage from December of 1993. (suspenseful music) (group chattering) But in reality, the '90's and 2000s would be
some of Charles' peak years. This era is considered the
golden era of the company. And he even took up
skateboarding as a hobby and began to lose some weight. - It is extremely important to keep in the best physical
shape possible at all times. - You got that right. - I'm not just saying this because this was the era when I was of Chuck E. Cheese going age. Chuck was thriving, healthier than ever, and on top of everything, it seems like he was
having a lot of success with the ladies. - You can just ask him. ♪ Chuck yeah! ♪ - Oh yeah, this is also the time when he started using the
catchphrase, Chuck yeah. ♪ Chuck yeah ♪ - You the man. - His popularity was at an all time high and in 1999, he even starred in a movie. Even the title is a testament to how overzealous Charles was during this time. Many movies around the
turn of the millennium utilized the number 2000 in their title. Like "Pokemon 2000," Blues Brothers 2000," "Heavy Metal 2000," "Godzilla 2000," "Fantasia 2000" and "Dracula 2000." Charles Entertainment Cheese
was apparently not satisfied with simply one upping these titles, instead opting to call his movie, "Chuck E. Cheese in the Galaxy 5000." The movie begins with the gang meeting in an unnamed restaurant that is cleaner than any Chuck E. Cheese that I've ever seen. A kid named Charlie asked them for $50,000 to replace his aunt and
uncle's broken tractor. So they enter in an interplanetary race with hopes of winning the prize money. - [Announcer] "The Galaxy
5000" is an interplanetary race on the planet Orion. The race loops of the
crystal canyons region, ending back the Mach 7
gateway where the race begins. - Ooh, wow. - Apparently Pasqually
just has like a racing ship from the old days and
he just gives it to them to compete with. I don't know why they don't
just sell the space ship to get the $50,000, but whatever. - Wait a second guys. (sniffs) What's that smell? (all sniffing) (crying sniffle) (crying sniffle) (crying sniffle) (crying sniffle) (crying sniffle) (crying sniffle) (coughs) - I'm going to hell for that cut. So they all go to the race planet... other than Pasqually, the one
person with racing experience. And they meet these Hanz
and Franz wanna be's named Peter and Ivan, who
start hitting on Helen. - Hey look at the pretty chicky. - Yeah. Hey chicky, how would you
like to roost at our pad. - Some guy named Dr. Zoom saves Chuck E from getting his *** kicked and the gang meets
Pasquallys's old mechanic. - Me and him, we go way back. That's him in that picture there. (60s music) That is way back. - Okay. A groupie named Astrid comes up and starts hitting on
Chuck E. for some reason which basically makes Helen very jealous and causes Chuck E. to friend
zone her right then and there so he can score a date with Astrid after the first qualifier race. Helen is pretty upset though, and sings out her feelings that evening. (gentle music) ♪ My ♪ Yeah, don't care. The qualifier round begins, but Chuck E's vehicle doesn't start. So Jasper has to go for a
little emergency repair. (man screaming) (electricity sounds) They eventually get underway and immediately catch
up to the competition. Near the end of the race, Peter and Ivan kick it into Vega 2 and Chuck E. nearly crashes
the ship in a canyon pass. (all screams) - Look out. (screams) - He has to slow down to gain control and they end up coming in dead last. But I guess it's still somehow good enough to qualify for the final the next day. Helen shows up with the Austrian duo, but it's really just a ploy to discover the secret to their success. A substance called zoom gas, which improves your driving
skills if you inhale it, but it also makes you dumb. I can't help but wonder if
the writers of this movie created zoom gas as an
allegory for something. They kidnap her, planning
to turn her into zoom gas 'cause apparently the main
ingredient is chicken. Meanwhile, Chuck E. with a cave hermit who looks a lot like Pasqually and effectively fills the role of Yoda. (bright upbeat music) (dog barks) Peter and Ivan steal Astrid
because she's a shallow b**** and Helen breaks out of prison where she assaults Dr.
