The Rock-a-Fire Explosion is an animatronic band of robots that played at Showbiz Pizza Place from 1980 to 1992, and at various Showbiz Pizza locations between 1990 and 1992 when Showbiz changed its name and the band continued to be replaced by Character Chuck E. Cheese. The show was created and produced by inventor Aaron Fechter, creator of Whac-A-Mole, through his company Creative Engineering, Inc. in Orlando, Florida; In addition to overseeing the production of animatronics, Fechter also provides sound for some characters.
After the completion of the rebranding, the show was sold to other restaurants and entertainment centers, such as Circus Pizza, Pistol Pete's Pizza, and Billy Bob's Wonderland. The characters in The Rock-afire Explosion are various anthropomorphic animals, including brown bears, gray wolves, silverback gorillas, and other species. They will perform classic rock, pop, and country music medleys, as well as original compositions and comedy plays.
The show pioneered in many ways to other animatronic performances from the early 1980s, featuring a human-sized character capable of facial expression; some are even programmed in such a way that they can actually play a simple melody on a musical instrument. At the end of the show, Chuck E. Cheese's marketing director, Jul Kamen, trusted Rock-afire for being responsible for the financial success of Showbiz.
In 2008, the original Rock-afire Explosion creator and technical engineer Aaron Fechter, along with Chris Thrash reintroduced the ensemble as a cover band for various pop, rock, and hip-hop groups, including acts ranging from the mid-20th century to presenting. Reprogramming the tried and true Rock-afire characters to put down the beats and new vocals, Fechter reaches new and younger viewers and also reconnects with older viewers the band was initially entertained at the national Showbiz Pizza restaurant.
Video The Rock-afire Explosion
Technical specifications
The Rock-a-fire explosion operates using four audio tracks, two for audio and two for data. The data tracks are encoded using the Biphase mark code generated during the programming process by two Apple IIe computers. During the days when Showbiz was not involved in programming, the RAE circuit was purchased by Creative Engineering from Superscope, the maker of Pianocorder. Finally, when technology evolved and Showbiz was involved in programming, a new programming system called "APS" (Animation Programming System) designed by Dave Philipsen was used. The new controller designed by Bill Synhorst of Triad Productions called Cyberstar is implemented in restaurants that add video playback capabilities. This controller eliminates the need for Pianocorder playback boards and communicates directly with existing driver boards.
Maps The Rock-afire Explosion
Show production
Program and audio production for the event was conducted solely by Creative Engineering, Inc. in Orlando, Florida. Almost all Rock-afire performances are fully produced at home, with Creative Engineering employees not only producing characters, but also writing and performing their songs and plays.
Later, when ShowBiz Pizza Place began to take over the program, they used a system inherited from the acquisition of the Pizza Time Theater called "Songcode". A few years later, a more modern system called "APS" designed by Dave Philipsen became the programming system for all shows.
Unlike other animatronic performances in the early 1980s, the Rock-afire Explosion was designed to be human-sized, with most players becoming the size of an average adult human. In addition, Fechter implements the use of latex masks for character faces, as opposed to rubber masks and styrofoam common in animatronics of that time. The latex mask is designed to fit the various parts that can be moved on the face of the characters, allowing them a variety of facial expressions, including smiles and eyebrows. Fechter also implements computer programming that allows multiple characters to move in rhythm with music, making it theoretically possible for them to play the actual instrument.
band members
Characters
- Billy Bob Brockali - Bass/Vocals. A brown bear from the South wearing a yellow and red canal and playing a wooden banjo. She is the mascot for ShowBiz Pizza Place throughout her existence, and her image is in most of the chain merchandise. Sweet and naive, Billy Bob usually becomes a mediator for small fights on stage.
- Looney Bird - Vowels. Looney Bird shares Billy Bob's stage, as they should be close friends. His head is the only one ever seen, the rest hiding in the oil drum. Some shows show segments where Looney Bird will answer fan letters. For this, the robot is installed to insert a pair of hands holding a piece of paper for him to read. Looney Bird is described as an alcoholic, using Gasohol, a cheaper gas form created by Billy Bob, becoming drunk, but becoming more interested in technology as time passes.
- LaRue Dook - Drum/Vowel. A vulture looking for space travel and wearing space themed clothing. Slightly pressed, the Dook often loses focus during the show and loses his gesture. His character is unique because when set up correctly, he has the ability to actually play a 4 piece drum kit in time with music.
- Fatz Geronimo - Keyboard/Vocals. A silverback gorilla. He is a parody of the real life entertainers Fats Domino and Ray Charles. The band's unofficial front man, Fatz has a tendency to babble. He introduced the show the most and ordered other band members around him, bringing him and Rolfe DeWolfe to many arguments.
