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The animatronic band that breaks out in song at Chuck E. Cheese locations around the US has been described as everything from "endearing" and "nostalgia-inducing" to "slightly creepy," but thanks to what CEO David McKillips calls the chain's "most aggressive transformation" yet, the band is now basically "no more."
As the New York Times reports, Chuck E. Cheese will phase out performances of its famous rodent and his bandmates—singer Helen Henny, keyboardist Mr. Munch, guitarist Jasper T. Jowls, and drummer Pasqually—by the end of 2024, leaving the band operational in just two locations: Los Angeles and Nanuet, New York.
In place of the animatronics, the chain hopes to swap in additional recreation in the form of digital dance floors, trampolines, and the like. "Kids are consuming entertainment differently than they were 10, 20 years ago," says McKillips. They're "consuming their entertainment on a screen." They don't necessarily want to spend their time watching an "old animatronic band with limited movement and shifty eyes," per the Times.
Link: https://www.newser.com/