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Chuck E. Cheese

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This article is about the restaurant chain. For the character, see Chuck E. Cheese (Character).


Chuck E. Cheese (formerly Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza, and Chuck E. Cheese's) is a chain of American family entertainment centers. Chuck E. Cheese is the main brand of CEC Entertainment, LLC, with its headquarters in Irving, Texas.[1]

The concept is a sit-down pizza restaurant, complemented by arcade games, amusement rides, an animatronic show, and other diversions, such as climbing equipment, tubes, and slides − all mainly directed at younger children.[3] The brand is represented by Chuck E. Cheese, an anthropomorphic mouse.[3][6]

The company was founded as the Pizza Time Theatre concept by Nolan Bushnell in 1977, officially being labeled as the first family restaurant to integrate food, animated entertainment, and an indoor arcade.[3] Pizza Time Theatre and ShowBiz Pizza Place merged in 1984, bringing both concepts under the wing of ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc.[2] From 1989-1993, ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc. unified the two brands into Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza.[5] In 1994, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza underwent a redesign, changing to Chuck E. Cheese's by 1995.[2] In 1998, ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc. was renamed to CEC Entertainment, Inc.[1][2] In 2017, the company celebrated its 40th anniversary,[2] and as of 2023, it operates 569 restaurants.[1][4]

On June 25, 2020. Irving announced that CEC Entertainment, Inc. filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court. It was also announced that 34 locations would be permanently closed.[7] CEC emerged from bankruptcy in December 2020 as CEC Entertainment, LLC.

Products[]

Menu items[]

While its primary focus is pizza, Chuck E. Cheese also offers cold-cut sandwiches, buffalo wings, French fries, salad bars and desserts. Some restaurants are also used as test locations which feature new Chuck E. Cheese foods.[8] Certain Chuck E. Cheese locations also offer beer and wine.[9]

For soft drinks, Chuck E. Cheese previously served Coca-Cola products at its restaurants. In 2011, the company switched its contract to Pepsi and started selling its products at most of the locations shortly afterwards. However, some restaurants may still sell Coca-Cola products.

Starting on November 13, 2012, new gluten-free menu items are available at more than 500 locations in the United States and Canada. This currently includes a choice of a personal-size cheese pizza and an individual chocolate cupcake.[10]

Entertainment[]

Arcade and currency[]

From the time of the company's inception to today, one of the main draws for the stores has been the arcade. [1][3] The arcade games primarily consist of either redemption games or video arcade games.[11]

The brass tokens issued by the company for use in their arcades exist in numerous varieties and are collected by exonumia enthusiasts.[12] The company is currently testing a card access method for use with their arcade and skill games. Some locations will no longer use tokens, and instead use a refillable card to access credits, which replace tokens; and points, which replace tickets.[13]

Animatronic shows[]

1-Stage animatronics

1-Stage animatronics

Chuck E

Chuck E. Cheese "Studio C Beta" animatronic, 2017

Along with the arcade, the other main draw for the restaurants since the beginning was its animatronic show, until the mid-1990s. From the late 1990s to mid 2010s, less attention was being placed on animatronics and beginning in 2017, CEC began phasing animatronics out of restaurants altogether. However, there are still several different styles of animatronic shows in use within the company, depending on when the location opened and whether or not it has the company's newest remodel package.

The original show featured Crusty the Cat (the first character to be retired as he was replaced with Mr. Munch in 1978), Pasqually, a chef, Jasper T. Jowls, and the main focus of the show, Chuck E. Cheese.[14]Later, restaurants also added Cabaret shows made in separate rooms of each restaurant.[3] They also frequently changed out the sole female character in the main show. They achieved this by applying a cosmetic change to the existing animatronic, as well as changing the stage backdrop, to match the performer.[15][16]

From 1989 to 1993, the company underwent a process called Concept Unification to eliminate the Rock-afire Explosion IP from their ShowBiz Pizza restaurants. They created a new show concept called Munch's Make Believe Band, which used the Chuck E. Cheese characters with friendlier, hipper personalities in a band format. The animatronics in Chuck E. Cheese locations were also modified into the Munch's Make Believe Band format.

