Mr. Munch
Mr. Munch's 2012 "Rockstar" redesign. Currently being used as of February 2024.
Mr. Munch is a character from Chuck E. Cheese's Family Entertainment Centers. He is a Keyboard playing, purple, pizza loving, alien from Planet Purple. He plays in Munch's Make Believe Band alongside his friends.
Munch first debuted at the second Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater in San Jose, California on Kooser Rd., replacing the former character Crusty the Cat..
History
Origins
Mr. Munch was first thought up by Michael M. Hatcher, director of entertainment for Pizza Time Theater, wanted the "Pizza Time Players" (The Pizza Time Theater Cast) needed a monster character [source needed]. The team decided to cut an already existing character, and due to multiple reasons such as low audience reputation, Crusty the Cat was replaced for Mr. Munch. Early sketches were created by Debbie Barton, oddly containing version with different color combinations. The final color scheme became, Pink Eyelids, Yellow Hair/Belly/Nose Fur, Purple Main fur, Sharp teeth, & Large lack Eyes.
Pizza Time Theater
Pre-Merger
Mr. Munch officially debuted to the public along with the opening of the second Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater in San Jose California on Kooser Rd on December 2nd 1978. Munch was described as "This purple pizza eater loves to pilfer and purloin from Pasqually's kitchen. He sings, laughs and scares people"[1]. A Portrait-Style Animatronic was created for the restaurant. The animatronic contained the ability to look left & right, Move his mouth, Put his arm out, & open the door(s).
Mr. Munch's personality was focused on his love of pizza in early showtapes to the point that he would mention it in every song. He generally didn't play much of a role aside from being another comic-relief character and he wouldn't really interact with the other members aside from the guest stars & Chuck himself. Not much changed during the pre-merger era.
Mr. Munch was voiced by Scott Wilson (Later voice of Chuck).
Post-Merger
After Showbiz Pizza Place bought the rights to the Chuck E. Cheese's IP, Mr. Munch was changed heavily alongside the rest of the cast. Munch would become a pizza loving, kind & well meaning, singer. Again, he didn't change much during the Post-Merger Era.
Munch's Make Believe Band
Concept Unification
During the Late 80's to early 90's, after a fallout with RAE owner Aaron Fechter, all Showbiz Pizza Places would be rebranded to Chuck E. Cheese's Pizzas in a remodel called "Concept Unification". In this stage, all Fatz Geronimo animatronics would be retrofitted into Mr. Munch Animatronics. This would drastically change the way Munch would be used in showtapes as he was now the lead pianist & lead band member of the newly rebranded "Munch's Make Believe Band & Chuck E. Cheese". Mr. Munch's actor would be changed to Duncan Brannan. Munch would become more of a pizza loving, piano playing, kind guy instead of his dim witted original personality. He would be given a red, blue, orange, & yellow keyboard. He also has a green & white hat. His eyes would become green.
A later version of the Cyberamic bots would be created for the Road Stage with Keyboard mechanics.
Avenger Era
As the 2000's rolled around, Corporate Showbiz Pizza Time would decide to rebrand the characters, which included Munch, changing them to new "Avenger" designs. Munch's personality would not change though. Munch's hat was removed during this time. Munch also gained a shirt. Munch's voice actor became John Bowen.
Rockstar Era
During 2012, CEC corporate was trying to get money back, one of the planned initiatives for this was the changing of the Avenger designs to the new "Rockstar" designs. Oddly, Munch wouldn't change much during this era, he did get a new actor in 2014, which was Chris Hill. Munch was given a new Orange & Purple "M" Shirt. He was also changed to be from a fictional planet known as "Planet Purple"
Later Rockstar Era
Mr. Munch has slowly became a DJ esc character using his stage name "DJ Munch". He also has been less focused on pizza in newer showtapes, though he does still enjoy it a lot.
Mr. Munch in other CEC Media
Rat Tales
Mr. Munch would appear in the official Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater comic "Rat Tales" in 1979. He is from a mysterious Pizza planet & speaks an unknown language. He helps Chuck & Jasper stop the arcade machine from taking over the Chuck E. Cheese's.
Chuck E. Cheese In The Galaxy 5000
Mr. Munch would appear in the official CEC movie "Chuck E. Cheese In The Galaxy 5000". He would use his Avenger era personality & Design. He would help Chuck E. & the gang beat the "X-Pilots" in the Race to get the money to help Charlie Rockit. he was voiced by Chris Sabat.
Animatronics
| Types | Years Produced | Notes | Whereabouts/Status | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kooser Mr. Munch (Animatronic) | 1978 | Little Information known about. used at the Kooser location from Dec. 1978 to 1980. | Destroyed or Trashed. Unknown | |
| Mr. Munch (Cyberamic) | 1979-2000's? or 1990's? | 2 Variants. Keyboard Version & PTT Version. | Keyboard versions are still at several CEC locations. PTT versions owned by several collectors. |  -Keyboard Version
|
| Fatz Geronimo (Animatronic) | 1980-1988. | Retrofitted. Latex Masks where eventually replaced with Plastic Masks.
Made By Creative Engineering. |
3 remaining public appearances. Several Private & Public non CU animatronics. a Animatronic at the CEC HQ. | .jpg)
|
| Sun (Animatronic), Moon (Animatronic), Choo Choo (Animatronic), Looney Bird (Animatronic) | 1980-1988 | Retrofitted. Scrapped. | Concept Unification Prototype Stage | No Image Avaliable. |