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187:, such as his "Leaf Eater" contraption that collected leaves from swimming pools. Fechter knocked on the door of an individual who solicited his help in designing an electronic control system for a shooting gallery, designed for sale to amusement parks. The gallery featured an animatronic horse, and its success led to other offers in the animatronic industry, which became the central focus for Creative Engineering.
406:. In 1997, Looney Bird's was a new restaurant that housed the classic RAE, but one Looney Bird's Markets used "The New Rock-Afire Explosion" show. As with The New Rock-Afire, "Marvelously Electronic Animation" debuted as a karaoke, trivia and video recording area that features a NRAE Looney Bird Robot that is controlled with The Anti-Gravity Freedom Machine. In 2000, CEI developed
253:
222:, featuring Creative Engineering's Wolf Pack 5 display. Although ShowBiz wanted the "Rock-afire Explosion" (RAE) concept, RAE was still in the final stages of development when the first store opened. The pizza chain also featured other amenities including an arcade and restaurant tailored to accommodate both children and adults. Brock owned an extensive chain of
239:(CEC), who had filed for bankruptcy a year earlier. After failing to make progress with CEI, ties were severed in 1990, and Showbiz began replacing the RAE with CEC characters, forming a new show called "Munch's Make Believe Band". All Showbiz locations, which were renamed Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza, were eventually converted by the mid-1990s.
959:
452:. On September 26, 2013, catastrophic failure of high-pressure carbon steel canisters led to an explosion at a Creative Engineering warehouse in Orlando. A company operating as AquaLux experienced a similar explosion in 2001 at their plant in Largo, Florida, which at the time was blamed on a leaking fuel storage tank.
133:
In CEI's early beginnings, Fechter intended to manufacture fuel-efficient vehicles, but the company's focus soon shifted to the animatronic industry. The company later developed other products and concepts, but they failed to gain commercial interest. Fechter also claims to have been instrumental in
230:
but backed out after discovering
Fechter's work. CEI was given a 20-percent ownership stake in the chain and retained all rights to characters, animation, and show development. Queenie the Fox was converted into a mouse and became briefly known as Mini Mozzarella at the first location. Her name was
190:
Fechter's father was an early investor in CEI, helping it enter the animatronic industry. Early projects included The Scab, a single talking head, Willie Wabbit, an anthropomorphic rabbit, and a fortune-telling machine called Lazlo The Great. By 1978, Fechter had finished work on the "Wolf Pack 5",
144:
that became popular in the late 1970s, but his involvement was never officially recognized. His animatronics gained renewed interest decades later, when fan-made Rock-afire
Explosion performances set to modern music began appearing online in the mid-2000s. They also partially inspired the horror
367:
During CEI's involvement with
Showbiz, the company pursued other interests outside of the restaurant industry. They explored the production of toys, including Billy Bob, Fatz, and Mitzi animatronic dolls that had the ability to play pre-recorded showtapes, narrate fairytales, and connect to an
234:
Following financial troubles in the mid-1980s, Showbiz explored the possibility of reverse-engineering the animatronics and producing their own shows. This led to a feud with CEI, unwilling to relinquish the rights needed. In 1985, Showbiz purchased their competitor
183:, small car prototype in hopes of eventually manufacturing the vehicle under a new car company. He founded Creative Engineering Incorporated (CEI) in 1975 for that purpose, but in order to raise money for the project, he resorted to selling smaller inventions
191:
his first animatronic series featuring multiple characters including The
Wolfman, Fats, Dingo Starr, Beach Bear, and Queenie the Fox (later changed to a mouse and renamed Mini Mozzarella). It was showcased and deemed a success at the 1978
786:
858:
202:", which debuted at the IAAPA in 1980 with improved animation and other changes. The Rock-afire Explosion concept was ultimately selected by Showbiz for inclusion in its family entertainment pizza chain.
507:, a cat named Keanu jumps through the window of a fictional, abandoned building that used to manufacture animatronics. CEI characters such as Beach Bear, Billy Bob, and Fatz appear in the background.
832:
130:
restaurants throughout the 1980s. A fallout between
Showbiz and CEI, along with the chain's dwindling revenue, led to the show's decline and eventual removal by the early 1990s.
464:
in the mid-2000s, such as "Ms. New Booty" by Chris Thrash, in which fans recreated several new RAE animations depicting modern musical themes. This led to the 2008 documentary,
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show. He completed work on another animatronic show called "The Hard Luck Bears", featuring a hillbilly band of bears and a mimicking bird, which debuted at the IAAPA in 1979.
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In 2010, research began on an alternative cooking fuel derived from graphite and water called
Carbohydrillium, billed as safer and less polluting than
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468:, which explores the rise and fall of RAE and the impact of the childhood memories it created, with interviews of Fechter, Thrash, and others.
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112:(born December 22, 1953) is an American mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, voice actor, singer, and musician who owns and operates
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440:), where the player attempts to stomp on a bug with a flipflop in a timed skill scenario with multiple levels of difficulty.
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changed a final time to Mitzi
Mozzarella as ShowBiz expanded and utilized RAE in future locations.