Beginning in 1998, the company's show installed into new locations, referred to as "Studio C", consists of a single animatronic Chuck E. Cheese character alongside large television monitors, lighting effects, and interactive elements.[17]

In 2015, the company introduced a new restaurant concept with a new stage that omitted the animatronic show entirely, known as the Chuck E. Live Stage. In 2017, the company finalized this concept and began rolling it out worldwide. As of 2024, over 400 Chuck E. Cheese restaurants have this concept. The rest are planned to receive it by the end of 2024. However, due to negative reception from fans and the general public due to news publications, the company permanently preserved the animatronic shows in five US restaurants, known as Legacy Locations.

The members that perform in the animatronic show are:[18]

Costumed shows[]

Chuck E

Munch's Make Believe Band, 2009

There are two types of costumed shows used by Chuck E. Cheese's - the LIVE! show and the Road show. The LIVE! show is performed at the front of the stage in the showroom, whenever a child is celebrating a birthday. It consists of a rendition of "Birthday Star", sung to the child that is celebrating the birthday. A costumed Chuck E. Cheese dances with the guests and sings, while being accompanied by the cast members.[19] The Road show is a performance by a costumed Chuck E. Cheese character and is performed outside the normal showroom. Children are gathered via the public announcement system and dance to win free tickets.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Investor Information" (PHP). Official Site. CEC Entertainment, Inc. http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=72589&p=irol-irhome. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Company History" (PHP). Official Site. CEC Entertainment, Inc. http://www.chuckecheese.com/company-info/history.php. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Packer, Linda (1979-10). "Catering To Kids" (PDF). Food Service Marketing: pp. 46–7. http://www.showbizpizza.com/info/articles/cec/ptt_79fsm.pdf
  4. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named financial
  5. ^ a b Prewitt, Milford (1990-09-10). "ShowBiz Parent Merges Concepts Into One Big Pie" (PDF). Nation's Restaurant News: pp. 12–3. http://www..com/info/articles/joint/joint_cuarticle.pdf
  6. ^ "Entertainment" (PHP). Official Site. CEC Entertainment, Inc. http://www.chuckecheese.com/the-experience/entertainment.php. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  7. ^ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/06/26/chuck-e-cheese-store-closings-list-chapter-11-bankruptcy/3262669001/
  8. ^ "Nutritional Information" (PDF). Official Site. CEC Entertainment, Inc. January 2009. http://www.chuckecheese.com/menu/nutritional-information.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  9. ^ Lieberman, Al & Esgate, Patricia (2002). "Location-Based Entertainment and Experiential Branding" (PDF). The Entertainment Marketing Revolution (Illustrated ed.). FT Press. p. 272. http://books.google.com/books?id=0ROXOZCJa1kC&pg=PT297&dq=%22chuck+e+cheese%22&lr=#PPT294,M1. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  10. ^ http://www.chuckecheese.com/new-glutenfree-offerings
  11. ^ "Games & Rides" (PHP). Official Site. CEC Entertainment, Inc. http://www.chuckecheese.com/the-experience/games-rides.php. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  12. ^ "Chuck E. Cheese Tokens". Forrest's Token Page. http://users.pullman.com/fjstevens/tokens/cec/CEC.html. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  13. ^ S., Travis. "CEC Token Cards" (CSS). ShowBiz Pizza.com. http://www..com/tokens/cards/index.html. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  14. ^ "Pizza Time Theatre Program" (PDF). Atari, Inc.. 1977. http://www..com/info/promo/ptt/ptt_77menu.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  15. ^ "Pizza Time Theatre Balcony Show Photograph #1". 1981. http://www..com/photos/ptt/fl_brandon/10.jpg. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  16. ^ "Pizza Time Theatre Balcony Show Photograph #2". 1980s. http://www..com/photos/ptt/nm_unknown/05.jpg. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  17. ^ "Chuck E.'s New Look" (PDF) (Press release). Garner Holt Productions. 1998. http://www..com/info/articles/cec/cec_98studioc.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  18. ^ Corporate site – Entertainment
  19. ^ "Birthday Parties" (PHP). Official Site. CEC Entertainment, Inc.. http://www.chuckecheese.com/parties/birthday.php. Retrieved 2009-03-03.

External links[]

Wikipedia

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia.

The original article was at Chuck E. Cheese. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with ShowBiz Pizza Place, the text of Wikipedia:ShowBiz Pizza Place is available under the Wikipedia:GNU Free Documentation License.

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
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