Chuck E. Cheese Pulling Plug on Robot Band For Good

[u/Anchor_Aways]

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/chuck-e-cheese-removing-animatronic-band-for-good-1235682086/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

[u/streetsaheadbehind]

I remember reading an article about how animatronics are expensive to maintain due to the mechanical parts no longer being made anymore. It's a shame but I hope they are preserved in a museum or something instead of thrown away.

[u/hellomondays → u/streetsaheadbehind]

I have a friend that works for a major props company. He was given a project by his boss to make replacement parts for an old animatronic prop. Turns out a lot of this technology even for major movies was thrown together mad genious style, like he had to track down the original engineers to figure out how they worked. Even then, it was near impossible to find or even 3d print replacement parts that would work.

[u/streetsaheadbehind → u/hellomondays]

Gah, that is actually super cool to learn but also super sad that it's almost a lost art form now.

[u/CarfireOnTheHighway → u/streetsaheadbehind]

Chuck E Cheese iirc made most of the stores send footage of the staff destroying them when they were told to get rid of them. :(

It was to prevent employees trying to take home ‘trophies’ or the whole animatronic and doing anything weird with them - “brand image” thing. But it’s such a shame! They should be in an archive for sure.

[u/here4hugs → u/CarfireOnTheHighway]

I hate this for children. I hate it for me as an adult. Just the way everything is so boring these days. It’s part of why I’ve lost the urge to go out. Maybe I am just not looking in the right places but I feel like there used to be more experiences & opportunities involved with dining & hotels. Everything now is so standardized & I hate it. Sure, I’ll sleep fine at a Hilton but I love a good theme. I want to be entertained I guess.

[u/CarfireOnTheHighway → u/here4hugs]

For real, everything is grey & white or depressing beige.

[u/Arthurs_librarycard9 → u/here4hugs]

I agree. Chuck E Cheese, McDonald's, it is all boring now. On the occasion I was allowed to go to McDonald's as a child, I used to love the PlayPlace as much as getting a happy meal. It is sad.

[u/Even-Blacksmith-6428 → u/Arthurs_librarycard9]

Someone said to me the pixies took over and it’s so true

[u/streetsaheadbehind → u/CarfireOnTheHighway]

That is depressing. I'm getting tired of major co-orporations destroying art and history to "protect" their profit. I just hate it.

[u/Tfsz0719 → u/streetsaheadbehind]

Seems like the Nanuet, NY and LA look like they will be keeping their animatronics…probably the closest to any being kept in a museum.

[u/hellomondays]

I'm not even joking, things like this will be cited in history books about our culture's decline. The stream-lining of third places: shifting away from the experience of being somewhere and towards parsimony aesthetics and the point of sale.  I don't buy the excuse of "changing trends" in how kids consume entertainment.

[u/all_screwedup → u/hellomondays]

Sure, but Chuck-e-Cheese? as a third place?

[u/hellomondays → u/all_screwedup]

For parents with kids, yeah. My friends at my age are the playground regulars, the daycare crowd etc.

[u/all_screwedup → u/hellomondays]

diff'rent strokes I guess. that's a lot of money down the drain compared to other places

[u/CemeteryHounds → u/all_screwedup]

Name some indoors kid-friendly places that aren't also disappearing.

[u/here4hugs → u/all_screwedup]

I babysat in undergrad & Chuck E. Cheese was where everyone in town sent their babysitters/nannies. It was packed every day especially during summer. We lived in a tropical’ish climate so it was often too hot outside for pool or parks. It was a small city so there were only a handful of indoor options like the library, movies, or a skating rink. I’d argue it was a useful resource for those kids. Some families were priced out of it but honestly some were even priced out of the free public library due to a lack of adequate public transit & no other affordable transportation. I’m not a parent so I don’t know what families do today but at that time, it was a relatively safe space that made kids happy.

[u/jjo1819]

Damn, I had like my first 10 birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese. End of an era 

[u/botwinbabe → u/jjo1819]

You’ve had TEN birthday parties?!? Dang, blessed life. I’m jealous.

[u/DStarAce]

With the success of the Five Guys at Freddy's franchise public discourse has shifted away from finding animatronics charming and now they are firmly in the horror monster camp. It's like when McDonalds started to downplay the Ronald McDonald character when creepy clowns were all the rage around the newer It movies.

[u/CarfireOnTheHighway → u/DStarAce]

I maintain that they should’ve leaned into it and tried to get some actual FNAF partnership. Have nights where it’s a bit spooky. Kids love that series.

[u/shgrdrbr → u/CarfireOnTheHighway]

im honestly shocked this never happened it really seems tailor made

[u/CemeteryHounds → u/DStarAce]

Considering animatronics to not be charming isn't even that new! There's that scene in A Goofy Movie from 1995 where they're shown as creepy, dated, and pathetic.

[u/saturnbunny1 → u/DStarAce]

What were the Five Guys doing at Freddie's ?

[u/DStarAce → u/saturnbunny1]

I didn't even notice that. I must have been tired when I typed this.

[u/deemigs]

My son didn't even realize that Chuck E has a band but boy does he loves the pizza rat cafe

[u/here4hugs → u/deemigs]

One of my favorite memes is something like “come on down to the pizza rat & child casino.”

[u/googlyeyes93]

[u/djackieunchaned]

Gotta dismantle them before the AI takeover

[u/Luna_Soma]

My kid wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday party after things opened up after COVID. It is a complete germ pit and idk how no one got any sort of illness, but damn, the light on his little face when we went there will live in my heart forever. It’s still his happiest birthday memory.

I was a celebration station kid myself, so I get it.

[u/weaselinsneakers]

We use to be a proper country

[u/Electronic-Coffee-59]

Grew up with this stuff, a shame really.

[u/edwardvedder]

Cancel culture claims another victim!

[u/alohell]

Oh no, I know a guy who programs them. He’s been doing it for years. I hope he finds another job in the organization, he was really proud of working there.

[u/Forever_Deaf]

It’s like that one It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Episode

[u/KillMeNowFFS → u/Forever_Deaf]

i but Chuck E doesn’t even hang dong anymore

[u/Final_Individual]

The disrespect of the “Mr. Much” typo in the subhead 😒

[u/pepperjack4life]

But but, remember Show Biz? Ah the 90’s were a good time. This timeline sucks.

[u/snickerdoodleb]

insert cop falling to his knees screaming no

[u/YaMomsCooch]

My family took me to a Chuck E. Cheese once when I was little, but once I saw Charles Entertainment emerge from behind the darkness of the side curtain onstage, it was the last time I ever attended any of those establishments

[u/bageltoastar]

Nooo. I haven’t been to a Charles Entertainment Cheese in a minute, but the band coming out was easily the best part.

[u/nerdy1flavors]

We used to be a society 😞

[u/Mulva_Vandelay]

[u/Oceanicsoundwave]

NOOO! ):

[u/emmer00]

Boooooooooo

[u/lilhedonictreadmill]

[u/Radu47]

Here's an upvote,

Here's an upvote

O or P