I use to have daily problems with the reel to reel audio for the shows. All the shows audio, music, movements, lights, etc. were controled with a single reel to reel tape player. They were heavily used and would fail constantly. Usually what would happen is the characters would either not move or they would move erratically. I even had "The King" fall one day. He pivots using a single ball joint in his back. It broke and he fell forward. It scared the **** out of the kids that were watching him.
It’s been a decade since you’ve said this so I don’t know why im even replying but I didn’t know how the king malfunctioned thank you for the story and even if it did suck when they went out of business and maintaining the animatronics is a pain thank you for ur work
@@jacobbaron4458 thanks for the reply. Looking back over time I would have to say working at CEC was one of my most enjoyable jobs. I was the store tech and had a free run of the place. I was in my 20's when I worked there and loved playing video games. It was a perfect match at the time. I would test, repair and play every game. I had the game room to myself in the mornings. Even after work I would stick around playing games. I had free tokens in my pockets everyday. The managers loved me since I could fix anything thing in the store and they didn't mind me staying after work playing games because if anything broke I would fix it on the spot. I had the keys to the kingdom! Until showbiz took over.
@@brentsilvius1397 damn I wish I knew what it was like back than I hate that Chuck E. Cheese went bankrupt and I understand with the video game crash of 1983 or 1984 it was doomed to happen but still wish something could’ve been done to help them every single animatronic I’ve seen before the ones we’ve had now from 1977 to like 1990s are amazing and much better than the recent ones but it sounds like u had a pretty good time working there before they got shut down and felt like a god lol I hope u have a good rest of ur day and thank you for taking the time out of ur day to message me
I wasn't there very long after the merger. But I can tell you behind the scenes at the last store I worked at in St. Pete, FL when Showbiz took over control was no fun! They sent in one of their previous Showbiz store managers and he started writing up everyone for frivolous infractions. When you had 3 write-ups you were fired. This happened very quickly. I was surprised how fast he was firing people. Not sure if this was just him having issues with CEC staff or if this was some sort of push by Showbiz to bring in their own staff. Every time a CEC staff member was fired, within a day a Showbiz employee was brought in to take their place. No one was hired to fill the position, but they were all filled by Showbiz employees who seemed to previously know or quickly became on close terms with the new Showbiz manager. It became obvious to me what he/they were doing. Firing CEC staff with the write-ups so they couldn't get unemployment and bring in Showbiz staff to take over. After several were fired in short order, then I started getting write-ups. I was 5 minutes late one day and was written up. They were all trivial write ups. I had never in my life been written up before, but at this point I knew what he was doing and on the day he fired me I called a previous employer who hired the same day over the phone when I called him. Funny thing is I was a popular and sought after employee for my ability to repair virtually anything and would even stay late after I punched out, so when I received a call from this very same Showbiz store manager that had just fired me I was very surprised. He called me the very next day after he fired me and went from an off putting confrontational person, to a very friendly apologetic person. He said the write up and firing was just a big misunderstanding and I wasn't actually fired. He was begging me to come back, but I already had a new job the same day he fired me. He asked me several times to come back. Don't know what happened after this last call. That was my last communication with anything to do with the new CEC merger. I loved and still love the real original CEC, but I can't say the same for Showbiz and its treatment of staff. Long live Chucky!
I use to work at several Chuck E Cheese stores in Florida back in the 80's when they were having money problems. They were closing stores left and right before the bankruptcy happened. I was moved to another store after each was closed. When Showbiz took over they came in my last store and started forcing out the employees and replacing them with their own. They started at the top and worked their way down. I left when they started with me. I hated Showbiz when they took control.
i remember after the show, the lights would turn off and i would stand there in front and see some of the puppets move and open their eyes, it was kinda creepy but i guess i liked scaribg myself haha
I have that poster of Helen Henny shown behind her on the stage, i stole it from CEC when I was a kid, lol...its in horrible conditiob but I still have it!
It was a common gag in the old PTTs that Jasper would have huge crush on what ever female guest star they currently had. This was most noticeable with Harmony Howlette, as Harmony almost seemed to tease him about as Jasper would try to win her over, and with Foxy Flanagan/Colleen, in which he would try to win her over, and tried to do so very desperately. It's most noticeable he did not like Madame Oink much. If they didn't know Helen would end up being permanent guest star, they probably would've taken out that line. But then again, Jasper could be singing about Helen and Chuck..
