Wolf Pack 5

The Wolf Pack 5 was an animatronic band created by Creative Engineering in 1978. The band primarily played song covers in a 50's and 60’s rock and roll style. It was the predecessor to the Rock-afire Explosion.

The Wolfman
The Wolfman was an animatronic wolf that served as a leader and emcee for the band. Occasionally, he would also sing. He parodied Wolfman Jack. He was voiced by Aaron Fechter. Wolfman would go on to become Rolfe Dewolfe in the Rock-afire Explosion.

Fats Gorilla
Fats Gorilla was a gorilla animatronic parodying Fats Domino. He played piano and sang for the band. He was voiced by Burt Wilson, a member of the band Clutch. Fats Gorilla would go on to become Fatz Geronimo in the Rock-afire Explosion.

Dingo Star
Dingo Star was a beagle that parodied Ringo Starr. Dingo Star played the drums for the Wolf Pack 5. There is some debate as to how his name is spelt. Some written material spells his name as "Dingo Star," while others spell it as "Dingo Starr." Though it was previously believed that he was voiced by Duke Chaupetta, he was actually voiced by an unknown member of Clutch. He would go on to become Dook LaRue in the Rock-afire Explosion.

Beach Bear
Beach Bear was a bear that played the electric guitar. He was surfing themed, taking inspiration from the real life band, “The Beach Boys”. He was voiced by Aaron Fechter. He would go on to reappear in the Rock-afire Explosion.

Queenie
Queenie, also referred to as Little Queenie, was the female vocalist of the Wolf Pack 5. She existed as a member of all Wolf Pack 5 bands with the exception of the Kansas City, Missouri, United States location, which had her modified into a new character named Mini Mozzarella. Aaron Fechter, creator of the Wolf Pack 5 and current head of Creative Engineering, on the fanprograms YouTube channel run by him, responded to a commenter asking about the identity of Queenie's voice actor. He stated, "She was voiced by a girl who was once in the Clutch band. That was the origianl raspy, deep voice singer who did Drag Strip In The Sky". Other sources state that the voice actor was a former Creative Engineering employee that wished to remain anonymous. Whether or not this former Clutch member went on to join Creative Engineering is unknown. Considering Aaron Fechter himself stated that the voice actor came from Clutch, this is the best confirmation and information on Queenie's voice actor available at this time.

Mini Mozzarella
Mini Mozzarella was Queenie’s replacement at the Kansas City, Missouri, United States location. She was a mouse, and became the new female vocalist of the group. Her character was modeled after Minnie Pearl. Unlike Queenie, she was voiced by Aaron Fechter. Mini Mozzarella would later become Mitzi Mozzarella in the Rock-afire Explosion.

Announcer
In the 1979 show, an announcer was added into the showtape. This announcer welcomed the audience, announced when the show would start, and introduced the entirety of the band to the viewers. The announcer was voiced by Aaron Fechter. Notably, this voice would go on to be reused as Rolfe Dewolfe’s voice.

Stage Composition
Since the Wolf Pack 5 was built for different places, its stage varied significantly between the different parks and venues that ordered a show. Cosmetics, the characters present, placement of the characters, stage lights, accessories, and even instrument design could differ between shows. The stage could also be turned into a one-stage from its usual two-stage setup.

The standard setup had Wolfman located on stage right, and the rest of the band on stage left. From stage right to stage left, the band would generally be positioned in the following order: Wolfman, Fats Gorilla, Dingo Star, Beach Bear, and finally, Queenie or Mini Mozzarella.

History
The idea for the Wolf Pack 5 was conceived of in 1978. Aaron Fechter, the owner of Creative Engineering, was inspired to design the show after watching a live performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show in London, England. Creative Engineering quickly got to work designing and constructing the show.

The music for the Wolf Pack 5 was provided by a musical group called Clutch. Clutch was a band from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, that provided Creative Engineering assistance with recording music and providing voices for the Wolf Pack 5 characters. Some of the members of the band would go on to work with Creative Engineering on the Rock-afire Explosion.

