Chuck E. Cheese's (Cheesyverse)

Chuck E. Cheese's is a restaurant/FEC chain that is owned by Texas based company, CEC Entertainment. The stores serve pizzas, sandwiches, salads, and breakfast items, as well as offering an arcade game area as well as animatronic shows and walkaround costumes as entertainment. The target demographic for Chuck E. Cheese's is families with small children. The namesake of the chain is it's own mascot, Chuck E. Cheese.
== History ==
=== Development ===
Chuck E. Cheese's was founded by Nolan Bushnell, who also founded Atari. He wanted an arcade that was kid-friendly, possibly to make arcades seen as clean, bright, and fun. He then went to the IAAPA convention to look for a mascot for this idea, and he found one; It was a coyote mascot costume. He then immediately bought the suit, and brought it back to Atari, with the intention to name the restaurant "Coyote Pizza." Unfortunately, the costume had a long pink tail, and was instead, a rat. Nolan decided to rename the restaurant Rick Rat's Pizza, but after some executives at Atari told Nolan that the health inspectors would go mad, they instead decided on the name "The Big Cheese." However, Marriot Hotels already had that trademark, so the team instead came up with Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater.
=== Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater (1977-1984) ===
The first Chuck E. Cheese's (then known as Pizza Time Theater) opened in San Jose, California on May 17th, 1977. The place included the mix of Pizza, Arcade Games, and Animatronic Shows. The first location was successful, so another location opened up later in 1979. Around 1980, the animatronics were updated to Cyberamics, with some Chuck E. Cheese's stores still having and even opening up with them (mostly from former locations) to this very day. They even started to expand internationally in countries such as Australia, China, and France. Unfortunately in 1984, Pizza Time Theater, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was bought by their main competitor, Showbiz Pizza Place.
=== Showbiz Pizza Place (1980-1984) ===
In 1979, Robert 'Bob' Brock's Topeka Inn Management made a deal with Pizza Time Theater, Inc. to franchise Chuck E. Cheese's locations across the US. Unfortunately, Bob was disappointed with the current animatronic stage shows, which where the portrait style at this point. He then turned to Creative Engineering, who impressed him with the Wolfpack 5. He then broke up his contract to start up Showbiz Pizza Place. Later on, Showbiz bought out Chuck E. Cheese's in 1984.
=== The Merger (1985-1988) ===
Since both companies had merged, they changed their name to Showbiz Pizza Time, Inc. They closed unprofitable locations, and they standardized almost everything between both chains, with Chuck E. Cheese's sharing showtapes, merchandise, and marketing with Showbiz Pizza Place. At this time, the Chuck E. Cheese characters could also be seen at Showbiz Pizza, with some locations even having CEC stages as the main entertainment.
=== Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza/Concept Unification (1989-1992) ===
In 1989, Concept Unification started, changing Showbiz locations and their Rock-afire Explosion shows into Chuck E. Cheese locations and characters. This was successful, as by 1993, all Showbiz locations were converted into Chuck E. Cheese ones. Also around this time, Chuck E. Cheese was made to be more "hip" with the Cool Chuck design, though most locations at this time still used his old design.
=== Chuck E. Cheese's (1992-2011) ===
In 1992, the restaurant's title was made shorter by removing the "Pizza" out of the title. The chain still goes by this name to this day. This also saw the start of the 1992 remodel program. The "Phase" game packages were also introduced, which also introduced iconic things for the chain, such as the Skytubes and the Toddler Zone. In 1997, Chuck E. Cheese's started to work with third-party companies to make their animatronic shows. This started off with the Awesome Adventure Machine test stage, which was later downscaled to the Studio C series of animatronic shows. This was also around the time when the iconic Avenger Chuck design was unveiled. In 2003 a new remodel was tested. In 2005, it left testing, creating the "2005 Remodel Program", also known as the "Cool Chuck Remodel" started making it's way into stores. It included the iconic colored walls, and a more open feeling to stores. Everything went well until 2012, when sales lowered for CEC stores.
=== New Management/Concept Revision (2012-Present) ===
In February 2012, John Shirley became the CEO of CEC Entertainment. He wanted to continue the success of Avenger Chuck, but he knew the company had to adapt to the times. That's when the new design (dubbed by fans as Next Gen Chuck) was created, and first appeared in a commercial that played in March of that year. New redesigns for the other characters were also unveiled later that year. With revenue still not being as high as he wanted, John decided to add back an old character; Crusty. A whole marketing campaign for the new member of Munch's Make Believe Band drove up sales 30%. Crusty was revealed to be the saxophone player of the group. That year also saw the beginning of Concept Revision, which would turn most Chuck E. Cheese 3-Stages back into Rock-afire Explosion characters, with the Showbiz name coming back. This process would be completed in 2019. In 2013, an update to the 2005 remodel happened which included a new logo. Also, in late 2013, the new Studio C Ultra was put into stores, with it being the first Studio C stage with all characters, and it's still the current stage to this day. A mini variation came out later in 2015. Also in 2015, the remodel called the 2015 update was test marketed in a Texas CEC store. It featured art of the new designs of the characters, but people felt like it was too similar to the previous remodel. To make it more unique, talking walkaround heads were introduced for Chuck E. in early 2016, and the others were introduced in 2017. This is when the Next Gen remodel was announced to go to all locations. It would include a Dance Floor for live shows, would return the Cabaret and Lounge rooms to most locations, and standardized Studio C Ultra stages and a new stage, being Next-Gen 1 and 2-Stage. The idea was test marketed and successful. In 2018, two things were announced: the first being Chuck E. Cheese's Retro, which would keep certain stores existing art and show, along with adding the Dance Floor and even old art from locations that got remodeled. A similar concept came to Showbiz in 2019. The other thing announced was Pasqually's Pizza & Wings, which would replace the cabaret room (or coexist if it's a larger location) in some locations, and would serve specialty drinks, such as mocktails, and a new recipe for the wings was made. This was made to attract some of Showbiz's more adult audience, yet keep the kid-friendly nature of CEC. In 2019, Pasqually's was made into a ghost kitchen delivery service to serve CEC food outside of the restaurant.