Zoom with a frying pan and lets all the chickens free, assuring that no zoom gas
will be extracted from them. Also none of them look like her. She's the only giant bipedal talking bird. The race arrives and Chuck
E. gets lost in a forest and has to kick into
Vega 3 speed to come back and win the race. (upbeat music) - No!!! - [Man] Chuck E. Cheese and the team from planet
Earth are the winners. - Nooo!!! (upbeat music) - And that's enough of that. If anyone wants to see me do
a Things You Missed episode on Chuck E. Cheese in the Galaxy 5000, I'm gonna need to see like 1000 retweets. The film ended up being pretty divisive if the Letterbox rating
is anything to go off of, but the movie was successful with kids and served as a part of
Charles' streak of success to cap off the 90's and take
him into the new millennium. While there may not
have been many scandals on the public record
during this time period, there is reason to believe that
Chuck E.'s actual experiences during this so-called golden age were not as clean as previously believed. (dramatic suspenseful music) Earlier in this lesson, I mentioned what appeared from the outside to be drug and gambling
addictions for Charles in the late '80s. And it's my impression
that these personal issues never went away, but rather that Chuck E and the ever expanding
corporation behind him got better at covering them up during the 90's and 2000s. However, there was one
invention in February of 2005, that would it impossible for a dirty rat to keep its dirty secrets. - Amber's here to show us one
of her favorite sites online that lets you upload
tag and share your video with the rest of the world
or just family and friends if you prefer. - Yes, the site's called
youtube.com and that's Y-O-U. - The world was about to
find out just what goes on at the center of greasy joysticks and bacteria ridden ball
pits like never before. (upbeat music) - [Man] Who's that? (woman screams) - David Levin detected
some metallic taste. He thought maybe that the tokens might have been stored in the same bin. I'm sure that's not the case. (upbeat music) (horror music) (dramatic suspenseful music) - Police say they
respond to more incidents at this Chuck E. Cheese
than any other business in the township. - Began throwing salt and pepper shakers, climbing on tables, pushing children, pushing other adults
from what I'm being told, it was just absolute chaos. - 26 Civil disturbances calls
at that Chuck E. Cheese. - [Man] Crime scene
investigators spent hours taking fingerprints while
customers were turned away. (dramatic suspenseful music) - [Man] You're Chuck E, ain't you? Oh, look at him. - [Woman] They were celebrating their two year old son's birthday when they were hauled out of
Chuck E. Cheese's in handcuffs. He says it all started
because of a long line at the photo booth. - [Man] Police released
this surveillance video from a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. - [Woman] These are live pictures
over the Chuck E. Cheese. (suspenseful music) - [Man] Being held on
charges of indecent exposure after two incidents at
the Chuck E. Cheese. - Aw, (child crying) all on tape too. (suspenseful music) One little girl's crushed hope, priceless. ♪ Chuck E., Chuck E ♪ - Seems like this could
have just been talked out, but instead it went outta control. - I don't wanna go to
Chuck E. Cheese no more. (suspenseful music) (horror music) - Tonight we take a look
at a disturbing phenomenon. - [Man] Type Chuck E. Cheese into YouTube and multiple fights unfold. - GET BACK OVER THERE! - We had about an 18 month period where we were there 17 times. - And the videos are lighting up YouTube. - [Man] They charged eight
people with disorderly conduct. - The three year old left all
alone when Chuck E. Cheese- (screams of agony) - [Woman] And they're here. - [Man] Oh no! - [Chuck E] Oh, yeah! - Entertainment center for
children is shutting down. - Argument between two women. One of them pulled out a handgun. - [Woman] A child actually found a baggie with a white substance. (scream) - [Woman] Birthday party
turned into a brawl. - The birthday boy's
grandmother was trampled. - [Woman] It was ugly and violent. - Birthday brawl at a Chuck E. (horror music and screams) (group chattering) - [Man] Anything that wasn't
bolted to the floor was used. - Two men arrested at Chuck E. (horror music) - [Woman] Gunfire, shattered window. (screams of agony) - Oh! (group chattering) - [Man] Several injured people here. - [Man] Slam dunk, go! - Slam dunk. - [Man] First taken the Chuck E. Cheese. (dramatic suspenseful music) (multiple news reports overlayed) (high pitched ringing) - [Zac] With each and every
misstep being magnified and going viral on the internet, Charles Entertainment
