The Rock-afire Explosion: The Best Band You've Never Heard Of

If you've spent a good amount of time online, there's a good chance you've seen this image: The dark lighting, the uninterested expressions on the kids' faces, the all-encompassing fuzzy glow, and the painfully enthusiastic expression on the face of… Well, what is it exactly? Paired with the concerning double entendre of "Dick the birthday boy," this image is just so... odd. But what if I told you that this character right here was not only beloved by children during his time, but also… staunchly heterosexual? This is Billy Bob, one of the many members of the Rock-afire Explosion, an animatronic band that… Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the beginning. You know Chuck E Cheese, right? Everyone's been to Chuck E cheese a few times before in their childhood. Except for my friend who was told as a kid that you weren't allowed in unless it was someone's birthday. But like, everyone knows what Chuck E Cheese is. It's an arcade, mostly geared towards kids, where you can eat pizza and- oh yeah, they've also got those weird robots that the kids either tend to ignore or try to climb on stage with to break. These guys are important, or rather their earliest forms are, for us to understand how we get to the Rock-afire Explosion. The year is 1972, and a hot new game from the newest name in technology, Atari, is sweeping the nation. It's called Pong, maybe you've heard of it? The founder of Atari, Nolan Bushnell, was getting into creating arcade games after having gone to the University of Utah for electrical engineering. He was inspired by the actual first video game ever, Space War, and the arcade in the theme park he worked at during the summers. The success of Pong pretty much kick-started the arcade industry, and while Bushnell was making plenty of money off selling arcade machines to arcades, it didn't take long for him to realize he could be making a lot more money if he opened an arcade chain himself to operate the machines out of. There are a few things Bushnell combined to make the formula for the perfect arcade. He decided to combine the games with a meal as a way to set himself apart from similar places at the time, choosing pizza, as he considered it a food most people enjoyed that was easy to “not screw up.” He also found that there was a demand for live entertainment along with people's food at the time, and a visit to Disneyland made him realize that an animatronic show would be the perfect way to entertain guests at his restaurant. Bushnell had actually applied to become an Imagineer at Disney after graduating from college, but was repeatedly denied since Disney tends not to hire recent graduates. While he got the idea for animatronic entertainment from the Enchanted Tiki Room, he would continue to further be inspired by Disney. He took the style of humor from the Country Bear Jamboree, as they could appeal to both adults and kids- and he was inspired by Mickey Mouse himself to market his arcade around a recognizable mascot. Despite Mickey and Chuck E both being mice, Bushnell actually originally planned to make his mascot a coyote, and name his restaurant “Coyote Pizza.” But when the coyote mascot he’d ordered arrived, he realized it was actually a rat head. He decided to roll with it, at first rebranding to “Ricky Rat's Pizza Time Theatre”… …until Atari's PR team told him it's probably not the best idea to have your restaurant associated with a rat. So they again changed the name, this time to “The Big Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater.” This also didn't work out, because apparently the Marriott Hotel had a trademark for the phrase “The Big Cheese”...? So the name was changed again, along with the name of the mascot. He became known as Chuck E Cheese, a name you can't say without smiling- Nolan: Because we wanted the smile. Chuck E. Chuck E Cheese. We wanted the smile. We- we wanted this name, so that you couldn't say it without smiling. -and the restaurant became known as Chuck E Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre. The very first Pizza Time Theatre location opened on May 17th, 1977, in San Jose, California. The show featured Chuck E himself, along with several other characters known as The Pizza Time Players: Helen Henny, Jasper T Jowls, Pasqually P Pieplate, and Crusty the Cat. Crusty would later be replaced with Mr Munch in 1978 at their second location. The gang performed as half-body animatronics sitting inside picture frames hung 360 degrees around the dining area. The first locations were a huge hit with families, and Nolan began to set his sights on expansion. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, a young inventor named Aaron Fechter had begun to build some of his first animatronics. Aaron Fechter was born December 21st, 1953, in Orlando, Florida, making him 69 years old today. Nice. He graduated from college at the age of 19 and decided to become an inventor. At the time, the United States was in the middle of an energy crisis, and Aaron dedicated himself to creating a new, more fuel-efficient type of car. He built a prototype of this car called the Jutta, and this is one of the silliest damn things I've ever seen, I love it so much. Side note, while I was trying to find the name of the car, I googled “Creative Engineering car” and just… found a different company also named Creative Engineering that makes car parts? I feel like I found an alternate universe where this worked out for Aaron and he never got around to making animatronics, but anyway. Aaron founded the company Creative Engineering, Inc, or CEI for short, for the Jutta and began to accrue funding for his project. In order to do that, he became a door-to-door salesman, selling other inventions he made, like the Leaf Eater, a contraption you'd put in your pool and it would collect all the leaves- which is an extremely Floridian problem. One day, he knocked on the door of someone who asked for his help on a different project: designing an electronic control system made for a shooting gallery made to sell to amusement parks. I gave him my spiel, it always started out, “Him I'm Aaron Fechter and I'm an inventor, and I've invented this Leaf Eater and it cleans your swimming pool.” And he looked at me kind of sarcastically, and he said, “So, you're an inventor, huh?” I said, “Yes.” “Well,” he says, “Well, an inventor can invent anything.” I said, “Yes, I can invent anything.” And so he said, “Well, could you invent a control system to control a shooting gallery for an amusement park?” I said, “Sure!” I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I figured I could do it. I had an electronics background. And that's how I got into entertainment because, um, I built a shooting gallery- his company was building a talking horse and I loved it, it was a little animatronic talking horse. I started getting all these invitations to build talking bears and talking monsters of various sorts and, uh, before you know it, I was building whole shows. I know I said this video would be about the Rock-afire Explosion, but I think it's time to go through some of Aaron's animatronics leading up to them- partly because some of them have direct lineage to the Rock-afire characters, and partly because I just think it would be fun. Willy Wabbit: A talking wabbit- A talking rabbit built in 1976. He sat at a kiosk in the Orlando Airport to advertise the tourist attraction, Mystery Fun House, and generally attract new customers. Aaron had the idea to use animated characters for advertising purposes and Willie is the first to do so, and with no limit to his vocabulary. He's got a computer inside. The computer selects from various numbers of messages which he is capable of producing. And so it's pretty random, you never know what he's going to say next. Friendly Freddy: built in 1977, he was CEI's first fully animated character. Commissioned by Jim Sidwell Sr, he was first seen at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, or IAAPA, promoting Creative Engineering and their other characters. Freddy would go on to perform at Sidwell's theme park, Magic World Kids Park, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Friendly Freddy would later go on to be retrofitted into General Cornelius Bearpatch, one of three members of the Confederate… Critters Band. Hmm. Actually, I'd just like to read what the ShowBiz Pizza Wiki says about the Confederate Critters Band, because maybe you'll have the same reaction I did when I first read this. What? Oh, “the show in its entire-” It's written as, “the show invites entirety.” Good gosh. Oh god, my google doc reloaded. Oh shit. Aw, fuck! Cut all this out! Aughh-! The Bear Country Jubilee, which is definitely not a ripoff of Disney's Country Bear Jamboree, was built between 1977 and 1978. From left to right, their names are: Pierre, Waldo, Fingers Dan- Fingers Dan? Chet Faddikins, Buddy Crash, Boom Boom Bosco, and Beatrice. The show was originally very limited in movement, but was updated with new characters and movements to become the Country Bear Jubilee, instead of the Bear Country Jubilee. The Country Bear Jubilee, created in 1979, was the successor to the Bear Country Jubilee. The characters consisted of- aw, really? Okay… The characters consisted of: Billy Wilbur, Billy Bill, Billy Boy, Billy Bob, Choo Choo, Pete and Repete Thornsberry, Mama Granbags, and Gooney Bird. Note that this band has a character named Billy Bob! This is not the direct predecessor to the Rock-afire’s Billy Bob, at least not in appearance. He was instead directly based on Billy Wilbur, and Gooney Bird would go on to become the Rock-afire's Looney Bird. Pete and Repete worked at Smitty’s Super Service Station, which would later become the set piece behind Billy Bob and Looney Bird in the Rock-afire. Choo Choo of the Hard Luck Bears would continue to stay about the exact same in the Rock-afire, and there's also a couple of what looks like an early version of Birthday Bird here. This show would later be renamed the Hard Luck Bears, after the name of the group of bears on center stage. God, that was tiring. I want to talk about the Wolf Pack 5 now. The Wolf Pack 5 is the final full animatronic show that Creative Engineering made before creating the Rock-afire Explosion. Built in 1979, the band consisted of five members: Fats Gorilla, Dingo Starr, Beach Bear, Little Queenie, and of course, the Wolfman. The Wolfman, a parody of radio DJ Wolfman Jack, was the leader, and would introduce the show and other members’ solos. Fats played the piano and was loosely based on Fats Domino, an American pianist and songwriter popular in the 50s. Dingo Starr was the dog on the drums, and an obvious parody of Ringo Starr of The Beatles. Beach Bear was an oxymoronic polar bear playing guitar, and doesn't seem to be a parody of anyone in particular. And finally, Queenie was the sole female vocalist of the group, also seemingly being a fully original character. Being the direct predecessor to the Rock-afire, basically every character here can be pretty obviously tied in appearance and/or role to their Rock-afire counterpart. Wolfman to Rolfe, Dingo to Dook, Fats to Fatz, Beach Bear to… Beach Bear. It gets more obvious as you go. Queenie is Mitzi's predecessor, but that's not entirely clear from this version of her. Queenie was later changed to a mouse character, as it was thought that this would be more family friendly. This version of her was named Mini Mozzarella, which has a much closer resemblance both in appearance and name to the Rock-afire’s Mitzi Mozzarella. Re-enter Nolan Bushnell, about two years back. He's visiting the IAAPA that year, as he was in the progress of making his Pizza Time Theatre come to fruition, And he runs into Aaron showcasing his animatronics. Nolan is impressed with his work, and offers Aaron a job in making the animatronics for PTT. Aaron politely declines, afraid that Atari would reverse engineer his animatronics and put him out of a job soon after. This paranoia is something we'll see return a lot in Aaron, so put a pin in this. The two go their separate ways, until the following IAAPA, when Nolan reapproaches after seeing the Wolf Pack 5 showcased. This time, he offers not only to buy his animatronics, but to buy Creative Engineering as a whole. Aaron declines again, and the matter is seemingly dropped. Time passes, Pizza Time Theatre’s opened, and things are going just swell for Nolan Bushnell. He's ready to expand, with the goal of opening a thousand PTTs nationwide by the end of the decade. He plans to do this with the help of a man named Robert Brock, or just Bob Brock. Bob was the president of Topeka Inn Management- at the time, the largest franchisee of Holiday Inn Hotels- so he had plenty of experience in franchising locations. He's perfect for the job of franchising Chuck E Cheese. Nolan plans to have Bob opening his first location in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1979, but Bob has one concern with the chain, and that's the animatronics. He had expressed some dissatisfaction with how they looked in the past, and while Nolan had assured him that they would drastically increase in quality by the time of Bob's first location opening, this hadn't been the case. Nolan had also in the past mentioned Creative Engineering, but seemingly downplayed the quality of their animatronics. With Bob's first location only months away from opening, he gets curious about Creative Engineering and decides to take a trip to Florida to see these animatronics himself. Upon Bob's arrival, Aaron gives him a full tour of the warehouse, and Bob is blown away by the quality of the animatronics- so much so that he decides he wants to continue his future in animatronic dining with Aaron instead of Nolan Bushnell. They plan to call this new chain Showbiz Pizza Place. He calls Nolan, demanding out of his contract so he can open his own pizza place- to which Nolan obviously says, “No, what the fuck, I'm not letting you do that.” Bob takes this rejection like a rational, level-headed, adult human being. Nah, I'm totally kidding, he opens Showbiz anyway without permission. The first Showbiz actually opened in that same location Bob was supposed to open his first Pizza Time Theatre. Because it was slated to