1978 IAAPA Expo
The Wolf Pack 5 and an accompanying showtape were completed in time for the 1978 IAAPA Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, where they debuted for the first time. Complete footage of this show was discovered in 2021. The footage can be viewed on YouTube here. There is a second video of the same performance, but from different angles, that can be viewed here. Audio has also been preserved in a YouTube video that can be viewed here.

The stage for the 1978 IAAPA Expo was fairly basic. It had a backdrop with various characters Creative Engineering had made, as well as the words “Creative Engineering Inc” towards the top of the backdrop. The flooring of the display was green. The tape deck used to control the characters could be seen running in the background. All of the characters, with the exception of Fats Gorilla, stood on top of platforms. Wolfman wore a yellow pinstripe suit with a green bowtie. Fats Gorilla wore a golden tuxedo and played a light blue upright piano. Dingo Star wore a black turtleneck with a light blue jacket. Beach Bear wore a pair of tropical-floral print shorts. Queenie wore a light blue shirt with black pants, and a blue scarf around her neck.

This show would later be sent to an unknown theme park in Japan.

1979 IAAPA Expo
The Wolf Pack 5 would make a return to the 1979 IAAPA Expo in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States for a repeat performance. Brief video of this performance can be viewed here. This video is confirmed to be of the 1979 IAAPA Expo in the Rock-afire Explosion documentary, where a short amount of footage from this show was labeled as being from the IAAPA. This was not the same animatronic show from the 1978 IAAPA Expo, which is evidenced by the fact almost all of the characters had completely different cosmetics, and the fact that the stage itself was very different in construction. They used a modified version of the 1978 IAAPA Expo showtape that was referred to as the Entertainment 1980 showtape. This showtape is confirmed to have been the showtape used for the 1979 IAAPA Expo by showbizpizza.com’s radio archive, which labels them as one and the same.

The show had also been completely redesigned for the new Expo. This show was actually placed on a stage. The background was painted yellow, and had a big sign in the back labeled “Wolf Pack 5.” The sign was capable of lighting up. This time, Wolfman wore a black tuxedo with a black bowtie. Fats Gorilla wore a golden tuxedo and played a blue upright piano, which had two stars and a planet decorating its side. Dingo Star wore a black turtleneck and a pink jacket. His drumset was labeled “Wolf Pack 5,” and was white instead of green as the previous Expo’s show. Beach Bear wore a pair of tropical-floral print shorts and a lei with flowers of multiple colors on them. Queenie wore a dress that was yellow on the top and gold on the bottom.

This show highly resembles the Kansas City, Missouri, United States location’s Wolf Pack 5. The cosmetics used are exactly the same. This suggests that the 1979 IAAPA Expo show was reused for that location.

Gaslight Village
Gaslight Village was an amusement park located in Lake George, New York, United States. They contracted Creative Engineering to construct a show for them in the late 1970’s. This show was not a full Wolf Pack 5 show, but was instead a hybrid show consisting of a Wolfman animatronic, a Fats Gorilla animatronic, and a Friendly Freddy animatronic.

The stage featured three animatronics. Wolfman was located stage right. He wore a pink tuxedo and a black bowtie. Friendly Freddy was located center stage, though he was placed further back. He was elevated on a platform that placed him higher than Fats Gorilla and Wolfman. Fats Gorilla was located stage left. He wore a golden tuxedo and played a brown upright piano. Three spotlights were used, with each one being pointed at each character.

The Gaslight Village show was actually one of the first shows Creative Engineering ever made. This show was referred to as the Gaslight Jamboree. Gaslight Village eventually closed down, leaving the fate of the show unknown for a long while.

On August 12th, 2015, a post was made on a forum that included an image of a Wolfman animatronic while the user was at a scrapyard in Tennessee. Also pictured was a pile of what looked to be bear cosmetics, which turned out to be Friendly Freddy’s cosmetics. It was a chance encounter, as the post and forum did not focus on animatronics. After some discussion with the original poster, they stated that the owner wished to stay private and was unwilling to sell the show.

YouTube creator sptproductions began to search for the show based off of what little information he could get from the original poster. Fellow YouTube creator Connor Leschinsky began to assist with the search for these animatronics. The search would be unsuccessful up until June 8th of 2020. On this day, sptproductions would discover a phone number to a scrapyard matching the information he was provided by the original poster. This would further lead him to discover updated contact information.

