Goodbye, Chuck Entertainment Cheese
August 18, 2017 11:51 PM Subscribe
In a reversal of the current trend towards automation in the service industry, Chuck E. Cheese [previously] is retiring its animatronic show.
Father John Misty has written a touching farewell.
The animatronics are so dated. I've saw a more modern robot presented by Ford at a car show that had the personality of a good comic and lots of realistic movement (though they didn't try to make it look human), and it attracted a big crowd.
Of course, as radwolf76 says, Scott Cawthon has done to animatronics what Stephen King did to clowns. The Five Night at Freddy's characters are now popular items.
posted by eye of newt at 12:18 AM on August 19, 2017
Of course, as radwolf76 says, Scott Cawthon has done to animatronics what Stephen King did to clowns. The Five Night at Freddy's characters are now popular items.
posted by eye of newt at 12:18 AM on August 19, 2017
First the Confederate solder statues, now this? How will we make masterpieces like this one??
posted by mikeand1 at 12:32 AM on August 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by mikeand1 at 12:32 AM on August 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
The CEC near us barely has animatronics anyhow -- it's not the full band, it's just Chuck, and he's basically a VJ for the giant video screens playing a loop of mildly terrifying proprietary videos of their characters mixed with late 90s pop music.
But if they think that'll help store performance , sure. It's definitely the animatronics that keep me from killing time there with my kids, not the fact that the pizza makes Cici's Pizza Buffet (all you can eat for only $6!) seem like a dinner at Per Se in comparison.
At least the wifi's usually decent. And I suspect the one closest to us has significantly higher cleanliness standards than the Showbiz Pizzas/Enchanted Castle of my youth.
posted by ThatSomething at 1:10 AM on August 19, 2017 [3 favorites]
But if they think that'll help store performance , sure. It's definitely the animatronics that keep me from killing time there with my kids, not the fact that the pizza makes Cici's Pizza Buffet (all you can eat for only $6!) seem like a dinner at Per Se in comparison.
At least the wifi's usually decent. And I suspect the one closest to us has significantly higher cleanliness standards than the Showbiz Pizzas/Enchanted Castle of my youth.
posted by ThatSomething at 1:10 AM on August 19, 2017 [3 favorites]
First the Confederate solder statues, now this? How will we make masterpieces like this one??
"My fear of the bear at Showbiz Pizza when I was six was overwhelming and not dissimilar to this"
- Why? - Good Friday
posted by kersplunk at 3:06 AM on August 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
"My fear of the bear at Showbiz Pizza when I was six was overwhelming and not dissimilar to this"
- Why? - Good Friday
posted by kersplunk at 3:06 AM on August 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
Not American so I had no idea growing up what Wall E Weasel's was supposed to be referencing.
posted by kersplunk at 3:20 AM on August 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by kersplunk at 3:20 AM on August 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
I always wondered what was supposed to be good about a terrifying giant rat confronting children while they ate terrible pizza.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:36 AM on August 19, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:36 AM on August 19, 2017 [5 favorites]
.
posted by kevinbelt at 4:46 AM on August 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by kevinbelt at 4:46 AM on August 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
My youngest daughter will be excited about this. Last time we were there she demanded to sit as far away from them as possible.
posted by drezdn at 5:59 AM on August 19, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 5:59 AM on August 19, 2017 [3 favorites]
The CEC near us barely has animatronics anyhow -- it's not the full band, it's just Chuck, and he's basically a VJ for the giant video screens playing a loop of mildly terrifying proprietary videos of their characters mixed with late 90s pop music.
Yeah, I've been to three different Chuck E. Cheese's over the last few years for birthday parties my kids were invited to, and they were all like this. I didn't know that any with full bands still existed. It seems to me that a well-done animatronic band would still be fun for kids, but the big cheeses must have decided they are going to keep almost all their customers without going through the hassle of maintaining the band.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:24 AM on August 19, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yeah, I've been to three different Chuck E. Cheese's over the last few years for birthday parties my kids were invited to, and they were all like this. I didn't know that any with full bands still existed. It seems to me that a well-done animatronic band would still be fun for kids, but the big cheeses must have decided they are going to keep almost all their customers without going through the hassle of maintaining the band.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:24 AM on August 19, 2017 [3 favorites]
The uncanny valley has lost some of its leading citizens.
posted by amtho at 6:29 AM on August 19, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by amtho at 6:29 AM on August 19, 2017 [6 favorites]
but the big cheeses
BOOOOOOOO!!!!