open within the next few months by the time the plans had changed, Bob and Aaron decided to go with whatever animatronics Creative Engineering had ready at the moment- which happened to be the Wolf Pack 5. See, that tangent wasn’t for nothing! Obviously, this doesn't make Nolan happy and it's not long before Bob Brock is hit with a lawsuit- not from Nolan Bushnell, but from Chuck E Cheese, the company! The lawsuit’s on grounds of breach of contract, and “theft of trade secrets,” which, holy shit. In response to this, Chuck E Cheese, the company, has a countersuit filed against them- not by Robert Brock or Aaron Fechter, but from Showbiz Pizza, the company, claiming misrepresentation. This was the true start of the Pizza Wars. The Showbiz Showdown. The Animatronic Aggression. The Chuck E Cheese Conflict. The Pizza Time Tussle. The Robot Wrassle. The- This was a battle for the ages at the time. This was this generation's Nintendo vs Sega. While the lawsuit was going on, both chains began to race to expand faster and better than the other. Locations began spreading across the country like wildfire. If you were here during this time or you know someone who was, they'll likely still be on either the side of Chuck E Cheese or Showbiz. Speaking of Showbiz, at their first location, the Wolf Pack 5 was a big hit among families- despite them having supposed to be the temporary band. Because of this, they based the next and permanent iteration of the Showbiz band heavily on that group- and what they came up with… was the Rock-afire Explosion. Ladies and gentlemen, the world's most advanced entertainment has now joined forces with the world's finest pizza! But what is the Rock-afire Explosion, anyway? Well… Okay, before we start, I would like to formally apologize for the audio quality in Act One. This is not scripted, I just figured this out, I have been- I- I have a fucking… Blue Yeti microphone. And my c- Audacity was not recording from the Blue Yeti microphone, this entire ti- I recorded this act already! I'm re-recording this act, because it was recording from my- Logitech camera, my webcam that I use for streaming. I don't use the microphone on that ever, because it's like, a whole foot away from me, and it won't pick up the audio quality good, and I just thought my Blue Yeti sucked. It's- I'm sorry, Blue Yeti… I didn't mean it. Anyway, let's start the actual… The Rock-afire Explosion consists of anywhere between 8 and 14 characters, depending on how you count them. Specifically, eight major characters, four minor characters, and two prop characters. Simply because it would make me the happiest, we'll go through all of them! Billy Bob Brockali, short for William Robert Brockali- yes, that is his real name- was the mascot of Showbiz Pizza Place, though not necessarily the leader of the Rock-afire. Instead, he was posted on stage left. Voiced by Aaron Fechter, he sings, plays the guitar, and he'd often MC for the others and introduce songs- but he also often had songs with the band or of his own. Billy Bob is from Tennessee, is apparently “four years old” as of 1984, making him 43 as of 2023. He likes music, baseball, gummy bears, and his friends. He's one of the more conflict-avoidant characters of the group, and I read him as the kind of guy to lower his voice to a whisper before saying something just slightly mean and then still feeling bad. Billy Bob runs a gas station called Smitty's Super Service Station with his sidekick, Looney Bird, also voiced by Aaron. A drunkard bird that lives in an oil drum and drinks Goofy Gas. Goofy Gas, invented by Looney and Billy Bob, is a drinkable, environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline, made from moonshine, or “corn squeezins,” as they call it. Billy Bob: Ain’t that right, Looney Bird? Looney Bird: That's right, Billy Bob! And I got the reverse ones in my barrel! Billy Bob: Now, I don’t believe corn squeezins goes too good with pizza, Looney Bird. Looney Bird: Welp- Around halfway through the Rock-afire's lifespan, Looney Bird received a new personality trait in the form of becoming very technologically savvy. He began to invent several new gadgets that play a role both in showtapes and the real world: like a Santa Tracker during a Christmas showtape, the real life Show Selector- where kids could press a button to activate a certain show segment to play- and he even aspired to create a programming language accessible to kids. Looney Bird had also had his own recurring segments called “Letters to Looney Bird”, Looney Bird: -an in-depth look at characters, places... and… even some other characters! This would feature questions from children to the members of the Rock-afire, and gives us some fun trivia about the characters. Fatz Geronimo, voiced by Burt Wilson, is inarguably the front man of the Rock-afire Explosion. He's portrayed as an older character and a bit of a father figure to the rest of the band. He most often plays the straight man in skits, though he does have a bit of a funny bone of his own. Fatz plays the Tune Machine, a keyboard/synthesizer kind of thing that can supposedly make any sound in the entire world. He has a bit of an inflated sense of ego- Beach Bear: He's intelligent, articulate, charismatic. Fatz: Aw, you just sayin’ that ‘cause it’s true. Beach Bear: No, really! He also has a steady girlfriend named Esmeralda, who's mentioned many times but we never meet or hear in much more description than her name. Mitzi Mozzarella, voiced at first by Aaron and then by Shalisa James, is the youngest member of the Rock-afire Explosion. She doesn't play an instrument, but provides the band with her unique female vocals. Mitzi is a teenage girl who likes boys, cars, and cheerleading. She has a bubbly personality, with a tendency to become obsessive. Mitzi: You saw Michael Jackson?! Billy Bob: Yeah, and we did Billie Jean- Mitzi: You mean, the Michael Jackson?! Billy Bob: The Michael Jackson! It was so great, and we did some songs from his album, Thriller- Mitzi: No! No, you couldn’t have done that to me! You mean you saw him and I didn’t get to? Billy Bob: Well, maybe another time. But it was- Mitzi: I’ll never get to see him again and y’all got to see him! Billy Bob: Well- Mitzi: It's not fair! Billy Bob: Well- Mitzi: Michael Jackson's my favorite thing, I love him! Mitzi is also the only character not just to have a canon age and birthday, but to actually age as the band does! Her voice actress was only 11 years old when she joined the band. Mitzi's 17th birthday was celebrated at the stroke of midnight on January 1st, 1988, so depending on how you consider the canon to work, that would either make her 52 years old as of 2023, or 17 for the 35th year in a row. Wait, older than Billy Bob? Beach Bear, originally voiced by Aaron and then by Rick Bailey, is the designated cool guy of the Rock-afire Explosion. He's a polar bear that vastly prefers the sun and surf, so much so that as a kid I literally did not register he was supposed to be a bear. I only saw the Rock-afire like, twice ever in my entire childhood, I did not know what his name, was cut me some slack. Beach Bear’s the eloquent one of the group, and is most likely to use big words. Fatz: -Anything. Beach Bear: How about, 19 apathetic old men with a marked propensity toward procrastination and sloth? Beach Bear: Twelve ridiculously decorated, perforated, somehow understated, insulated, acceptable colanders bought somewhere… off the coast of… Phoenix, Arizona. How's that? But I'm not sure how much of those big words he actually knows the meaning to. Beach Bear: You know, I thought- I think it sets precedence for contemporary musical demographics. Dook: Wow. Beach Bear: I think that it's sort of an anti-pseudo expressionism. Fatz: Yeah. Billy Bob: What's that mean? Beach Bear: It means it's- it's now, it’s wow. He plays lead guitar for the band, and in my opinion has one of the best voices in the entire group. Take a look. Dook Larue, voiced by Duke Chauppetta, is the Rock-afire’s drummer. He's a dog of indeterminate breed with a passion for outer space and a few missing brain cells. Dook has a tendency to trip over his words, miss social cues, speak bluntly, and have the joke fly over his head. Unfortunately, because he was made in the 80s, this makes him the stupid character instead of the autistic one. Fatz: Ladies and gentlemen, I present Dook Larue! Dook: What?! Fatz: Ladies and gentlemen… Dook Larue. Dook: What. Fatz: No, Dook, c’mon, don’t- that- that’s not nice. C’mon, do it right. Dook: What? Fatz: I mean, tell the folks hello. Dook: Oh. Hi, everybody! Now what. Fatz: Yeah, that’s good- [laughs] Dook is my favorite Rock-afire character tied with Looney Bird- partly for his personality and partly because of absolutely gorgeous voice. Rolfe Dewolfe, voice by Aaron Fechter, takes stage right, and is considered more of a side act for the show. Rolfe himself rarely ever sings, and never has a song to himself. He's usually part of the ensemble, or there to add comedic excised- He's usually part of the ensemble, or there to add comedic excised- Rolfe himself n- rarely ever sings, and never- He’s usually part of the ensemble, or there to add comedic excised- What the f- Rolfe himself rarely ever sings, and never has a song to himself. He's usually part of the ensemble, or there to add comedic asides to whatever segment they're doing. He's very self-centered, and has a hugely inflated ego. He talks about himself as if he's a huge celebrity comedian, or at least well on his way to becoming one, when in reality, he's not very good at what he does and most of the Rock-afire hates him. Whether or not this is a cover for deeper insecurity… remains to be seen? Though he does always sort of talk like he's about to cry. Rolfe: -And I don't need you… anymore. Like Billy Bob and Fatz, Rolfe also often introduces show segments, along with his little buddy Earl, the puppet on his hand. Earl Schmerle, also voiced by Aaron, is a ventriloquist’s puppet. Dook: -And you're supposed to be a dummy. Earl: What?! -and the second half of Rolfe's act. Together, they form the Rolfe and Earl Show- a two-man manzai comedy act. Earl, while being a puppet, is strongly implied to be sentient and his own person- though they keep this vague enough that you could really theorize it in either direction. Rolfe: Watch this, everyone. Earl, why don’t you tell everybody here just how long you’ve been in show business? [silence] …Uh, c’mon, Earl, tell everybody how long you’ve been in show business. [silence, laughter] Earl, c’mon, man. Earl, I’m waiting. [Rolfe, poorly imitating Earl’s voice] I, have been in show business… for… almost…three years. While Rolfe is selfish behind a proper and friendly exterior, Earl is the exact opposite. He's always yelling, picking on Rolfe, or just generally being mad at something or someone. Rolfe: Okay, let's get on with the show! What do you say, Earl? Earl: You're a geek. Rolfe: That's my man, Earl! Earl: I can't even stand to look at you. Rolfe: Yeah, thanks for the compliment Earl, you too! -But, deep down, he's a good person, and even cares about Rolfe a little bit. Earl: You was just joking about leaving me, weren’t you, Rolfe? Rolfe: Don't worry, Earl, I'll keep you… “on hand” for a while longer! Earl: Alright! Despite being a gag character, Earl actually also sings solo quite often, and I think he's got an impressive voice at that, too! The rest of the characters here are much more minor, so I’ll be going a lot faster through them now. In the back of center stage behind some stage setting exists the Sun and the Moon. They’re, for the most part, prop characters, but they often join in songs as part of the ensemble and have actually spoken in shows before. The Moon is a big stickler for the rules and, like, copyright specifically? Whereas the Sun is also fairly reserved, but is more likely to indulge in some gentle rule breaking for the sake of fun. Moon: I’ll have you know that it's against the copyright laws to tamper with the original text. Why, this place could be raided by police officers at any moment! No, no, no, no, no. I will stick with the original masterpiece, thank you very much. Sun: One moment, Moon, I think Fatz has a valid point. I think I’ll try a walk on the wild side. Let’s see, crazy, different, crazy, different… Oh, I've got it! Sun: Seven turtleneck sweaters! Moon: I warned you! Antioch the Spider is… a spider. Named after the Antioch Shopping Center, where the first Showbiz Pizza location opened, he wears a silly little party hat and talks exclusively in this weird fucked up gibberish. He's stored above the stage and comes down pretty rarely. We know he's Fatz’ pet spider, but Antioch seems to have much higher intelligence than that of an average pet. In one segment, he was even Fatz’ Olympic coach! Fatz: Excuse me folks, let me- Allow me to introduce my training coach, coach Antioch here, who just happens to be the most in-shape creature on the face of the Earth. Ain’t that right, coach? Choo Choo is the world's cutest bear. Situated in front of Dook's drum set, he has never spoken, he does not sing, he's never added anything to any showtape whatsoever. All he can do is bounce up and down in time to the music, but… By God, isn't that enough? He's a baby. He's a little boy. He's doing his best, and I love him. Mitzi: Well, there's Choo Choo! Dook: Choo Choo… ohhh. Mitzi: Did y’all forget about Choo Choo? Dook: Yeah, I forgot about him! Birthday Bird is the little bird that sits on top of Billy Bob's guitar. This one's literally just a prop, an accessory, even, but I still love him. I don't think the rest of the community sees it this way, but I consider owning a complete Birthday Bird to be one of the highest honors an animatronic lover could have. [fanfare] This is a frog. I think his name is just Frog? Wait, does the frog have a gender? On a lot of stages, you'll find the Frog on the floor in front of Beach Bear, or just on the floor in some other random place, but it originally sat on Beach Bear’s surfboard in between his legs. There's one video on Aaron Fechter's YouTube channel where, for some reason, Beach Bear is naked, and the only thing shielding us and all the children from seeing his junk is that frog, smugly sitting there with the knowledge of what it looks