Chuck E. Cheese (full name: Charles Entertainment Cheese) is the main character/mascot of the Chuck E. Cheese chain and company. He's an outgoing mouse who enjoys entertaining guests and is the lead singer and lead guitarist (formerly saxophonist) of Munch's Make Believe Band.
History
Origins and Pizza Time Theatre (1977-1989)
Chuck E. was originally going to be named “Rick Rat”, but this idea was immediately shot down by the team at Atari, since the name would be deemed too mature for young audiences. He was named "Chuck E. Cheese" due to it being alliterative to Disney's Mickey Mouse, and a three-smile name. In the first showtape, he had a completely different persona than the later incarnations, taking inspiration from "Muggs McGinnis". He was a rat down to the heart, and directly made fun of the other characters onstage. He also originally smoked cigars in the first few animatronic portrait figures. This was eradicated from the later shows, Cyberamics, and other media, during The Great American Smoke Out in 1980. He often had a brown vaudeville cane in his hand at times. He didn't play any instruments, but, he held a microphone, as he is not only the host of the Pizza Time Theatre, but also a vocalist, who often sang out loud, his singing disliked the rest of the Pizza Time Players. He had a birthday which was on May 22nd, and he's said to get over excited over birthdays, and laugh at his own jokes. His trademarks include his New Jersey accent, his many jokes and insults, his red derby, a great big smile on his face, and winking at his may friends and fans.
Chuck E. was known as “Big C” by the other Pizza Time Players, and even he had a brief stint of being known as "Bingley" but according to several sources, this was changed as John Widelock had trouble pronouncing the name. Even with his harsh actions, he always made it clear that he really cared for his friends onstage often. He became softer after 1984 (where John was replaced by Scott Wilson during "The Christmas that Almost Wasn't", since Widelock couldn't sing, Wilson provided his singing vocals. John Widelock left CEC, and Wilson became the full time voice.) until Concept Unification, where the character was redesigned.
Tux/Coach Chuck (1989-1999)
A redesign for the Chuck E. Cheese character was considered as early as 1989, when Showbiz Pizza Time, the owners of the Showbiz Pizza Place and Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant chains, broke relations with Aaron Fechter (the creator and engineer of the Rock-afire-Explosion). As such, Showbiz Pizza Time decided to further utilize the Chuck E. Cheese trademarks, having acquired them in 1984 when Chuck E. Cheese's emerged from bankruptcy under SPT. They began to merge the two restaurant chains under a new name, "Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza", which was shortened to "Chuck E. Cheese's" in 1994. As part of the process, all likenesses of the RAE characters were replaced by the Chuck E. Cheese characters. By 1992, all existing Showbiz Pizza Place locations had been rebranded as Chuck E. Cheese's restaurants.
Showbiz Pizza Time commissioned Texan-based Peeler-Rose Productions to revamp their brand. As a result, Chuck E. Cheese was attired in a tuxedo while still keeping his derby hat and was drawn in a more "cartoony" style. Voice actor Scott Wilson kept his role as Chuck E. Cheese before being replaced by Duncan Brannan in January 1994.
In 1994, Showbiz Pizza Time redesigned Chuck E. Cheese once more to compete with new family entertainment center Discovery Zone, which resulted in "Tux" alternating with a new design, "Coach Chuck". The change also gave both designs of the character a softer, less rat-like face, officially transitioning into a mouse. The designs overlapped before Cool Chuck took over in 1999, and both designs were no longer being used; nevertheless, the "Tux" design was still used in existing restaurant décor, animatronic costumes (the last one being in Attleboro, MA, removed in May 2014), and "Tux" walkaround costumes were still used in circulation as alternate costumes up through 2004.
According to a 1994 trademark pamphlet, Tux Chuck is approximately 25 years old.
Cool Chuck (1992-2004)
A younger and more "cool" Chuck started his debut in 1992. Instead of Tux Chuck's fancy tuxedo, Cool Chuck wore a blue shirt with a yellow "C", blue jeans, red sneakers, and a backwards red baseball cap. This new hip look helped Chuck appeal to the kids of the mid and late-90s, causing him to slowly phase out Tux Chuck. Coach Chuck would remain in marketing logos, while Cool Chuck made it into the stores on signage, as animatronic clothing, and walkaround clothing. This would go on until 1999 when Coach Chuck was finally retired, officially ending the tux era.
