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Chuck E.'s Pizza Time Band (known as Charlie's Pizza Time Band in Australia) is an animatronic band that have played at Chuck E. Cheese's restaurants since 2012. The band serves as a successor to the Pizza Time Players and Munch's Make-Believe Band. They perform various cover songs, as well as original compositions and comedic skits.
Development[]
After Johnson Industries purchased CEC Entertainment in 2010, new Entertainment Director Chris Noe and Johnson CEO Tim Johnson sought to make major changes to Chuck E. Cheese's. One of his ideas was to rebrand Munch's Make-Believe Band (which played at Chuck E. Cheese's locations since 1989) to Chuck E.'s Pizza Time Band, as by that point Chuck E. Cheese had eclipsed Mr. Munch as the band's frontman; the "Pizza Time" portion of the name is a homage to the Pizza Time Players. New designs for the main five were introduced in August 2010 as part of what was nicknamed "Phase IV.5" (a transition period all stores were required to undergo between Phases IV and V), and in June 2012, the new changes officially took place; characters Crusty (who was officially named Crusty T. Cat and made the lead guitarist) and Harmony Howlette (who was made the drummer) were reintroduced, while Jasper T. Jowls and Pasqually P. Pieplate reverted to playing the banjo and accordion, respectively. Helen was given a bass guitar as well.
Characters[]
Main characters[]
- Chuck E. Cheese (Duncan Brannan) – Chuck E. is the 25-year-old frontrat of the Pizza Time Band. Hailing from New Jersey, he believes in entertaining his guests first and foremost, loves to have fun and is always up for adventures, though he's also a responsible leader to the rest of the band and is the glue that keeps them together. His hobbies include telling jokes, playing sports, skateboarding, dancing and photobombing. His favorite music is pop rock, while his favorite pizza topping is extra cheese and his favorite sport is baseball. His full name is Charles Entertainment Cheese.
- Helen Henny (Karlisa Burleson) – The bassist, Helen is a 28-year-old Broadway actress and Chuck's girlfriend, as well as a vegetarian and former cheerleader, who was born in Australia and moved to the United States at the age of five. Her interests include acting, fashion, and music. She was introduced as the first guest star in 1977, before becoming a permanent member in 1983. Being a chicken, Helen is the only band member with the ability to fly (which is only shown in puppet and animated skits). She is very kind, girly and cheerful yet mature and caring, often diffusing conflicts in the band, though she can be pushed too far (e.g. referencing chicken eating within her earshot) and is a black belt in karate, and tends to cluck when frustrated. Her favorite music is '60s and '70s music, her favorite pizza topping is vegetables, and her favorite sport is fishing (specifically, catch-and-release). Her full name is Helen Maxine Henny.
- Jasper T. Jowls (Jeremy Blaido) – Jasper is a 25-year-old banjo player from Tennessee and Chuck E.'s best friend. He is a sarcastic and cynical but laid-back, emotional, flamboyant and loyal hound whose favorite pastimes include gardening, riding horses, cooking, knitting, watching romcoms and ballets, going to the salon, and repairing cars; he is also a daredevil in the Super Jasper segments. Like real dogs, Jasper is colorblind and terrified of loud noises such as fireworks and thunder. His favorite music is country, his favorite pizza topping is sausage, and his favorite sport is tennis. His full name is Jasper Tennessee Jowls.
- Mr. Munch (John Bowen) – Munch is a 127-year-old (or 20-year-old in human years) purple monster alien hailing from Planet Purple who plays the keyboard. His favorite pastime is eating: pizza is his favorite food, though he's been shown to eat anything and everything (even once taking a bite out of drywall), so long as it doesn't have anchovies. Also, Munch has been shown to be rather ditzy, imaginative, cowardly and childish compared to most of his fellow monsters and is illiterate, though he is known to have genius moments and is shown to be a horror buff. He replaced Crusty in 1978 and became the band's leader in 1990, though his presence had dwindled over the years. With the 2012 retool, his role as bandleader was jettisoned altogether. His favorite music is electronic music, his favorite pizza topping is all the toppings on the menu put together except anchovies, and his favorite sport is football. His full name is Dennis Eustace Lachlan Issac Connor Immanuel Oliver Ulysses Santiago Maury Macdonald Munchington.
- Pasqually P. Pieplate (Earl Fisher) – A 43-year-old pizza chef and an accordionist, Pasqually is a man of class and very knowledgeable, as well as a supreme chef who can cook the greatest dishes in the world. He also tries comedy in his spare time, though his jokes are considered worse than Rolfe DeWolfe's material. He's also best friends with Munch. Pasqually's favorite music is classical music, his favorite pizza topping is any that he cooks, and his favorite sport is bowling. His full name is Pasqually Pietro Pieplate.