like. Godspeed, soldier. And that's all the characters from Showbiz Pizza! There aren't any others. There aren't… there aren't any others. The thing about the Rock-afire Explosion that I find is that they're very hard to explain the appeal of, at least just verbally. When I try to explain it to my friends, I find it easiest to just send them videos to look at, because just showing images can make them come off as creepy looking, or just talking about them makes them seem bland. I think their charm comes off the most not just when they're in action, but when they're a unit. They have the dynamic of a very tight-knit found family. They're constantly teasing each other, but you can always tell they care very much about each other- and when it's made transparent it's even more tangible. The voice actors were all very close in real life, and I believe many of their skits were at least partially improv, and I honestly believe this is to the huge benefit of the characters and the charm of the band! They're best friends! They're a family! They love each other! But, like I've said, I don't think any amount of my words could properly convey that as much as I believe just… showing you could. So here's a handful of clips that I think well convey what I love about them so much. Mitzi: Ladies and gentlemen, now we're going to sing a song. Beach Bear: Uh huh? Fatz: Uh, does the song have a name? Mitzi: Oh, yeah! [laughs] Billy Bob: Everybody here has got the spirit of Christmas. Rolfe: Well I don't! Billy Bob: Well, let's get on with the show anyway. Mitzi: Oh, that’s horseback riding! Oh, last summer we used to always go horseback riding at Camp Hema Homa Gema Boma Wema Woma Kema Boma- Fatz: There's nothing about any nightclub in this song! Now, Beach Bear, quit laughing! [Beach Bear laughs] Fatz: Now, now, look baby- Billy Bob: -And if it's okay with Looney Bird, I'm gonna invite you to sing this song for us. Looney Bird: I don't care. I'm leaving. Mitzi: It, um, it's about this gorilla. And he's- he goes in a spaceship, and he goes… to the moon, and… Beach Bear: You freaking out again? [laughter] Fatz: Forget about the introduction. I'll do it. Mitzi: Well, excuuuuse me, Joe Intro! I guess you know everything! If you know so much, why don't you just… just… run for president of the world! Beach Bear: Ooh, that's nice. Dook: Yeah. Beach Bear: Really snappy retort. Fatz: Nothin’ but a 10 for me. Beach Bear: What’s that, two 3’s and a 4? Fatz: Beach Bear, I meet more ladies by accident than you will ever meet on purpose. Beach Bear: Oh… Fatz: -nice medley of songs for us, ain't that right there, Dookie? Dook: That's right, Fatz. I’m gonna sing a song by, uh… Abr- uh, uh… Fatz: What you gonna sing, Dook? C’mon, spit it out. Dook: I’m gonna sing a medl- medley of songs, and one of them is called “Abracadabra” by Steve Miller, and the other one is, uh, “You Can Do Magic” by America. Fatz: Oh, I bet that's gonna turn out fine. Mitzi: Hey! How come you get to sing both that songs? That is not fair! Dook: Well, the Magic Show was my idea. Mitzi: So what, who cares? Dook: Well, the boss said I could. Now, do I need any more reason than that? Beach Bear: Welcome to the cutthroat world of fast food entertainment. [laughter] Billy Bob: I love this kind of music, it reminds me of the early 60s, like where we are right now. Mitzi: Me too. Beach Bear: Yeah. It makes me think of tie-dye. Billy Bob: Makes me think of idealistic romantic notions that the world could change, just because we had a wonderful leader who believed in it. Beach Bear: Makes me think- Fatz: Yeah, John Kennedy. Billy Bob: That's right, John Kennedy. Beach Bear, you weren't even listening to that. Beach Bear: No, I was. It makes me think of tie-dye. Billy Bob: Dook wants to ask a question before he plays the song. Dook: Okay. Who made the 19- uh, who made the 19- The- no, wait. Who made the first 19, uh, 23, uh, henway. Billy Bob: What's a henway? Dook: About three pounds. Billy Bob: Oh, come on! [Fatz making monkey noises] Rolfe: Okay, let’s hear it for the big old fat monkey! Fatz: I’m gonna break your neck, Rolfe. Beach Bear: Wonderful idea, there. Mitzi. Mitzi: …What? Beach Bear: People like Michael Jackson, they get accosted for autographs all the time. Now, he was out at Disney World trying to have a good time. If you had been there, trying to get 400 autographs… you would have ruined his day. Do you understand? Mitzi: Yeah, I understand. Beach Bear: Good. Now, what are you gonna do if you see Michael Jackson? Mitzi: I’m gonna rip his shirt off! I’m gonna get a clump of his hair! I’m gonna tear off his shoes! I’ll do anything just to make up for this time when I didn’t get his autograph! Beach Bear: …All right. I can understand that. Mitzi: Shut up, Fatz, I’m tryin’ to sing! Looney Bird: But, uh… If everybody- Oops! Wait! What are you doin’? Billy Bob: How'd you like that? I've been practicing. Watch this. Looney Bird: Ooh! Billy Bob: That ain’t nothin’. Both: So when you book your birthday parties in advaaaancceee! [laughter] All: …And a Looney Bird in a pear tree! Looney Bird: ...And a Looney Bird… And a Looney Bird in a oil drum… And… A Looney Bird… in a pear tree! It's me! All right, hi, welcome back! How do you feel? Uh, do- do you get it now? You get it? I think we get it. All right, we can move on. Great, perfect. Now, I think I'd be remiss in talking about the appeal of the Rock-afire if I didn't talk about some of their most famous bits and skits. So here's some that my friends and I consider quintessential. The Abbey Road medley is known for being perhaps one of the most famous Rock-afire Explosion segments out there. It's a nearly 15 minute long medley of nine songs from, of course, the Beatles’ Abbey Road. I am by no means a Beatles fan- if anything, I think it’s funny to be a Beatles hater- but even I can admit I deeply love this medley. It hits on so many emotions, it's near cinematic at times, and now I have to admit that I can easily recognize several Beatles songs. Does this make me a Beatles fan now? Damn it. You win this time, Billy Bob. “Heartaches,” originally sung by Al Bowlly, was covered by Dook in the Rock-afire's first ever showtape. It's a very well-known tune by the Rock-afire community, and if you were on the Internet around spring of 2021, you'll also know it from the song “It's Just A Burning Memory” off the Caretaker's album, Everywhere at the End of Time. I, like many others, was pretty creeped out by the album, but I had no clue that “It's Just A Burning Memory" was based on an existing song- so when I heard “Heartaches” for the first time, you can imagine the jumpscare I gave myself. The Satisfaction medley is less of a medley, and more of a mashup, between the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” and Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild.” There's something I personally find almost addicting about this one. Whether it's how I didn't expect the two songs to fit together as well as they do, or how the whole band gets involved in this almost rotation near the end when they finally all come together, or just how fuckin’ hyped up Looney Bird gets Billy Bob! I never get sick of hearing this one. Oh, yeah, it's also worth noting that this one comes after a segment where Looney Bird literally makes Billy Bob cry? It's one of the wildest things I've heard from this band, and I've heard a lot of wild things from this band. Billy Bob: You know you're my best friend, Looney Bird. And… I promise I'll never yell at you again if you'll talk to me, Looney Bird. Please say you'll forgive me. Looney Bird: I forgive you, Billy Bob. Billy Bob: You do? Looney Bird: Sure! You're my best friend! The Magic Night showtape is not so much a single segment or cover that the Rock-afire has done, but rather an entire hour-long showtape. This is widely regarded by fans as the band's best show. The show itself is from one of Showbiz’ semi-frequent themed nights- this one, of course, being the Magic Night. Nearly every song they sing in this one is themed around magic- from their initial medley including songs like “Magical Mystery Tour” by The Beatles, and “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf, to Dook's cover of the near shockingly horny “Abracadabra” by the Steve Miller Band, to Beach Bear's rendition of “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” by The Police. And then they end it with a Michael Jackson medley for some reason. The Michael Jackson medley is, obviously, a medley of Michael Jackson music, and is another famous segment from the Rock-afire. Fun fact, Michael Jackson actually visited Creative Engineering once! Here's a picture of him from that day. [fanfare] Weird. Anyway, as famous as the Rock-afire is for their covers, they've also done a handful of original songs as well. “Baseball” is a silly little ditty sung by Billy Bob and Looney Bird from one of the Rock-afire's earliest showtapes. It's mostly just about how they like to play games and goof off, instead of doing their chores. But for some reason, they keep going back to how much they like girls? Which, feels like a cope, but we'll get there. We like to go to movies, with pretty women! We like to go bowling, with fun young women! We like short dresses, when they're on girls! “Dragstrip In The Sky” is technically a cover in the sense that the Rock-afire wasn't the first to sing it, but it is a CEI original. The song was originally sung by Little Queenie of the Wolf Pack 5. It's about Queenie's boyfriend, Foxy- not that one- a drag racer who is challenged to a race that ends up taking his life. This song actually has some interesting evolution to it, as when Queenie was retrofitted into Mini, as well as when Mitzi was introduced, both characters sung their own versions of “Dragstrip.” Though this time, the lyrics were changed slightly, renaming their boyfriend to Mickey- maybe that one. Mickey was my boyfriend, so slick, so sharp, so cool “Louisiana,” written by Burt Wilson, is a love letter to the state both he and his character Fatz grew up in. This song became a popular one among fans, and would later get featured in several compilation tapes. Fatz would also later claim that his song became the Louisiana state song, but that quickly gets debunked. Fatz: Louisiana, you won’t believe it in the springtime! Billy Bob: Fatz, that’s the song you wrote. Beach Bear: I don't think that's the state song, man. Fatz: Well, it should be! “Sittin’ Too Long” is a more modern Rock-afire song, written by Aaron Fechter and recorded by Rick Bailey as Beach Bear in 2012. It's a fairly simple song about, like, basically just feeling like shit and wanting to exercise? I've heard that this isn't a very well liked song in the fandom, but I think it's silly fun. “Child of the Rock” harkens back to 1982, and the Rock-afire's Abbey Road showtape. Written by Duke Chauppetta, it's simply about how despite what the world throws his way or takes from him, he'll always have rock and roll in his life. In 2005, Duke would go on to reveal that the song actually comes from a bit of a place of jealousy. At the time, all the Rock-afire voices were aspiring stars, and Burt Wilson seemed to be taking up a large portion of the spotlight. This left Dook feeling a bit cheated, and he wrote the song in retaliation. There are a couple other original Rock-afire songs, and a couple that I'm sure existing fans are probably waiting for me to mention. We'll get there later, I promise. In the meantime, there's one more integral part of Rock-afire culture- and yes, I do feel strongly enough about this to call it “culture”- that I've yet to mention here. And that is… The great, the noble, the historical American colander. Fatz: Some of you may think I'm sporting the latest in modern haberdashery design. Others may think I have a stupid spaghetti strainer on my head. This isn't just a spaghetti strainer! We think of it as the noble American colander. Consider the part the colander has played in American history. Yes, in 1492, everybody knows Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But what they don't know is, he never would have made it if it hadn't been for the colander-like design of his three ships: the Nina the Pinta, and the Straina Maria. And everybody recognizes Davy Crockett and his famous coon-skin colander. And it was a proud day in American history when women won equal rights through the Women's Roughage Act of 1857. Uh, if I remember correctly, that's the- that's the law that gave women the right to wear their husband's colanders. Once upon a time, people thought the Earth was flat. Then, they found out it was round. But I'm here to testify: the Earth is actually two colanders super glued at the equator! Um, well, maybe- maybe they used some extra thick mozzarella cheese, Johnny, I don't know. What do I look like, an information booth? Now, listen up. It was Albert Einstein, the Big Daddy of relativity, who said that the colander was as good a protection as you can get against nuclear fallout. And then… one awful day, in December 1926, Mrs. Martha Dropbottom, in an unthinking moment, snatched the colander off of her husband Herbert's head, and began draining her… ...spaghetti. That's the day the colander, stripped of its pride and integrity, reduced to a common kitchen utensil, was shoved back on the shelves of mankind… …until now. Let's join together. Too much time has passed, America! Let's get that colander out, and let's get it cranked up! Come on, everybody! We want you! We want you here at Showbiz Pizza Place on Wednesday night! Get that colander down from that shelf, get that old thing decorated, and get it up on your head! That's right, decorate the colander! You know what those- those little handles and those legs on top there? That's what that’s for, you hang stuff on it, you know! So let's bring back honor to this unsung hero of Americana, the colander! The year is 1983. Showbiz Pizza Place has been struggling under the strain of economic pressures of the time for some time now. If the restaurant doesn't return a profit soon, it could be the end for them. And that profit would come in the strangest form: a kitchen utensil. The Colander Head Movement started as a simple in-joke between Aaron Fechter and his friends, where they'd wear decorated colanders like