- Beach Bear - Guitar/Vocals. A polar bear with a relaxed attitude and a smooth singing voice. When voiced by Aaron Fechter, his personality is more uncertain, according to the voice he gives. Beach Bear will usually make sarcastic comments or ask other character questions to get rid of their actions in the name of pleasure.
- Mitzi Mozzarella - Vowels. Mitzi is a rat and a cheerleader. A typical teenager, Mitzi is considered "loose" by the rest of the Rock-afire Explosion, and is obsessed with gossip, girlfriends, pop music, and (just right for time) Michael Jackson.
- Rolfe DeWolfe and Earl Schemerle - Action ventriloquist/comedy. Nominal action stand-up comedy performed between the sets of music; Rolfe is a wolf, and Earl is a live ventriloquist doll. Rolfe is described as sarcastic and rude, with a tendency to be extremely rude to bands and employees who work at Showbiz. He has a fondness for disco music and Frank Sinatra's works. Earl was there to "arrange it directly" by calling outgoing behavior, and by turning Rolfe into a joke.
The show also has some smaller prop characters, as well as characters that are only integrated into the show in a particular location. Many do not have a speaking role. These include Sun and Moon animations (which provide background vocals from time to time), Antioch spiders (who speak in cuttings), Choo-Choo the baby bear, who is hiding on a small tree stump, and Birthday Bird, who sits in over Billy Bob's Guitar. On the Dook stage, initially, there was an owl. He's just a prop. In addition, thirty stores are equipped with "Uncle Klunk," a human character who replaced Rolfe and hosted a talk-show segment with sidekick birds (known as both Click and Murray D. Bird). Klunks is also presented to be attached to Santa Claus events during the holidays.
Years later in ShowBiz and Conceptualization
ShowBiz Pizza Place is similar to (and competes with) Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theater, another popular restaurant chain in other parts of the United States. In the mid-1980s, both places began to experience financial difficulties, in part because of the 1983 video game crash and also because the two companies had opened more restaurants than they could maintain. When "Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater" filed for bankruptcy in 1984, ShowBiz Pizza bought the company, hoping new talent and merchandising opportunities could save both companies.
In 1985, Richard M. Frank joined the company as CEO and chairman. The corporation maintains two chain restaurants simultaneously for several years. Each continues their own stage performances and sells various merchandise. However, in the latter part of the decade, the relationship between Creative Technique and ShowBiz began to be bleak. Aaron Fechter, founder of Creative Engineering and creator of the Rock-afire Explosion, claims that the downfall between his company and ShowBiz arose when ShowBiz asked him to submit licenses and copyrights to the Rock-afire Explosion, which would allow ShowBiz to cut production costs on the show, such as making future performances and royalty payments to Creative Techniques. Fechter refused, arguing that Showbiz did not offer any money compensation for his rights.
ShowBiz started toying with the idea of ​​adding licensed characters like Spider-Man or Garfield to the Rock-afire show, and three locations completely replaced Billy Bob and Looney Bird (both on the left) with Yogi Bear and Boo Boo in 1987.
Experiments Paul Linden and Dave Philipsen used the Hi-Fi JVC BR-7000 VHS tape deck that integrated two stereo audio tracks, two lengthy data tracks, and video leads to the system in 1988 where TV screens were installed on the Rock-afire stage when the company introduced their new Cyberstar TV display system. During the show, the character is finally displayed appearing in the video, because the reel-to-reel reel band began to be rarely used. The Cyberstar reel-to-reel version called "Cybervision" was tested at two restaurants in Austin, TX; Cybervision can be distinguished from Cyberstar by the fact that they only feature animatronics, and no graphic or walkaround characters. Cyberstar is also implemented in Pizza Time Theater, and is still used in all Chuck E. Cheese locations, although it uses DVDs rather than VHS tapes.
The change on the Rock-afire stage is very small, because the company then decided to enforce a process called "Unification Concept," in which all Pizza ShowBiz locations will be overhauled into Chuck E. Cheese. The remodel includes the removal of all Rock-afire characters from merchandise and advertising and animatronic retrofit/reprogramming Rock-Afire Explosion to a new show called Munch's Make Believe Band featuring Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater. LaRue Dook moved to Billy Bob's place and became Pasqually The Chef, Looney Bird into Pizza Cam, Beach Bear to Jasper T. Jowls, Fatz Geromimo became Mr. Munch, Mitzi Mozerella moved to the Dook and became Helen Henny, The Sun became The Building, Choo-Choo became Munch Junior, and Rolfe DeWolfe became Chuck E. Cheese; The moon is the only character that is brought unchanged, and the Antioch computer and air lines are reused for The Wink, Chuck E. Cheese's head of animation on stage that will blink at the end of each segment. Unused animatronics (including Billy Bob, Earl Schmerle, and Antioch) and props either sold to other restaurants or destroyed.
