Birthday Star '92 was a birthday show produced exclusively for Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza restaurants in March 1992.
Release
Released to stores alongside
Physical Fitness, this is the first edition of Birthday Star, the long running original birthday song performed at Chuck E. Cheese's restaurants for over two decades. It was the successor to the Birthday Extravaganza show initially released in 1989, which by extension also makes Birthday Star '92 the first birthday show designed with Munch's Make Believe Band in mind.
Originally released as a hidden birthday track on the same videocassette as its debut showtape and all subsequent showtapes, it was re-released on September 22nd, 1992, on a separate VHS tape much like other live shows of the time. Peculiarly, Birthday Star '92 is an audio-only show and has no Cyberstar footage as it was intended to play during intermissions over top of the show countdown.
Like all birthday shows that came before it, Birthday Star was not produced with the intention of being a live show. All of the animatronic characters including Chuck E. Cheese were programmed to perform the song to birthday parties at the press of a button. As was standard practice since the brand's inception, however, the Chuck E. Cheese walk-around character was present in the showroom and stores found that the show lent itself well to live performances on account of it being a straightforward three-minute song with no character dialogue or skits.
As such, it was later reissued in 1993 without Chuck E.'s animatronic, light and curtain signals. The show was succeeded by
Birthday Star '95 in January 1995, however it remained valid until December 2000. This allowed the show to be performed by several locations well into the end of the 90s.
Summary
Birthday Star '92 is an upbeat and eclectic big band/swing number similar in style and tone to the other original songs written between 1991 and 1992. The show opens with the band shouting 'Happy birthday' as they play their instruments and Chuck E. Cheese comes out and encourages the audience to get on their feet and clap their hands. Pasqually interjects 'It's time for cake!', with Mr. Munch following with 'And it's time to celebrate a birthday Chuck E. Cheese style!'
From there, Chuck E. leads the audience in the first of an iconic call-and-response that would be reused in almost every birthday show to follow: 'I say happy, you say birthday! Happy! (birthday) Happy! (birthday) Now clap your hands, (clap, clap, clap) and stomp your feet! (Stomp stomp stomp) The band proceeds to sing the song's chorus followed by a repeat of the Happy Birthday chant. Helen and Jasper share a harmonized duet as they sing the bridge as Chuck E. leads into a reprise of the Happy Birthday chant. After that, Chuck E. quips 'Alright everybody, you all know this part. Sing along!' and Chuck E. Cheese, the band and the audience in the showroom sing the traditional 'Happy Birthday' song to a powerful trumpet-blasting instrumental.
Once the song is sung the band shouts 'Now get ready to blow out your candles!' The music begins to build up to a climax as the candles are lit and the birthday stars blow them out to a thunderous applause from the band and the rest of their parties as the music decrescendos. The band performs a reprise of the chorus joined now by the Chuck E. Kids, followed by another this time in a higher key. One last time, Chuck E leads the showroom in the Happy Birthday chant. The number ends with Chuck E. shouting 'This is Chuck E. Cheese wishing you the very best!' and joins the band and the Chuck E. Kids singing 'Happy Birthday to You!' With a few trumpet blasts, the song comes to an end and the curtains close to the sound of a thunderous applause.
Showtape Releases
Birthday Star was released in March 1992 alongside
Physical Fitness. It was produced exclusively on Cyberstar SVHS tapes for the three supported stage types in stores at the time: 3-Stage, C & R (C-Stage and Rocker Stage) and R-1-2 (Road Stage, 1-Stage and 2-Stage). It would be officially succeeded by
Birthday Star '95: an updated version of the song produced by Disney-MGM Studios who filmed and recorded all of the new showtapes for Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza between April 1994 and April 1996. In spite of this, Birthday Star '92, like many other legacy live shows, remained valid until December 2000, just before the release of Birthday Star 2001. It is unknown why the show remained valid for so long, however it could be speculated that the entertainment department never formally invalidated the show upon the release of its successors.
| Release Year |
Showtape |
Format |
| 1992 |
Physical Fitness - Let the Good Times Roll |
3-Stage Pre-93, C&R Pre-93, R12 Pre-93, 3-Stage Post-93, C&R Post-93, R12 Post 93 |
| 1992 |
VHS Tape - September 1992 - September 1993 |
3-Stage Pre-93, C&R Pre-93, R12 Pre-93, 3-Stage Post-93, C&R Post-93, R12 Post 93 |
| 1993 |
VHS Tape w/o Chuck E. signals - September 1993 - December 2000 |
3-Stage Post-93, C&R Post-93, R12 Post-93 |