Prior to and after Cool Chuck was making his way into the stores, Avenger Chuck would be featured in the advertisements. Avenger Chuck, just like Cool Chuck, was a hip young mouse but with some slight differences. Avenger Chuck wasn't just a cool mouse, but also a skateboarder would could play guitar. This more hipper version of Chuck would appear more and more from 1997 till he took over in 2004, sending Cool Chuck into retirement.
Avenger Chuck (1997-2012)
The 4th incarnation of Chuck E. began in 1997, exclusive to commercials. He was dressed as hip skater-type. This Chuck was portrayed as a slightly younger version than his previous counterpart. Chuck E. Cheese made these changes to Chuck to make him more hip with the 90's and 2000s youth. Avenger Chuck continued the roots of Tux Chuck as an every man who loved to entertain with his friends. He always tried to keep things in control. At the end of the day, he loves his guests and wants to be where they are. He's also known for playing the saxophone and sometimes the electric guitar in showtapes and commercials.
In 1997, Studio C was introduced to the public with a new look, and another Chuck E. shift. Chuck E. was this time voiced by Jeremy Blaido, who would eventually become the voice of fellow band member Jasper T. Jowls starting in 1999, Duncan would return to voicing Chuck E. starting with Patriotic 1998, and continued until 2012. When Studio C was introduced it was meant to replicate a talk studio/show. After CEC Entertainment couldn’t afford to replace the existing stages with Studio C, they dropped the talk show format and went back to the band dynamic. This is when Avenger Chuck E. really started to form.
Rockstar Chuck (2012-Present)
A poster used to promote the "Rockstar" rebrand.
During the early 2010s, in response to a drop in sales, Chuck E. Cheese was redesigned for the first time since 1997, in an attempt to keep their restaurants contemporary with kids in the 21st century. In June of that same year, a silhouette of the redesigned character appeared on the official Chuck E. Cheese Facebook page and was officially unveiled in the same month of that year. Chuck E. Cheese had an immediate switch with a new ad campaign, “Say Cheese, It's Funner!”. This was the first time the character was presented in CGI in the promotional material, replacing the hand-drawn Avenger ads. This redesign has been met with backlash fans and regular customers of Chuck E. Cheese for being drastically different than prior incarnations and is often attributed to the company's financial troubles that followed. His personality changed again to be more like a Rockstar, and radical to the current generation of children. In the shows, he's typically trying to do this his own way, but the other characters stop him from doing so, which causes him to rage, however this has been downplayed in more recent years. He always tries to appeal to kids and take birthdays seriously.
For the new advertising campaign, a new voice actor was utilized which led to some unexpected controversy that spilled into the media. Jaret Reddick, best known as the lead singer for the band, Bowling for Soup, was hired for the singing and speaking voice of Chuck E. Cheese in the campaign. In the days leading up to the campaign launch, Chuck E. Cheese released a preview of "Chuck's Hot New Single" via e-mail to those who signed up for their e-mail club. After receiving the e-mail containing the MP3, a group of fans contacted Duncan Brannan to get additional information. After hearing the song himself and contacting a source at CEC's corporate offices, Duncan Brannan was informed that he had been replaced. Then, he issued a press release to the fans. ShowBizPizza.com collected and archived this farewell press release with the intention of referencing it at a later date. Within a few days, local news outlets in the Dallas area picked up on the story, and before long it had spread across the internet to various national news outlets and blogs such as Gawker, Perez Hilton, and the Huffington Post. On July 3rd, the AP released their article which was then sent to dozens of media outlets. CEC Entertainment, Inc. has since denied that Duncan Brannan was quote on quote, "fired", and stated that although freelance, he is still in contract with the company to provide entertainment in its restaurants.
The Rockstar version of the character was more energetic and more hardcore than the previous versions as he usually speaks in a loud tone. He also plays and carries an electric guitar.
Physical Description
Chuck E.'s outfits vary between incarnations of the character. PTT Chuck is depicted as a gray rat with a pink snout, tail and toes, wearing only a red vest with a sleeveless yellow undershirt and a black bowtie, and a red derby hat with a yellow brim. This version of the character is the only one to not wear pants in official artwork. PTT Chuck was designed by Atari artist Bob Flemate, based on a generic rat costume obtained by Nolan Bushnell. PTT Chuck's vest had alternating patterns, including paisley and diamond patterns, before it was decided that the vest would remain solid red for consistency.