After the relationship between Creative Technique and ShowBiz was completely disconnected, due to Aaron Fechter's refusal to sign the band's rights completely, the "Unification Concept" began in September 1990 and sporadically occurred at the ShowBiz location over the next two years, with ShowBiz final converted on 1992. When the unification of concepts began at each location, the right and center stage of the Rock-afire event was closed, leaving only Rolfe and Earl characters in operation. Both show "The Rolfe and Earle Show" (Earl's name is inadvertently misspelled), featuring the voice of a Showbiz employee imitating Fechter's voice; both of them play a main snapshot of the old Cyberstar Rock-afire segment and wonder what the band would do now, and hinted at the upcoming Chuck E. Cheese show. "The Rolfe and Earle Show" is the last Rock-afire show; after the unification of concepts is completed at the middle and right stage, Rolfe and Earl are ready to be removed. Animatronik Rolfe was changed to Chuck E. Cheese, while Earl was canceled.
After the Unification Concept, Creative Technique began designing "The New Rock-afire Explosion" which was introduced in 1997 to Looney Bird's a spin-off restaurant featuring a smaller and redesigned Rock-afire character. This smaller, more advanced animatronik dubbed "mijins" did for its small size. The show features a rotating stage that allows for more advanced and versatile performances. Most restaurants closed around 2000, while many "mijin" shows were sold to other restaurants and family entertainment centers.
Current status
Although Fechter strives to keep Creative Technique in check after being removed from ShowBiz operations, he is eventually forced to stop all his employees, a process he dragged on for several years as he struggles to find a new place for the show. Using parts of the old animatronics, he creates events, hoping to be sold to other companies. Mostly never sold. One of them is Moon Rockers, which represents a group of aliens from a city on the moon. Only a few of their names are known, such as Princess Haley (female vocalist who uses animatronics Mitzi), Quazar (guitar player who uses Bear Beach animatronics), and Ozone (drummer using animatronics Dook). The stage also gets a new look; it has a great night and moon sky for a new background. It also has floors that look like they are on a planet. No company or individual is known to have bought this show. In 2018, the company still operates, with Fechter as its sole employee; Fechter sells new and unused animatronic equipment in addition to providing tour facilities.
In the 2000s, driven by the growing online community of Rock-afire fans, Fechter reunited several Rock-afire players and began programming events tuned to the songs fans requested. The video of the show - posted to YouTube once completed - is credited with helping to further revive interest in group and pizza ShowBiz, and spurring individuals who have their own Rock-afire band to start programming their own new show.
Some Rock-afire artists continue on to their own careers: Shalisa James is currently a member of the acapella Toxic Audio group, while Burt Wilson is better known as Bubba "Whoop-Ass" Wilson, member of The Monsters on the Morning radio show. However later fired in 2009 in the latest Clear Channel cleaning. Both Rick Bailey and Jeff Howell are still active as musicians in the Orlando area.
The New Rock-afire
A redone show was made in the 1990s, shortly after the unification of the concept. The show features a smaller, but more advanced animatronics. These robots are nicknamed 'mijins', as a reference to their smaller and shorter sizes. It also features a rotating stage, used to simulate character dancing, and a new side-stage, featuring a Looney Bird scientist in a lab setting.
Independent events
Rock-afire Explosion currently performs at Rock-afire, an arcade bar in Kansas City, Missouri.
In addition, Billy Bob's Wonderland in Barboursville, WV has a Stone-afire event.
Odyssey Fun World, an indoor amusement park located in Naperville, Illinois, and Tinley Park, Illinois, operates a New Rock-afire show in the party hall, but has since been stopped. The show at Tinley Park has been halted entirely with most of the animatronic being removed from the outer shell leaving the metal framework lying on the floor behind the curtain, and is currently for sale. The show in Naperville is still available for use, but has been broken for some time, and no word of when it will be fixed. According to Odyssey Fun World, the required parts are no longer produced, so it is difficult to fix. In both cases, the characters have been heavily modified, making them much different from the original band.
Documentary
The Rock-afire Explosion , a documentary about Chris Thrash, Aaron Fechter and the remaining Rock-afire Explosion fan base, was released at film festivals and special screenings throughout the United States in autumn 2008. Written and directed by Houston filmmaker Brett Whitcomb (Director) and Bradford Thomason (Writer), and produced by Jason Connell, the film has been featured on Last Call with Carson Daly. It was released on DVD in 2009. In 2011, it was released in ITunes.
References
External links
- Official documentary site
- http://showbizpizza.com/mobilehome.html
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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