hats, but became a phenomenon in March of 1983 when it got a dedicated event at Showbiz Pizza. The plan at Creative Engineering was to create a showtape all about the Colander Head Movement, and encourage customers to come in with their own decorated colanders. Customers were incentivized to do so by a range of different rewards- free tokens and free drinks- but if you came in on a Wednesday, you'd also be rewarded with a print of a Rock-afire character of your choice- wearing a colander of course- and the ability to be indoctrinated into the Colander Head Movement officially. Guests who came every week in the event would be able to collect every print available. The restaurants would also host a colander decoration contest. Guests who made their own colanders could have their photo taken and enter them for a prize. There was just one small problem with Creative Engineering's plan: corporate Showbiz would never let them do this. So… corporate Showbiz just wouldn't have to know about it. CEI and its employees would film an hour-long video to send to every Showbiz location in the hopes of getting them on board with the idea. This video was a fake telethon called the "Save the Colander Telethon." It consists of the musicians and voice actors behind the Rock-afire Explosion performing covers of the songs that the Rock-afire was well known for at the time, with breaks to explain the importance of the Colander Head Movement, and why Showbiz locations should join them. They'd even fake phone calls from the locations saying they were on board. Ultimately, this plan worked, and the Colander Head showtape went on to become real. The showtape contained several segments about the Colander Head Movement, and why customers should join in- with Rolfe being the group skeptic. The showtape ends with the history of the colander, and on Wednesdays, the Colander Head indoctrination segment. The band even came up with an original song about colanders to perform! For this showtape, the entire band was given a minor retrofit to have their own colanders as well, across every participating location. Ultimately the event was a hit with guests, and March of 1983 would be Showbiz' first month in over a year that turned a profit. If it was because of the Colander Head Movement, though..? Remains up for debate, I suppose! Aaron: …and it was our first profitable month in over a year. But the execs of Showbiz, being who they were, did not credit me, or us, or the Colander Head Movement with their profitable month. The execs said, “we were going to have a profitable month anyway, because of the cyclical nature of the restaurant business.” I said, “You guys… you guys will never make it. It's- it's not gonna make it. Showbiz isn’t gonna make it, because you can't see the forest from the trees.” So now, hopefully having thoroughly explained why the Rock-afire is awesome, and ideally getting you as excited about them as I am, I'm sure you're thinking, these guys are great! How come nobody knows what they are anymore? Like… What the heck happened? The year is 1982. Showbiz Pizza Place and Chuck E Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre have been feuding for several years at this point. That lawsuit I mentioned like, 30 minutes ago? It's still going on, and would only be settled out of court this year for 50 million dollars. Showbiz and PTT have been engaged in a war to open better restaurants in more places and faster. Often, a Showbiz location and a PTT location would open up within the same town, forcing kids and their families to pick a sort of “side” to be on. Both chains seemed unstoppable, like neither were gonna go anywhere anytime soon. I mean, good pizza backed by live entertainment and a huge selection of video games to play when you're done? It sounds awesome! Oh- yeah, the video game market crashed in 1983. Now, at the time, Chuck E Cheese was experiencing what we call “hubris.” They also believed they were unstoppable, and had spent the last years acting on that belief with virtually no pushback. Locations were spreading faster than the common cold, advertisers could go basically unchecked with their spending, etc. But eventually they began to outpace themselves. The demand for a Chuck E Cheese began to be less than the supply. They'd oversaturated their own market, and when the game market crashed in ‘83, it served as a sort of final nail in the coffin. Over at Showbiz, they were also struggling under the new economic strain. Creative Engineering had had a new line of improved Rock-afire animatronics they were working on, a Gen 2 of sorts. This included a Dook animatronic that would be able to turn at the torso and raise his arms to different levels in order to play the drums more accurately, and a Mitzi animatronic with more movement in her arms and hips, giving her more of an impression that she was dancing. Aaron: Right now, she looks the same, okay, the face will stay the same, the voice will stay the same. But notice these new movements. She has a hip bend. Take a look at those arm movements, would ya? Those arms come in front of her body. She is really going to be able to perform. Picture that character, who is just going through some routine movements right there, singing “Tomorrow” or- or her part in Abbey Road. Because of their financial issues, funding on these characters slowed and they were eventually put on indefinite hold. As you can imagine, this development didn't fare so well for the two restaurants whose marketing partly relied on all the video games you could play there. And in the end, one of the two chains would end up filing for bankruptcy… and it was Chuck E Cheese. Yeah, Chuck E Cheese was the one who went out of business! I- I know that raises a lot of questions, but bear with me here. In 1984, Nolan Bushnell resigned as CEO of Pizza Time Theatre, and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This could have just been the end of it. Pizza Time Theatre would have lost all their money and gone out of business, Chuck E Cheese and the Pizza Time Players would have faded Into obscurity, Showbiz would have won, and that would be it. But Showbiz, still owing money to PTT after the lawsuit, decided they could get out of this little contingency if they just… bought Chuck E Cheese. So they did, and the two companies merged, becoming Showbiz Pizza Time, Inc. in 1985. From here, things would change. Chuck E and Billy Bob, having previously been depicted by third parties as bitter rivals, began being depicted as total besties in official content. Their marketing would become more and more similar to a near indistinguishable point: If you were around during this time and have muddy memories about the branding of these two chains, or which one you frequented as a kid, this is most likely why. The two restaurants became basically perfectly synonymous. It was a powerhouse again. There was just one annoying little cog in this machine… and his name was Aaron Fechter. See, around this time, Aaron, or rather his company, Creative Engineering Inc, was getting into progressively worse beefs with Showbiz corporate. The Rock-afire prided itself on having a new showtape from the band every month, and CEI had picked up a bad habit of turning in these showtapes late. Showbiz had already been producing their own showtapes and animatronics for Chuck E Cheese following the merger, and decided that if CEI wasn't going to make the deadlines for showtapes, that they could do it themselves. In March of 1986, Showbiz released the first ever Rock-afire showtape that was made entirely without any involvement from CEI. This means the show was recorded and programmed entirely by SPT… meaning it didn't use the original voice actors. Hello folks, we're back and uh, today is Trivia Day here at Showbiz Pizza Place, and we're asking all kinds of trivia questions- Well, I think it's about time to tell you about my new invention. This is my first night ever opening up the show totally from scratch, so mark it on your calendars, okay? Oh, Fatz! What a wonderful invention! I can hardly believe it's true! So, we'll be asking some trivia questions, uh, based around the songs that we're doing, or around the time that the songs were recorded. Fatz, what about me? Could I try? Now, I don't know what the audience reaction to this was at the time, but I can tell you with certainty that everyone in the animatronics fandom these days hates the soundalikes corporate Showbiz came up with for the band. And I can say with equal certainty that Aaron hated them too. CEI retaliated by taking away Showbiz's exclusivity rights to the Rock-afire Explosion, meaning CEI could now put the band in any restaurant they wanted. Showbiz would soon swap their corporate voice actors for new ones, but they still didn't really hold a candle to the original voices. “Fatz”: Alright, everybody, look sharp! It’s work time! “Dook”: You mean it’s playtime! “Mitzi”: Right, Dook! Because when we’re working, we’re playing! CEI wouldn't produce another showtape for Showbiz until later that year for their Fourth of July showtape- but even then, it was only half of one, the other half still being corporate voiced. In 1987, they had returned to consistently producing showtapes for Showbiz, but now only produced the audio. Showbiz would handle the programming and other features for the shows. The reason Showbiz took over the programming is… interesting. Here's the story according to The SPT Archives on YouTube. With all this in mind, I think it's clear how rough the waters were between CEI and SPT at the time. That's why it's no- no su… That's why it's no surprise... that… Do you hear music? No. This is- No, I'm not gonna- No! Uncle Klunk was the first “guest character” for the Rock-afire Explosion. He was introduced in 1983 as an attempt to increase revenue during their ongoing financial troubles. At the time, he was Creative Engineering’s most sophisticated character. Klunk can pick things up! It's kind of terrifying! He's the funniest robot science ever made! [phone rings] Hello? You're on the air with Uncle Klunk! [phone rings] Oh, I get it. You're doing your impression of a telephone ringing. [bird cuckoos] What are you, some kind of nut? [laughs] I'd say you were more some kind of fruit, actually! [rimshot] [laughs] I'm beautiful! Speaking of terrifying, let's get the elephant out of the room while it's still here. Everyone thought Klunk was ugly and scary looking. Everyone still thinks Klunk is ugly and scary looking. Someone wrote a creepypasta about Uncle Klunk. Even I hated Klunk for a good while. But if I've learned anything from Beach Bear, it’s that the best personalities can sometimes be lying under… less than the most appealing cosmetics. In listening to his show tapes during my research for this video, I've come to actually kind of love Klunk! No Klunk slander in my comments, okay? Uncle Klunk’s whole bit was that he ran a sort of wacky talk show along with his bird sidekick Click, later renamed Murray D Bird. He'd run fake news segments, take calls from “viewers,” and had a range of other little segments he'd do. He was originally voiced by Jeff Howell, an employee and musician at CEI. Aaron Fechter had wanted to give him a larger role as almost thanks for his work behind the scenes, so he gave Jeff his own character to voice. Klunk was even designed as an exaggerated take on Jeff's appearance. Unfortunately, Klunk was met with mixed reviews from corporate Showbiz after hearing Jeff's demo tape. They hired a “professional” company to write and record Klunk's tapes, who would change much about Klunk's personality and his show. This was what ended up being used in the actual restaurants. Possibly because of this change, audience reactions to Klunk were also mixed. He was billed as a “abomination,” and the running gag seemed to be that nobody actually quite liked Klunk. Billy Bob: Listen, before we do the next song, what did y'all think of Uncle Klunk over there? Wasn't he all right? Looney Bird: …Just listen to that crowd. Boy, I'll tell ya, that's some real approval. Billy Bob: I know, Looney Bird, that's because Uncle Klunk is a real abomination! There were only around 50 Uncle Klunks ever made, as Klunk was a traveling act, both in the fiction and literally. He'd occupy stage right when a location had him, meaning they'd have to take Rolfe and Earl out and thus vastly limit which showtapes they could play. So Klunk would only stick around in locations that had him for a couple months, and then they'd move them on to a different location. Billy Bob: Enjoy Uncle Klunk, he'll be here for a couple of months only, and so y'all have a good time, and bring your friends back to see him. And then he's going to be going on to bigger and, uh… Well, never mind. Klunk also had a good handful of… variants, I guess? I almost hesitate to call them retrofits, even though that's basically what they were. In late 1984, Klunk's first variant took the stage as Santa Claus, voiced by Burt Wilson, the same voice actor for Fatz. He only ever had one show tape made for him: one where the band waits excitedly for him to arrive, using Looney Bird's newly invented- Looney Bird: Super Santa Scanner! Eventually he does show up to do a couple of Christmas carols with the group, minus Rolfe and Earl, of course. Klunk's next variants would come not from Creative Engineering, but rather Showbiz themselves. In 1985, while they were butting heads with CEI, Showbiz had decided to take more into their own hands than just producing showtapes. They had a surplus of Klunks lying around, despite there only being 50 of them, and so they decided to put them to use by creating other attractions for the restaurant. One of these was Uncle Pappy, a more prospector looking type character. He featured a bright ginger beard that was actually the same hair as Dolli Dimples, a CEC character at the time. He would sit in the game room rather than the showroom, and would sing short songs and give advice to kids. The other Klunk variant was perhaps the most unconventional, but by far my favorite. Somewhere during this time period, though the exact date is unknown, Showbiz did another test run of a Klunk-adjacent character- this one a literal deconstruction of Klunk himself. This character was named Orwell: A Robot You Control, and