Pedro (Guest Retrofit)

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Jungle Jim's Pedro

Pedro is a retrofit of Guest Star / Helen Henny (Cyberamic) at Jungle Jim's International Market in Cincinnati, Ohio. (5440 Dixie Hwy, Fairfield, OH 45014)

The animatronic can be seen in the "International" section of the grocery store, when he is turned on, he plays from a list of five songs. The songs Pedro is programmed to are Rancho Grande (Freddy Fender), Vaya Con Dios (Freddy Fender), La Bamba, Spanish Eyes (Julio Iglesias), and Agujetas de Color de Rosa (Los Hooligans).

History

Pedro originally came from the Cincinnati, OH (11400 Princeton Pike) Pizza Time Theatre and was bought by Jungle Jim's in the Fall of 1984. Before Pedro was Luigi (Pasqually Retrofit) who first debuted on September 11, 1995, in the "International" section of the store. Eventually, Luigi was replaced in January 2003 with Pedro. Pedro was installed in a stand in the East Europe section of "International Foods"[1] in the same spot as Luigi with minor adjustments done such as his stand now being labeled as "Pedro's Restaurante" which was made all out of wood with a small roof over the Cyberamic. Cosmetically speaking Pedro's mask reuses the wood frame from Luigi while applying new fabric and foam to make him a new character.[2] He originally wore a white sombrero. His outfit is a white shirt (black cuffs with Chili Peppers), a blue undershirt, and a black neckerchief with Chili Peppers on top.[3]

Since his original installation, Pedro has undergone minor cosmetic changes. In 2011 his original sombrero went missing[4] and by 2012 his sombrero was switched out for a red one.[5] From when Pedro was installed to 2021 Pedro's condition would get worse and worse over time. By 2010 only the head and body movements still worked[6], Then in 2011 his mouth was stuck open, and his body was also stuck during this time they pushed the head up to no longer be in the resting position of the Head Up movement. The only thing still working was the head.[7] By 2017 only the eye right still worked with the eyelid only opening at the very start and no longer working with the programming.[8] By 2018 Pedro stopped working completely then in 2019 Pedro was removed for a minor refurbishment what they did was fixed the issues preventing him from playing any shows for a brief moment before breaking again[9][10], then in terms of mechanical fixes all they did was fix the body and eyelid to work properly. During this refurbishment, they also changed the positioning of the arms having his right arm stuck out and the left arm would appear as if it's missing a cylinder[11]. Then in June 2021 when Pedro would be removed as part of a massive restoration that would take place from June 2021 - August 2022.[12]

During the 2021 restoration minor cosmetic changes would be made such as the neckerchief being correctly tied again after being just thrown on the bot. The sombrero would also be bent to fit more securely onto his head. Mechanically the entire bot was restored to the best condition it had been in over 12+ years. His mouth, body L + R, Eye L + R, and Blink were all fixed. The arms are also now properly secured and appear how they should be. The only movement that is not working is the Right Arm Up and Left Arm Twist although it is currently unknown if either of those ever worked with Pedro.[13] As of 2023 Pedro is nearing back to his 2010 condition with the only movements being mouth and body movements occasionally working. Despite the condition change the head up movement does work although since it is stuck up it only moves very subtly.

Lost Media & Unknown information.

In a 2006 video of Jungle Jim's, it shows Pedro with a mustache movement, in all footage from 2010-2023 Pedro's mustache does not work and does not appear to have ever worked but as seen in the footage Pedro clearly had one at some point. [14]

During the holiday season, Jungle Jim's has Pedro sing holiday songs. It is currently unknown as to when this started it is also unknown as to what songs Pedro sing other than "Dominick the Donkey (The Italian Christmas Donkey)" by Lou Monte[15]

Gallery

References