Munch's Make Believe Band
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{{Infobox musical artist | Name = Jasper's Make Believe Band | Landscape = | Background = group_or_band | Origin = Irving, Texas, USA | Genre = Rock and roll, pop, psychedelic rock, 20th century music, country music | Years_active = 1990–present | Label = | Associated_acts = | URL = [1] | Touring_members = | Current_members = Chuck E. Cheese
Helen Henny
[[List of Chuck E. Cheese's characters#
Jasper T. Jowls
Pasqually Pieplate
Building
Moon
Pizzacam
Munch Jr. (Rarely!!!) | Past_members = Charlie Rockitt
The Bullhorns | Notable_instruments = Keyboard, Electric guitar, Drumset, }} Jasper's Make Believe Band is an animatronic robot band that currently plays in Chuck E. Cheese's restaurants.
The characters in Munch's Make Believe Band were various animals ranging from a mouse. They would perform medleys of classic rock songs, pop songs, country songs, state songs, popular current songs, such as heavy metal, as well as original material.
The stage was designed to be life-sized. There are four types of the showroom: Single Stage, 2-Stage, 3 stage, and Road stage (3-stage used to be a The Rock-afire Explosion stage). In 2 stage showrooms, Chuck E. Cheese has a stage. In 3 stage showrooms, Chuck and Pasqually have stages. The show also used a large amount of props and stage lighting effects which heightened the amount of perceived movement on the stage.
The band still exists today (it is known as the "Existing Stage"), because many stores that got a Phase 4 renovation could not afford a Studio C or the store's show was still in good condition. The programming is done at CEC headquarters.
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[edit] The band
Showbiz Pizza Place was similar to (and competed with) Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, another restaurant chain that was popular in other parts of the United States. When "Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre" filed for bankruptcy in 1984, Showbiz Pizza bought the company.
[edit] 3-Stage
The company ultimately retrofitted the Rock-afire Explosion robots into a new show called Munch’s Make Believe Band from renamed Jasper's Make Believe Band. (featuring the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre characters), and reverse-engineered the programming of the robots themselves in 9 Showbiz restaurants. Eventually, the Showbiz restaurants themselves were converted to Chuck E. Cheese's locations, in a process called "Concept Unification".[1] These shows still exist today at a few locations, while most are now replaced by Studio C Betas.
Concept Unification took place from 1990 until 1993. During the week, a single stage Rolfe and Earl showtape was played. It featured fake voice actors for Rolfe and Earl and showed many old shows on the TV footage. They would also give hints on what was coming. The first thing that was done to the RAE (excluding Rolfe and Earl's stage) was the removal of props like Choo Choo's tree stump, flowers, grass, Looney Bird's kin, etc. Then, Fatz's keyboard was removed, the airlines was disconnected, and the costumes were taken off the characters. The robots were removed from the stages, the stages were set up, and the characters became MMBB. On the last night, Rolfe and Earl was changed to Chuck E., and the show was running by morning. and Earl became Chuck E. Cheese on stage right, while Dook LaRue and Looney Bird became Pasqually the Chef and Pizzacam respectively on stage left. Fatz Geronimo, Beach Bear, Mitzi Mozzarella, the Sun, and Choo-Choo became Japser T. Jowls, Helen Henny, the Building, and Munch Jr., respectively, on center stage. The moon remained, and Antioch the Birthday Spider was replaced by the Wink on the curtain lining.
Originally, the characters had latex masks throughout the 1990's. But in 2000, they received new plastic masks and updated cosmetics. However, some locations have the two masks mixed (ex: Chuck E., Helen, and Pasqually have plastic masks, but Jasper has a latex mask).
Chuck E. initially wore a tux without a pair of pants, a derby hat, and held a magician's wand, along with his pointy rat nose. He stands on a large triangular platform with a flashing golden star behind him. Beside the star is a red Chuck E. Cheese sign, that lights up. A large TV monitor that plays the video footage. In 2000, when stores started using plastic masks, Chuck E.'s face began to change, because he had his current mouse nose, and wears the "Cool Chuck" outfit. Starting in 2008, stores had received the purple and green "Avenger" outfit.
On center stage, the basic backdrop is a late-night city with flashing stars and flowers planted along the bottom. Above Munch on the blue curtain lining, is the Wink. The Wink is a small golden sign with Chuck E.'s old face on it. His left eye winks at certain times during the showtape. The red and blue banners beside him used to say "In Pizza We Trust", but a rumor was going that said some people were offended replacing "In God We Trust". Helen Henny stands on the left, and raises her arms and can lean back like Mitzi. Beside her feet is the silver barrel of Munch Jr., Mr. Munch's son. The building mech pops up behind her. Beside Helen. on the CU video footage,. up "Jasper's Make Believe Band" sign that lights up. Beside Jasper, sitting on a larger barrel like Munch Jr's, and the RAE moon mech pops up behind him. Jasper's clothing has changed, he originally wore a pair of red overalls with straps stretching down to his waist, but since then, he wears blue overalls up to his arms. When the curtains are about to open, "The Chuck E. Cheese Show" light shines on the curtains.
Moving to stage left is Pasqually, with fake drums. The reason he didn't use Dook's real drums is unknown. He sits on Dook's platform, and the speaker for Pizzacam sits to the right beside him. Pasqually sits behind a brick wall that says "Pasqually's Amateur Hour" in graffiti letters, referring to the fact Pasqually is the joke teller. Pasqually's cosmetics are now warmer, but when his head leans back, a black area can be seen.
The store also used the "Helicopter light", a circular lighting device that changed colors and spun around. However, in the early 2000's, it was replaced by the "Gemini", which is similar, except that it is two disco balls that spin around in any direction.