he was only ever tested in one location. Orwell could be featured as a bare mech or as a mech wearing Klunk cosmetics that were split in half. For the price of one token, kids could take control of Orwell by pressing the buttons on the control panel in front of him, thus learning a bit about how the animatronics on stage work, too. Orwell even came with his own bit of merch! This button that apparently only has one surviving copy so far. Overall, I think Klunk was simply a man done dirty. From his conception to today, I genuinely consider him misunderstood, disrespected, and underrated. He was hated by executives, had his voice actor replaced and identity stripped before he could even reach the stage, was disliked by audiences, reskinned and retooled more than almost any other Showbiz character I can think of, only for those reskins to be considered failures, scrapped, forgotten, left only in our collective present-day memories to be… what? Considered ugly? Annoying? To have a creepypasta written about him? Jeff Howell couldn't even voice the character that was made for him! And this is how we remember Klunk? We owe it to him as a community to treat this character with more respect! Klunk deserves fan art! Klunk deserves to be the next Tumblr sexyman! Make it happen! Okay, I've… I've gotten away from myself. Okay. Here. You've been watching the video for a while. Go take a water break or something, stretch your legs, I dunno. I'm gonna go cool off. Okay, I'm back! Hi! I'm feeling better now. Let's see, where did I leave off…? Uh, okay, let's see here… Uh… Klunk, Creative Engineering, uh, beef with Showbiz… Corporate tapes… “...how rough the waters were,” “...no surprise when…” Oh. Oh. Right, okay, um… So, CEI and Showbiz had been fighting with each other like this for quite some time now. CEI stopped turning in showtapes on time, Showbiz started making their own showtapes, and everyone hated them, CEI took away their exclusivity rights to the Rock-afire, Showbiz took even more into their hands and started… mutilating Klunk, and it eventually came toa boiling point. So SPT was sick of dealing with Creative Engineering and Aaron Fechter. Like I said, they'd been producing Chuck E Cheese showtapes and animatronics in-house for a good while now, so… why not just do the same with the Rock-afire animatronics? Cut CEI out of the equation entirely. Of course, CEI would refuse to let this happen. Remember Aaron's fear that Atari would reverse engineer his animatronics and put him out of a job? Showbiz and Pizza Time Theatre were becoming synonymous to the general public at this point. This led corporate to decide to merge the two brands entirely. One restaurant chain, one mascot, one animatronic band. According to Aaron, in 1988, corporate approached him with a request for him to sign away the rights to the Rock-afire Explosion. He declined, both on the grounds that he wanted to expand the Rock-afire into other mediums like TV and movies, and that SPT apparently wasn't offering any monetary compensation for the rights. Aaron: But you got to realize, back then I still felt like the Rock-afire Explosion had a big future. Movies, cartoons, I wanted to go someplace else with Rock-afire Explosion besides pizza restaurants. I wasn't ready just to give it up. And besides, they didn't offer me a plug nickel for the copyrights. When I spoke to Gene Cramm about this, who proposed to me that I give them the copyrights to the Rock-afire Explosion, the trademarks, the copyrights, all ownership of the copyrights, he said, “Aaron, what you get out of this is that your characters, Billy Bob, will live. They'll live on. But let me tell you something. If you don't accept this deal, and if you don't give us your copyrights… your characters are going to die. We're gonna get rid of them, and we're going to replace them with Chuck E Cheese.” While I understand his decision, this would unfortunately ultimately make things easier for SPT. Because they weren't able to get the rights for the Rock-afire Explosion, the brand that they would assimilate the other into would have to be Chuck E Cheese. In 1990, Showbiz began this process of merging both brands into one, called concept unification. This essentially involved the rebranding of every Showbiz Pizza location into a Chuck E Cheese. Signs and other labeling were changed, of course, but what most likely matters to us all the most is what they did with the animatronics. Concept unification saw the dismantling of every Rock-afire stage, retrofitting the characters into newly redesigned Chuck E Cheese characters. There were some concepts tossed around about what Rock-afire mechs would be used for what CEC characters, but ultimately the list goes like this: Fatz was turned into Mr Munch, Mitzi was turned into Helen Henny, Dook was turned into Pasqually P Pieplate, Beach Bear was turned into Jasper T Jowls, Looney Bird was turned into Pizzacam, and Rolfe was turned into Chuck E Cheese himself. Some stages also kept Choo Choo around, turning him into Munch Jr. The only two characters that weren't saved in some capacity were Earl, most likely because the only part of his actual mech was a face in place of Rolfe's right hand, and Billy Bob. I have to wonder if there's a reason they didn't do anything to salvage the mechs of Showbiz's mascot. The actual process of retrofitting these characters and redecorating the stage took several days, of course, so Showbiz made one final tape to play while the concept was in the process of being unified: The Rolfe and Earl Show. Done with corporate voices, of course, this was a showtape that played exclusively using stage right. This way, shows were still able to play in some capacity even if Billy Bob and the entirety of center stage were in various stages of being retrofitted. Employees would retrofit stage right last, over the course of one night, and the Rock-afire Explosion would be fully gone by the next day, replaced by Munch's Make-Believe Band. I believe the debut showtape for these versions of the characters is a well-liked one in the Chuck E Cheese community, but while I can understand the appeal, I personally have trouble fully enjoying these versions of the characters. I can't shake the feeling that they're… not supposed to be like that, y’know? It feels like corporate killed the Rock-afire, put different skin on them, and then put them back on stage, forcing them to continue to perform as if they'd always looked like this. Which is a shame, because I think these CU animatronics are the best looking iteration of Munch's Make-Believe Band that we've gotten! I just wish they weren't… you know. There's a kind of inherent horror to the “concept” of concept unification that I've tried to explain before, to varying degrees of success. This is from a gag Tiktok account, but I think they actually managed to sum it up pretty well: Well howdy everybody! I’m Billy Bob, and I’m here at the fifth Showbiz Pizza Place here in West Des Moines, Iowa, at 3 AM. I haven't been here in over 30 years, so let's go ahead and see if my friends are here. Oh, there they are. Hello? Hey guys! Hey, Rolfe? Can you see me? Mitzi? You can hear me, right? Fatz? Come on, Fatz, you can hear me. Beach Bear? Dook? Oh, you're on my old stage. None of them can hear me, they're all sleeping. But, horrors aside, concept unification effectively killed the Rock-afire Explosion in the public consciousness. Aaron was cut off by Showbiz, them not needing him anymore, so… now what? So, Aaron and Showbiz have finalized their divorce, or whatever, and what does one do after a really bad breakup? Rebound, of course! So here's an overview of some of the ventures Aaron and Showbiz (but mostly Aaron) pursued after or soon before this breakup. The Statue of Liberty: Introduced in 1986, the Statue of Liberty was another guest character for the Rock-afire, like Klunk and Santa Claus. 1986 was the real Statue of Liberty's 100th anniversary, so Showbiz had her made as part of their Fourth of July celebration showtape that year. This was also that one showtape that was half produced by Showbiz and half produced by Creative Engineering. The Statue of Liberty is the only guest character in Showbiz history to be implemented in every location simultaneously. Interesting given that she was only really used that one time. In 1987, while Showbiz was putting in their efforts of trying to phase out the Rock-afire, they decided they wanted to try out putting licensed characters on stage instead, to reach a wider audience. This wasn't unheard of, as shows like the Looney Tunes Revue existed in the 80s as well. Showbiz would settle on using Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear and Booboo, retrofits of Rolfe and Looney respectively. They were trial tested in three Showbiz locations for a year, after which they were discontinued. In 1985, Aaron Fechter had found himself with a surplus of Rock-afire Explosion shows that had yet to be sold. To help increase CEI’s sales, he created the Moonrockers. You know, from the city inside the moon? We’re the Moonrockers, from the city inside the moon! The Moonrockers, from the city inside the moon! This band was a space-themed retrofit of a Rock-afire center stage, consisting of: Princess Halley, retrofitted from Mitzi, Quasar, retrofitted from Beach Bear, Admiral Ork, retrofitted from Fatz, and Ozone, retrofitted from Dook. It also included retrofits of Choo Choo and Antioch, turning them into Molgama and Sismis respectively. Little has survived about the Moonrockers, probably partially because Aaron managed to sell a whopping none of these stages, but they've begun to see a bit of resurgence in popularity lately. Who knows? Maybe there's more content of them out there we've yet to find. In the early 90s, Creative Engineering did their own experiment with non-original characters, making a show based on The Wizard of Oz. There's very little I can find about this show online. Mostly that the Tin Man was a Mitzi retrofit, and based on the others' movements, I want to say at least the scarecrow is as well? I've also heard these animatronics were originally made for a dark ride, but I don't know how true this is. This Fucking Clown: I don't think anyone knows anything for sure about this thing. His name, when he was made, what he was made for. The consensus seems to be that he was posted at a kiosk, maybe in a mall, and would direct passers-by to a nearby attraction. Aaron calls it the "evil clown"- Aaron: The evil clown! -And the Showbiz Pizza Wiki calls it "Creepy Clown," so at least there's one thing everyone agrees on. Hannah Banana: Finally, something we know more about. In 2007, a restaurant named Hannah Banana was opened in the UK, featuring an animatronic monkey of the same name, courtesy of Creative Engineering. She was a retrofit of Mitzi, and the show also included Billy Bob and Looney Bird as they appeared in the Rock-afire. There were a total of 18 showtapes produced for the restaurants, but most of these are lost media to my knowledge. Hannah Banana only lasted about a year or two before her restaurant was closed. By the way, remember when I said Klunk had the most retrofits out of almost any Showbiz character I could think of? If there's a winner for most, I have to imagine Mitzi takes the cake. I mean, how many have we covered now? Four? Five? Anyway, moving on. The Hard Luck Bears Jamboree- God damn it! Remember the Hard Luck Bears? Also known as the Country Bear Jubilee, also formerly known as the Bear Country Jubilee, definitely not a ripoff of the Country Bear Jamboree? Yeah, apparently Aaron brought these guys back after concept unification as the Hard Luck Bears Jamboree. These guys were yet another retrofit of the Rock-afire, commissioned for the Gulliver's Kingdom, Gulliver's Land, and Gulliver's World theme parks in England. These characters all go by the same names, but are voiced by Gulliver's employees and have been given new outfits. The non-bear characters have also been given new bear masks. Around 2015 to 2017, these shows fell into disrepair and all stopped operating, but there's been efforts to restore them. The Gulliver's World show had a soft reopening in late 2022 and is expected to reopen for real sometime this year. But enough goofing off. You want to know what happened to the Rock-afire! So let's get to it. In 1991, while concept unification was going on, Aaron was experimenting with new ways to sell animatronics to people. His past retrofit shows hadn't really worked, so the next move was to try something completely new. This came in the form of a new style of animatronic invented by CEI employee Chris Lanusse. He had previously worked with miniature animatronic animation, and he worked with Aaron to make his animatronics smaller and more lightweight. Because of their size, Aaron nicknamed these animatronics "mijjins." Mijjins? Really? And you're sure it's because of the size? Really? Oh, man… okay. Do I have to keep saying that name? Shit. Okay... Okay, so, Aaron took these new animatronics and created a new show in 1992, simply called the [mumbles] Mijjins. This stage featured six human animatronics, a redesigned version of Billy Bob and Fatz, and a bare mech called the- The Mijjinator, are you serious?! Ugh. This was only the start of this style of animatronic, though, as Aaron would debut not just a new stage using them, but the comeback of the Rock-afire Explosion altogether! …Sorta. The New Rock-afire Explosion, produced between '92 and '96, was the Rock-afire Explosion's official return. This time, they came with what CEI called "danceatronic technology," allowing all the members of the Rock-afire to sing, dance, and even move around the stage! …Sorta. Rather, the stage itself moved, every part of it, in fact. The layout consisted of three stages like before, but each one was on an individual turntable. Stage left featured a TV screen on one side, and Dook on the other. Stage left featured Looney Bird on one side, and Beach Bear and a smaller Looney on the other. And center stage featured Fatz, Mitzi, and Billy Bob. The characters on center stage also had smaller turntables just under their feet, so when the larger one on the stage moved, they could rotate as well to appear facing forward, or they could turn while stationary to appear