Future of CEC/RAE Fandom?

[MechaCory]

I was just curious what you guys think is the future of CEC/RAE fandom?

Everyone on here has their preferences...for some it's mostly a passion for Pizza Time Theater era characters, for others it's both PTT era to modern era Chuck E Cheese(past and present equally) For others, it's strictly Rockafire Explosion, or predominantly RAE.

However, there does seem to be a stark realization...and that is for the most part, we seem to be part of a fandom that's mostly nostalgic. PTT is not only long gone, but even the company of CEC doesn't even celebrate nor acknowledge that side. Unlike most children's character franchises, there has not been one single new character introduced since Concept Unification...and probably won't ever be new characters. In fact, we may sadly see in time "the main five" nix out Pasqually alltogether, or focus heavily on a Chuck centered Studio C setup.

The problem is, as Disney celebrates their past...as does WB with Looney Tunes, and so on and so forth...we have the CEC company which has no love for PTT or RAE/SB, nor seemingly to have any plans to expand the merchandising capabilities of their characters.
No Hot Topic retro shirts, no figures, no dvd releases, or anything. Just maintaining the stores and building more restaurants. There seems to be very little to no room for fan service or merchandising potential with CEC Ent.

With respect to Rockafire Explosion/Showbiz, there is no doubt that between the Rockafire documentary film fest tour/dvd, talk show/blog hype, and MGMT MTV "Electric Feel" video in heavy rotation this has been the biggest year for Rockafire Explosion in two decades. Yet, is there much of a future with the RAE brand beyond this?

CEC as a store franchise, short of some crazy unforseen circumstance, most likely be here for our children's children given the strength of the company and its 550 approx restaurants. So for the long term future, there will appeals be CEC...the question *is*...will there be anything to celebrate or be excited about from a fan standpoint?

Part of the fun of CEC/RAE fandom is the sheer underground feel of it. To look beyond a "place where parents take whiny kids for a couple hours"
and see the rich history. However, every fandom surrounding a franchise with characters needs a boost of innovation and something on the horizon...not merely existing as pure retro nostalgia.

As the huge Disney D23 convention last weekend stunned everyone by announcing a massive comeback from the once thought to be dead Muppet brand...as a Three Stooges movie and Ghostbusters 3 are now in pre production, and as many other once thought long gone fan brands now have new life breathed into them...

As CEC/RAE fans, do we have things on the horizon to be excited about...or, can we sustain our passion and enthusiasm simply on the
fumes of nostalgia? This was a debate within the Muppet fan community Ive been a part of, as before the big D23 convention announcement many wondered if the fandom was mostly celebrating old work.

Perhaps, it is a testament to hard work, that most the developments relating to CEC/RAE fandom is ...well fan generated. (the RAE documentary, this website Travis and others have tirelessly poured into, Cheesevention,
Looney Bird, fan art, etc)

[Mr Munch88]

I think that the CEC/RAE fans will always be "underground" and I dont see an uprising of us in the future. This is not to say that we wont be heard...we are gathering new fans all the time. The word does spread about this site and the conventions/get togethers we do. I know that Jenn, Cheryl , and I LOVE making the "Letters" dvd's, Travis will always be at the helm of this site, and hopefully Smitty's and SPZ will always be gathering new fans. So fear not... we will be here, but I just dont think we will be main stream!

[VegaNova]

Neat topic - I was actually just discussing "D23" with some senior members earlier today. To me, from the standpoint of one independant fandom founder, the whole concept of D23 is something else entirely. The notion of Disney creating an "official fan community" is equally as neat as it is scary. I think Disney realized that the fandoms do have a certain amount of sway and interest (as Jenn told me earlier today Disney actually recognized some of these unnofficial communities when she took an official Disney survey after booking this current vacation), and D23 is their way of not only getting into the game but possibly stomping it out.

From a Disney standpoint it's ingenious. They get to control a piece of the Internet fandom which is basically beyond their direct influence. Besides that, they can advertise this new fandom club at the parks and their insane marketing network can reach not only die-hards, but also casual enthusiasts. Plus (because Disney cares about past present and future) they can pull off these comicon-style events and actually offer the new community something viable that other independant communities could never dream of doing.

And maybe it's not a big deal since they care enough to offer up this stuff to fans and at the end of the day, it's the fans that win. Or maybe this is just another step in a company controlling everything that surrounds it, leaving fans with less choice and ultimately a crappier product. Time will tell on this one.

