The Origin Story Of Chuck E. Cheese

Chuck E. Cheese, the mascot of the family entertainment chain, was born in 1977. The character was created by Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder of Atari, who was inspired by Disney and wanted to create an animatronic family restaurant. Bushnell first thought the costume he bought was a coyote and planned to name his restaurant Coyote Pizza, but when the costume arrived, it turned out to be a rat, and he changed the name to Rick Rat's Pizza. However, his team believed that a rat wouldn't be an appropriate name for a restaurant, and they eventually settled on the name Chuck E. Cheese, as it forced people to smile when they said it. The first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre opened in San Jose, California, in 1977.

Chuck E. Cheese was founded in 1977 by Nolan Bushnell, co-founder of Atari

Chuck E. Cheese, the family entertainment centre and restaurant chain, was founded in 1977 by Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder of Atari. Bushnell had previously co-founded Atari Inc. with Ted Dabney in 1971, creating the world's first video game, Computer Space, and its successful follow-up, Pong.

After selling Atari to Warner Communications in 1976, Bushnell turned his attention to his passion project: a family-friendly restaurant with video games and animatronics. The first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre opened in San Jose, California, in 1977, pioneering the concept of combining food, arcade games, and animated entertainment. Bushnell drew inspiration from his time working at Lagoon Amusement Park and his love for Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and Country Bear Jamboree.

The name "Chuck E. Cheese" was chosen for the mouse mascot as it forced people to smile when they said it. The character's full name was Charles Entertainment Cheese, and he was an instant hit with children. The restaurant was also the first of its kind to offer arcade games alongside food and entertainment, setting the standard for the "family entertainment centre" concept.

Bushnell's vision for Chuck E. Cheese was influenced by his desire to expand video-game arcades beyond adult-oriented locations like pool halls and into family-friendly venues. His experience in the amusement park industry and his interest in creating a fun, carnival-like atmosphere for families to enjoy together shaped the unique identity of Chuck E. Cheese.

The first location opened in San Jose, California

The first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre opened in San Jose, California, in 1977. It was the first restaurant of its kind, combining a carnival-like atmosphere with pizza, arcade games, and animatronic entertainment. The founder, Nolan Bushnell, envisioned a place where families could gather and children could be introduced to video games.

The first location opened on 370 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose. Bushnell, the co-founder of Atari, had previously worked at Ampex Corp, a video equipment maker in Redwood City, California. It was here that he befriended his future Atari co-founder, Ted Dabney. The two began discussing the idea of a pizza parlour that incorporated Disney-esque entertainment. They scouted locations and visited local pizza parlours to see if they could turn their concept into reality.

Bushnell and Dabney's vision for the restaurant was influenced by their visit to the University of Stanford's computer laboratory (SAIL), where they saw Spacewar!, the world's first video game. They decided to create a cheaper version of the game that could be marketed at the consumer level. However, their initial plan to develop a cost-effective Spacewar! clone was sidelined, and they instead focused on creating a game called Computer Space. Although this game was not a complete success, it led them to found Atari Inc. and develop the hugely successful game, Pong.

With the success of Atari, Bushnell was able to pursue his dream of opening a family-friendly restaurant. He created the Atari Restaurant Operating Division to explore different concepts, ultimately deciding on the use of audio-animatronic characters in a pizza restaurant. He hired Gene Landrum to become the Atari Consumer Division President and general manager of the Atari Restaurant Operating Division. Landrum was tasked with fleshing out the pizza parlour concept, and one of his first moves was to seek people to build the animated puppets. He contacted a small outfit called Fantasy Forest Manufacturing, owned by Harold Goldbrandsen, who was primarily a fabricator of mascot costumes. Although Goldbrandsen had limited experience with animatronics, he believed he could figure it out.

When meeting with Bushnell and Landrum, Goldbrandsen noticed they had a mannequin wearing a rat costume that he had previously seen at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) conference. Bushnell had purchased the costume, believing it was a coyote, and had tentatively named his new restaurant "Coyote Pizza." However, upon receiving the costume, they discovered it was actually a rat, with a long pink tail. This led Bushnell to change the restaurant's name to "Rick Rat's Pizza." However, his team of planners felt that a rat was not an appropriate name for a restaurant, and they eventually decided on "Chuck E. Cheese." The name was chosen because it forced people to smile when they said it, and it was alliterative of Mickey Mouse.