Connor Leschinsky contacted the owner of the scrapyard. The conversation was unproductive, with the owner stating he did not want to sell. Sptproductions would then go on to call as well to speak with the owner. This conversation was more productive. The owner revealed he had been in possession of the animatronics for 30 years after acquiring them from Gaslight Village. He still stated he was uninterested in selling. After some insistence, the owner put sptproductions in contact with his sister, who turned out to be the actual owner of the animatronics.

When asked by the owner what he would do with the animatronic show, sptproductions replied that he would love to restore them to a good condition. After hearing this, the two worked out a deal. Sptproductions is now in possession of the animatronics and is planning to restore them.

Watching the video directly provides further and more in-depth information on the show and how it was discovered. The video can be found here.

La Ronde
La Ronde is an amusement park within Canada. It is located within the city of Montreal in Quebec. It contains the site where the 1967 World's Fair was held. The site contained pavilions that were originally constructed for Expo 67 (the World’s Fair). When the Expo was finished, the land and its pavilions continued to be used as an exhibition referred to as Man and His World. It was here that a Wolf Pack 5 show was installed. Footage can be viewed here.

The stage the Wolf Pack 5 resided upon had a sign labeled, “Les CroQuenotes de La Rond.” It is possible that this was an alternate name the band was given by La Ronde. The show had a single stage. Wolfman was dressed in a golden tuxedo and wore a black bowtie. Fats Gorilla played a pink upright piano and wore a blue tuxedo. Dingo Star wore a pink turtleneck with a silver overshirt. His drum-set was still labeled, “Wolf Pack 5.” Beach Bear wore a primarily green tropical-floral patterned pair of shorts, and had a green lei around his neck. Queenie had her nails painted pink, and wore a dress with a white top and a pink bottom. The object she held is not identifiable due to the quality of the footage.

The Man and His World exhibit was eventually removed, and is no longer used as a venue to entertain guests. Thus, the fate of the show is unknown.

Kings Dominion
Kings Dominion is an amusement park within Doswell, Virginia, in the United States of America. According to a user in a forum thread, the Wolf Pack 5 show was allegedly located in a dining area within a venue called Livingston's at the park. The band was brought in to replace a film that was shown in the theater at Livingston's. Since this information is not confirmed by official sources, it is to be taken with a grain of salt. A clip of the Kings Dominion's band can be found on here.

This stage was tropical themed, with cutouts of palm trees sitting in the background. It was a one stage show. A cutout reading “Wolf Pack 5” sat in the background with the palm trees. Wolfman was dressed in a blue tuxedo and wore a black bowtie. Fats Gorilla wore a blue tuxedo, and his upright piano was brown with leaves and flowers draped over it. Dingo Star had a black turtleneck and a yellow overshirt. He also wore what looked to either be a yellow bowtie or string around his neck. His drumset was customized to read “Kings Dominion.” Beach Bear wore yellow tropical-floral patterned shorts and a lei. Queenie is difficult to see, but she wore a dress that looks to be white on the top and lavender on the bottom. It is unknown if she held something in one of her hands.

There is some confusion as to the fate of the band. They are stated to have been repurposed into a unique animatronic show for Livingston's. However, the new show had characteristics of a Rock-afire Explosion show, as it contained an animatronic that was a modified Looney Bird. A photo discovered shows a Wolfman animatronic and a Queenie animatronic that have been given new cosmetics. It is very well possible that the show used a mixture of Wolf Pack 5 animatronics and animatronics from a different animatronic band. According to a post within the aforementioned forum thread, the park received a Rock-afire Explosion show from a Showbiz Pizza Place that underwent concept unification. It is possible that this was the show that the Wolf Pack 5 was mixed with.

This new band had custom programming instead of using songs from Creative Engineering. One user in the forum thread recalls some of the songs as being:


 * “Magic To Do,” from Pippin. This was sung by a gorilla animatronic and a magic lamp.


 * “Octopus Song,” from Fanny. This was sung by a snake animatronic in a pot which had likely formerly been a Looney Bird.


