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The Studio C (known as "Studio C Alpha" by the CEC fandom) is a one-character animatronic stage installed in restaurants from 1997 to 2002 (with the exception of Waldorf, Maryland in 2012 and Dearborn, Michigan in 2015.). It was the first widely produced stage to feature a single Chuck E. Cheese animatronic, as opposed to 5 characters like the previous stages. The Studio C Alpha was themed around a late-night TV studio and featured a news desk-inspired stage for Chuck E. as well a Blue Screen stage that kids could use to appear on the many video monitors in the showroom in its earlier years.

History[]

Installation, & Prototype[]

The first and second Studio C Alphas installed, Brookfield, Wisconsin, and Dallas, Texas (13125 Montfort Dr) (now closed), featured several differences than the finalized Studio C Alphas, such as the Apple TV having a bigger screen, the desk having edges, and the C on top of the building being different. The finalized Studio C Alpha would debut when the third installation, Grand Chute, Wisconsin, opened in March 1998.

The Design[]

The stage has a "talk show" look since as mentioned above, they wanted to phase out the other characters, and use different showtapes. Chuck 's stage is far on the left side with having a "late night talk show" theme with a desk that has 5 colored panels, a Pizza Phone, a small Apple TV, Bird, and a Pizza Clock. The Background is a cloudy sky with a window showing a city at night with a bridge with cars (that are different depending on the location).

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The Chuck E. Cheese animatronic used for Studio C Alpha

The Center Stage has a large wall where a projector would project the current showtape and whatever is being recorded in the blue screen area. Below it is the Interactive Console which has 3 Screens and bunch of buttons. The TV screen on the far left is a monitor (which ran on Windows '99) that is hooked up to the games of the 2000s version of the official website using a rolling ball mouse, kids can play the games and check out different areas of the official website. Next to the rolling mouse are three buttons that make different sound effects, such as an applause, explosion, etc. The TV monitor in the middle is hooked up to different play cameras (not security cameras) that are placed around the entire restaurant. By pressing different buttons, kids can switch between the Blue Screen Stage camera, the video footage of the show, a camera located in the gameroom, a camera located near Kid Check, and a camera located in the showroom. Next to the buttons controlling the second monitor are three buttons that you can press to hear three different character voices: Chuck E, Larry, and Bird. The third TV on the right is hooked up to a roving camera in the showroom to pan.

The far right has a Blue Screen area where a camera would project whoever is in front of a Blue Screen and put it on the TV screens and projector. Making you part of the show. In a few stores, they tested a karaoke option to go along with the blue screen area called Chuck E's Star Search. To go further with the movie studio, feel, a bunch of cameras and lights were placed around the stages and showroom showing the sow footage or Blue Ccreen stuff.

Showtapes were made with this stage in mind during '97 and '98, as such most involve Chuck commentating on what's going on the stage with Bird. After Jeremy Blaido was brought on as director in 1999 the rest of the characters were brought back with major roles, but still keeping bird on the Studio C. Eventually Bird was reduced to a background character and the rest of the cast were made into puppets on the TV for Chuck to interact with them on the stage.

Chuck E. used to wear a fancy late night outfit as a replacement for the Tuxedo, but later it was replaced with the "Cool Chuck" and "Avenger Chuck" And "Rockstar Chuck" outfits.

In 2000, a Karaoke System next to the Blue Screen was added, this was an attempt to give another thing to do by the stage. Eventually it was removed from stores for an unknown reason.

By 2001, costs for the Alpha were rising so it was eventually decided to discontinue the stage and downscale the stage to be more cost effective. The last new Alpha location opened in Burlington, New Jersey in early 2002. After that, the Studio C Beta was the sole stage being used for store openings until July 2003, when Studio C Cappas would begin to installed in new stores, being opened alongside Beta stores.

An alternate Studio C Alpha was used in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Corniche), which opened in December of 2001. It was a mix between a Studio C Alpha and a Studio C Prototype, which was its own separate stage known as a Studio C Alpha/Prototype Mix. Jeddah would close in July of 2019, making the stage extinct.

After the Alpha's discontinuation a lot of features were dropped such as the Interactive Console due to it being really hard to maintain, outdated, and hindering Chuck E. Live Performances. As such it began being phased out with one remaining in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The Blue Screen also began being phased out due to being hard to maintain, as kids would play with the camera (which could swivel), breaking it in the process. The "Movie Studio" feel was also dropped after the 2003 "Cool Chuck" Reconfiguration / Major Remodel.

In 2022, CEC made the decision to no longer produce physical discs for shows and instead go digital. During testing, problems were found with the system and Studio C, due to it's special file format, and 3 inputs being used to run the show. Because of this, no Studio C stages are programmed to the music at all anymore and are simply set to random movement mode.

As of 2023, 25 Alphas remain, compared to its 198 peak in the mid-2000s.

Trivia[]

  • This was the last stage to be created in the 1990s.
  • Originally, this stage ran on laserdiscs until 1999 where the stage was upgraded to a DVD system.
  • The Studio C Alpha is the 2nd least common Studio C stage, with 25 left. The Studio C Cappa is the least common Studio C stage, with 18 left.

Current Studio C Alphas[]

Location Installed Notes
Brookfield, Wisconsin December 1997 First Studio C Alpha. Last Alpha in Wisconsin. Prototype Desk. No Apple TV. Rockstar Outfit.
Louisville, Kentucky December 1999 Only Studio C Alpha in Kentucky. Last animatronic stage in Kentucky. Serial number 064

Gallery[]

Cec-logo-footer
Stages
Current Main Stages
1-Stage - 2-Stage - 3-Stage - Road Stage - Studio C Alpha - Studio C Beta - Studio C Cappa - Circles of Light - Chuck E. Live Stage
Current Test Stages
1/2-Stage - Studio C Gamma - CU 1-Stage - Studio C 3-Stage
Retired Stages
Main: The Shelf - The Cyberamic Shelf - Balcony Stage - Rocker Stage - C-Stage
Test/one-offs: The Awesome Adventure Machine - Concept Unification Prototype Stage - Cyberamic 3-Stage - Studio C Prototype - Single-Screen Studio C 2000 - Studio C Alpha/Prototype Mix - Small-Town Studio C Prototype - Studio C Beta/Cappa Mix - Star Stage - Galaxy Stage
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