Redux 3-Stage (Johnsonverse)

The Redux 3-Stage is a stage format found at Chuck E. Cheese's locations. It was first announced in April 2011 as part of the Concept Division process, and officially rolled out in June 2012. Most of the animatronics on pre-2017 stages are manufactured by Garner Holt Productions; all stages manufactured since 2017 are AnimeTronics designed by Johnson Technologies and Fechter Creative Engineering, the latter of which also manufactures some minor characters.
==History==
When Johnson Industries was in the process of acquiring CEC Entertainment, Inc. (now ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc.) in February 2010, one of the first ideas to be floated was the introduction of a new stage; Johnson CEO Tim Johnson greatly disliked the Studio C stages as, despite featuring a more advanced and friendlier-looking 32-movement Chuck E. animatronic by Garner Holt Productions, they only featured one animatronic, with many stages also downgrading the animatronic's amount of movements from 32 to 16. Once the acquisition was completed, the new stage was one of the first priorities, alongside a Phase V remodel and a Cyberamic variant to replace all the extant Cyberamic setups introduced in the 1990s (the sole exception being the final Rocker Stage in the Rockford, Illinois location, which was donated to the Volo Auto Museum and replaced with a Redux 3-Stage).
The stage was announced on April 15, 2011, along with the rest of Phase V and the reintroductions of Crusty and Harmony Howlette (a guest character from the early 1980s). On November 10, the Redux 3-Stage design itself was unveiled in a SPT press conference playing a specially-made showtape, and the first showtape played on the stage was the Summertime 2012 show that played in June of the following year.
Starting in 2017, all new Redux 3-Stages were built with AnimeTronics, which resemble the original mechs (with upgraded effects). Older Redux 3-Stages retain the original animatronics, though AnimeTronics still replace the walkarounds. Since 2023, the original Redux 3-Stage mechs are gradually being replaced with AnimeTronics.
== Layout ==
The stage layout itself is nearly identical (although slightly larger) to the 3-Stage setup at ShowBiz Pizza Place locations from 1980 to 1993 and again since 2011, and Chuck E. Cheese's locations from 1989 to 2013. Center Stage features the Chuck E.'s Pizza Time Band (formerly Munch's Make-Believe Band) characters in their modern appearances with a modernized version of the city setting introduced in Concept Unification. There are also two Cyberstar television screens (displaying each show's logo, as well as footage of animatronics and walkaround characters, video breaks, and intermissions) above Center Stage, as well as the Wink, which is recycled from the 3-Stage in most cases. Stage Right features Chuck E., Reggie Bird and the Warblettes (renamed Wendy, Whitney and Wilma) with three LED stars (one large and two small) behind him, as well as a smaller curtain to conceal the Chuck E. animatronic when the walkaround character comes out for parties. Stage Left shows Crusty against a brick wall, with Pizzacam in an amplifier next to him, as well as a speaker, a poster of The King, and the Pizza Time clock. There are six additional stages (three on either wall next to the main stage) that feature a rotation of guest characters, like in the Pizza Time Theatre era. The curtains on all stages are colored red, and close whenever a show isn't performed, a feature that had been absent on older stages since 2005. On either side of the main three stages is a Ticket Blaster; the one next to Stage Right has an illustration of Chuck E., who introduces the Ticket Blaster; the one next to Stage Left replaces Chuck E. with Crusty.
The Building and Moon, Munch Jr., Singing Flowers, and Mopsey Sisters (now named Mary, Melody, and Miley) are located on Center Stage. The Singing Flowers and Mopsey Sisters are inside windows on the side buildings, which open or close by themselves. The Moon is the exact same animatronic used on Rock-afire Explosion stages, while Building, Munch Jr. and Pizzacam use the same underlying mechanics as Sun, Choo-Choo and Looney Bird, respectively; they are all manufactured by Fechter Creative Engineering. The Singing Flowers use improved mechanics from the ones used on the Rocker Stage. The Building and Moon, as well as the other buildings, are in front of an illuminated sheet that allows for different colors to be projected; the building props are lit with LED lights placed inside. 
