Mike D. Sykes, II
May 15, 2024 3:18 pm ET
I don’t know about the rest of you nineties babies out there, but I vividly remember the trips to Chuck E. Cheese my parents would take me on.
Not because of the fun I was about to have. I mean, of course, I did have fun. Chuck E. Cheese with the homies is always a good time. But that’s not the part I remember the most when I think about my childhood moments there.
Nah, man. I remember that creepy robot band more than anything. They were terrifying!
You know exactly what I’m talking about. Munch’s Make Believe Band. Every single time the band activated I’d hide because WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I LOOKING AT, MOM?!?
Sorry. Had a quick flashback there. But seriously. They were so creepy. I mean, why do their eyes look like that? And why is Chuck E. Cheese’s head so big? And what on Earth is Munch? Why is he purple? Seriously. It’s been years. What is he?
Well, the answers to those questions don’t really matter anymore. Why? Because the animatronics are going away forever, according to the New York Times. Munch and his pals are going to the scrap heap.
Wait, the robot band is gone now?
Yes! Chuck E. Cheese is getting rid of Munch’s Make Believe Band in all but two of the brand’s 400 locations: Los Angeles, California and Nanuet, New York.
According to CEO David McKillips, the removal of the band is going to be Chuck E. Cheese’s “most aggressive transformation” as a brand yet.
Wow. It's the end of an era. Why is Chuck E. Cheese doing this?
It’s part of a broad rethinking of the brand and its operations. Chuck E. Cheese’s parent company, CEC Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy in 2020 because of the pandemic. Locations nationwide were shutting down because no one could actually go to Chuck E. Cheese anymore for obvious reasons.
The company has emerged from bankruptcy and decided to rethink how it does things. The band is being removed and replaced with screens, digital dance floors and trampolines.
McKillips said the move to remove the band is a reaction to the way children consume their entertainment these days. Here’s more from the New York Times:
“Kids are consuming entertainment differently than they were 10, 20 years ago,” Mr. McKillips said sitting in a booth at the Chuck E. Cheese in Hicksville, N.Y., on Long Island. “Kids, really of all ages, are consuming their entertainment on a screen.”
That’s what it comes down to.
Is there another motive behind this?
Well, maybe. As recently as December, Chuck E. Cheese was snooping around to see if any private equity companies would be interested in purchasing it, Reuters reports. The company was reportedly valued at $1 billion.
Here’s more detail:
“CEC Entertainment, the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese, has told potential acquirers it expects to generate around 1.2 billion in revenue and $195 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) this year, the sources added. Based on the valuation metrics of its peers, the company could fetch well over $1 billion in a sale, according to the sources.“
That adds an interesting wrinkle to all this.
Forget about the money, Sykes. What about the kids?!?
Alright, y’all. Let’s be real. You really think kids these days care about Munch and the gang? If anything, they’re probably terrified by them. These are the same characters that inspired Five Nights at Freddie’s, after all.
Look at them here. Already plotting their revenge.
When Chuck E. Cheese and the band found out it was a wrap https://t.co/4pS5DASqWn pic.twitter.com/XV2KwbpfqY
— B E A N Z (Miss U Mom) (@BeanzGotGamez) May 15, 2024
You can easily see why the band is cooked.
Yes, but that fear builds character!
That’s absolutely true — it does. It’s unfortunate. These new kids will never know what it means to be stared down by Chuck E. Cheese during an active birthday party with dozens of kids around.
Why is he staring at me like I’m the only child in this room? And are his eyes following me? I swear he just blinked. HE BLINKED. LOOK, MOM. HE JUST DID IT. I SWEAR!
…..
Sorry. Had another flashback there. Anyway, like I said. Character building!
Well, uh, alright then...Wait. Where do the animatronics go from here?
That’s the thing: We have no idea. Chuck E. Cheese has declined to tell us what the company will do with them after all this.
They’ll probably just be sitting in a dump somewhere…plotting revenge on us all for leaving them behind in our screen-obsessed society. No big deal!
In the meantime, though, some people have shared nice memories of the band on Twitter.
On Christmas Eve in 2018,I watched the band perform their holiday show in the showroom all by myself. So many feelings of nostalgia and childhood happiness. This was the last time I would see them perform those songs as they were removed the next year in favor of a dance floor. pic.twitter.com/vW8FFQqj46
— Elijah (@elijahisntokay) May 13, 2024
The band at Laurel, MD was an exciting experience each time as nothing will ever beat being able to get up close to see these characters in a place that doesn’t require a planned vacation and an expensive plane ticket. Northridge is nice but not everyone can afford that trip. pic.twitter.com/AFkOOvhs3R
— Elijah (@elijahisntokay) May 13, 2024
Maybe these nice words will convince them to spare us all.