The reason I asked is because he says "Another season, another reason, for making whoopy.." What's even creepier about it (the quotes, not the animatronics) is that he says "You know, whoopy..."
@mp3aa I remember 43rd & Thomas as Pistol Pete's Pizza. They also had the Rock-afire show. Chuck E. must have not lasted long in AZ. It was one of those markets Billy Bob won.
@dooklarue @dooklarue Chuck E. Cheese corporate went bankrupt from poor management. We were a franchise with a store in Tempe and Phoenix. We kicked Showbiz Pizza's butt. When Showbiz took over after the corporate bankruptcy, they doubled our royality payments and our owners gave up. The Tempe store was closed and the Phoenix store was sold to the idiots that ran Pistol Pete's. I think it's a Peter Piper's now.
Sorry to ask this, but could you give me a quick history on both the tempe and phoenix locations, I know tempe opened around 1981 with harmony howlette, the beagles and dolli dimples and got oink in 1982 and most likely got helen henny in 1983, and closed in 1985, and phoenix opened in 1983 with helen henny, the king and possibly dolli dimples but I don't know or think so, they closed in 1990, could you please fill in the gaps?
@@roymackenzie-jy4lr I started doing tech work at the Tempe location around the end of '81, beginning of '82. Harmony Howlette was the guest at the time. We also had Dolli Dimples and The Beagles. After a while we had Madame oink, and then Helen Henny. I would switch the characters around in '85 due to the lack of corporate support (we were a franchise). The Phoenix store opened in '83 with The King and Madame Oink. Helen Henny became the guest before the store closing in '85. Pistol Pete's bought out the location, minus the characters, they were sold off. Pistol Pete's was eventually bought by Peter Piper. Peter piper was bought out by Chuck E. Cheese, who was now owned by Showbiz. I left in '85, 3 months after Pistol Pete's took over the Phoenix store. It was a very messy ordeal, to say the least.
@mp3aa Nearly the whole mall that used to have Pistol Pete's in it on 43rd/Thomas is empty now, including the old CEC/Pistol Pete space. Thanks for the AZ CEC history. It's similar to what happened in MN. ShowBiz and CEC's franchises pulled out in '87. Circus, like Pistol Pete's, took over a mix of the old SPPs and CECs, also with Rock-afire shows. CEC came back in '98 and bought Circus, so now CEC rules Mpls and PHX again. Billy Bob had a good run in those markets in the 80s/90s, though.
I live in CA, so my version didn't have the character signs behind the 'bots; I believe it was just a curtain...think of Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Show :) Does anyone have any info on Mr. Munch's Madhouse? Was it supposed to be a video or something? I don't remember seeing the Clapper Board, but I remember the Cheese Crawl and the waving flags! :)
I’m just gonna warn everyone now, the audio from this video just got used in a FNAF animation (it’s pretty realistic though and has nothing to do with the weird shipping stuff). So if you see a bunch of FNAF fans in this comment section soon you’ll know why.
I wasn't even born yet when this was recorded. That kind of chuck E. cheese from the 80's looks very creepy and uncomfortable to have fun. Thank god I wasn't born at that time of ERA. Things wouldn't be so easy for me at that time. But it's good to see how it got to look back then. Didn't got a chance you know.
Helen used to be kinda scary...but how did she go from that to a present day teen? Was she a teen already in the 80s? Same with Chuck E. I'm confused...
@@tancoplays3502 the current versions are the same..just look more colorful and teenage kid friendly..and younger...helen was alwas a bird..jasper was always a dog..munch was always a monster..pasqually was alwas a pizza making cheff..chucky always was a mouse...or rat. Only thing is back then they had other characters join in as "guests" sometimes
Well in the 90's Helen had grey & black feathers on top of her head. Black shirt & dark silky purple skirt. To me in the 90's the characters felt more mature looking... 🤷♀️ Then I go on here (youtube) & see modern Chuck E. Cheese now in video's. The newer Chuck E. Cheese defently makes the characters look more pre teen / teenager vibe... Liked old Chuck E. Cheese I grew up with in the 90's! 👍🍕
Her originally 70s design was ased on Helen reddy with a Hollywood theme, around 30-40, then she reappeared in 1983 with an old 55-70 Broadway style a bit like ethel merman, then she became more like mitzi mozzarella during concept unification
Well they shouldn't exist anymore since the technology has advanced. Couldn't they tried a better kind of equipment to use on them instead of crappy ass bots? Like it's just some parts from chuckE that has never changed over the years.