 * “Shake, Rattle, and Roll,” by Big Joe Turner. This song was sung by animatronic skeletons on spikes that resided on the right side of the venue.


 * “King Tut,” by Steve Martin. This was sung by the wolf animatronic dressed as a pharaoh. This was likely Wolfman judging by the image.


 * “Midnight at the Oasis,” by Maria Muldaur. This was sung by the animatronic dressed as a queen. This was likely Queenie judging by the image.

The user states that there were other songs, but that they were unable to remember them. Since this is not coming from a verified source, this information is to be taken with a grain of salt.

According to another user further down in the thread, the animatronic show caught fire one night. Beach Bear’s face was melted, and since Mitzi was positioned close to him, she caught fire and was burnt as well. They were put away in the Kingswood Ampitheater’s basement. In 2001, they were thrown out into a graveyard for rollercoasters. The user is unsure about the whereabouts of the other animatronics.

Once more, since this is not a verified source, this information is to be taken with a grain of salt. It is also unknown if the user is mistaking Wolf Pack 5 members for the Rock-afire Explosion. They use the Rock-afire Explosion’s characters’ names instead of the Wolf Pack 5’s, leaving a great deal of confusion as to what actually happened to the Wolf Pack 5.

Italpark
Italpark was a theme park located within Buenos Aires, Argentina. A Wolf Pack 5 show was used in the park until its closure. At every half hour, the show would be started to entertain and delight guests. After the closure of Italpark, the show was sent to an amusement park called República De Los Niños in the city of Manuel B. Gonnet in La Plata, Argentina.

Video footage of the band performing at República De Los Niños can be found on YouTube here. The full video can be found here. Though originally believed to have been filmed at Italpark, the video was actually filmed at República De Los Niños. This is proven by the name "República De Los Niños" appearing on the bottom of the trailer.

This show had only one stage, and sat upon a wooden stage that read “Italpark” in red cursive lettering. The top of the stage had images of each character and their names, and the back of the stage had a sign that also read Italpark. Italpark had given the characters new names. Wolfman was named Wolf, and he wore a pink tuxedo with a black bowtie. Fats Gorilla was named Kingo Kongo, and he wore a plaid shirt. Dingo was named Bingo, and he wore a black turtleneck with a yellow overshirt. His drums had customized text on them. Beach Bear was named Max, and he wore red tropical-floral patterned shorts and a lei. Queenie was named Reina, and she wore a dress with a white top and a lavender bottom. After being moved to República De Los Niños, the Italpark name on the bottom of the show stage was changed to República De Los Niños. For some reason, the Italpark sign in the background was not removed.

The animatronics were in an odd condition. Their masks looked incorrectly furred, or as if the fur around them had been cut away. It is unknown if they arrived in this condition or were put into this condition by Italpark. By the time they were moved to República De Los Niños, they were in bad repair. The areas around the animatronics’ mouths had begun to crack and break apart.

According to a YouTube comment left on the YouTube video with footage of the band, the Wolf Pack 5 arrived in Buenos Aires in 1980. They further claim that the video was taken in 1984. However, as there are no references or citations, this information is to be taken with a grain of salt.

The final fate of the show is unknown. However, due to the Beto Carrero World Wolf Pack 5 having the same cosmetics, it is possible this show was eventually sold to Beto Carrero World.

Beto Carrero World
Beto Carrero World is a theme park located within Brazil, in a city called Santa Catarina. Little is known about the history of this particular show. They are confirmed to have been within the park in the year 1994. This showtape contains some custom dialogue at the beginning of the show. A video of the band performing can be found here.

The Beto Carrero World show rested on an elevated stage. It was a one stage show. The cosmetics on the animatronics show a striking resemblance to the Italpark’s show. The outfits are the same. Though the footage is grainy and blurry, Queenie’s mask shows a resemblance to the damaged/incorrectly made mask from the Italpark show. It is possible that República De Los Niños sold the show to Beto Carrero World after they received it from Italpark.

The final fate of this show is unknown.

Fame City
Fame City was a venue located within the Memorial City Mall in Houston, Texas, in the United States of America. They appear within a commercial for Fame City, which is viewable on YouTube here. Little of the stage is visible, but it seems to have had only one stage. The close up shot of Fats Gorilla is in poor quality, so the color of his outfit cannot be seen. Queenie’s outfit, however, is in clear detail. She wore a dress that was pink on top and white on the bottom. The fate of this show is unknown.

