In 1977 the now-famous Animatronic Pizzeria ‘Chuck E. Cheese’ was founded. It was a pizzeria designed for children that also featured performing animatronic robots with the design of A\anthropomorphic animals. The main character was Chuck E. Cheese, the Singing Rat. Originally Chuck E. was meant to be a coyote. Still, once Nolan Bushnell, the founder of the pizzeria and Atari, realized the costume he had purchased was that of a rat, he rebranded the restaurant to “Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza”.
One of the animatronics featured in the group began production the same year the restaurant was founded. His name was ‘The King’. He was a 7-foot-tall anthropomorphic lion. He would wear an outfit inspired by Elvis Presley, who had unfortunately passed away that same year. He would play original songs made by Chuck E. Cheese and used a black and brown gradient electric guitar. While animatronics production was delayed since 1977 due to focus on more important products, the King’s development was quickly rushed in the early 1980s to compete with Showbiz Pizza, a similar animatronic pizzeria. This was the very last Pizza Time Player animatronic to ever be added.
The King’s same animatronic design was used for another one that debuted two years later to prevent Chuck E.’s from going bankrupt. This was King Kat. Most of the animatronics stayed the same, and the main change was in wardrobe and programming since Michael Jackson inspired King Kat’s outfit. He wore a red jacket, white gloves, and red sunglasses. King Kat had no guitar; he would use a long microphone instead. He would also sing Michael Jackson’s songs instead of CEC Originals. Even though both animatronics share the same interior design and animatronic functionality, many still consider these as two separate animatronics due to King Kat’s change in both appearance and programming. Because of this, they will be referred to as separate characters continuing this essay.
However, Chuck E. Cheese’s popularity hit an all-time low a few years later. After filing for bankruptcy in 1984, the chain was acquired by Brock Hotel Corporation, the parent company of Chuck E.’s competitor, Showbiz Pizza Place. The merge caused all Showbiz locations to be redesigned into Chuck E. Cheese’s, and by 1990, all Showbiz Pizza Locations were revamped. The King and King Kat stuck around in various locations (Mostly King Kat since he was made as a replacement for The King) and the new management of Chuck E’s did not retire the Kings and decided to keep them around.
Unfortunately, in the 1990s, the company decided to retire King Kat. This may have been due to the harassment accusations against Michael Jackson. It’s said that most Kings were sent to the junkyard, but a few of The Kings (barely any King Kats) were sold for auction. Jared Sánchez said he was 11 years old when the animatronic was retired, and he specified that it occurred in 1995.
Many Kings can still be found today, but barely any in their original state, even though many were refurbished by their owners. The most notable, however, belongs to Jared Sánchez. As mentioned previously, The King was his favorite animatronic, and so he was crushed when it was retired in the early 1990’s. Eventually, at an older age, Sánchez suffered from depression. He said he even had repetitive nightmares in which he would go into Chuck E’s, ask for The King and the manager would explain that he’s broken and backstage. After many years of this, he’d had enough.
Jared Sánchez decided to search for The King online to see if he could purchase it. Every day, he would spend his time searching for him, not giving up on his childhood dreams until one day, he found it for sale on eBay in 2017. He immediately purchased the Lion and made it his project to refurbish it. He recorded this process and published the story on YouTube under the channel name “The King Robot”. He later purchased a 2nd and 3rd King and used them to decorate a room in his house, which they still stand there today. The King also made a cameo appearance in a 2017 version of “Every Boy, Every Girl”.
The King has not returned to Chuck E.’s since, and even more animatronics are being retired as the restaurant gets closer to bankruptcy every day. Nevertheless, The King’s legacy lives on, be it in a museum as a prized collectible, or a Tampa man’s bedroom, let The King never be forgotten, and for future generations to know him as the Lion that was retired, but not in our hearts.
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