Moral of the story, sometimes it might be good things happen as they do... SPP folds - fans are able to own shows. CEC is focused on the present - we have a reason to exist here at SP.com. So I don't know, i think we can be ok even without earth shattering news from CEC or CEI. Everything becomes the past at some point ;)

[MechaCory]

Neat topic - I was actually just discussing "D23" with some senior members earlier today. To me, from the standpoint of one independant fandom founder, the whole concept of D23 is something else entirely. The notion of Disney creating an "official fan community" is equally as neat as it is scary. I think Disney realized that the fandoms do have a certain amount of sway and interest (as Jenn told me earlier today Disney actually recognized some of these unnofficial communities when she took an official Disney survey after booking this current vacation), and D23 is their way of not only getting into the game but possibly stomping it out.

From a Disney standpoint it's ingenious. They get to control a piece of the Internet fandom which is basically beyond their direct influence. Besides that, they can advertise this new fandom club at the parks and their insane marketing network can reach not only die-hards, but also casual enthusiasts. Plus (because Disney cares about past present and future) they can pull off these comicon-style events and actually offer the new community something viable that other independant communities could never dream of doing.

And maybe it's not a big deal since they care enough to offer up this stuff to fans and at the end of the day, it's the fans that win. Or maybe this is just another step in a company controlling everything that surrounds it, leaving fans with less choice and ultimately a crappier product. Time will tell on this one.

Moral of the story, sometimes it might be good things happen as they do... SPP folds - fans are able to own shows. CEC is focused on the present - we have a reason to exist here at SP.com. So I don't know, i think we can be ok even without earth shattering news from CEC or CEI. Everything becomes the past at some point ;)

In political terms, what you described as Disney having done would be called "co-option". Kind of like a giant corporation creating a "fair trade/eco friendly" chain of stores or coffee shops to root out competing mom and pop establishments in order to fully control the alternative lifestyle market.

With the Lucas/SW fan community, we saw how Lucas finally said "you know what, we will recognize and celebrate your fan films, your fan sites...heck, here's our entire catalog of ILM sounds we've used for decades". Far from the days of Fox shutting down even the most generic no traffic geocities/angelfire "fan site" of Simpsons, we had the advent of big media companies not only allowing fan communities and sites to flourish, but inviting them to the table. Starwars.com now hosts and features a wide wealth of fan made films and fan created material. They recognize that
without the fans, they'd be nowhere.

That's why it pains me to see there is really no comparison with CEC fandom. While they may allow the occasional tour of Irving, CEC is solely focused on maximizing profit in both inner city and suburban locations.
While we may see nods and subtle fan service here and there from Dept 18 productions, CEC has absolutely no interest in celebrating the past/reminding people of it...but also has seemingly no interest in marketing their own current characters or merchandise outside the stores themselves(save for the PBS morning bumper and a few assorted grocery store snacks)

I guess the point of my post was, as CEC fans, what do we have to look forward to in the future...down the pipeline, in the works?
Perhaps as you and MrMunch88 highlight...for this particular super underground niche, the magic is in the near 100% fan produced content. The more visible peak manifestation of such of course being Chris Thrast opening his own Showbiz, the advent of the RAE documentary film, this site, and the Cheesevention gatherings.

Still....I think we can't deny that there would be quite a buzz and excitement if CEC Ent announced they were introducing a new animatronic character...releasing a retro brand of shirts/merch, releasing toys or merch outside of the stores, creating a kids show or cartoon, creating a test market new eatery restaurant, *something*

I've been excited to see others on here interested in Mcdonaldland fandom, but alas...we've seen Mcdonalds pretty much put the kaibosh on virtually all the characters aside from Ronald. Like CEC, they have "rogue" stores that still have(or had up until recently) fibre glass and metal playground relics of the past celebrating the wide breadth of Mcdonaldsland characters...but even these have been remodeled and changed.

[Harmony Howlette]

I'm in it for the shows, these days.

Are we mostly based on nostalgia? Oh, yeah. And it sucks that we'll never get PTT back as it was 'back in the day'...but there's always something interesting about watching a concept evolve, for better or for worse. There are a few things that may or may not transpire in the future that I'm particularly intrigued by - but we won't go into that here.

