For readers of this blog who grew up in the Midwest, when I say the words "ShowBiz Pizza," the first thing that comes to your mind is probably the image of a large and horrifying robotic gorilla wearing a yellow sequined jacket while banging on a keyboard.
For readers who did not have the pleasure of growing up with trips to ShowBiz Pizza, you're probably already feeling left out.
ShowBiz Pizza was a 1980s birthday party destination for many a lucky child. It had very cheesy pizza, a ball pit, lots of arcade games (Skee-Ball!) and non-stop performances by the animatronic Rock-A-Fire Explosion band. Fats, the aforementioned oversized ape, led the band in a variety of songs over the course of your meal, along with Billy Bob the Bear and several other characters that I sadly somehow still remember the names of. I guess it made a big impression on me, both because of the terror it inspired and the fact that it was the 1980s and this was the most impressive--albeit scary--form of live entertainment that I had ever witnessed.
Fortunately for me, I grew up and moved past it. Some people have not.
Today I came across this post, which informed me of an upcoming documentary devoted to the subject of ShowBiz Pizza and the all-growed-up children who collect and rebuild the animatronics from the Rock-A-Fire Explosion bands. I first read about this phenomenon almost a year ago, but never took the time to blog about it. Here's the movie trailer, which will give you a better idea of what we're dealing with.
I'm all for nostalgic trips down memory lane, but is this really worth all the money and effort? Then again, maybe it is:
1 comment:
I LOVED ShowBiz Pizza! The ball pits, the helicopter ride, the crocodile bonking game, even the singing animals.
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