The animatronics use a variety of mechanisms for a total of 256 movements; they also feature LED eyes with colors that change depending on the emotion or expression (including displaying "wingding eyes" as part of a wild take, such as Chuck E.'s eyes displaying musical notes whenever he's talking about singing or having fun, Helen's eyes displaying hearts when she flirts with Chuck E., and Munch's eyes displaying spinning pizza slices disappearing one by one when he talks about food), as well as lights penetrating through their cheeks to give the illusion of blushing. The Redux 3-Stage animatronics are more advanced than the first and second-generation Rock-afire Explosion animatronics and Cyberamic animatronics, yet still less advanced than the third and fourth-generation Rock-afire Explosion animatronics or the Ho-kago Tea Time AnimeTronics used at ShowBiz locations in the Japanese States, both of which can walk around unassisted, the latter also able to convincingly replicate natural human movement and expressions. Chuck E., Helen, and Tati have blue eyes, Crusty and Munch have green eyes, Jasper, Harmony, and Pasqually have brown eyes, and Bella has hazel eyes. 
The original Redux 3-Stage animatronics were designed by Garner Holt Productions in the same style as the Studio C animatronics, and many parts are interchangeable with Fechter Creative Engineering animatronics and AnimeTronics to streamline the maintenance base (the older Cyberamic animatronics still require their own parts, though these come from the same factory, and many were refurbished to use the new parts). Binaural audio tracks provided by a Dolby Atmos sound system are used for the showtapes to further the illusion of the characters actually being onstage. 
Jasper and Pasqually once again play a banjo and accordion, respectively, while Harmony is made the drummer; Harmony's snare drumhead has a decal on the opposite side that appears through a lighting mechanism inside the drum (in sync to the music). Starting in 2018, Tati Truong and Bella B. Conejita were added to the stage as permanent band members, playing the tambourine and saxophone, respectively.
Special effects include the "Applause" and "On the Air" signs, Pizza Time clock (all recycled from Studio C), spotlights, strobe lights, warps, gobos with alternating patterns, gemini disco balls, helicopter lights, color flood lights, and a house light dim effect. There is also a bubble machine that activates during songs.
Like with the Rock-afire Explosion stage, the Redux 3-Stage has all birthday shows on a separate system so they can be cued on demand with a button; whenever a song or segment is interrupted, a brief skit of Chuck E. or Crusty stopping the show to tell the other characters to do a birthday show, and once the birthday show ends, the segment resumes, and a random character announces that the next segment will be dedicated to the birthday guest(s) through a song. Special birthday shows were also created to celebrate characters' birthdays (e.g. Chuck E.'s birthday show plays on May 17 every year).
Finally, during intermissions, the animatronic characters can interact with the guests through a programming system, as well as VoxMutatio.
A variation of the stage allows Center Stage to rotate to a different side containing the Rock-afire Explosion in the event of a mechanical problem. It has been tested in several large-scale locations and is being rolled out at all Chuck E. Cheese's locations with the stage for the next several years. A later revision added the capacity for Stage Left to rotate to a different side containing Billy Bob, Looney Bird, and the Smitty's Super Service Station backdrop, while Stage Right rotates to another side with Rolfe and Earl, effectively allowing the entire stage to transform into a Rock-afire Explosion stage. Specially-produced showtapes have been created using this function beginning in 2019. In locations in the Japanese States, Center Stage's alternate side has Ho-kago Tea Time, while Stage Right has Ui and Earl and Stage Left has Billy Bob and Looney Bird.