as if the characters were turning their whole bodies. There's two things that may immediately come to mind upon seeing the New Rock-afire, and that's their redesigns, and the lack of Rolfe and Earl. Yeah, Rolfe and Earl are just like, gone now, I guess? The TV screen on stage left would play recorded video versions of classic show tapes alongside the performances by the New Rock-afire, which could include Rolfe and Earl, but they otherwise made no appearances in this version of the Rock-afire. The New Rock-afire Explosion is also implied to take place after some sort of time skip, though the exact length of time is never specified, hence the characters’ new designs. Let's take a moment to go through them all. Billy Bob appears in the New Rock-afire donning a snazzy new outfit- and he put on a shirt for the first time! He's notably skinnier, which he explains as having lost some weight. His profile in this little introductory thing from back then says he dreams of a recording career, but makes it seem like he's not reached it yet. Based on his new look, I'd say he's well on his way! Though I do miss the rounder Billy Bob. I give this a 6 out of 10. Fatz's outfit hasn't actually changed all that much, but he's notably lost some weight as well- his bio clocks him in at 850 pounds, so I can't imagine how heavy he was in the classic Rock-afire! Fatz has always been a little short, but his width and the Tune Machine always made up for that and kept him looking somewhat imposing. The lack of both here kind of just makes him look a little pathetic, and not to mention younger, sort of taking away his parental vibe. 3 out of 10. Mitzi's been totally glammed up in this design, and I absolutely adore her new outfit! While still portrayed as somewhat young, she does seem to be a couple years older by now, and she carries almost an elegant vibe here. But, uh… Her hair. What happened to the… the hair? She’s sometimes given this large 80s hair, which I do appreciate more than her being, like, bald, but wasn't this look sort of going out of style by this time? I would have been fine if we just got a more modest hairstyle, something like if classic Mitzi had just let her hair out of those pigtails, but that's really a nitpick. 7 out of 10. I can't say I really prefer any of the New Rock-afire designs over the classic ones, but if any come really close, it's Dook’s. This more casual outfit I think fits his personality very well, and it's something I might unironically wear in real life were I a little more gutsy with my fashion. It is a bit sad to see him lose his space theming, though. Despite him not talking about it that much, Dook's true dream was to go to space… and now he's living in a junkyard? What happened? Did he give up on his dreams or something, what the hell? 6 out of 10 though, because I still love him to bits. Beach Bear’s new look is… I don't care for it. Why is he so… puffy? Why is his head so big and his body so little now? You gave him a shirt. Beach Bear doesn't wear shirts! That's like, his whole thing! That and playing guitar, but nobody plays instruments anymore. This isn't a bad design on its own, but it isn't Beach Bear. This is like, Beach Bear's little brother, Sandbox Bear. 2 out of 10. I saved Looney Bird for last, not just because he has the most drastic change of the New Rock-afire, but also my favorite. Looney Bird confirms more than perhaps all the others that there's been a time skip between the two versions of the band, because he's… actually gotten his life together since the classic show. Remember how Looney Bird wanted to become an inventor and a programmer? I mean, he technically kind of already was by this point, but not to this extent! There's even a whole show segment dedicated to like, him stumbling on following his dreams and almost giving up, but with the love of his friends, he decides to continue and push through, and now look at him! Look at him, he's got a diploma! He's certified! 9 out of 10. Speaking of Looney Bird, we should at least briefly mention Looney Bird’s, one of the few places the New Rock-afire actually sold to. This place was a typical arcade restaurant, like Showbiz or Chuck E Cheese's, but with Looney Bird as the mascot and featuring the New Rock-afire. It's kind of weird to think about, Looney basically getting the pizza arcade equivalent of like, when a really popular sitcom ends and they make a spin-off starring the goofy supporting side character, which inevitably fails because the goofy supporting side character is best in small doses like how they were in the original, and putting them in a prominent role basically unchanged is just a functionally bad idea. Not that Looney as a character fell prey to that second part, but maybe the Rock-afire as a whole sort of did. There's a lot to like about the New Rock-afire, but there's also a lot to dislike. All the characters are the exact same size and shape now. They don't play any of their instruments anymore. Their mechs all have the same capabilities, meaning none of them have any unique movements anymore. Like, classic Beach Bear can move his legs! Beach Bear and Looney Bird can cross their eyes, the others couldn't do that! Fatz and Billy Bob have the ability to tilt their heads, adding an extra layer of expressiveness that the others don’t necessarily have, at least not in that specifically. Because, despite Mitzi not being able to tilt her head, she can close her eyes, which Billy Bob can't do! It's an ability she has that makes her more expressive during long or high notes that not everyone else can do! They all had something that made them special, unique. That was part of what gave them so much personality. The New Rock-afire strips them of that. And while I have to be impressed by the technology in making the stage move, by the technology that made the New Rock-afire real, it just… It feels too little, too late at this point. I mean, Showbiz was dead by now. Concept unification ended in 1992, the same year the New Rock-afire debuted. At some point, I have to wonder if it would have been best to just… let sleeping dogs lie. Or, dead bears, I suppose. The New Rock-afire Explosion would only sell a couple of stages to a handful of places that have all either since removed the band or gone out of business entirely. It's a genuinely sad swan song, I have to admit. I can't help but wonder what these characters would be like if they'd had the opportunity to continue on to the present day, like Chuck E Cheese did. Actually, speaking of Chuck E Cheese, I feel like we ought to check up on those guys. As part of concept unification, all the Chuck E Cheese's Pizza Time Players were given new looks. They became Munch's Make-Believe Band and this era became known as the Tux era, because Chuck had been given a tux to wear. This is my favorite era personally, and like I've said, I kind of think these animatronics look fantastic. A biased take, maybe, but my take nonetheless. Stages featuring retrofits of the Rock-afire Explosion were called 3-stages, since they were on, you know, three stages. In 1992, CEC began producing the 1-stage, which included the whole band on, you guessed it, one stage. These animatronics were made by Chuck E Cheese themselves, called cyberamics. There's still a good handful of these stages left around these days, so you may have one near you, or you may remember growing up with a location that had a 1-stage. Hell, there's even a single digit amount left of the 3-stages out there. If you're super lucky, you might happen to live near one! In around 1997, the gang was once again redesigned, beginning the Avenger era. I have no idea why this is called that, and I don't think anyone else does. The Avenger era gave Chuck a cooler, more relatable to teenagers vibe, and it also gave him the iconic outfit that most people know him by. I don't think it's a stretch to say this is most people's favorite era- both for people who are already into Chuck E Cheese, and outsiders who only care much for what they grew up with. Regardless, I think there's a reason why this design is so popular. It's maybe the first time Chuck E Cheese's design has ever really come off as relatable to kids. He's depicted as much older in earlier incarnations. His first ever design even had him smoking a cigar. I can't imagine many kids felt exactly… comfortable around old Chuck. I wouldn't let my kids stay with him, at least. But Avenger Chuck? That's my son's cool friend from school! It was around this time as well that a stage most of you will be familiar with debuted: Studio C. If you didn't grow up with the 1-stage in your local Chuck E Cheese, you almost certainly grew up with a Studio C. There's three versions of Studio C: Alpha, Beta, And Cappa. I believe the majority of locations with stages these days have a Studio C Beta, including my local Chuck E Cheese! This stage only featured one animatronic, Chuck himself. The rest of the characters would appear on the screens on the side in the form of puppets, kind of reminiscent of the TV on the New Rock-afire stage. I really, really love this version of Chuck's animatronic, and if we had ever had the opportunity to see the full band like this, it would have easily become my favorite incarnation of the band. In 2012, a similar stage format to Studio C would debut, called the Circles of Light stage for, again, obvious reasons. This stage setup was largely the same as Studio C, but was also the first stage locations could purchase with the option of not having an animatronic at all. There are a few other Chuck E Cheese stages and smaller eras, and maybe that's something I'll make a video about more in depth someday for the uninitiated, but for now let's move on to the other important thing that happened that year. In 2012, after sales had started to tank for the company, Chuck E Cheese again decided to make a move for the… fairly controversial, and redesigned Munch’s Make-Believe Band once again. This era is known as the Rockstar era, and it's what we're currently still in now. Chuck got a guitar, a much smaller figure, and got his tail back. They also changed the patch of skin on his face to simply a lighter gray tone of fur, and- oh god, they took his hat?! No! Yeah, the internet wasn't really happy about this one when it was first revealed. Now, though? Ehh, nobody really cares anymore. In the CEC fandom, there's still a good handful of people that'll give you a whole essay about why the Avenger era is the best, and Rockstar is a huge pile of crap, but the Rockstar era has its fans, too. I mean, they're all toddlers but- In fact, the Rockstar redesign isn't even the most controversial thing CEC has done in recent years. Instead, that’d have to go to… Do I have to talk about this? I just got over concept unification, man, I- I just talked about the death of the Rock-afire… Come on. Fine. In May of 2015, Chuck E Cheese debuted the first of a new… “stage” type, called Chuck E Live. This… “stage,” also known simply as the “dancefloor,” is the first to contain exactly zero animatronics. Instead, entertainment is provided by a big screen that plays videos of the puppet versions of the characters, along with other content like… Kidz Bop music videos? And an employee in a walkaround will come around every so often to do a dance along with the kids. Obviously, this is a hugely disappointing development for animatronics fans. I mean, the animatronics were the original selling point for Chuck E Cheese! To get rid of them is to get rid of the very soul of the restaurant! But despite all that, CEC corporate has been continuing with this project for eight years now, as part of a “CEC 2.0” initiative. “But Juno!” I hear you cry, “You said that there were mostly Studio C Betas left! I heard you say that!” I said, out of the locations that still had stages! Sure, there's 88 locations that have a Studio C Beta. There are over 275 dancefloor locations. I mean, this is alarming! In fact, I just did the math, and if you add up how many of every location has a stage of any sort left, you only get 212. The dancefloor is over half of all Chuck E Cheese’s now! They're coming for everyone! They'll come for you next! Your wife! Your children! Why won't anyone think of the children?! This is such a distressing thing for so many reasons. It's like watching a species go extinct. It's like deforestation. If these Chuck E Cheese animatronics go extinct, really the only ones we’ll have left are at Disney, and Disney is too good at animatronics now, it's scary. Are we really gonna let them all but monopolize the animatronics industry? And don't even get me started on the media preservation side of things! Chuck E Cheese already has a reputation for kind of obscuring their history for basically no reason, but when these locations get rid of their animatronics, employees are directly told to destroy them, beyond recognition! And we're all just standing by because, like… I mean… well… What can we do? The fact of the matter is, despite what I personally want to believe, the general public just doesn't seem to care about comparatively rudimentary animatronics designed to shill pizza and arcade games to kids, in an age of home and mobile gaming and DiGiorno. Kids these days just don't seem to “get” animatronics anymore. I wonder why that is. Surely nothing could have occurred in the past decade, perhaps around 2014, that would have caused kids growing up at the time to view animatronics differently. Five Nights at Freddy's is a video game created by Scott Cawthon that released on August 8th, 2014. Scott Cawthon had a history with making point-and-click games in the past, but had been faced with continuously poor reception for his work. One particular comment about how his anthropomorphic animal characters were more reminiscent of creepy animatronics rather than the friendly creatures he'd intended them to be inspired Scott to make one final game before throwing in the towel on game development entirely. And then the game blew the absolute fuck up and he made like nine more and then he said some controversial shit and most people just try not to think about him anymore. I don't need to explain what FNAF is to you. Everybody knows what FNAF is. My mom knows what FNAF is. You can't go into a GameStop anymore without being drowned in FNAF