Designed and animated by artists Dan Peeler and Charlie Rose (who went to also design the Avenger and Cool Chuck looks), the Tux Chuck is a gray-furred rat (later mouse) that wears a tuxedo outfit composed of a black tailcoat with gold or yellow lapels as well as a matching cummerbund and backside, a white dress shirt with one or two black or white buttons, a large red bow tie, long black pants, white gloves, and black loafer shoes with white spats (the latter two not being shown in the animatronic versions of the character, and being from his earliest design). Unlike Chuck E.'s previous incarnation, he would change his outfit from time to time. The athletic attire consisted of a yellow shirt with a green stripe, and red shorts. However, like his previous incarnation, the character had long, rat whiskers, although they were removed by 1994.
The Coach design featured a red and blue cap with a yellow star on it, a red and yellow sweater, and blue sweatpants. The shirt has a yellow oval in place of the "C", and sometimes has a whistle around his neck. On the store logos and miscellaneous artwork, the sweater was yellow, the stripes green, and the hat was all red.
The Cool Chuck look wears a red baseball cap with a black "C" on the front and a blue shirt with a red and yellow "C" on it, and red and yellow stripes at the end, as well as khaki shorts. This design was used on all animatronics until the Avenger outfit was produced. Another variation consisted of a yellow cap, red shirt with yellow "C" and stripes, and blue jeans. Further other variations for walkarounds included a yellow and blue shirt with "CHUCK 01" printed on it, and yellow sleeves, with matching sweatpants, a purple shirt with "CHUCK" printed on it, and a red shirt with a green stripe and brown sweatpants. Sometimes, he would instead have a blue cap with a "C" and "EST 1977" on it instead.
The Avenger Chuck is a six-foot-tall mouse with gray fur and tan skin; while having black eyes as usual, walkarounds and most animatronics give him medium blue eyes. He wears a purple and green t-shirt with a green-and-yellow "C" on the front, a purple, green, and yellow baseball cap worn backwards, black skater gloves, green shorts with a confetti pattern, yellow socks, and black and white sneakers with red laces. In most animation, Chuck E. wears a different baseball cap which faces backwards with the same two-tone green stripes on the shoulders, and wears arm pads. In walkaround form, Chuck E. had longer green sleeves under his t-shirt, and his sneakers were sometimes changed to green.
The Rockstar Chuck was the shortest version of the character, being the size of an actual rat until 2016. The most noticeable difference to this design from previous is the lack of a hat. A gray-furred mouse with green eyes, he usually wears a short-sleeved purple shirt with a large "C" print in the front and four green stripes shown underneath the print and on the sleeves and collar, similar to what Avenger Chuck wore. In addition, he also wears blue jeans and red and white shoes. His whiskers and tail, which haven't been seen since the mid-1990s were brought back, although his tail is now black instead of pink. The whiskers and tail were not present on the walkaround. The walkaround's shirt also had longer green sleeves like the Avenger walkaround.
Rockstar Chuck's original concept art depicted him in a long-sleeved yellow shirt with red stripes and a red "C" in the front along with brown pants, red shoes and he carried an orange guitar. In a photograph that appeared in the song, "Remember That Time", and the 40th anniversary version of "Together We've Got It", Rockstar Chuck wears the same tuxedo that Tux Chuck wore. The tuxedo has been slightly updated, as it now features white buttons instead of black, the dress shirt is now pleated at the bib, and the lapels and cummerbund now have a glittery gold mesh trim as opposed to the usual gold. In early promotional material for the character, Rockstar Chuck carried a black and white guitar. Interestingly, the guitar has the original 1979 PTT logo on the strap. Rockstar Chuck was designed by character artist Chris Ayers, rendered by modeler Doug Woods, and animated by Reel FX, Little Zoo Studio, and BREED.
Relationships
Helen Henny
PTT Era
Unlike future iterations, Helen and Chuck E. had a rocky relationship in this era, largely because of PTT Chuck's disdain for guest stars. The two would rarely interact, as Helen was originally created as a guest star. In addition, Helen's tendency to cluck at the end of every sentence unwittingly irritated Chuck E. Later throughout the era, when Scott took over the character, their relationship slightly improved, though Chuck would still tease Helen with jokes from time to time.
Tux/Coach Era
Chuck E. and Helen would have a much more friendly relationship in this era. Helen also began to develop a crush on Chuck E. as well, but he remained unaware of this and appeared to liked Helen only as a friend, though showtapes would also have minor hints of them having a romantic relationship, especially in Disney's shows.