- Bella B. Conejita (Jessica Puente) – Bella is an eight-year-old, paraplegic Paraguayan rabbit who was introduced in 2018 and plays her beloved saxophone (which she named Marita after her grandmother) during the shows. Intelligent for her age, she reads books and paints illustrations of flowers during her spare time. Bella can burn out easily due to having to juggle between school, homework, painting and performing, can be witty, confrontational and neurotic, and doesn't like it when Munch eats her paintings. She is also a very passionate vintage movie buff, with The Prisoner of Zenda as her favorite film, though she also loves The Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello films, as well as horror. She is also fluent in English, Spanish and Guarani. Despite this, Bella enjoys watching cartoons, reading superhero comic books (particularly Miles Morales) and playing with her beloved My Little Pony dolls. She is best friends with Tati, and is protective of her. Her favorite music is blues and jazz (especially from her inspiration, Gato Barbieri), her favorite pizza topping is carrot slices, and her favorite sport is hockey. Her full name is Izabella Brinca Conejita.
- Tati Truong (Gabby Hoeng) - Tati is a 12-year-old monkey of Vietnamese descent who was also introduced in 2018 and plays the tambourine in the band. She is the tallest member of the band, on the autistic spectrum and very kind (to the point of even refusing to say minced swear words), empathetic, soft-spoken, shy and sensitive, though she can be assertive when she has to and has her limits. Tati also has an interest in "cute" things such as rainbows, kittens, and unicorns, is skilled at repairing cars and building machines, deeply cares about animals, is the leader of her local Camping Explorer troop, and has aspirations of becoming a professional ballerina. She is fluent in English and Vietnamese. Her favorite music is heavy metal, her favorite pizza topping is vegan, and her favorite sport is hockey. Her full name is Tatiana Lily Truong.
- Harmony Howlette (Annagrey Wiechman) – Harmony is a 27-year-old drummer and percussionist from Texas, as well as Jasper's girlfriend. She is rough, adventurous and feisty yet friendly, is able to lift heavy objects effortlessly, is skilled at repairing cars and plumbing, as well as manual labor in general, enjoys sports and bodybuilding, doesn't care about her appearance, prefers thrills over relaxing, is terrible at cooking, and dislikes bro-country music and boy bands, as well as being called a hillbilly. She's also the only band member who commonly utters (minced) swears. Despite her tomboyish nature, Harmony doesn't mind wearing dresses for formal events (though she prefers wearing a vest and jeans instead), and shares Jasper's love of ballet performances. In her spare time, Harmony is a prominent rodeo performer and avid monster truck driver, as well as the sheriff of Los Hermanos, Texas. Despite their respective personalities, Harmony and Helen are best friends. She was a guest star in the early 1980s and was brought back as a permanent member in 2012. Her favorite music is southern rock, her favorite pizza topping is all-meat, and her favorite sport is monster truck racing. Her full name is Harmony Montana Howlette.
- Crusty T. Cat (Jaret Reddick) – Crusty is the band's 26-year-old manager and electric guitarist. He is a rough, no-nonsense Tuxedo cat with a dry wit, but has a tender side, and will do anything for his clients. He was part of the original lineup along with Chuck E., Jasper, and Pasqually in the early days of Pizza Time Theatre, but was phased out in favor of Mr. Munch in 1978; in-universe, he was fired for becoming a Communist, though he was the worst Communist in the world, opposing the Proletariat despite being one. He was brought back in 2012. His favorite music is alternative rock, while his favorite pizza topping is supreme and his favorite sport is basketball. His full name is Marion Theodore Cat.
- Moon (Chris Hill) – The same moon who appears in Rock-afire Explosion shows, and also does backing vocals there. He was introduced in 1990.
- Building (Stephanie Nadolny) – An anthropomorphic building who also does backing vocals. She was introduced in 1990, replacing the Sun from the Rock-afire Explosion.
- Wink – A gold Chuck E. head that winks after every show, and debuted in 1990.
- Pizzacam (Christopher Sabat) – Pasqually's sidekick who also debuted in 1990, replacing Looney Bird.
- Reggie Bird (Earl Fisher) – Chuck E.'s pet bird who debuted in 1997. He also does backing vocals.
- The Warblettes (Kate Bristol as Wendy, Tia Ballard as Whitney, and Taylor Fono as Wilma) – Three birds who also sing backup. They were introduced in 1977 and phased out in the 1990s, before returning in 2012.
- The Singing Flowers (Kate Bristol as Karen, Sharen, Brooklyn, Susan, Teryn, Jordyn, Fallon, and Angela) – A group of flowers that debuted in 1987.
- The Mopsey Sisters (Stephanie Sheh as Mary, Kira Buckland as Melody, and Clarine Harp as Miley) – Short-lived replacements to the Warblettes. They also returned in 2012.
- Munch Jr. (John Bowen) – Munch's younger brother who bounces to the music. He also debuted in 1990.
Guest characters[]
- Madame Oink (Shannon Emerick) - Lead and backing vocals
- Foxy Colleen (Jade Yourell) - Lead and backing vocals
- Sally Sashay (Cree Summer) - Lead and backing vocals
- Haven Henny (Caroline Taylor) - Helen's younger sister, lead and backing vocals, drums
- Josie Jaguar (Carolina Ravassa) - Lead and backing vocals, lead guitar
- Steve Waters (Ryan Hollingsworth) - Lead and backing vocals
- Ronaldo Saggitarian (Earl Fisher) - Lead and backing vocals
Logo in Australia
Stages[]
- Redux 3-Stage (2011-present)
- Cyberamic variant (2012-present)