The Beagles / Beach Bowzers (Lounge)
The Beagles
The Beagles are an animatronic lounge act based off the The Beatles created for use in Pizza Time Theatre restaurants. There four members of this band shared names with the actual Beatles. George was the dog standing on the floor, Paul was the guitarist standing on a block, Ringo was the drummer, and John was the dog with the microphone. Ringo was often referred to as 'The Smart Beagle' in showtapes.
The Beach Bowzers is an optional retrofit / Installation based on The Beach Boys that Pizza Time Theatre locations received. There were 4 members of this band, none of which have official names. However, the one with the microphone refers to himself as 'Woodie Bowser' in the Beach Bowzers 91 showtape, which could possibly be based on The Beach Boys song "Boogie Woodie".
History
The Beagles began development in June of 1980 and later debuted at the Arlington, TX Pizza Time Theatre in October of that year with prototype figures. The act would be finalized by 1981 and would begin to be mass-produced for PTT locations. Shortly after, in 1982, Pizza Time Theatre announced The Beach Bowzers as a retrofit and installation package for PTT locations.
Pizza Time Theatre would cease all Cyberamic production in 1983 due to most of its locations doing poorly to bring in enough profits. As a result of SPP purchasing and merging with PTT, locations began to unify units by remodeling existing locations in 1986. This would cause Lounge / Cabaret acts to be relocated closer to the main showroom.
The fact that The Beach Bowzers got a new showtape in 1991 suggests they were used in a fair amount of locations still at this point but were officially retired before 1996 when every remaining set of the Beagles / Beach Bowzers in any Showbiz location would be removed as a result of a remodel. Some locations also opted to replace the act with a large monitor, later dubbed the Video Velocitier. This was a monitor that relayed the current showtape, however, these would also go extinct in 2008. As of the present day, the only accessible places to visit the Beagles are the Volo Auto Museum and Smitty's Super Service Station.
Internals
Mechanically they are similar to the Warblettes, as they use the same mechanism to allow the characters to sway from side to side. Some of them are adjusted to allow the head to turn. The arms are tubes that connect to their instruments and will wobble as they move to give an illusion of movement. The mechs for The Beagles would be later re-used for The Four Little Shavers albeit with some adjustments made.
| George | Paul | Ringo | John / Woodie |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mouth | Mouth | Mouth | Mouth |
| Body Sway | Body Sway | Body Sway | Body Sway |
| Head Right | Guitar Strum | Right Hand | Head Right |
| Head Left | Left Hand | Head Left | |
| Bass Strum | Foot Tap |
Cosmetic Design
Prototype Characters
George and Ringo originally had brown fur, much lighter than the finalized characters, Paul had black and white fur while John had gray shaggy fur. These prototype figures had details that haven't made it into the final product, being the detailed jumpsuits, the lack of shoes on any of the characters, or Ringo's glasses.
Finalized Beagles
The finalized Beagle animatronics had a red, white, and black uniform with black pointed shoes with the accompaniment of short black hair. Paul, John, and George have brown and gray snouts with Ringo now being fully white.
The Beach Bowzers
The Beach Bowzers originally reused the same heads and arms as The Beagles just with the addition of blonde hair, sunglasses, and new clothing. During mass production they switched from having all of the dogs look different to having them look identical just with the addition of having various different outfits, having various different patterns to be used for shirts and pants. The exact standard were likely Hawaiian shirts, necklaces, white pants, and shoes, as seen in the 1982 promotional photo. There is a noticeable shift in quality from the Beagles and Beach Bowzers which may be the result of PTT's loss in profits and the cause of these inconsistencies.
Gallery
The Beagles
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The Beagles wearing white shirts and caps instead of the usual red.
Beach Bowzers
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The Beach Bowzers in the 1982 promotional document
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The Beach Bowzers locations received