With the concept and characters in place, Bushnell opened the first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose in 1977. This location was a former brokerage building spanning 5,000 square feet. It offered a unique combination of pizza, arcade games, and animatronic entertainment, becoming an immediate success and pioneering the "family entertainment centre" concept.

The mascot was originally an anthropomorphic rat, but became a mouse in 1993

Chuck E. Cheese, the mascot of the Chuck E. Cheese chain of family entertainment centres, was originally an anthropomorphic rat from 1977 to 1992. The character was created by Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, in 1977. Bushnell had bought a costume that he thought was a coyote for his planned Coyote Pizza restaurant. However, when the costume arrived, it turned out to be a rat with a long pink tail. Bushnell decided to change the restaurant's name to Rick Rat's Pizza. However, Bushnell's planners believed that a rat was not an appropriate name for a restaurant, and they finally settled on the name Chuck E. Cheese. The name forced people to smile when they said it, and it was also alliterative of Mickey Mouse. The character was given a New Jersey accent and would tell jokes, occasionally holding a cigar.

In 1993, Chuck E. Cheese was rebranded as a mouse, and Duncan Brannan was hired as the new voice of the mascot, with the task of transforming him from a rat to a mouse. By 1995, the character was given a "child-friendly" redesign. This version of Chuck E. Cheese had a wider cheek structure, a less pointy and shorter snout, longer eyes, smaller ears, and a slimmer physique. The character began being characterised as a skateboarder in commercials starting in 1997, with this version of him beginning to appear in restaurants by 2004.

The character was named Charles Entertainment Cheese and was inspired by a coyote costume

The character of Chuck E. Cheese was born in 1977, when Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder of Atari, opened the first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California. Bushnell had long dreamed of opening a family-friendly restaurant with video games and animatronics, inspired by his time working at the Lagoon Amusement Park in Utah. The character, whose full name was Charles Entertainment Cheese, was an instant hit with children. Bushnell had initially planned to open a coyote-themed restaurant, but when a coyote costume he ordered arrived and turned out to be a rat, he changed course and decided to centre his restaurant around the rat character instead. The rat was renamed Chuck E. Cheese, as saying the name forced people to smile.

Chuck E. Cheese was bought by rival company Showbiz Pizza in 1984

Chuck E. Cheese, the American entertainment restaurant chain, was bought by rival company Showbiz Pizza in 1984. The chain was founded in 1977 by Atari Inc.'s co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell's vision was to create a family-friendly restaurant that combined food with arcade games and animated entertainment. The first location, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, opened in San Jose, California, in 1977.

Showbiz Pizza was founded in 1980 by Robert L. Brock and Creative Engineering (CEI). It was similar to Chuck E. Cheese in that it offered pizza, arcade games, and animatronic shows, but the two companies became competitors, with Showbiz Pizza's animatronics distinguishing it from Chuck E. Cheese.

In 1979, Brock and Bushnell signed a co-development agreement, granting Brock exclusive franchising rights for opening Pizza Time Theatres in 16 states. However, Brock ended up forming Showbiz Pizza Place Inc. with Aaron Fechter of Creative Engineering in December 1979, and the first Showbiz Pizza Place location opened in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 3, 1980. Bushnell sued Brock for breach of contract, and Brock countersued, citing misrepresentation. The court ruled in Bushnell's favour, forcing Brock to pay him a percentage of the annual revenues from the first 160 locations he opened.

In 1984, Pizza Time Theatre filed for bankruptcy, and Showbiz Pizza purchased its assets, including the Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant chain, in May 1985. The merger formed a new parent company, Showbiz Pizza Time, Inc., and both restaurant chains continued to operate separately. The unification of the two brands began in 1990, with all Showbiz Pizza locations being rebranded as Chuck E. Cheese locations by 1994.

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