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198:, 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.
417:. 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
264:
233:, 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
250:(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.
970:
463:. 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.
144:
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
241:
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
201:
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",
155:
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
378:
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
245:
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
194:, 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
202:
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
797:
869:
213:", 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.
518:, 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.
843:
141:
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.
475:
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,
206:
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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479:, 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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123:(born December 22, 1953) is an American mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, voice actor, singer, and musician who owns and operates
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451:), 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
870:"Five Nights At Freddy's: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Freddy Fazbear's Pizza"
874:
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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
421:, an arcade game licensed for manufacture to ICE that evolved into their
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410:
186:
Fraternity, at the age of 19. The United States was in the midst of an
785:
Carbohydrillium Website Archive (before Southern Breeze Menu redesign)
152:
81:
Inventor, engineer, entrepreneur, manufacturer, musician, voice actor
440:
414:
203:
933:
109:
844:"'Rock-afire Explosion': Best movie I've seen all year. Really"
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from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially
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137:
show featuring a variety of characters created primarily for
943:
537:"My Reaction To A Teen's Video On My Life's Story * Part I"
938:
500:
in the 1980s. In the game, a single player tries to evade
796:
Stilp, Richard; Bevelacqua, Armando (December 1, 2014).
701:
Creative Engineering had been operating since 1975 ...
567:"The Man Who Made the Whac-a-Mole Has One More Chance"
402:
had gained traction, and the project went unreleased.
958:
209:
Fechter combined elements from both shows to form "
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798:"The Dangers of Hydrogen-Based Experimental Fuels"
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821:"Blast at plant breaks windows in Largo homes"
48:Fechter standing in front of his animatronics
27:American engineering entrepreneur (born 1953)
8:
949:PopRewind's 2012 interview of Aaron Fechter
295:about living persons that is unsourced or
127:(CEI). He is best known as the creator of
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31:
560:
558:
556:
554:
366:Learn how and when to remove this message
911:. Warner Bros.Pictures. February 7, 2016
965:
842:Matheson, Whitney (November 13, 2009).
736:Concept Unification Removal tape (1990)
681:"History of Chuck E. Cheese's Overview"
527:
691:from the original on December 5, 2020
652:from the original on December 5, 2020
594:Moxley, Michael A. (September 1981).
583:. March 17, 2016 – via YouTube.
7:
939:ShowBiz Pizza/Rock-afire fan Website
868:Shaurya, Thapa (November 10, 2020).
535:Fechter, Aaron (November 13, 2023).
724:Mitzi Mozzarella - Showbizpzza.com
1050:University of South Florida alumni
25:
954:2015 interview with Aaron Fechter
944:The Rock-afire Documentary Online
819:Brassfield, Mike (May 23, 2001).
190:, and Fechter decided to build a
178:. In 1973, he graduated from the
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980:
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774:"CEI's Official Web description"
565:Rugg, Peter (February 3, 2016).
262:
1020:21st-century American engineers
1015:20th-century American inventors
581:"Early 1980s Evening News spot"
648:. Window Pictures, LLC. 2008.
482:In 2014, indie game developer
386:CEI invested $ 1.5 million in
1:
170:Aaron Fechter graduated from
605:. Vol. 74, no. 1.
405:In 1996, animation from the
383:for custom programmability.
273:biography of a living person
934:Creative's Official Website
596:"Aaron's Amazing Animation"
433:, developed in 2003 as "an
300:must be removed immediately
182:, where he was a member of
180:University of South Florida
1066:
1035:American male voice actors
905:"Keanu - Official Trailer"
712:SPP Kansas City, MO (1980)
646:"The Rock-afire Explosion"
539:. The Rock-afire Explosion
125:Creative Engineering, Inc.
18:Creative Engineering, Inc.
762:"Bashy Bug at IAAPA 2015"
145:the early development of
41:
760:Bashy Bug at IAAPA 2015
477:The Rock-afire Explosion
467:In media and pop culture
407:New Rock-afire Explosion
388:research and development
211:The Rock-afire Explosion
130:The Rock-afire Explosion
99:the Rock-afire Explosion
71:Columbia, South Carolina
1030:American male musicians
489:Five Nights at Freddy's
455:Carbohydrillium project
159:Five Nights at Freddy's
748:Mini BB Documentation
287:Please help by adding
156:video game franchise,
151:, an arcade game from
1025:Animatronic engineers
854:on November 16, 2009.
231:Kansas City, Missouri
172:Edgewater High School
166:Early life and career
831:on January 12, 2002.
825:St. Petersburg Times
569:. Popular Mechanics.
547:– via YouTube.
398:. By 1998, however,
293:Contentious material
808:on August 20, 2016.
714:"SPP 1st Loacation"
498:Showbiz Pizza Place
227:ShowBiz Pizza Place
217:Showbiz Pizza Place
139:Showbiz Pizza Place
110:engineeringcreative
738:"RAE Removal Tape"
726:“Mitzi Mozzarella”
512:Keegan-Michael Key
443:convention called
413:game shown at the
271:This section of a
239:Pizza Time Theatre
607:Tau Kappa Epsilon
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276:needs additional
225:opened the first
184:Tau Kappa Epsilon
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86:Years active
64:December 22, 1953
16:(Redirected from
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850:. Archived from
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827:. Archived from
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804:. Archived from
802:Fire Engineering
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913:. Retrieved
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884:. Retrieved
880:the original
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987:Engineering
915:December 5,
909:YouTube.com
875:Screen Rant
695:December 5,
656:December 5,
613:December 1,
235:Holiday Inn
148:Whac-A-Mole
135:animatronic
1009:Categories
522:References
447:(stylized
396:phone line
326:newspapers
60:1953-12-22
975:Biography
848:USA Today
750:"Foldout"
502:possessed
486:released
445:Bashy Bug
278:citations
221:In 1980,
689:Archived
650:Archived
603:The Teke
449:BASHyBUG
381:Apple II
304:libelous
961:Portals
461:propane
411:karaoke
340:scholar
105:Website
427:game.
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153:Bandai
599:(PDF)
510:, by
507:Keanu
441:IAAPA
415:IAAPA
390:of a
347:JSTOR
333:books
204:IAAPA
133:, an
917:2020
888:2023
697:2020
658:2020
615:2023
545:2023
514:and
319:news
280:for
112:.com
54:Born
496:or
174:in
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