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device called the Anti-Gravity
Freedom Machine, capable of sending electronic messages over a
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hotels, considered the largest of its kind at the time. Brock originally partnered with
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kiosk", was never publicly released. In 2015, CEI showcased an arcade game at the
859:"Five Nights At Freddy's: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Freddy Fazbear's Pizza"
863:
223:
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Renewed interest in The Rock-Afire
Explosion began with the release of several
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animatronics that were partly inspired by
Fechter's RAE. In the 2016 film
410:, an arcade game licensed for manufacture to ICE that evolved into their
369:
449:
399:
175:
Fraternity, at the age of 19. The United States was in the midst of an
774:
Carbohydrillium Website Archive (before Southern Breeze Menu redesign)
141:
70:
Inventor, engineer, entrepreneur, manufacturer, musician, voice actor
429:
403:
192:
922:
98:
833:"'Rock-afire Explosion': Best movie I've seen all year. Really"
291:
from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially
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126:
show featuring a variety of characters created primarily for
932:
526:"My Reaction To A Teen's Video On My Life's Story * Part I"
927:
489:
in the 1980s. In the game, a single player tries to evade
785:
Stilp, Richard; Bevelacqua, Armando (December 1, 2014).
690:
Creative Engineering had been operating since 1975 ...
556:"The Man Who Made the Whac-a-Mole Has One More Chance"
391:
had gained traction, and the project went unreleased.
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Fechter combined elements from both shows to form "
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787:"The Dangers of Hydrogen-Based Experimental Fuels"
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810:"Blast at plant breaks windows in Largo homes"
37:Fechter standing in front of his animatronics
16:American engineering entrepreneur (born 1953)
8:
938:PopRewind's 2012 interview of Aaron Fechter
284:about living persons that is unsourced or
116:(CEI). He is best known as the creator of
31:
20:
549:
547:
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543:
355:Learn how and when to remove this message
900:. Warner Bros.Pictures. February 7, 2016
954:
831:Matheson, Whitney (November 13, 2009).
725:Concept Unification Removal tape (1990)
670:"History of Chuck E. Cheese's Overview"
516:
680:from the original on December 5, 2020
641:from the original on December 5, 2020
583:Moxley, Michael A. (September 1981).
572:. March 17, 2016 – via YouTube.
7:
928:ShowBiz Pizza/Rock-afire fan Website
857:Shaurya, Thapa (November 10, 2020).
524:Fechter, Aaron (November 13, 2023).
713:Mitzi Mozzarella - Showbizpzza.com
1039:University of South Florida alumni
14:
943:2015 interview with Aaron Fechter
933:The Rock-afire Documentary Online
808:Brassfield, Mike (May 23, 2001).
179:, and Fechter decided to build a
167:. In 1973, he graduated from the
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969:
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763:"CEI's Official Web description"
554:Rugg, Peter (February 3, 2016).
251:
1009:21st-century American engineers
1004:20th-century American inventors
570:"Early 1980s Evening News spot"
637:. Window Pictures, LLC. 2008.
471:In 2014, indie game developer
375:CEI invested $ 1.5 million in
1:
159:Aaron Fechter graduated from
594:. Vol. 74, no. 1.
394:In 1996, animation from the
372:for custom programmability.
262:biography of a living person
923:Creative's Official Website
585:"Aaron's Amazing Animation"
422:, developed in 2003 as "an
289:must be removed immediately
171:, where he was a member of
169:University of South Florida
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1024:American male voice actors
894:"Keanu - Official Trailer"
701:SPP Kansas City, MO (1980)
635:"The Rock-afire Explosion"
528:. The Rock-afire Explosion
114:Creative Engineering, Inc.
751:"Bashy Bug at IAAPA 2015"
134:the early development of
30:
749:Bashy Bug at IAAPA 2015
466:The Rock-afire Explosion
456:In media and pop culture
396:New Rock-afire Explosion
377:research and development
200:The Rock-afire Explosion
119:The Rock-afire Explosion
88:the Rock-afire Explosion
60:Columbia, South Carolina
1019:American male musicians
478:Five Nights at Freddy's
444:Carbohydrillium project
148:Five Nights at Freddy's
737:Mini BB Documentation
276:Please help by adding
145:video game franchise,
140:, an arcade game from
1014:Animatronic engineers
843:on November 16, 2009.
220:Kansas City, Missouri
161:Edgewater High School
155:Early life and career
820:on January 12, 2002.
814:St. Petersburg Times
558:. Popular Mechanics.
536:– via YouTube.
387:. By 1998, however,
282:Contentious material
797:on August 20, 2016.
703:"SPP 1st Loacation"
487:Showbiz Pizza Place
216:ShowBiz Pizza Place
206:Showbiz Pizza Place
128:Showbiz Pizza Place
99:engineeringcreative
727:"RAE Removal Tape"
715:“Mitzi Mozzarella”
501:Keegan-Michael Key
432:convention called
402:game shown at the
260:This section of a
228:Pizza Time Theatre
596:Tau Kappa Epsilon
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265:needs additional
214:opened the first
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53:December 22, 1953
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902:. Retrieved
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873:. Retrieved
869:the original
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976:Engineering
904:December 5,
898:YouTube.com
864:Screen Rant
684:December 5,
645:December 5,
602:December 1,
224:Holiday Inn
137:Whac-A-Mole
124:animatronic
998:Categories
511:References
436:(stylized
385:phone line
315:newspapers
49:1953-12-22
964:Biography
837:USA Today
739:"Foldout"
491:possessed
475:released
434:Bashy Bug
267:citations
210:In 1980,
678:Archived
639:Archived
592:The Teke
438:BASHyBUG
370:Apple II
293:libelous
950:Portals
450:propane
400:karaoke
329:scholar
94:Website
416:game.
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142:Bandai
588:(PDF)
499:, by
496:Keanu
430:IAAPA
404:IAAPA
379:of a
336:JSTOR
322:books
193:IAAPA
122:, an
906:2020
877:2023
686:2020
647:2020
604:2023
534:2023
503:and
308:news
269:for
101:.com
43:Born
485:or
163:in
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