Interesting film about AAs - The Rockafire Explosion

K

Krack

Active Member
Original Poster
Hulu - The Rockafire Explosion

I watched an interesting documentary on Hulu.com that spent a lot of time discussing and interviewing the man (Aaron Fechter) who created all the Audio Animatronics for Showbiz Pizza (which was the pre-cursor to Chuck E Cheese). If you are interested in AAs, the film is free and it's worth watching, imo. Just thought I'd give a heads-up to the rest of the forum.

In the early eighties, kids all over the US flocked to Showbiz Pizza for the rides, games, and animatronic rock band, The Rock-afire Explosion. Created by 23-year-old prodigy Aaron Fechter, The Rock-afire Explosion amazed children and adults alike before being mysteriously pulled from showrooms and replaced by the now popular Chuck-E-Cheese in the early nineties. Nearly twenty years later, still profoundly affected by his experience at Showbiz Pizza, small-town disc-jockey Chris Thrash sought out Fechter and purchased a Rock-afire band of his own. Some clever programming on Chris’ part, and the band was once again performing for millions, this time on YouTube. The Rock-afire Explosion reveals how Chris came to revive this fallen 80's gem, explores his and a number of other fan’s obsessions with the animatronic band, and chronicles the rise and fall of Showbiz Pizza, and what was once a 20 million dollar per-year venture for inventor Aaron Fechter. More than this, the film is a look at the importance of nostalgia, ever-changing media culture, and the eternal quest to stay young.
Click to expand...

/Yes, I know this is not a discussion of WDW Parks. I couldn't find another subforum that fit the subject matter better.
 
cheezbat

cheezbat

Well-Known Member
I saw it...bought it. Been to the Showbiz Pizza Zone place in the video...sadly it closed last April. Chris, the owner is a very nice guy and knew how to make his guests feel so welcome to his place.

Also been to Aaron Fechter's place in Orlando. It's so crazy to see a warehouse full of old animatronics...so eerie yet sooo cool!

Such a shame there aren't any Showbizes around anymore.
 
MansionGoer13z

MansionGoer13z

Active Member
I have the DVD and watched it. I was kind of disappointed in it I was hoping for more of a indepth history of Show Biz Pizza and the AA's and a little less on Chris and his fetish with his collection of AA's and Mountain Dew. I did in fact like hearing about Aaron talk about his warehouse and the Animatronics. I was thinking about selling or getting rid of the DVD but now talking about it I think its time for another watch before I get rid of it.
 
scottnj1966

scottnj1966

Well-Known Member
I wonder if he had anything to do with the AA show at the old Mystery Fun House in Orlando?



Animatronics03%20(Small).jpg



arcadeanimatronics.jpg
 
ewensell3

ewensell3

Well-Known Member
Tis wierd how Showbiz bought Chuck E Cheese and decided to take on the CEC identity Tis a sordid tale. Check out showbizpizza.com fan site.
 
charmmy

charmmy

Member
Thanks for the link OP- I had heard about this a few months back on Carson Daly's late night show but could not remember what it was since the tv was only on so I could fall asleep. :)
 
K

Krack

Active Member
Original Poster
Cmdr_Crimson said:
Those are modified Chuck E Cheese Characters. Wizzy is Mr Munch and Craven is Helen Henny...Etc..
Click to expand...

That's interesting. Then the guy in the film built them, because they explain in the movie that when Showbiz Pizza merged with Chuck E Cheese, they just came in and ripped the costumes off of the AAs and replaced them with Chuck E Cheese costumes - they were the same robots with new skin.
 
Wilt Dasney

Wilt Dasney

Well-Known Member
Definitely have to check this out later. I remember me and my sister squeezing between my grandparents in their pickup truck and going down to Jacksonville, Fla. to visit Showbiz Pizza one weekend in the late '80s or early '90s. It seemed like such an event then!
 
K

Krack

Active Member
Original Poster
SMRT-1 said:
how did you get in?

photo set of the warehouse:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indicia/sets/72157626443853277/
Click to expand...

What really impressed me about this guy (Fechter) is that he created the first couple of AAs entirely by himself. The amount of technical know-how needed to do something like that is astounding. Building the robots, programming them, recording the voices, recording the music, creating the rubber masks, making the skin/costumes - and he did it all by himself with an Apple IIe in his early 20s.
 
Wilt Dasney

Wilt Dasney

Well-Known Member
Huge thanks for this link, Krack. Watching this really took me back to my childhood, when some basic characters, games, simple rides and pizza made for one of the most memorable outings of my life. My visit to SBP also came during a long drought between WDW visits, and like the opening says, SBP was like a "smaller Disney World." If you need a tentative justification for posting this in this forum, there ya go.

This was a fun view from a psychological POV....Chris Thrash is an interesting character with his Mountain Dew and Rockafire fixation, and seeing Aaron Fechter holding on to the last crumbs of that business was just sad. A very well-spent hour. Kudos.
 
cheezbat

cheezbat

Well-Known Member
I have some friends who were good friends with Aaron Fechter...

And I ran into him at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party a few years back! He was dressed in his Space dog Dook Larue(the drummer dog from his Rockafire band)costume...I recognized him immediately! He is one interesting guy. Had quite a vision.
The reason Showbiz merged the companies and turned everything into Chuck E Cheese was because in the early 1980's Chuck E Cheese Pizza Time Theatre went bankrupt, and Showbiz bought them out. They owned the characters and everything Chuck related outright after the bankrupcy. The animatronic show, the Rockafire Explosion - that was showcased at Showbiz Pizza Place was created and owned by Mr. Fechter. The company had to pay him royalties to use the characters as well as pay him and his friends as voice actors and programming. Eventually, the company dropped them and decided to swap everything over to Chuck and friends to save money.
 

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