CEC Walkaround Training & Care
CEC Walkaround Training & Care is a employee training tape for Pizza Time Theatre released on October 12, 1988[1].
The tape goes over putting on the Chuck E. costume, cleaning the costume, making unique and imaginative gestures towards guests, and interacting with kids.
Summary
The tape starts with the title 'A Guide For Your Walk-Around Character', with the narrator emphasizing the importance of the performance while inside a Chuck E. Cheese costume. A segment of clips then show the current Chuck E. performer performing poorly, looking unamused, sad, and with no life. The narrator then says that they need some shaping up with 'Chuck-E-Size', which is an exercise routine to get ready for costume performance. First, the actor is shown putting on the then new Chuck E. costume, with an alternate Billy Bob costume in the back that select locations may have used.
Then the cleaning routine after using the suit is shown, suggesting to use Formula 409 or other similar cleaners for cleaning the non-furred parts such as the face, hat, and toes. Woolite type cleaners are recommended for any noticeable spots on the fur, requiring 15 minutes to wait after spraying to wipe off. Lysol disinfectant spray should be sprayed inside the head after each day of use. Brushing the fur each day is needed, with the narrator asking for Chuck to have a well groomed appearance. The hands, vest, and body can be machine-washed in cold water, and dried on the lowest setting in a dryer, with the vest instead needing to be air-dried.
Next, the Chuck-E-Size portion of the tape begins, with Chuck portrayed as embarrassed being in an aerobics outfit for the demonstration. The narrator suggests generic, non-specific stretching exercises, focusing especially on the neck due to the weight of the costume head. Then he goes into exercises of entertaining guests, first with greeting a child. He exemplifies large exaggerative movements, starting from a large distance away, allowing a short performance before any physical contact is made. Adding that imaginative introductions will help, such as miming the thought of an invisible door blocking Chuck from the child, that he must physically open and shut in a convincing way. Having very clear objects and concepts directed to the audience through Chuck's gestures and body language are key. A brief hint to the 'Time Out' gesture for costume performers overwhelmed or in a medical emergency is shown, which is common for other employees to spot and aid with in any place that uses a costume performer, alongside signaling to guests to stop interacting with Chuck E.
An in-store demonstration of the Chuck E. costume performance is shown, providing actual examples of how kids of all ages interact with them. Next is Chuck's performance at a birthday party, in which the guests came to trust him enough as to allow him to feed them their birthday cake. An example of shying kids away from damaging the costume is seen, by having Chuck pretend to cry when children would pull on his tail.
Lastly, the ending shows a brief example of the costumed Chuck performing Chuck E Cheese Live, with most notably the actual Chuck E. Cheese animatronic missing from the stage.
Production
Filming of the location was at two different places. The costume wearing, cleaning, and Chuck-E-Size segments are filmed at CEC Corporate, in front of their Rock-afire Explosion stage. The store segments were filmed at the White Settlement Pizza Time Theatre location (White Settlement, TX (7750 Scott St)). The store segments are all filmed during store hours, even showing a full birthday party in one of the sections. In the intro section, with Chuck being in a slouch, customers are even participating with the film, pretending to leave after seeing Chuck do a poor job being a lively mascot. At the end, it can be seen that the store techs removed the Chuck E. Cheese animatronic off the front stage, assumedly near or after closing hours.
The actor who cleans and puts on the Chuck costume was Jul Kamen, former Director of Entertainment at CEC Corporate, whom designed the Chuck costume itself. The narrator of the tape is currently unknown.