Anyway, I'll bite. Is the E in Chuck E Cheese really for Entertainment?
posted by Literaryhero at 6:44 AM on August 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
BOOOOOOOO!!!!
Anyway, I'll bite. Is the E in Chuck E Cheese really for Entertainment?
posted by Literaryhero at 6:44 AM on August 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
I anticipate some good junk store deals on repulsive gutter robotics.
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:21 AM on August 19, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:21 AM on August 19, 2017 [5 favorites]
I anticipate some good junk store deals on repulsive gutter robotics.
The future is somehow simultaneously both exactly what I expected and not at all what I expected.
posted by Literaryhero at 7:26 AM on August 19, 2017 [10 favorites]
The future is somehow simultaneously both exactly what I expected and not at all what I expected.
posted by Literaryhero at 7:26 AM on August 19, 2017 [10 favorites]
I only went to Chuck E Cheese once, years ago, and what I found most unsettling about the robots was that you could hear it when they blinked.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:45 AM on August 19, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:45 AM on August 19, 2017 [7 favorites]
If anyone has any idea how to find a surplus entertainment robot, please let me know.
posted by phooky at 8:17 AM on August 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by phooky at 8:17 AM on August 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
Anyway, I'll bite. Is the E in Chuck E Cheese really for Entertainment?
Yep. Charles Entertainment Cheese is the character's full name.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:28 AM on August 19, 2017 [9 favorites]
Yep. Charles Entertainment Cheese is the character's full name.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:28 AM on August 19, 2017 [9 favorites]
These reached their apotheosis 10 years ago with this sublime version of Love in This Club, so perhaps it's best they shut it down. Also recommended: Electric Feel and Pop, Lock and Drop It.
posted by Copronymus at 9:00 AM on August 19, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Copronymus at 9:00 AM on August 19, 2017 [4 favorites]
Not American so I had no idea growing up what Wall E Weasel's was supposed to be referencing.
To be clear, while the name certainly is inspired by Chuck E. Cheese, that there is a moose leads me to believe there's some Bullwinkle's in there.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:05 AM on August 19, 2017
To be clear, while the name certainly is inspired by Chuck E. Cheese, that there is a moose leads me to believe there's some Bullwinkle's in there.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:05 AM on August 19, 2017
These reached their apotheosis 10 years ago with this sublime version of Love in This Club , so perhaps it's best they shut it down. Also recommended: Electric Feel and Pop, Lock and Drop It .
Those are excellent, but that's not Chuck E.'s house band--that's the Rockafire Explosion, from CEC competitor Showbiz Pizza, the Betamax to Chuck E'.s VHS.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:24 AM on August 19, 2017 [12 favorites]
Those are excellent, but that's not Chuck E.'s house band--that's the Rockafire Explosion, from CEC competitor Showbiz Pizza, the Betamax to Chuck E'.s VHS.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:24 AM on August 19, 2017 [12 favorites]
That might have been the MetaFilter-est comment possible.
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:24 PM on August 19, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:24 PM on August 19, 2017 [7 favorites]
Yes! I did it! It took almost 11 years, but I have absorbed the MetaFilter ethos!
YOU CANNOT HARM ME! I BLEED BLUE AND GREEN!
posted by Pater Aletheias at 4:17 AM on August 20, 2017 [4 favorites]
YOU CANNOT HARM ME! I BLEED BLUE AND GREEN!
posted by Pater Aletheias at 4:17 AM on August 20, 2017 [4 favorites]
But that's just a theory. A GAME THEORY.
Maybe Chuck E. Cheese wanted to bow out and retire on his own terms instead of being overwritten by a murderous sentient Japanese dating sim AI.
Hoo Ha the Owl is dead.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:48 AM on August 20, 2017
Maybe Chuck E. Cheese wanted to bow out and retire on his own terms instead of being overwritten by a murderous sentient Japanese dating sim AI.
Hoo Ha the Owl is dead.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:48 AM on August 20, 2017
Fun fact: Chuck E Cheese's was created by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:57 PM on August 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 11:57 PM on August 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
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But that's just a theory. A GAME THEORY.
posted by radwolf76 at 12:00 AM on August 19, 2017 [9 favorites]