Favorites
What is my favorite food?
Pizza, Steak, or Fettuccine Alfredo
How old am I?
13
Who was the founder of Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre?
Nolan Bushnell
What is my favorite color?
Orange / Light Blue
How many Chuck E. Cheese's have I been to?
4
(Toledo OH (Airport Hwy.), Roanoke VA, Pineville NC, Winchester VA)
Explain the history of Chuck E. Cheese from 1977 to 2000 in 3 paragraphs. Use size 15 font.
Chuck E. Cheese (formerly known as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza, and simply Chuck E. Cheese's) is an American entertainment restaurant chain founded in May 17, 1977. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, each location features arcade games, amusement rides and musical shows in addition to serving pizza and other food items; former mainstays included ball pits, crawl tubes, and animatronic shows. The chain's name is taken from its main character and mascot, Chuck E. Cheese. The first location opened as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California on May 17, 1977. It was the first family restaurant to integrate food with arcade games and animated entertainment, thus being one of the pioneers for the "family entertainment center" concept.
After filing for bankruptcy in 1984, Pizza Time Theatre was acquired in May 1985 by Brock Hotel Corporation, the parent company of competitor ShowBiz Pizza Place. Following the acquisition, ShowBiz Pizza Place, Inc. was renamed to ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc., which began unifying the two brands in 1990, renaming every location to Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza. It was later shortened to Chuck E. Cheese's in 1994 and Chuck E. Cheese in 2019. The parent company, ShowBiz Pizza Time, also became CEC Entertainment in 1998. Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre was founded by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, who sought to expand video-game arcades beyond adult locations like pool halls to family-friendly venues.[2][3] His experience in the amusement park industry, and his fondness for the Enchanted Tiki Room[1] and the Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland, influenced his concept for Pizza Time Theatre. Prior to founding Atari, Bushnell would drive around the Bay Area with Atari co-founder Ted Dabney looking at different pizza parlors and restaurants to brainstorm concepts. "Chuck E. Cheese was always his (Nolan's) passion project, even before Atari was a thing," said Dabney. "He wanted to start a business of family-friendly restaurants with amusement park midway games. I think initially it made no fiscal sense, so he shelved it for a while, but then when Atari took off, he had the means to pursue it, plus a built-in distribution model for Atari's new releases".[7]
When his first animatronic show was being assembled, Bushnell learned the costume he had bought for his main character, a coyote, was actually a rat, prompting him to suggest changing the name from "Coyote Pizza" to "Rick Rat's Pizza". His marketing team believed this name would not be appealing to customers and proposed "Chuck E. Cheese" instead. The company adopted the rat as their mascot.[8]
The first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre opened in San Jose, California, in 1977.[9][2][10] In 1978, when Atari's then-corporate parent, Warner Communications refused to open additional locations, Bushnell purchased the rights to the concept and characters from Warner for $500,000.[11] Gene Landrum then resigned from Atari and was made the restaurants' president and chief operating officer.[12][13] By the end of December 1979, there were seven PTT locations, six in California and one in Nevada (Sparks).[14] Its "Cyberamics" animatronics were produced fully in-house by PTT employees.
ShowBiz Pizza Place
Main article: ShowBiz Pizza Place
To expand beyond California and the west coast, Bushnell began to franchise, resulting in a co-development agreement between himself and Robert Brock of Topeka Inn Management in June 1979.[15] The agreement handed Brock exclusive franchising rights for opening Pizza Time Theatres in sixteen states across the Southern and Midwestern United States,[11] while also forming a company subdivision, "Pizza Show Biz", to develop the Pizza Time Theatres.[11]
Late in 1979, Brock became aware of Aaron Fechter of Creative Engineering, Inc. and his work in animatronics. In November 1979, he scouted Fechter's business and concluded that Creative Engineering's animatronics would be too strong a competition for Bushnell's work. Brock therefore requested that Bushnell release him from their co-development agreement, wishing to develop with Fechter instead.[11]
In December 1979, Brock and Fechter formed ShowBiz Pizza Place Inc., and Brock gave notice to sever his development relationship with Bushnell.[11][16] ShowBiz Pizza Place was conceptually identical to Pizza Time Theatre in all aspects except for animation, which would be provided by Creative Engineering.[11] ShowBiz Pizza Place opened its first location on March 3, 1980, in Kansas City, Missouri.[10]
What is my favorite place?
Chuck E. Cheese / Billy Bob's Wonderland
How many states have I been to?
13
What is my favorite state?
North Carolina / Ohio
Who is my first block teacher?
Mr. Shelton