== Entertainment ==
=== Arcade Games ===
Chuck E. Cheese's has always had a arcade section in their centers. Originally, video arcade games were the main source of entertainment in the room, and it was dominated with such games as Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., and Frogger. Later on in the mid 1980's, ticket redemption games such as Skee-Ball, Whack-A-Mole, and Down the Clown became the main source of entertainment in the game area. Now, some arcade versions of various mobile games have been added, mostly to appeal to the kids of the 2010's.
Kiddie Rides have always been apart of the area as well. Starting in the 2000's, the kiddie area was expanded into the toddler zone, which included the bulk of the kiddie rides, some smaller arcade games, and even a small play area. In the 2010's, this area started to be removed in some locations, but most locations have them still, and there is even a new version with the new designs.
Due to being mainly redemption-focused, a prize counter is also in all locations. It originally started as a gift shop where you spent actual money on everything, but things can now be bought with tickets. Originally, the prizes were quite cheap, such as small candies and flimsy sunglasses, but ever since John Shirley became the CEO, name-brand toys and even Playstation and XBOX consoles and games have been included, along with Chuck E. Cheese related collectibles and toys.
Other attractions also exist in the arcade area, such as the Skytubes play area, the already mentioned Toddler Zone, and even a Chuck E. Cheese Funhouse. Stores are now currently adding small trampoline parks, which were an idea from Showbiz, which has included them since 2016.
Another thing about these areas is the tokens. Today, Chuck E. Cheese's is one of the last major arcade chains to still use tokens. Ever since 2019, a new system called "Play Pass" has been in some stores. Locations can decide to use one or the other, but a majority of locations still use tokens.
=== Animatronic Shows and Walkarounds ===
Ever since the founding of Chuck E. Cheese's, the main entertainment source has always been the animatronic stage shows. There have been many types of animatronics, starting with the Portrait animatronics in 1977. Later on Cyberamics were made, which bulkier, yet more cartoony and kid-friendly. The 3-Stage retrofit of the RAE was made in the late 80's was a considerable upgrade to the previous generation, but new locations still had Cyberamics. This was the case until 1996, when CEC started to work with Garner Holt Productions to make animatronic shows. Their first was the Awesome Adventure Machine test stage in Monfort, Texas. The stage was a maintenance nightmare, though, so they instead opted out for Studio C stages in 1997, with the Studio C Alpha.
The main characters in these shows include:
* Chuck E. Cheese: The mouse mascot of the chain. He is the lead singer of Munch's Make Believe Band, and is known for being a kid at heart. He is also known for owning the Studio C television studio.
* Crusty the Cat: The newest member of the band, and is known for his saxophone talents. He is usually shy and scared, but he does enjoy sporting activities, especially baseball.
* Helen Henny: The main female vocalist for Munch's Make Believe Band. She is known for being a vegetarian, a love of arcade games, and she is known for having a huge crush on Chuck E. Cheese.
* Mr. Munch: The leader of Munch's Make Believe Band. He plays the keyboard, and is known for his extreme hunger for pizza.
* Jasper T. Jowls: A loyal hound dog, who is the main guitarist for Munch's Make Believe Band. He is Chuck E.'s best friend.
* Pasqually P. Pieplate: The only human in the group. He is the drummer for the band, and he is a self-proclaimed comedian. He is the one who created the recipe for Chuck E. Cheese's famous pizza pies.
Walkarounds of these characters also exist. Recently, they have been given the ability to talk using motion capture technology. They also now perform on the new Dance Floors, which have been a success.
There are other animatronic/walkaround characters at Chuck E. Cheese's, however. In 2017, the cabaret/lounge rooms were re-introduced to Chuck E. Cheese's. All of the characters are mostly old Pizza Time Theater ones, and they are only found at locations that have a Studio C Ultra stage. The Rock-afire Explosion characters also make small appearances in Chuck E. Cheese's. Billy Bob walkarounds are in some locations, and larger locations can include a Rock-afire mini in their Lounge area. Creative Engineering has to approve of all of these appearances, however.
== Restaurant ==
The restaurant portion of Chuck E. Cheese's has always been a cornerstone in the business. They mostly sell pizza, but salads and sandwiches are served as well. Recently, breakfast menu items have been served such as pancakes, bacon, and muffins. Some Chuck E. Cheese's locations serve mocktails, and have a larger variety of wings due to the Pasqually's concept. Alcohol used to be served at Chuck E. Cheese's, but since 2013, no alcohol can be on Chuck E. Cheese's location. Desserts are also served, such as ice cream and cakes.
== See Also ==
* CEC Entertainment Commercials
* CEC Entertainment Training Videos
* List of CEC Entertainment Products
* List of CEC Entertainment locations
* List of Chuck E. Cheese's Showtapes
* List of Concept Revision Installation Tapes
* List of Concept Revision Showtapes
* Munch's Make Believe Band
Category:Cheesyverse