Cheese was feeling pressure from all directions and
retreated from the public eye replacing himself with a
younger, thinner mouse character hoping that kids would not notice that this was not the real Charles, much like what happened
to Jake from State Farm. But there was one YouTube scandal that would rise far, far above
any that had come before it. (musterious music) - Hi there, I just got an idea
how to make Chuck E. Cheese's better than ever: brand new pizza! Genius, if I do say so myself. - So I have a theory that
I have wanted to talk about for a long time. - [Zac] OG YouTube creator, Shane Dawson and known for his exaggerated
character portrayals in the early days of the site had pretty much moved on
from short films and vlogs to longer documentary style content. In 2018, Shane was one of
the most popular creators on the platform and seemed to have the
Internet's full attention whenever he released a new video. On February 11th 2019, Shane released the second in
his two-part Conspiracy Series, where he investigated a rumor that Chuck E. Cheese restaurants collect and re-use uneaten pizzas. The rumor derived from the appearance of
Chuck E. Cheese pizzas. Oftentimes the slices didn't
match up with their neighbors, were not the right size and sometimes didn't
even form a full pizza. Shane decided to go to a nearby restaurant to see for himself and he
was shocked to discover that his pizza was as disjointed as the ones he had seen on the internet. He tried to reverse
engineer the pie at home and came to the conclusion that his pizza was an amalgamation of multiple pizzas. - [Pasqually] Good luck. And remember the proof is in the crust. - [Man] That's a Chuck E.
Cheese pizza right there. Look at this. - Mystery still unsolved. - The uproar that this video
caused was unbelievable. This video was only the very beginning of the worst two years that
this northeast dwelling rodent would ever endure. (suspenseful music) (mysterious music) After the release of
Investigating Conspiracies with Shane Dawson, the topic immediately trended
on Twitter and YouTube with some of the biggest
creators on the site covering the topic. - Shane Dawson seemingly ruined
pizza for a lot of people so much so to the point
that Chuck E. Cheese even had to release a statement. - [Keemstar] Each pizza is handmade, which means the amount of
sauce and cheese and toppings might vary, but it still tastes great. - The real conspiracy is not the pizza. The real conspiracy theory is what the- (censor) is with these mascots? (woman laughing) - Even though this controversy
is about the pizza, which Charles Entertainment Cheese has literally no hand in the creation of despite the claims of
this Tampa Bay news group, people were still finding a way to drag the company's beloved mascot. Which again, had already
been replaced by this younger and more kid friendly mouse who is also instructed to
respond to the name Chuck E. I'm pretty sure the purpose
of this was to get Charles, who was getting older,
he was now approaching 50 away from the kids because
as you may have noticed, he was getting pretty
creepy as most people do when they age. - Change da world, my
final message, goodbye. (Windows 95 startup sound) - However, the new Chuck E, I'll just call him Chuck E. Jr. despite the fact that
he's clearly not related to our original Chuck E.,
who is a rat, not a mouse had only taken over
seven years prior in 2012 and was already starting
to take the mantle of deranged overgrown rodent. (suspenseful music) Oh my God, nothing says
comfortable eating establishment like those eyes just
surveying the restaurant for their next prey. Maybe if they had this in the restaurant from the demon child video, he would have actually
been scared into behaving. In addition to big channels
making videos about this topic, you also had an entire
industry of creators popping up overnight, where they would claim to be current or former Chuck E. Cheese employees and expose these so-called truth about the pizza controversy. I'm sure the fact that they
are all millennial women who look like they want
attention is a total coincidence. Shane Dawson really did a number on CEC Entertainment's bottom line, which I just realized that
the name of the company literally stands for Charles Entertainment
Cheese Entertainment. I'm like, why do you have to
have the word entertainment in there twice? There is one more thing
that I wanna highlight about the company's response. When I saw Shane's video, I assumed that they did combine
pizzas of different types, but it was probably all
done in the kitchen. They were not collecting
pizzas from the dining room and reheating them. So essentially if someone