Pyramid Place
Pyramid Place was a venue housing various attractions in Niagara Falls, Canada. It opened in 1979, and closed in 1984 after a fire destroyed the venue. It is likely that the Wolf Pack 5 existed during the 1979 to 1984 period, as opposed to the later period of the venue when it was reopened in 1995 after having the fire damage repaired. Little is known about the show. The only confirmation of its existence are a black and white image of a Beach Bear walk-around and a Wolfman walk-around interacting with a child, a close up image of Dingo Star, an image of the band on stage posted on the Pyramid Place Facebook page, and a few other photos.

The website refers to the walk-arounds as the Pyramid Place mascots. The band had a unique name. They were referred to as the Good Times Jamboree, and were located within a room called the Good Times Game Room.

The existence of these walk-arounds and the reference to them being mascots suggests that the Wolf Pack 5 played an important role in the venue.

This stage appears to be a one-stage show, as Wolfman is located very close to the rest of the band. He wore a pink tuxedo and a black bowtie. Fats Gorilla wore a purple tuxedo, and notably played a white grand piano instead of an upright piano. Dingo Star wore a black turtleneck and a pink overshirt. It is impossible to see if his drumset was customized or not based on the available photo. He is also elevated on a platform. Beach Bear wore a red pair of shorts, whose pattern is impossible to identify due to the quality of the photo. He wore a lei with yellow flowers, and possibly flowers of other colors. Queenie wore a dress with a light pink top and a dark pink bottom. She held an object that is impossible to clearly identify.

The fate of this show is unknown, as it has neither been confirmed as being destroyed in the fire nor as being saved.

Spreepark
Spreepark was an amusement park in Berlin, Germany. The park became abandoned in 2001. A modified Wolf Pack 5 show performed there. They were located on a balcony within the park. Alongside new cosmetics, turning them into completely new characters, the band was also referred to by a different name. They were called the Crazy Critters Band. Some speculate that they were previously the traveling Europe show before being purchased by Spreepark. A video of them can be found on YouTube here.

The Wolf Pack 5 show disappeared from their usual place in the park once it closed down. The band's whereabouts are not confirmed at this time. A commenter on the video claimed to have reached out to the owners of the park. The owners allegedly stated that they had the animatronics, were storing them in a warehouse, and were unwilling to sell them, as they are planning to open the park again. As this information is not confirmed by official sources, take this information with a grain of salt.

The Traveling Europe Show
A Wolf Pack 5 show was sent to Europe to be used as a traveling show. Its whereabouts are unknown, though it is speculated to have been purchased by Spreepark to be modified into new characters.

The Japanese Theme Park Show
This show was sold to an unknown amusement park in Japan. There is little information on this show, beyond it being called Animal Band. This show was originally used as the Wolf Pack 5 show in the 1978 IAAPA Expo. Though some of the cosmetics have been changed, Fats Gorilla still wore a golden tuxedo like he does in the 1978 IAAPA Expo video, and Beach Bear is wearing the same pair of shorts. The band would resurface in 1981 at the Portopia '81 event in Japan, where they can be seen performing for attendees of the event.

This show rested upon an elevated stage. The animatronic characters, with the exception of Fats Gorilla, had their own platforms to stand on. The top of the stage read, “Animal Band.” Background text read, “アニマルバンド,” which translates to “Animal Band.” The bottom of the stage was blue, and the floor the band stood on is green. The curtains for the show were red. There was also a divider between the show and the seating area. Wolfman wore a blue tuxedo and a black bowtie. Fats Gorilla wore a gold tuxedo with a black bowtie. He played a brown upright piano. Dingo Star wore a black turtleneck and a white overshirt. Beach Bear wore a pair of yellow tropical-floral print shorts and a lei. Queenie did not wear a dress, but wore a black turtleneck, a pink overshirt, and a pair of black pants.

