So for those of you who don't know, The Rock-afire Explosion was the house band at Showbiz Pizza Place, a children's arcade and restaurant in the 80's. You might know it by a different name, Chuck E. Cheese, as they later bought out Showbiz and replaced the band. Oh and the band is animatronic.
A few years ago a die hard Rock-afire fan posted some videos of his official band programmed to play new songs. They're awesome:
So as far as I can tell, these videos inspired a few enterprising filmmakers to get to the root of the Rock-afire obsession. The film follows two main characters: Chris Thrash, a skating rink dj in a small town who loved RE so much he bought his own band (and made the famed youtube videos), Aaron Fechter- inventor of the RE and the stimulus for the recent revival of all-things animatronic, (and a dead ringer for Fred Willard in 'A Might Wind'):
What I learned: I had no idea people loved robotic animals so much.
What I liked: I fell in love with the characters. Everyone we meet is adorable, good natured, and comically obsessed with a fictional animal band. These are guys (mainly men) who as children became so enamored with the band they've spent their whole lives tracking down old props from the show, dressing up as characters for reenactments, and even getting tattoos of the characters.
Chris is my favorite character by far. He's this amazing, lovable uber-nerd with a southern accent who has based his entire life on the work of RE. He's converted his garage into a mini-showroom where his private band can be turned on and played any time he wants. My favorite scene is when he and his wife describe how they met and fell in love. Movies spend thousands of dollars and 2 1/2 hours of our lives telling us epic, sweeping stories that are supposed to represent true love, but they don't come close to two people meeting in a skating rink.
What I didn't like: I guess, if I had to pick, it'd be the short section in the middle that tried to impose a sense of 'problem' into the story. I was thrilled that the film wasn't going down the traditional path of trying to pit heroes versus villains or the underdog against the ruthless corporation; it was just a tale about people loving what they love. But they decided to tell us about how the company was going under, and had to lay off some workers, and was eventually bought out of the franchise. It wasn't a long section, and the good vibes soon returned in full force.
So if you're looking for a feel good doc that's silly and cute, this is the one for you. It's on Netflix.
Hit it Fats!
Bonus trivia: did you know Chuck E. Cheese's was invented by an arcade game salesman? Atari founder Nolan Bushnell wanted a reason for kids to stay in his arcades longer, so he added pizza, playpens, and entertainment; the longer the kids are there, the more money they spend on video games!
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