orders half cheese, half pepperoni and another table orders half cheese, half mushroom, they might split one
full cheese pizza in half to use as the two cheese halves. If there are a lot of orders
going on at the same time during rush hour, this might be the most efficient way to serve as many fresh pizzas as possible. The same could be said
about singles slices. If a pizza consists of eight slices and seven people order a single slice, they could make use of
that last remaining slice by adding it to another
pizza before it goes bad. And there's nothing wrong with doing that. However in their response, they don't try to claim that at all. They just start going off about
how the pizzas are handmade and they're made in house
so they aren't uniform, which literally doesn't
address the main concerns that Shane brought up in his video at all. - Why are you the only pizza place that has non-uniform pizzas,
just doesn't really make sense. - Excellent point, Shira Lazar. Allegedly they also sent Shane
a cease and desist notice. And in true horror movie fashion, Shane even began to fear for his own life. - There's things about
this video that actually I have to worry about like getting killed. - Whoa, I guess maybe Pasqually
has some mafia connections. - That cash ought to be slashing my fund and kicks in my back. - MatPat in an episode of
his show, "Food Theory" did a big investigation
into Chuck E. Cheese Pizzas. (suspenseful music) - [Man] This isn't about the fact that Chuck E. Cheese pizzas
aren't perfectly round, it's that pizzas don't look cohesive like every other pizza in existence does. All you guys had to do was say, we do not recycle other consumers' pizza. And you didn't do that! - MatPat essentially did disprove the recycled pizzas theory by ordering Chuck E. Cheese pizzas during the COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 when in restaurant dining was closed and still getting disjointed pizzas. However, this could have been
4D chess by chef Pasqually. Maybe he was intentionally
making uneven pizzas during the pandemic to convince people that that's just how
their pizzas always look. MatPat talked to a
supposed current employee at Chuck E. Cheese who claimed that the blade that
they used to cut pizzas is essentially very dull because
Chuck E. Cheese employees couldn't be trusted with
sharp objects apparently. So they have to apply more force, which stretches out the pizza. He also claims that the
mismatched pepperoni slices probably just slipped under
the crust as a result of this. MatPat was satisfied with this conclusion. However, it doesn't answer
one of the mysteries from Shane's video. In the pizza that Shane received, one of the slices didn't go
all the way through the pizza as you would expect. So three years later, I still don't feel like we
have a satisfying answer to this mystery. After recovering from
bankruptcy in the '80s, Chuck E. came back and
survived an array of punches from various news outlets
and one big punch to the head from one of YouTube's biggest juggernauts. - [Woman] Are you serious? (crying) (scream) (distorted audio) - But the next big hit would
once again leave Charles and his gang of oversized animal musicians down for the count. - A dangerous virus is
spreading rapidly in China and US officials are very
worried that it could come here. - A Washington state resident fell ill after returning from Wuhan, China. - Breaking news tonight, the coronavirus forcing
millions more Americans into virtual lockdown. - [Man] It's eerily silent. (dramatic suspenseful music) (lo-fi chill music) - [Zac] In December 2019, a deadly viral outbreak
occurred in Wuhan, China and officials were unable
to contain its spread. By March 13th, 2020, the United States declared
a state of emergency. Restaurants and many
other indoor businesses were forced to close their doors. Some restaurants were able to get by, by switching their business
model to focus on delivery and curbside pickup. Pasqually and Chuck E. were not so lucky. Let's face it. Nobody was coming to Chuck E. Cheese's because they liked the food, it was always about the
games and entertainment. It was a good birthday party
of destination for kids dating back to that first rendition of "Happy Birthday" in 1977. But with in-person get togethers suddenly becoming a safety hazard, sending pizzas out was now
their only stream of revenue. And fresh off the heels of the recycled pizza conspiracy
theory the year before, nobody was rushing to their
delivery app of choice to order a Chuck E. Cheese pizza. The company was dying and Chuck
E, that is the real Chuck E. was still nowhere to be seen, with Chuck E. Jr still appearing in what limited advertisements
were running at the time. On June 25th, 2020, parent
