Elvis (The King Retrofit)

Jungle Jim's Elvis in August 2019 right after refurb.

Elvis is a retrofit of The King King Kat (Lounge) at Jungle Jim's International Market in Cincinnati, Ohio. (5440 Dixie Hwy, Fairfield, OH 45014) The bot can be seen in the 'Candy' section of the grocery store, when he is turned on he plays from a list of five Elvis Presley songs. The songs Elvis is programmed to is Jailhouse Rock, Hound Dog, Viva Las Vegas, All Shook Up, and Blue Suede Shoes.

History

Elvis originally came from the Cincinnati, OH (11400 Princeton Pike) Pizza Time Theatre and was bought by Jungle Jim's in Fall 1984.⁽¹⁾ Elvis was first installed in 1988⁽²⁾ being originally located next to frozen foods (now checkout lanes).⁽³⁾ His stage was diagonal with the backdrop being of red, silver & blue streamers and on the floor were moonshine jugs and rocks from the Rock-afire Explosion. Cosmetically Elvis had not been changed yet from when he was installed at PTT.⁽⁴⁾ In 1998 the stage and cosmetics had a complete redesign⁽⁵⁾. The backdrop was changed to a print of a beach with palm trees covering it, and a Elvis neon sign was installed. The Moonshine jugs were moved to the cigar section of the store and the rocks were destroyed. Elvis's outfit was changed from the original silver and white outfit to a blue and leopard print outfit. His guitar was then repainted from the original red design to a gold paint with black trim. In 2000 with the expansion of checkout, Elvis was relocated right in front of checkout which today is where 'EXOTIC MEATS' is located.⁽⁶⁾ The stage design stayed the same with the only noticeable different was a white strip above the backdrop.⁽⁷⁾ The stage was then relocated again in 2005, to the candy section of the store where he still resides⁽⁸⁾. Since 2005 Elvis has gone through two major modifications. In 2010 Elvis had his insides cylinders replaced with servos this can be seen between July & September 2010⁽⁹⁾⁽¹⁰⁾ and from October 2010⁽¹¹⁾ & June 2011⁽¹²⁾ Elvis was taken out of Jungle Jim's and had restoration done to his cosmetics. Once reinstalled Elvis was much slower and would remain this way until In early 2019 when Elvis was turned off. During Spring & Summer 2019, Elvis was shipped off to Life Formations to be restored. During that time signage was installed that stated 'Elvis has left the building⁽¹³⁾⁽¹⁴⁾, But The King will return'. On August 2nd, 2019 'The King' with improvements done to the cosmetics and movements.⁽¹⁵⁾ The movements that were working on August 2nd, 2019 were Mouth, Eye Left, Eye Right, Blink, Head Left, Head Right, Head Up, Strum Hand and Right Leg. A total of 8 movements out of 13 movements. The cosmetics were cleaned up and properly fitted onto the bot first the first time since 2010/11. In November 2022 the 'Elvis is on a timer' sign was replaced with the only difference being the font used.

Lost Media & Unknown information.

Old videos / news articles show that there are lost songs programmed to Elvis. The currently known to be lost songs are 'Love Me'⁽¹²⁾, 'It's Now or Never' ⁽¹⁷⁾, 'Love Me Tender'⁽¹⁸⁾ and 'Don't Be Cruel'.⁽¹⁹⁾ 'Love Me' and 'It's Now or Never' were last seen in the early 2010s. The only evidence of 'Don't Be Cruel' is from a June 1998 article⁽¹⁹⁾ while 'Love Me Tender' is sourced from an April 2002 article⁽¹⁸⁾. It is currently unknown why / when they were removed. Intros and outro used to be played before / after each song. The only ones found is the intro before Hound Dog and the outro to 'It's Now or Never'⁽²²⁾ this means there are at least 5 lost intros and 5 lost outros. It is unknown when the intros were added and they were removed in late 2011 or 2012. In a 1995 News article it is mentioned various parody names for songs such as 'Viva Las Bagels' and 'Whole lotta' Bakin''. It is currently unknown if these were actual parody's sung or just used for marketing. ⁽⁵⁾ During the holiday season, Jungle Jim's dresses Elvis up as Santa and has him sing holiday Elvis songs. The Santa Elvis first became a thing by at least December 2005.⁽²⁴⁾ It is currently unknown every song he sang was. Some of the songs known are 'Here Comes Santa Claus', 'Santa Bring My Baby Back', 'Blue Christmas' and 'Santa Claus Is Back In Town' at least one more song is lost.

References

Jungle Jim's Elvis in August 2019 right after refurb.