Cool/Avenger Era
Chuck E. and Helen's relationship in this era began to stand out more here. Helen would often make romantic and flirtatious comments on stage towards Chuck, sometimes in a teasing manner, embarrassing him. Chuck would usually try to stray away from the topic, but his other friends would sometimes tease him about it, especially Jasper. However, in the original version of January 2012, in the fourth segment, Munch's keyboard (which developed a new talking app that can answer questions) replied to Helen's question, previously interrupted, saying Chuck E. actually likes Helen, but is afraid to show it in front of his friends. This was later removed in the finalized version. The two of them are also often seen holding hands and dancing together in music videos, as with the previous era.
Rockstar Era
Initially, this era continued the same concept as the previous era. This was later reduced. "It's A Date" consists of a rocky moment for the two, as Chuck E. and Helen argue over whenever the time together they will spend that day is a "date" or a "hangout", both wanting to do different activities. At the end, the two decide to do both sets of activities, and make up. Helen also kisses Chuck E. under the mistletoe at the end of "Merry Christmastime". After Helen was recasted, there was less focus of their relationship, with only some minor moments. "Dream Big" consists of Helen having dreams of rescuing Chuck E. from situations such as being held captured by a dragon, falling off of a cliff, and being trapped by Justin Beaver. In "Pumpkins in My Pockets", Helen gives Chuck E. a pumpkin with a heart carved into it. Chuck E. and Helen also retain close friends outside of their relationship. The two of them often play games together, and Chuck has occasionally presented gifts to Helen, such as a crochet sweater.
Jasper T. Jowls
PTT Era
Chuck, at this time, had a beef with Jasper. He would call him names, and would even shout “Turn off the Fruitcake dog!”. He was mean to Jasper because Jasper was very loud and annoying. As Jasper grew less and less loud and annoying, Chuck E. would beef with Jasper less and less.
Tux Era
TBA
Cool/Avenger/Rockstar Era
TBA
Mr. Munch
TBA
Pasqually
TBA
Bella B.
Chuck E. has a good relationship with Bella, who is the most recent member of his band. Chuck E. treats Bella with kindness and respect and enjoys learning the Spanish language and Mexican traditions from her. Bella is equally kind to Chuck E. and is grateful to him for letting her join the band. She also appears to have an innocent crush on Chuck E., as she occasionally giggles nervously when he compliments her.
However, there has been one instance where the two do not get along. In the music video for Game On, Chuck E. displays a cocky, unsportsmanlike attitude while playing against Bella in an arcade game. However, at the end, the two make up and congratulate each other.
Ronnie
For the most part, Chuck E. and Ronnie seem to be on good terms, but Ronnie's cutthroat antics often annoy Chuck E. when he is trying to focus on something else. One particular instance of this was in the Counting Sheep sketch, where Ronnie disturbs Chuck E. while he is trying to sleep.
Nigel
Chuck E. is on good terms with Nigel, who lives with his friend Ronnie in an apartment. Although Chuck E. interacts with Nigel much less than he does Ronnie, they get along. During the band's summer road trip, Nigel comes in at a critical moment when he lends spare instruments to them after Pasqually leaves the main instruments behind.
Skills
TBA
Portrayal
Voice Actors
- John Widelock (May 1977–December 1983)
- Ed Bogas (1979, radio ad only)
- Scott Wilson (1982, December 1983-December 1993)
- Lonny Wilder (April 1986)
- Duncan Brannan (January 1994-November 1997; July 1998- June 2012)
- Jeff Cosco (August 1995-January 1996, singing voice only)
- Jeremy Blaido (1997-1998, Studio C Diagnostics (1st version)/Studio C Premiere; Interactive Console)
- Jaret Reddick (June 2012-Present)
Foreign Voice Actors
- Unknown (1982, Spanish)
- Unknown (1992, Spanish)
- Pablo Ausensi (2010, Spanish)
- John Mondelli (2010-2014, Oud Metha Ads)
- Benjamin Rivera (2013-Present, Spanish)
Costume Performers
- Peyton Welch (1999, Chuck E. Cheese in the Galaxy 5000; main performer)
- Daphne Gere (1999, Chuck E. Cheese in the Galaxy 5000; stunt/background performer)
Trivia
- PTT Chuck is the only incarnation of the character with a confirmed birthday. All other versions of the characters have unknown birthdays (in Rockstar Chuck E.'s case, he never knew his birthday due to being an orphan).
- Chuck E. was the only character that Widelock would perform for the entirety of the pre-bankruptcy era.
- Chuck E.'s demo voice resembled that of a carnival barker, but later shifted into more of a New Jersey accent.
- Unlike Chuck E.'s speaking voice, his singing voice somewhat drops the New Jersey accent.