The first location to have the stage installed was the location in Oceanside, California, which reopened in June 2012 and previously housed a Studio C Beta. Redux 3-Stages were installed at locations with a Studio C Alpha, Cappa, and Alpha Beta Mix, and the Rockford, Illinois store that previously housed the final Rocker Stage; all locations with Studio C Beta and Beta Cappa Mix stages were replaced by 3-Stages with the Rock-afire Explosion, these locations henceforth being rebranded as ShowBiz Pizza Places. None of the pre-existing Cyberamic stages (which were merely retrofitted, redesigned, and unified into the Cyberamic Redux 3-Stage setup) are planned to be replaced, as the Cyberamic animatronics are considered by the company to be too historically significant to be replaced; the only exception was the Rocker Stage in Rockford, Illinois, which was moved to the ShowBiz Pizza Time Museum and replaced with a standard Redux 3-Stage. On the Cyberamic variant, Chuck E., Helen, Jasper, and Pasqually were all given new arm assemblies (while Pasqually was given new legs) so they can play their respective guitars, banjo and accordion. New Cyberamic animatronics for Crusty and Harmony (whose arm assembly and legs were repurposed from Pasqually's) were added as well, with new animatronics for Tati and Bella added in 2018; the Tati Cyberamic uses a slightly altered eye mechanism to accommodate the character's almond-shaped eyes, while Bella's Cyberamic (to accommodate the character's glasses) incorporates white foam inside her glasses frame with white eyelids.
==Characters==
* Chuck E. Cheese - host and vocalist
*Crusty T. Cat - vocalist, electric guitarist, and announcer
* Helen Henny - vocalist and bassist
* Mr. Munch - vocalist and keyboardist
* Jasper T. Jowls - vocalist and banjo player
* Pasqually P. Pieplate - vocalist and accordionist
* Harmony Howlette - vocalist and drummer
* Tati Truong (added in 2018) - vocalist and tambourinist
* Bella B. Conejita (added in 2018) - vocalist and saxophonist
* Sun, Moon, Singing Flowers, Warblettes (Wendy, Whitney and Wilma), Reggie Bird, and Pizzacam - backup singers
* Munch Jr. - dancing character
* Wink - winks after every show
===Guest characters===
====Animatronic====
* TBA
=== Other characters ===
In the event of a major malfunction, any stage can rotate to use the Rock-afire Explosion characters instead.
==Gallery==
===Animatronics===
File:CEC_Redux_bot.png|A Chuck E. Cheese Redux 3-Stage animatronic on Stage Left
File:CEC_Redux_Cyberamic_bot.png|A Chuck E. Cheese Cyberamic
File:CEC_Redux_Wink.png|The Wink
===Instruments===
File:
File:Helen Shure microphone.jpg|Chuck E.'s Shure microphone
Chuck E. Gibson guitar.jpg|Crusty's Gibson Les Paul guitar (Grey Burst)
File:Helen_Daisy Rock bass.png|Helen's Daisy Rock acoustic bass guitar (Electric Pink)
File:Munch Casio keyboard.jpg|Munch's Casio CT-X700 electronic keyboard
File:Nechville-vintage-banjo.jpg|Jasper's Nechville Vintage banjo
File:Roland accordion.webp|Pasqually's Roland accordion
File:Harmony drums.png|Harmony's Tama drum set
File:Tambourine 5e53ba2cb7fb2.png|Tati's Remo tambourine
File:Bella_B_sax.png|Bella's Selmer TS44 Professional Tenor saxophone
File:Munchkeyboardfront.png|The light-up front for Munch's keyboard shell
File:Munch new keyboard shell.png|Concept of Munch's redesigned keyboard shell (the light purple area represents LED lighting)
File:Madame Oink fiddle.jpeg|Madame Oink's Uenjoy fiddle
File:Charlie Rockit Squier guitar.jpg|Charlie Rockit's Squier guitar
===Lighting/effects===
File:CEC_disco_balls.jpg|Gemini disco balls
File:CEC_Show_spotlight.png|"The Chuck E. Cheese Show" gobo
File:Six_head_helicopter_light.jpg|Six-headed helicopter light
File:Redux_3_Stage_Applause.png|"Applause" sign
File:Redux_3_Stage_On_the_Air.png|"On the Air" sign
===Stage areas===
File:Madame Oink stage.png|A rough mock-up of Madame Oink's stage
File:Sally Sashay stage.png|A rough mock-up of Sally Sashay's stage
File:Foxy Colleen stage.png|A rough mock-up of Foxy Colleen's stage
File:Steve Waters stage.png|A rough mock-up of Steve Waters' stage
===Other===
File:Harmony_drum_decal.png|Harmony's drum decal
Category:Johnsonverse