The Diminishing Thrill of a Childhood Icon
A childhood in America isn't complete without a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's, right?
Recently, I went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.
The birthday kid in question was my nephew Nicholas1. He was turning six, and his parents decided that a birthday party at one of the few places “where a kid can be a kid” was the most appropriate. Tucked behind a busy freeway intersection was one of two remaining Chuck E. Cheese’s in the Portland metro area, its bright red lettering featuring the mouse2 with its wide, sinister smile welcomed us into the restaurant.
Two things immediately stood out to me.
This location did not have an ADA accessible door (Later, I made this comment to my kids, and my son said, “Because they’ve been around for over 40 years, duh!” like its longevity somehow excused the restaurant chain from installing accessible doors for everyone) BUT
It did have a very large parking lot. Thus, finding a spot on a busy Saturday was a breeze.
Once we passed through the front door, we were given a stamp (only visible under a certain type of light) and immediately, we were hit by the thunderous roar of almost 100 children confined in a single room no bigger than an Applebee’s. Every child was playing video games to their heart’s content. Beeps, roars, clinks, squeals, cries, and every imaginable noise erupted from the arcade area.
This birthday party, like many birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese’s, included a party host, pizza, and game cards for all the children. And then, at some point during the party, Chuck E. Cheese himself appeared and together with the party hosts, sang the “Happy Birthday” song, which, according to People magazine, he loved to sing to others but never to himself.
Chuck E. Cheese began in the late 70s as a “groundbreaking concept3” where the idea is to combine food, games, and fun in one package, like a “a small scale Disney World with arcade games.” It’s a perfect place for parents of school-aged children to bring their kids to on the weekends, or really, any day when they need a break. A place where kids can scream as much as they want, because they’re either having a birthday party, or they’re winning at some game.
Naturally, my kids loved it. Along with their two cousins, my son and daughter made their way through each game, scanning their unlimited game cards with excitement.
I can understand the allure. After all, where else in town are you allowed to be a kid, to run around and play games for hours without your parents yelling at you or giving you time limits? For about $300, you get to experience several hours of safe, indoor fun. People show up and shower you with presents, a cute character sings you a song, you get pizza and ice cream, and everyone is generally happy. Like McDonalds’ PlayPlaces, Chuck E. Cheese’s has become the epitome of a typical American childhood.
It’s not the kind of childhood that I grew up with but it certainly is common.
Chuck E. Cheese’s is a place where half a million birthday parties are celebrated every year. But for all the happiness that Chuck brings to children, his backstory has a somewhat somber tone.
According to this marketing pamphlet, released in 2014 by CEC Entertainment Concepts, L.P., the guys who own Chuck E. Cheese’s, Chuck was an orphaned mouse who lived in an unknown town and who had no idea when his birthday was. But he loved to sing the Happy Birthday song to others and “with so many kids at the orphanage, there was a birthday party almost every week.”
I find this hard to believe, given that traditionally, orphanages are places where children stay to await being adopted because they don’t have any parents or family members who are willing to take care of them. It’s where, like in Annie, one stays behind a curtain of non-prosperity, where dour-faced gremlins called orphanage directors run the place with miniscule resources, and where it’s highly unlikely that given said lack of resources, there would be birthday parties every week.
But it sure makes for a good story. And we all love a good story, especially one where Chuck the mouse, like Remy in Ratatouille, runs away4 to a a big city and is “discovered” by a restaurant owner, who then gives them the opportunity to shine—in this case, to sing—in front of a crowd, and where Chuck is friendly to all (he does not miss the parents he never knew) and where he never wonders why he doesn’t know his own birthday or why he sacrificies his happiness for the sake of others.
It’s the kind of rags-to-riches journey that many of us love. It’s what attracted me to Annie and David Copperfield when I was a middle schooler, and why I still love Annie and David to this day. For everything that Chuck has gone through, what he’s never failed at is making other kids happy. Like Annie, Chuck is resilient, strong, and resourceful, the hero of his own story.
And yet, Chuck E. Cheese as a triple concept restaurant is diminishing. Since its inception, it’s gone through a lot, from introducing what Weird History Food calls an ‘unsettlingly cheerful animatronic animal’ in 1980 to being revitalized in 1994 to saying goodbye to the ball pits in 2011. Founded by Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder of Atari, Chuck E. Cheese now serves mainly suburban moms and dads in locations easily accessible by freeways. You can get to a Chuck E. Cheese via a bus at the Beaverton, Oregon location (where we went) but you’d have to walk a block around the corner to even get to the front door.
These days, you’ll find greasy, anemic slices of pizza next to overpriced buffalo wings and slices of confetti birthday cake on its menu. As for the games…well, after the video game industry crash of 1983, arcade games lost its luster, sending the company toward bankruptcy in March 1984 and again in June 2020. And like a slap to the corporate face, Chuck E. Cheese was bought out by its own competitor, Showbiz Pizza.
Fueled by the money and support from Showbiz, which later transformed into CEC Entertainment (the same guys who, ahem, published the pamphlet above), Chuck E. Cheese was reborn and came back strong in the early 2000s when nostalgia ruled and people wanted another chance to experience their childhood. Then the pandemic happened, and more restaurants closed.
Perhaps Chuck E. Cheese’s slow downfall is an example of a cautionary tale against speedy expansion—that without a solid long term strategy, one cannot survive in the hyper competitive, low profit margin restaurant industry. One thing is for certain, though. If you have one of these child’s birthday cups, you can have free drinks for life.
What THING (food-related) dominated your childhood? Was it Chuck E. Cheese or something else? I’d love to hear about it!
Name changed to protect his privacy.
Or is it a rat? I honestly couldn’t tell. Business Insider seems to think it is.
Their words, not mine.
The pamphlet did not state why he ran away, only that he won $50 at games (another unlikely event, for how does people even have that kind of money in an orphanage?) and he used that money to buy a bus ticket to New York. I can only assume that Chuck was tired of being an orphan and he wanted to create a better life for himself.
In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when our kid was small, Chuck E. Cheese was a favorite birthday venue for him and his pals. All I can remember is the pounding music, forgettable pizza, screaming kids and my own desire to run as far and fast as I could away from the mayhem. Sounds like not much has changed, but I didn’t know anything of the company’s history, so thanks for filling in some blanks! 🍕 🍕 🍕