company CEC Entertainment once again, filed for bankruptcy. The next day, the company
announced 34 restaurant closures, which was very upsetting
into its clientele. - [Man] What? - [Boy] It's closed. - Not fair! NOT FAIIRRR!! - At this point, the real Chuck E. has been out of the public eye for years, but he still had one thing to hold onto. The restaurant was still named after him. Many of the locations still
had his image on the sign. He had been dragged through an almost unbelievable amount of bad PR, but Chuck E. was still the
face of Chuck E. Cheese's. That would all change. The year 2020 saw the
fall of many, many things, including the permanent closure
of 17% of all restaurants but it also saw the
rise of ghost kitchens. What are ghost kitchens? In simplest terms, a ghost kitchen is a commercial kitchen that prepares meals for
a virtual restaurant and a virtual restaurant is a restaurant with no physical storefront. AKA it's delivery only. Thanks to the boom in app
based delivery services, ghost kitchens exploded
in the pandemic era. Most virtual kitchens pay
an existing restaurant to use their kitchen as a ghost kitchen, or share a physical ghost kitchen with other virtual restaurants. So restaurants most known for
their dining-in experience, whose sales were slumping during
this time of delivery only could serve as a ghost
kitchen for another brand. How does this all tie
into Chuck E. Cheese? Not too many people
looking to order a pizza are gonna go with Chuck E. Cheese. So Pasqually quietly
introduced a new brand and called it Pasqually's Pizza and Wings. Pasqually's offers Italian style fare, marketed more towards adults and used Chuck E. Cheese
restaurants as a ghost kitchen. Most adults probably
aren't going to recognize the name Pasqually from
their childhood days of watching him perform in
Munch's Make Believe Band or for the older adults, The Pizza Time Players. However, it wasn't supposed
to be a highly guarded secret. I mean, if you look at
the Pasqually's website, it clearly says, brought to
you by CEC Entertainment. You're just not gonna
see any mouse or rat logo associated with Pasqually's. Somehow this also turned
into a controversy, even though there's nothing morally wrong with them doing this. It's honestly just good
marketing and other chains like Hooters and Denny's are doing it too and nobody had a problem with that. Chuck E. Cheese actually had to release
a statement about it, where they said Pasqually's
Pizza and Wings recipes use fresh homemade pizza dough
just like Chuck E. Cheese, but it is a different pizza
that features a thicker crust, extra sauce and new blends
of cheeses and seasonings, giving consumers a more flavorful, more premium pizza experience. So over the past 43 years of Charles involvement with Pasqually. - [Pasqually] Were weren't
gay, just for you to know. He has as a girlfriend, okay? I don't want this to sound gay. Am I sounding gay? - Over the past 43 years of Charles involvement with Pasqually, he had gone from being the literal savior and new mascot and figurehead
of Pasqually's Pizza or as it would become
known: Chuck E. Cheese, to being removed from all
marketing and promotional material and the name Pasqually's
Pizza being brought back as the primary seller
for the parent company, because nobody wanted a pie associated with an overgrown rat unless child gambling
could somehow be involved. Is this the end of the once powerful rat known as Charles Entertainment Cheese? Has Chuck E's time in the
spotlight finally expired? Maybe. As more restaurants
still continue to reopen in 2021 and 2022 thanks to the rollout of COVID
19 vaccines for children, patrons have noticed something missing from many Chuck E. Cheese locations. The stage that once played
host to talented musicians like Helen Henny, Jasper Jowls,
Pasqually Pieplate, Mr.Munch and Chuck E. Cheese were now gone in place of a light up dance
floor and some TV screens. Clearly this is an
outrage and another reason the "reject modernity,
embrace tradition" mindset is important for our culture. But for Charles Entertainment Cheese, it may be the erasure of the
last remnants of a by gone era. We may have reached an age
where guests are no longer happy with Chuck E. Cheese
being in Chuck E. Cheese. - [Man] Remember every guest leaves happy and our guests always come first. - If you enjoyed this
episode of "Horror History," check out that video on the left to see me cover the
history of Belle Delphine. And if you're confused about why I covered big pizza's biggest rodent, check out the date of this upload. Remember to subscribe to CZsWorld World for new horrors every week. Ring the death bell for all notifications, and I will see you in the next one assuming we both survive.
