25 Things You Didn't Know About Chuck E. Cheese's

Nolan Bushnell, the American engineer and entrepreneur who founded Atari, also made Chuck E. Cheese's. He did this while working at his video game company. Mixing pizza and arcade games created a profitable idea. Pizza plus video games equals profit.

Nolan Bushnell, Chuck's creator, explained why pizza matters.The Atlantic, "I picked pizza because of the wait time and the build schedule: few parts, few ways to mess up. Good dough, good cheese, good sauce means good pizza. I had no idea how to run a restaurant, but simple was better."

Kids wanted Chuck E. Cheese's for the pizza and the games. The show featuring the creepy rat animatronics actually targeted parents.

Chuck E. Cheese started as a coyote, but the designer got a rat costume instead. The company used it. Who doesn't link giant rats with pizza and family fun?

Blame Disneyland's Tiki Room for the animatronics idea. Nolan Bushnell reportedly got the animatronics show concept after visiting the theme park.

The animatronic characters are not an improv group. Mike Hatcher put together the skits. He wouldprogram movements one at a time to match a tape. Hatcher often pulled all-nighters to finish the work.

Chuck E. Cheese's was first called Rick Rat's Pizza. The marketing team wisely told everyone that even with a rat mascot, the restaurant name shouldn't have "rat." It looks bad and might attract health inspectors.

San Jose Mercury NewsThe San Jose Mercury News revealed Mike Hatcher took three hours to make one minute of animatronic action at Chuck E. Cheese. This happened because 200 movements often occurred at once during the show.

The animatronic Chuck E. Cheese characters lack motors. They use pneumatic parts, which are cheap and rarely break. Thus, the rat and his friends will likely last longer than us.

Chuck E. Cheese has many pals in his animatronic show, including Mr. Munch. Mr. Munch acts like Chuck E. Cheese's Cookie Monster. He is exactly like Chuck E. Cheese's Cookie Monster, just without the cookies. A vacuum in his mouth sucks things out of your hands.

The Hound Dog was dumb as dirt. Chuck E. Cheese needed to describe things to the Hound Dog very slowly, like grown-ups talk to children. The Hound Dog was designed as the dumb sidekick for the Big Cheese to use.

Chuck E. Cheese's survives today. Nolan Bushnell made $35 million from the idea before leaving the company in the mid-'80s.

The movie features a killer clown loose at Chuck E. Cheese's.ClownThe movie lacks a U.S. release date. You can watch the whole film on YouTube. A man gets possessed by a demon after wearing an old clown suit he cannot take off. He starts a killing spree at a Chuck E. Cheese's. Think twice before touching the plastic balls or letting kids crawl through the plastic mazes after this scary film.

Violence has a documented history at Chuck E. Cheese's, despite the pizza arcade's tagline: "Where Awesome Parents Go." In 1993, disgruntled employee Nathan Dunlap hid in the bathroom near closing. He came out and shot five people; one person survived by pretending to be dead after being shot in the face. A jury sentenced him to death three years later.

Grandmother Carol Brown wanted her grandchildren a good birthday at a Chuck E. Cheese's in South Gate, California. Harsh words were exchanged between Brown and another family. A 200-pound brute attacked Grammy, punching and trying to strangle her in front of her grandchildren. Three-year-old Robert Olchanski said, "I don't wanna go to Chuck E. Cheese no more." We don't blame you, kid.

A verbal fight became violence at a Chuck E. Cheese's in Boynton Beach, Florida. Eighteen customers joined the fun, and one man took a gunshot to the leg. Some pizza eaters who fought also left without paying their $286 bill... or a tip.

Some people use pizza too much. Two twenty-somethings in Costa Mesa, California escalated their addiction at Chuck E. Cheese's by being caught smoking heroin in the bathroom. Police found the individuals were at the restaurant to meet their supplier, not to play arcade games on heroin.

The video shows everything. Pizza and arcade games do not justify a fistfight, especially when holding your child. Set the kid down before the fight starts.

Chuck E. Cheese's claims to be where "a kid can be a kid." In Brookfield, Wisconsin, it is different. In 2007, no restaurant in the city caused more police calls than the local Chuck E. Cheese's. Many angry mothers showed their anger to protect their children.

Duncan Brannan voiced Chuck E. Cheese from 1993 until he was fired in 2012.

ShowBiz Pizza Place shared a theme with Chuck E. Cheese's; it featured a pizza arcade with shows and animatrons. The two companies merged in 1984. By the early '90s, all restaurants became Chuck E. Cheese's.

Early Chuck E. Cheese looked ratlike. The company changed this in 2012. They announced a mascot makeover so he would look like a "rock star" instead of a rat demon.

Jaret Reddick, lead singer of Bowling for Soup, became Chuck E. Cheese's new voice after Duncan Brannan left. He helps make Chuck E. Cheese more of a rock star rat.

Chuck E. Cheese's animatronic band has seen lineup changes this year. Current members include: Chuck E. Cheese on vocals; Helen Henny on vocals; Mr. Munch on vocals and keyboards; Jasper T. Jowls on vocals and guitar; and Pasqually E. Pieplate on vocals and percussion.

Chuck E. Cheese's runs a "road show" outside the showroom with costumed characters. Chuck usually encourages kids to dance to songs like "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."