- Chuck E. has sung the most songs, both by himself and as part of his band.
- PTT Chuck E.'s tail originally pointed upward, but it later started pointing downwards.
- As the main mascot, Chuck E. has appeared on the most merchandise the company has made, more than any other character in the franchise, second to Helen Henny.
- Likewise, Chuck E. has also had the most show appearances, as he has appeared almost in every single show. Jasper, Pasqually, and the Warblettes (until the retirement of the latter) has also appeared in every show, but as supporting roles, with the exception of Jasper's Texas Show, where Jasper took the lead. By 2014, with the format change, Chuck became absent from some sketches and songs.
- While the Madame Oink show, Tune Machine would technically count as an exception as well, Chuck E. often argued with the tune machine throughout the show over if either he or Madame Oink was the true star of the show.
- Both PTT Chuck E. Cheese and Helen Henny were the stars of Broadway Helen, which involves a Broadway talent scout coming to see them perform.
- In the cancelled special, The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, Chuck E. had an alternative bowtie. Instead of a black one, he was seen with a blue one.
- Tux Chuck E. was the first iteration of Chuck E. to ever change his outfit from time to time.
- Tux Chuck E. was also the first iteration of Chuck E. to frequently wear pants and shoes, although his animatronics remained pantless until the "Cool Chuck" outfit.
- Chuck E.'s animatronics were always barefoot, and multiple showtape appearances still have him barefoot. Beginning with the "Avenger Chuck" iteration, Chuck E. wears shoes more often and only goes barefoot when the situation calls for it (i.e. taking a bath or going to the beach).
- Tux Chuck E. was the first iteration of the character to hold the title of "Ambassador of Fun".
- Tux Chuck E. received an updated cane, switching from a brown vaudeville cane to a black and white/black and gold/white and gold formal cane/baton.
- Tux Chuck E.'s sports shirt depends on the weather. In spring/summer, it has short sleeves, while in fall/winter, it has long sleeves.
- When Duncan Brannan first became Chuck E.'s voice actor, he began imitating a tone similar to Scott Wilson's portrayal. However as time went on, he slowly evolved into his own tone of voice, which slowly made his New Jersey accent more minimal and his voice more smooth and funny-sounding, similar to his Barney the Dinosaur's voice tone. The first pinpoint occurred with the mid-1990s showtapes beginning with Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow, and the finalized voice occurred with the Patriotic 1998 show.
- In the 2011 shows, Chuck E.'s voice was less nasal and cartoony, but reverted back after Robert Gotcher was let go.
- Duncan has sung in his natural singing voice, opposed as to Chuck's voice, in Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow and The Chuck E. Cheese Christmas Special, both from 1995. He did the same (with Jasper), in January 1994.
- Avenger Chuck is currently the only incarnation to never to include a tail in the design, along with Coach Chuck, and the first to wear a purple shirt with a C on it.
- It is unknown where the "Avenger" name came from. The first instance of it was used in a costume character manual given to stores in order to train their cast members, but this did not explain the origin of the name.
- Avenger Chuck E. had a pet dog named Pepperoni who only made an appearance in merchandise.
- Avenger Chuck E.'s gloves were originally full-hand; around 2004 and onward, his gloves became fingerless.
- As shown in the January 2009 showtape (during the "Shout" video), Avenger Chuck E. used to have braces.
- Rockstar Chuck E. is the second incarnation to own a pet, as he owns a pet cat named Copernicus.
- Rockstar Chuck E. is the first and only version of the character to not wear a hat at all.
- The rights to Rockstar Chuck's design are owned by Dallas-based ad agency TRG (formerly The Richards Group). Any business maneuvers featuring Rockstar Chuck must be approved by TRG before being acted on.[1]
- Initially, Chuck E.'s ears had a visible tragus (the small round bump in front of the ear canal), as seen in most of his artworks; however, his walkaround heads altered between whether or not they have a tragus visible, and in the case of the former, how large the tragus would be. Chuck E.'s normal heads either had a small tragus or none at all, while his articulated head had a large tragus. By the time of the Rockstar relaunch, the tragus was gone completely from both the walkarounds and the artwork.
Gallery
For a bigger gallery of Chuck E. Cheese's animatronics, artwork, and walkarounds, click here.
Notes
- ↑ According to Zambrelli, the company responsible for the Avenger-era ads, in a newspaper from 1998, Chuck was "marketed" in their ads as "an early teen". This was never made canon by CEC themselves.
References
- ↑ Michigan-based CEC District Manager, February 24, 2024