merch. When I first mentioned animatronics at the start of this video, how many people watching first thought about Five Nights at Freddy's? Genuine question. Like, seriously, comment and tell me how far into this video you got before you made the connection. Now, I want to make clear now. I do not hate Five Nights at Freddy's. I am a FNAF fan. I've been a FNAF fan since the first game came out, and despite all the warning signs, I have not stopped being a FNAF fan since. I do not think FNAF is responsible (at least not single-handedly) for the extremely prevalent phobia of animatronics and mascots that has existed much longer than FNAF has. I do not think FNAF is responsible (at least not single-handedly) for the decline of the animatronics industry or events like CEC 2.0. I do not hate FNAF. I like FNAF. I do not hate FNAF. Are we clear? Good. Now, I need every FNAF fan who clicked on this video to kindly delete their comment about how It is nigh impossible to go anywhere in the animatronics community that is even remotely public facing without seeing a flood of FNAF comments. None of you are original. None of your jokes are funny anymore. Half of them aren't even jokes, some of them you just, like, kind of comment “FNAF” like, with no other elaboration, and I think those are like, from kids, but, like, I don't- I don't know what you think you're supposed to get- like- This is- I'm off script right now, but like… Why do you do that?! Like, it's not that making one FNAF joke is going to send me into an absolute meltdown or anything, but it just seems like a lot of these people- not all, of course- but a lot of them seem to act like these real animatronics from the 70s are “just like” FNAF as if FNAF came first and not the other way around. I know Freddy Fazbear and Billy Bob are both bears! I know that! But consider for a second that Freddy Fazbear is a bear because of Billy Bob! Show some respect to your elders! Despite the irreparable damage that FNAF has done to, like, my Tiktok comments, I also can't deny that FNAF was responsible in some part for getting people in the modern day into animatronics as a whole. It's a double-edged sword, I think. FNAF being horror media and also sort of the only pop culture media to feature animatronics at all in the decades sandwiching it can reinforce the fear of animatronics that many people have, and can instill that fear into people that might not have otherwise had it. But at the same time, I don't know if I personally would have even remembered animatronics really existed in the real world at the ripe age of 22 if it were not for FNAF. Because of that, I eventually became interested in real animatronics, at first through the lens of creepy videos of animatronics in disrepair. This bloomed into a genuine love of animatronics, and the video you're watching now. I know plenty of other people who've gotten into animatronics for real through FNAF, so I guess I can't really write off FNAF as all bad, can I? But like, really, guys, you gotta get more than one joke. The state of animatronics right now is… precarious. We're in an era of change right now, but I can't really say if this change is for better or for worse. In June 2020, CEC Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy- thus the serpent from 1983 consumes its own tail. But it seems like they're doing all right right now financially. CEC 2.0 is inevitable, sadly, but we know this isn't the end of the CEC characters. Animatronic technology is kind of insane these days. Disney's doing projected faces, and electronic animatronics, and- and cars. They're doing shit that moves around on its own, stuff that flies. Technology-wise, the future of animatronics looks very bright. In terms of the kitschy stuff, it's not like stuff like Chuck E Cheese is entirely gone yet, either. In fact, if you've watched this far and you find yourself itching to look at some pizza animatronics yourself, there's a good handful of places to find 1-stages, 3-stages, hell, even some Rock-afire Explosions are left out there! Billy Bob's Wonderland in Barboursville, West Virginia hosts a Rock-afire Explosion, the last remaining public show in America. They’re a regular arcade and pizza joint, just like in Showbiz's heyday. While they mainly cater to the general public, they're also very aware of the Rock-afire’s fans. They've hosted a couple fan conventions at the store, and it seems to be a yearly thing now. The band used to be in very poor quality,but in recent years they've been completely revitalized, and they look great in the present day. They also make their own shows, so if you ever wanted to see the Rock-afire perform a FNAF fan song, you're in luck here. Smitty’s Super Service Station in Little Improve, Mississippi is a semi-private museum run by Damon Breland. The place features a Rock-afire stage, a Pizza Time Players balcony stage, a New Rock-afire Looney Bird, and tons of vintage merch! You can request a visit there by contacting Damon on his website. The Rock-afire Bar, a bar in Kansas City Missouri that hosts the Rock- awww! Fun! Billiards and Game Room Superstore in Mesquite, Texas is actually currently in the process of building a stage left of the Rock-afire in their store! They have both the Billy Bob and Looney animatronics already, and they both look fantastic. International fans, don't worry! There's also a couple shows outside the US as well, like: Funderland, a traveling Rock-afire show in Ireland that features- ohhh no! Dreamfactory in Switzerland hosts a full Rock-afire band. They were previously in very rough condition cosmetics-wise, but are in the process of being refurbished. This band has a bright future, I think. Scandia Golf and Games in Canada has- No, no! On the Chuck E Cheese end of things, you can find 3-stages in Huntsville, Alabama, Charlotte, North Carolina, Visalia, California, Tallahassee, Florida, Augusta, Georgia, West Des Moines, Iowa, Billings, Montana, and Altoona, Pennsylvania. There's also 23 remaining 1-stage shows and 17 2-stage shows, both of which feature the whole band as cyberamics. When you put things like this, it doesn't feel so lonely anymore, I think. And hey, you know what? This may not even be the end of the kitschy pizza animatronics. Nostalgia is super in right now. It may just be a matter of time until these companies catch on to the idea and bring back the old days, even if just for a little bit. Even the Rock-afire might make another comeback! Remember those old Gen 2 animatronics? Aaron's apparently still working on those to this day. I wonder if they’ll ever get finished and, if they do, if they'll be any good. It'd be awesome to see these characters revitalized, and it's really admirable that Aaron is still dedicating himself to animatronics and the Rock-afire. He sounds like a really chill guy. …Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something? I have to be candid about something. I do not want to write this section. I don't want to make this section at all. I've been writing this script, and recording and editing since January. For months. I'm typing these words right now at the end of March. I'm recording this on July 9th. And I have no clue how much longer it's going to be until these words reach you. It's been a long time. And in that time, I have so fully immersed myself in the history of these animatronics and the good things about these animatronics, that I've forgotten, almost. I wanted to forget, maybe. It was nice to focus on the fun stuff. And maybe that's why other videos I've seen in this vein don't talk about this. Maybe they just don't know. Maybe they want to focus on the good. I don't know. And I know what you're thinking, if I don't want to make this part, why am I making it? I'm making this video as a whole because I wanted to fill a niche within this niche that I had not seen. There's plenty of videos in the 20 to 30 minute mark that cover the history of these animatronics, and they're all great videos, I've watched a lot of them now. But there’s two things that none I've found do. They all seem to cover both Chuck E Cheese and The Rock-afire, but with a lean towards Chuck E Cheese- and I wanted to make one with a lean towards the Rock-afire, since I prefer that band, they're my favorite animatronic band. The other reason is that a lot of them are not as thorough. I wanted to make a video that would go over everything in detail, show every aspect of the story behind these robots, especially because I found that the detail I looked for as a new fan was often very hard to find. Maybe my level of detail is too much for you, and in that case- well, first of all, why are you still here- and second, I'm not offended by that! Feel free to check out any other video covering Rock-afire history. But I'm here to be thorough. And I would be missing something very major if I did not discuss Aaron Fechter. So it's time to talk about the unfortunate side of the Rock-afire. Let's start with something more surface level, something you may have noticed by now. Fatz Geronimo is a character based heavily on the South, and especially Southern Black culture. Most of the time, when they're covering a song originally sung by a black person, they have Fatz sing in the cover. He's inspired by Fats Domino, a black pianist, and like- like, come on, he's literally black- I mean, I know he's not a human, but like… I think you can start to see how a character so heavily implied to be black being a gorilla is… Yeah. Moreover, he’s voiced by a white guy. But I hear you Devil's Advocates, I hear you saying, “But Juno, this was a different time! People didn't really have the perception of what's insensitive back then that we do now. Fatz was equally based on his voice actor who grew up in Louisiana, and is basing a lot of Fatz’ characterization off his legitimate and authentic experiences of his exposure to that culture. Obviously Aaron didn't intend anything offensive by it! It might look bad now, but surely you aren't accusing Aaron Fechter of being a racist because of these character design choices that were made 40 years ago?” And you know what? You're right. I do believe these examples were just things he didn't know would come off a certain way at the time. Despite these things still being worthy of criticism, I'm not accusing him of being racist for all that stuff. I'm accusing him of being racist for this. “Eve of Destruction” was originally written in 1965 by Barry McGuire. The original song is staunchly anti-war and was originally written to protest the Vietnam War. The version that Earl Schmerle sings in this video, while perhaps sharing a name and melody with the original “Eve of Destruction,” is but a hollow closed-minded facsimile of the original. These lyrics seem to touch on just about every political subject you could think of for the time, and it tries its damn hardest to be as offensive as possible with each of them. Bizarre considering the original was banned from playing on the radio as it was considered too leftist for his time. I was in disbelief that these two songs could even be related. I checked in just about every way I could, and even then I still didn't believe it. I was certain this cover Earl sings was more of a cover of a parody someone else had written or something. Surely Aaron wouldn't have sat down with an anti-war song, took the time to change all of the lyrics to be about how snowflakes these days can't handle… the n-word, and then took even more time to record himself singing it, and then took even more time to program one of his animatronics made for children to sing it, and then record it, and put it on YouTube. So I googled the lyrics, sure that someone from like, 2005 or whatever must have covered it, and they would come up. Except that didn't happen. I pulled no results that were even close to “Eve of Destruction.” This is something Aaron Fechter did entirely on his own. I legitimately don't know what to do with this information, like- like, I'm telling you about it, but like, what the fuck! Who's so petty about their political stance that they all but write an original song asserting it and giving a big preemptive middle finger to any potential dissenters? Right, Aaron Fechter is. Billy Bob: I ain't gay, but I never kissed a girl! “I Ain't Gay” is an original song written and performed by Aaron Fechter as Billy Bob. It's presented as if Billy Bob has gotten tons of fan letters asking if he's gay, so much so that he was compelled to make a song about it. Billy Bob: Well howdy, folks, I'm Billy Bob! And I get asked one question more than any other. And I've decided to answer that question in a song! But if you ask me, I don't believe anyone was sending Aaron fanmail asking if his characters were gay. The only times I've ever seen fans really reach out to creators to ask that is, like, at conventions with more modern IPs that usually have some queer-baity ship already going on, like Supernatural or Voltron or something. The Rock-afire is none of those things. What I personally think happened- this is my little headcanon- is Aaron wound up on Tumblr or something one day, and stumbled onto some fan art of- No. It can't be. Billy Bob? Kissing… a man?! The Billy Bob?! His character, his self-inse- I mean, his mascot? Gay?! This can't be true! He forbids it to be true! In fact, he's so personally offended by this… teenager's art of a bear, that he must spread the word via song: Billy Bob Ain't Gay. It seems Aaron isn't aware of the concept of “death of the author”: the inevitable phenomenon where, upon an artist releasing a work, the fans of that work can and will interpret and iterate on it in any way they personally want to, and there's not really anything the creator can do about that. For example, a musician may write a strongly anti-war song and send it out into the world, but he can't stop others from taking that song and interpreting it to be about how… white people are oppressed now, actually. I wonder if he's ever heard of Rule 34. But, hey, as overprotective of his characters’ sexualities as he may be- this is even his seemingly inclusive explanation for “I Ain't Gay”- that isn't necessarily a reflection on Aaron's overall thoughts on queer people, or even his overall politics, right? …Right? Aaron has… quite the reputation online. Even