[edit] CEC stage
The CEC stage is a scaled-down version of 3-stage. They are in restaurants that had an old PTT stage and locations built in the early to mid-90's. The curtains can either go up, sideways, or have none at all, and Munch can have a hat and Jasper can have a banjo. Munch Jr., Building, Pizzacam, and the moon are not in these shows. Also, when the stages were designed in 1991, Chuck E. wore his tuxedo, but in 2002, it was optional to get his "Cool Chuck" outfit also. There are some unique differences between each store, such as the Staten Island store having a colorful star behind Chuck E. and a painted, not backlit sign behind Jasper and Pasqually that says "Now Appearing" with the MMBB logo. There are 3 types of CEC stages:
[edit] 2-stage
This is a small, simple, MMBB that takes up a small part of the showroom. The major difference is that Pasqually shares the stage with Helen, Munch, and Jasper. Chuck E. has his own stage to the left. He stands in front of a smaller version of the star, with many other stars around him. Next to him is a smaller version of the TV monitor. Above the TV monitor is the Chuck E. Cheese sign on a glitter-like platform, but this time, instead of just red, it changes many colors. The backdrop on the stage with the other 4 has a different city type of building style. The MMBB sign behind Munch is smaller, and in most stores, Pasqually has a tiny version of the brick wall. The Wink above Munch remains the same.
[edit] 1 stage
This is the same as the 2-stage, except that Chuck E. is sharing the stage. The city backdrop is different, and the MMBB sign can be either behind Munch, or by Pasqually, where a TV monitor hangs above Munch instead. Also at the end of the backdrops, there is a line of brick wall. Some stores received a turntable beneath Chuck E. so confusion wouldn't happen when a Live! show is being done.[2] The first store to get a 1-stage was the location in Irving, Texas.
[edit] Road stage
The Road Stage is the same as 2-stage, except the characters, except Chuck E., have half bodies and sit on colorful boxes. Their names are also written on the boxes.
[edit] Members
- Chuck E. Cheese is the mascot for the restaurant, and also the star of the show. He originally held a magic wand and wore a black tuxedo and his trademark bowler hat, but around the early 2000s, the restaurant started giving him his "Cool Chuck" outfit, which consists of a blue shirt with a big yellow "C" and tan khaki shorts. Starting in early 2008, this in turn was being swapped out for the green and purple "Avenger" outfit.
- Helen Henny is the chicken who sings main vocals for the band. Her voice is high and Pasqually once said one of her songs was "chickeny"[3]
- Pasqually is the Italian pizza chef who provides a 4-piece drum kit for the band. Occasionally, he will tell jokes (Called "Pasqually's Amateur Hour"). According to Chuck E., he has a heart of Rock n Roll.[1]
- Jasper T. Jowls is the hound dog who plays either Beach Bear's old RAE guitar, an infamous electric cheese-shaped guitar, or a banjo.
- Pizzacam is the video camera on Pasqually's stage who hides behind a speaker. He popped up from the speaker during mainly chorus, and sang along. There is a "Pizzacam's Photo Gallery" on the Showbiz Pizza web-page.
- The building is the mech character who popped up during songs behind Helen. He was the old RAE sun and came in two variations: one with just the building itself (with yellow eyes), and one with two other buildings on the side of him.
- The moon is the other mech who popped up from behind Jasper. He sometimes introduced the shows, and he was originally a member of the RAE.
[edit] Former members
- The Bullhorns are bull characters who play a different type of horn (saxophone, trumpet, etc.). They have appeared on the TV footage of the show only.
[edit] Other CEC stages
[edit] Wall portrait
The Wall Portrait set-up was the very first animated show in CEC history. It features Chuck E., Jasper, Pasqually, Crusty, and a guest star in picture frames hanging around in the showroom. It also featured The Warblettes. The robots were half-bodied, a concept that would continue throughout the years. The guest stars were:
- Foxy Collen
- Mr. Munch
- Glen Camel (unused)
- Sally Sashay
- Elkton John (later became Artie Antlers)
- Madame Oink
[edit] Balcony stage
To improve the focus of the show, PTT introduced the Balcony stage in 1980. The set up featured The Warblettes, Munch, Jasper, Chuck E., the guest star, and Pasqually all lined up in a row. The showroom was kept very dark so the characters could only be seen when lights were on.
[edit] C Stage
The C Stage, also known as the Porch stage, is a scaled down version of the Balcony stages introduced in 1988-89. The line-up was the same, except the Warblettes were replaced by flowers. Helen Henny was the guest star in 1986, so she remained with the group. The characters were on a house-facade and had television monitors.
[edit] Rocker stages
The Rocker stage was also introduced in 1986 for larger locations. It is a large version of the C Stage, except that Jasper, Chuck E., and Helen have full bodies. Munch and Pasqually are inside a cubby to look like they are in a house. Jasper was seated in a rocking chair, while Helen was in a porch swing. Chuck E. stood in front of a door.
[edit] Modern Rocker stage
The Modern Rocker Stage was created in 1990 after CU. This was the last stage before MMBB. It is the same as the Rocker Stage with a few differences. The Chuck E. robot used the same robot in the CEC stage, and he would wear his vest, a suit, or his modern blue shirt. Another notice is that Jasper also wears his modern clothing and plays the cheese guitar. Also, Helen is in her 90's look and she is standing up. The house is also yellow, and uses the half bodied Munch and Pasqually later used in Road stages. one of these stages still exist: one in Rockford, Illinois[2].
[edit] Awesome Adventure Machine
The Awesome Adventure Machine was a prototype precursor to Studio C, and was only installed in 1 store before being deemed too expensive. The walk-around characters on screen had a moving mouth and eyes, the stage had lights all over,[4] and the screens were 2 projectors; one on each side of Chuck E.