Their outfits differed during the 1981 Portopia event. Wolfman wore a checkered tuxedo and bowtie with a white dress shirt. Fats Gorilla continued to wear his golden tuxedo without change, though his piano was now painted black. Dingo Star's hair was now missing, and had been replaced with a pink hat. His drumset had also changed from its original appearance. Beach Bear's outfit appears to have not changed. Queenie was dressed in a long, flowing orange dress. The stage had changed little beyond minor cosmetic differences.

The final fate of the show is unknown.

Traveling United States Show
There was a Wolf Pack 5 show that was a trailer show. It traveled around the United States of America in order to perform in different places. Little is known about it. The only proof that it exists is an image of Wolfman. In this show, Wolfman wore a blue tuxedo with a black bowtie.

Kansas City, Showbiz Pizza Place
Due to the extreme similarities between this show and the 1979 IAAPA Expo show, it is extremely likely that these two shows are one and the same.

The Kansas City Wolf Pack 5 show was located within Kansas City, Missouri, United States. When the first Showbiz Pizza Place was opened on March 3rd, 1980, the Rock-afire Explosion had not finished development. Lacking an animatronic show for the venue, a Wolf Pack 5 show was installed instead, to be replaced when the Rock-afire Explosion finished development. Some modifications were made to the show. Queenie was modified to become a new character named Mini Mozzarella. This occurred because management wanted a mouse character to go with the pizza theme. The original showtape was divided up into 3 separate segments. 3 new segments were also recorded for this particular stage. An offstage announcer had dialogue recorded that introduced the Wolf Pack 5 to the audience, as well as closing off each segment when the show was finished. Footage of the show at this location can be viewed here.

A separate Wolfman animatronic existed in a different area of the restaurant. He resided in a disco-themed room, and had his own separate showtape. This showtape had had 10 different shows and skits to play for the audience. This showtape has not yet been uncovered, so it is considered lost media. However, the Wolfman animatronic Aaron Fechter brought out of his warehouse was marked as "Disco Tim," suggesting this animatronic may be related to the disco room.

The stage was split into two stages, with Wolfman at stage right, and the rest of the band at stage left. Wolfman wore a black tuxedo with a black bowtie. Fats Gorilla wore a golden tuxedo and played an upright piano with palm trees painted on it. Beach Bear wore a pair of purple and pink tropical-floral print shorts and had pink flowers on his lei. Dingo Star had a black turtleneck and a pink jacket. Mini Mozzarella wore a dress with a yellow top and a golden bottom.

Promotional material of the band excluded images of Beach Bear whilst including images of Billy Bob. This was due to the management at Topeka In suggesting that the Hard Luck Bears be combined with the Wolf Pack 5. Billy Wilbur would become a character named Billy Bob, and he was meant to replace Beach Bear. However, it was determined that it would be impossible to physically replace Beach Bear on the stage in the Wolf Pack 5 due to technical limitations. Beach Bear remained despite not appearing in promotional material. These technical limitations, as well as technical issues regarding the motors running the curtains, would be fixed with the creation of the Rock-afire Explosion where, ironically, Beach Bear would remain despite the previous attempts at replacing him. Billy Bob’s role at the Kansas City location was limited to a walk-around character.

The Wolf Pack 5 at this location was eventually put away into the Creative Engineering warehouse, where it sat for 35 years. On March 6th of 2015, Aaron Fechter retrieved them from storage. An amusement park called Funtown Mountain had requested to buy the show from Creative Engineering. Creative Engineering agreed to sell the show after performing maintenance and repairs on the animatronics. The second Wolfman was not retrieved from storage, so his location is still unknown.

Maintenance was performed on the Wolf Pack 5. Minni Mozzarella was reverted back to Queenie, with a new mask being made for her. Beach Bear and Wolfman received new latex masks. Dingo Star and Fats Gorilla did not receive new cosmetics by request of the buyer.

The Wolf Pack 5 had been expected to be installed at Funtown Mountain in June of 2015. The deal with Funtown Mountain ended up falling through when Funtown Mountain was unable to be reopened. The Wolf Pack 5 now remains with Creative Engineering.

= Showtapes = Some custom showtapes existed for the various parks the Wolf Pack 5 was sold to, but these have not been preserved or discovered as of the time of this writing.

= References =