if we were to put his politics aside, there still seems to be more than enough reasons for a Rock-afire fan to dislike him. Let's talk about IP. This is the Gray Box. It's, for some reason, hard to find clear information on this from a technical standpoint, but the TL;DR is that this is more or less the system that the Rock-afire runs on. The one downside is that this tech hasn't really been updated since the 80s, meaning it's a little inaccessible for, say, people in the modern day who want to run a Rock-afire show. Enter the Blue Box, created by David Ferguson, who, uhh… He did make the Blue Box, and like, again, I don't have the specifics, but from my understanding, the Blue Box is just, like, better. What's more, you can use the Blue Box to program your own custom shows. So some modern venues adopted the Blue Box so they could play shows to modern songs. Take, for example, The Rock-afire Arcade Bar in Kansas City, Missouri. They'd bought their show from Aaron, but used the Blue Box so they could play newer, custom programmed shows from fans like Chris Thrash, one of the most dedicated Rock-afire fans I've ever seen. But this use of the Blue Box… displeased Aaron. He claims it's not because the shows featured “adult content,” but simply because he didn't program these shows. Again, Aaron, death of the author. The Rock-afire Bar closed just a year after it opened, following a lengthy feud between Aaron and the bar's owners. But that's a problem that only people who want to open their own venue have to worry about, right? What about the rest of us schmucks who still want to program their own shows, but don't have a show to do it with? Rock-afire Replay was a free Unity game created by The 64th Gamer. In it, you could be “in the room” with several versions of the Rock-afire stage, and even some other CEI shows. Simply by adding in a .wav file, and then pressing a bunch of buttons for nine hours, you could program your very own virtual show for the Rock-afire! It's unfinished, but as it stood, it was basically everything I could ever want as a Rock-afire fan. But I talk about this game in the past tense for a reason, and it's because Rock-afire Replay is no longer being worked on… because of Aaron. I've heard conflicting reports, but the story seems to go that he either copyright claimed the game, forcing production to halt, or he harassed The 64th until he stopped production himself. His reasons for doing this also seem to be nebulous. He seems to believe that those in possession of Replay were, or at least could, make showtapes that were “inappropriate,” similar to his feelings on the Blue Box. Eighteen naked cowboys in the showers at Ram Ranch, big hard- Which, Aaron, if you don't want “inappropriate topics” associated with your characters, then maybe don't make one of them say the n-word? And that's putting aside all the adult jokes they already do in canon! Aaron's also claimed that part of why he was against Replay was because he was working on his own Rock-afire simulator. And you know what? I'd love to see an officially made Rock-afire simulator, I really mean that! So let's take a look at this simulator he's been working on. Ryan: Hi, my name is Ryan Hayes. I'm working with Aaron Fechter, the creator of the Rock-afire Explosion, to digitally recreate the animatronic band. We're going to 3D scan all the animatronics, props, and the stage, in order to very accurately recreate the band. I've worked closely with Aaron to ensure the controls and data structure mimic the real recording process. We also want to convert some of the existing showtapes to run in the simulator. We'll give those away for free on the Steam Workshop, or just a simple download link. Along with that we also hope to make it possible to convert your programmed showtapes to work with the real-life animatronic band. Here's the prototype we made to make sure this concept was feasible. If you press Alt, it'll start recording. If you press the Q key, you'll start opening the mouth and it'll record that movement. As a backer, you'll get to join us on this exciting journey, and watch as the simulator gets developed. I think that we have something really special on our hands here, we just need your help. Well, I wouldn't worry about it, I'm sure it's still coming. Since the end of Rock-afire Replay, others have taken up the task of finishing what 64th started- with their products ranging from “I feel unsafe here” to “holy shit holy cow holy smokes this is everything I've ever wanted.” Regardless of the quality, though, these mods are all private, given out to only those close to the developers… because nobody wants to get sued by Aaron. So if you're like me with absolutely no connections in the fandom, you're kind of screwed. And if you're a mod maker who's watching this, please please please please please please please- The 64th Gamer himself went on to make more animatronic simulators, actually. Faz-anim, a FNAF themed game, which I believe is actually totally complete, and Reel to Real, a Chuck E Cheese themed game, which actually got really far in development and looked really promising… until he got a cease and desist from Chuck E Cheese, the company. Because 64th has a Patreon, they claimed he was making money off their brand, and you can't do that... and I'm still mad about it because from a legal standpoint they're right, but like also who was this really hurting. After the cease and desist, a bunch of people who were working on their mods and their own games- basically all of them- canceled their projects. And thus the animatronic simulator genre died. You can still access archives of a few of these games on the Internet Archive, and again, if you get in good with a mod creator, you might be able to get theirs, but basically everyone's scared to make stuff now. Which is a really, really sad state for this fandom to be in! It's not just fan games, either! I'm, as the kids call them, a furry, and a casual cosplayer. I decided I wanted to see if I could commission a fursuit of a Rock-afire character, and I actually managed to find someone who had made a Rock-afire fursuit before, and of the character I wanted! So I DM’d them, asking if they would be willing to make it again for me… and they said no, because they were afraid that if they did it again, Aaron would try to get them in legal trouble. And the thing is, that's not even an unreasonable fear! While they may not always be legitimate lawsuits, Aaron does have a bit of a history of trying to take people he doesn't personally like to court. Aaron. What are you doing? What are you doing? Do you realize how much you're shooting yourself in the foot with your astronomic levels of arrogance and stubbornness? You have a 43 year old IP. Your characters are not doing anything right now. Your characters have not done anything since the 90s! The Rock-afire Explosion would have been forgotten after concept unification were it not for the fans. And not just the new ones, either! The fans who saw your band in their heyday and fell in love. The people like Chris Thrash, the people who showed their love and dedication to your product to my generation. The people who want to program their own shows with modern music, the people who want to make stuff like Rock-afire Replay, the people who want to refurbish your shows, the people who want to make fursuits, and gay fan art, and multi-chapter fanfiction, and two hour long video essays! Your fans, the fans of your product that you aren't doing shit with right now! Your product that you keep saying you're doing stuff with, but Aaron, you haven't made a new Rock-afire showtape in over 10 years! Were it not for places like Billy Bob's Wonderland and the Rock-afire Bar, there would be no place for people to see the band, and you hate them! You hate your fans! You love your fans, sure, but only when they fall in line and like your product exactly the way you think they should. Because if they don't, you call them fetuses and your enemies, and you make up mean nicknames about them. These are the people that are keeping your brand alive! Because I sure as shit know you aren't! And in scaring them off, you are killing your brand! You are killing the Rock-afire Explosion, Aaron! There's so much I haven't even talked about. I could talk about how he treated his employees when he still had them. I could talk about his beef with Billy Bob's Wonderland. I could talk about that time he exploded his warehouse with a new fuel he was inventing, and then continued to work on developing that fuel. I could talk about the fans that see no wrong in him, for what reason I really don't know. That's the worst part though, isn't it? That there's something about Aaron Fechter that makes people like him regardless. He's a very pleasant sounding man, I'll give him that. And I respect him immensely as a creator, just less so as a person. Could this be enough for people to excuse his storied past? Maybe if I just… talked to Aaron. Maybe I'd be able to see something in him I previously couldn't from afar. So I reached out for an interview. And he actually got back to me! With a solid maybe. Basically saying, “ask again later.” So I said, “Sure! When is a good time for me to reach out again?” …And then he never responded. So. Actually, the reason he cited for asking me to ask again later was the fact that he's actually moving all his stuff from the Creative Engineering warehouse to a new place. That warehouse has been his since the 80s, since the beginning of the Rock-afire. It's a lot of work to move everything there somewhere else. That building has such a deep history, it’s strange to think it won't be where he spends his days anymore. This is the building that the Rock-afire was born in. This is the building even the Wolf Pack 5 was born in. This building has housed animatronics that haven't been used, haven't seen the light of day in 30-plus years. This building houses the Moonrockers, never sold, left to sit and slowly decay. This building houses the workstations of employees that haven't worked for CEI in decades. Aaron: -And as- as we lost people... well, the things that they did were no longer done. And the tools that they used they would just… lay down, like, right here. This- this tool here has probably been sitting here for 20 years. You know? The guy that worked here at this desk, and sat in this chair... passed away more than 10 years ago. And he probably used this on his last day. And all of the pieces that are here, these- these were his tools. So much of this warehouse hasn't been touched since the 80s or 90s. So much remains unchanged, and in a way, so does Aaron. He's returned to that warehouse regularly since the fall of the Rock-afire, almost as if they never fell to begin with. To work on projects that never sold, never finished in time to sell, never finished at all. To sit amongst the 80s again. To sit amongst the 80s, since the 80s. The Creative Engineering warehouse is a place stuck in time. It is a building unchanged, left to be forgotten by most. And now its sole inhabitant is stuck in time too, a ghost roaming the hallways of the mess he created. And then a bot responds with a bunch of suicide hotline numbers. Where does this leave us? Aaron being… Aaron shouldn't stop you from liking his shows, if I've convinced you at all to do that in this video. In reality he sorta only shows up every couple years in the public eye to once again proclaim himself as the guy who made Showbiz Pizza! Remember that? AMA! Or maybe to make a tweet about how, I dunno, AI art is cool or something? He'd probably tweet that. But the good news about all this is that death of the author is still totally real. Just like he can change “Eve of Destruction,” you can change the Rock-afire. Make Billy Bob gay if you want. What's he gonna do? He's literally just some guy. And, Aaron, if you happen to be watching this video- which is actually pretty likely because I told you I was making it, and also because you like to google your own name so you can start arguments with 16 year olds on Twitter- don't bother commenting, okay? I'm not going to give you any more attention because I know that's exactly what you want. You like the confrontation, you're like a grade school bully. But I know me saying that won't stop you, so I hope you'll at least take comfort in the idea that, while I won't respond publicly, I will definitely screenshot your comment and laugh at you in private with my friends. Grow up, man. Maybe use that energy you put into getting mad into actually working on second gen Dook for once. As for the rest of y'all watching, what should I leave y'all with? Well… despite how we all don't want it, it's an inevitability that places like Showbiz and Chuck E Cheese are soon going the way of the dodo. I think we need places like this in the world. It seems our world is becoming more bland and bleak with each passing year. We need places of joy and fun and childlike whimsy in our lives. So… go to a Chuck E Cheese. Preferably one with animatronics if you can. I'm serious, by the way. They've got free entry, and they won't look at you weird if you're “too old” to be there, especially if you're with friends. Plus, the pizza is really good. Just sit in front of the show for a while, and maybe it'll brighten your day a little bit. That's all they were ever meant to do. I had someone tell me recently that they hoped Billy Bob's Wonderland would remove their stage before CEC 2.0 completed, so that Chuck E Cheese could outlast the Rock-afire Explosion. They were definitely joking, but that put a competitive spirit in me, suddenly very adamant that Billy Bob's would outlast them. It'd be poetic, I think, and if not, it’d at least be very funny. Whenever Aaron finishes moving out of his old warehouse, that building will be demolished. Every memory in that place will no longer have something physical to contain them. It's truly the end of an era… …and maybe we can finally put this all behind us. Thanks for watching.

Channel: Chimera Manticore

Views: 106,447

Keywords: showbiz pizza, chuck e cheese, fnaf, five nights at freddy's, animatronics, animatronic, rock-afire explosion, aaron fechter, video essay

Id: VvE4jNhJTlA

Length: 117min 34sec (7054 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 10 2023