Jasper T. Jowls (full name: Jasper Tennessee Jowls) is a character from Chuck E. Cheese's who has been around since the beginning. He is a member of Munch's Make Believe Band. He is a hound dog who plays the bass guitar.
History
PTT Era (1977-1989)
Debuting on May 17th, 1977 in the earliest days of Pizza Time Theatre, Jasper had a low and dopey voice. He came from the woods of Tennessee, and spent his time playing the banjo. He was very dimwitted and usually never caught on to the insults Chuck E. Cheese threw at him, though he would snap back at him on occasion. To go with his idiocy, he was also quite the lunatic. Jasper laughed all the time and howled on stage, greatly annoying Chuck E., who would often shout "Turn off the fruitcake dog!", which would cause the backstage technicians to supposedly "turn off" Jasper, which would stop his laughter and calm him down, though there are sometimes where Jasper made Chuck E. laugh as well. He was also great friends with PTT Pasqually. Jasper was originally slated to be named Billy "Banjo" Boggs. Jasper was conceived of by Robert Allen Black and Gene Landrum, who wanted a country-western character, as country music was gaining popularity at the time.
Even though he is goofy, he was romantic to almost every Guest Star of the PTT era (with the exceptions of Madame Oink, who had a relationship with Pasqually, and Helen Henny, who had a crush on Chuck E. Cheese). He spent time with Foxy Colleen backstage, Sally Sashay complimented him throughout her show, and the most definite one was his obvious crush on Harmony Howlette. As the guest star days faded away, Jasper gradually became smarter and got a higher voice, with Bob West taking on the role in 1986. He stayed this way until the onset of Concept Unification.
Tux Era (1989-1999)
Starting in this era, Jasper began to play the electric guitar for Munch’s Make Believe Band. He kept a similar personality as his previous PTT counterpart, but was much smarter, West would also continue to voice the character. From 1992-1993, Jasper adopted a more clear tenor singing voice that greatly differed from his regular, more "goofy" speaking voice, portrayed by Charles Stewart.
Avenger Era (1999-2014)
Avenger Jasper debuted in 1999 when the voice acting was taken over by Jeremy Blaido. He had the same personality and design as the Tux Jasper, but as time went on, he started to morph into a wisecracking and cynical bloodhound. Jasper at this point became like the PTT Chuck E. in the way that he would tease the other characters (most notably Chuck E. whenever Helen would speak romantically toward the mouse), but it was greatly decreased during the Rockstar Era in 2014. Jasper also gained a slight distaste for Pasqually, especially his jokes. Robert Gotcher also briefly provided the voice for Jasper in the May and September 2011 shows (and the unused version of the January 2012 Show), though was replaced by Jeremy after these shows.
Jasper was supportive of his friends despite all this. He’s faster doing things than the rest of the band, but Chuck always talks him into it.
Rockstar Era (2014-present)
Jasper would largely remain the same during this era, only now being more loyal, and doing more dog-like activities. He also has a very close friendship with Chuck E. and his other friends. Jasper also tells a few stories in this era about helping his friends.
Appearance
Jasper is a brown hound dog with large "jowls", as his name suggests. In the PTT Era, he had buck-teeth (though only in illustrations), and wore blue overalls with a straw hat. In addition, he had brown shoes. In animatronics, and in several media, he wore a shirt and a blue bandana to go with his overalls.
Tux Jasper had a new, softer design. His straw hat was changed to a cowboy hat with part of it sticking up, and he now wore a white shirt with several small white dots, which were later replaced with big cow spots. He also wore a red bandana and light blue overalls, and red sneakers with white laces. This design was carried over to the Avenger Era as well.
Rockstar Jasper drastically changes up Jasper. His hat was retired, and his white muzzle was made tan. His new outfit consisted of a blue plad shirt with red around it, blue jeans with a belt, a belt buckle with a "J" on the front of it, and cowboy boots.
Portrayal
Voice Actors
- John Widelock (1977; demo voice)
- Scott Paulin (1978–1985)
- Scott Wilson (January 1986 only.)
- Bob West (July 1986-January 1994, August 1995–September 1998)
- Charles Stewart (May 1992–September 1993, singing voice only)
- Duncan Brannan (January 1994, singing voice only, December 1996, January 1997, August 1997, portions of "Sharp Dressed Mouse" only.)
- Reggie Smith (March 1994-December 1995)
- Jeremy Blaido (January 1999–January 2011, January 2012–present)
- Robert Gotcher (May 1992, speaking voice only, May-September. 2011, unreleased version of January 2012.)
Foreign Voice Actors
- Miguel Ángel Ruiz (Spanish, 2013-2018)
Costume Performers
- Micah Menikos (1999, Chuck E. Cheese in the Galaxy 5000; main performer)
- Shay Coldwell (1999, Chuck E. Cheese in the Galaxy 5000; stunt/background performer)
Trivia
- As mentioned in the Rockstar era backstories, Jasper's mother is named "Jennie Jowls", and has eleven siblings, a grandfather nicknamed "Grand-Paw", and an Uncle Jed.
- Jasper also mentions an uncle, Uncle Jake, in an Avenger era showtape.
Gallery
For the gallery of Jasper T. Jowls animatronics, artwork, and walkarounds, see Jasper T. Jowls/Gallery.