As I've said before though - I don't get CEC's negligence when it comes to embracing the past. I mean, I can understand why there isn't some full line of designer vinyl figurines modeled after the guest stars (as completely AWESOME as that would be!)...even by nostalgia standards, they are pretty obscure. Rat Chuck, on the other hand, has always kind of struck me as incredibly iconic and recognizable.
There's this recent line of CEC shirts that I've seen on eBay lately...they're distressed and made to look 'vintage'...but they've all got modern-day CEC on them.
A swing and a miss. What can I say, I'm a merch snob! ;)

(Speaking of CEC t-shirts - on an otherwise unrelated note, this particular post inspired me to do some research on the manufacturer of that CEC shirt I ordered from a catalog back iin 2001 or so that comes up in discussion on the forum every so often - the brand was 'Passing4Sane' and it was apparently owned/managed by actor Stanley DeSantis, who died in 2005. Just an interesting note, as I'd always wondered why I hadn't seen any more things under the Passing4Sane label :\ )

The RAEnaissance (as I've been calling it, haha. Man I'm a nerd) has me completely fascinated/bewildered. Never in a million years would I have thought the Rock Afire would be getting any of the exposure it's getting now so many years after being phased out. Never. It really is amazing and exciting and pretty random. It'll be interesting to see where it goes.



I've been excited to see others on here interested in Mcdonaldland fandom, but alas...we've seen Mcdonalds pretty much put the kaibosh on virtually all the characters aside from Ronald. Like CEC, they have "rogue" stores that still have(or had up until recently) fibre glass and metal playground relics of the past celebrating the wide breadth of Mcdonaldsland characters...but even these have been remodeled and changed.

The difference between the McDonald gang and the CEC characters seems to be that, while McDonald's DOES seem to be phasing out/drastically reducing the usage of their characters, they're also embracing them, in a way, in terms of lisencing and whatnot...t-shirts, that figurine line (even though they've apparently since put the kibosh on it?)

[MechaCory]

I'm in it for the shows, these days.

Are we mostly based on nostalgia? Oh, yeah. And it sucks that we'll never get PTT back as it was 'back in the day'...but there's always something interesting about watching a concept evolve, for better or for worse. There are a few things that may or may not transpire in the future that I'm particularly intrigued by - but we won't go into that here.

Oh, I didnt mean a harken back to PTT era. I just meant "whats the future of modern CEC". We know they wont come out with new characters, and fat chance we'll even see new figures/toys of the main five again. I mean for all intensive purposes they now only have five characters.

I do like some of the modern day show dvd stuff. But overall, I wonder if CEC has anything exciting on the horizon that we all would be excited about...or, five years down the line, will it be the same ol same ol(heck, cept minus some of the animatronics?) The late 90's was an exciting time to be a CEC fan. They released new pvcs, for the first time a movie(the merit of its quality not withstanding), debuted the site, released a comic book, etc. Now days, tumbleweeds and crickets. At CEC Ent hq, I wonder if there is anyone in marketing who has any interest in putting out new merchandising, marketing ideas, or anything? It just seems so flat lined.
Itd be like if Disney never did anything with their characters.



As I've said before though - I don't get CEC's negligence when it comes to embracing the past. I mean, I can understand why there isn't some full line of designer vinyl figurines modeled after the guest stars (as completely AWESOME as that would be!)...even by nostalgia standards, they are pretty obscure. Rat Chuck, on the other hand, has always kind of struck me as incredibly iconic and recognizable.
There's this recent line of CEC shirts that I've seen on eBay lately...they're distressed and made to look 'vintage'...but they've all got modern-day CEC on them.
A swing and a miss. What can I say, I'm a merch snob! ;)

Hey, that makes two of us. Since I was little I always dug advertising/restaurant figures and merchandise. But youre right. I now see retro shirts and merchandise of virtually every 70's and 80's brand you can think of. Ive even seen new shirts with advertising icons from days past.
I think a pizza time theater era styled shirt with the rat would be a good seller. Speaking of vinyl figures of the guest stars, I wonder if CEC was the only prototype they made given most of the characters were depicted on the back of that box.



The RAEnaissance (as I've been calling it, haha. Man I'm a nerd) has me completely fascinated/bewildered. Never in a million years would I have thought the Rock Afire would be getting any of the exposure it's getting now so many years after being phased out. Never. It really is amazing and exciting and pretty random. It'll be interesting to see where it goes.


Aww, "RAEnaissance" is a PERFECT word. Nice. Yeah it is out of leftfield,
and it just goes to show what the fans can do. Aaron has since, in a strange sort of way, become one of us in way. He just happens to be the creator of RAE, but itd be like if Lucas geeked out online about SW stuff.
I am hoping something could be capitalized from the newfound spotlight on RAE.

I personally would LOVE to see Fechter or even Bushnell come back to bringing animatronics to eateries. Start a new franchise perhaps or be involved with one.



The difference between the McDonald gang and the CEC characters seems to be that, while McDonald's DOES seem to be phasing out/drastically reducing the usage of their characters, they're also embracing them, in a way, in terms of lisencing and whatnot...t-shirts, that figurine line (even though they've apparently since put the kibosh on it?)

True. Theyve even, out of nowhere, brough back the original Mcdonalds mascot "Speedee" in a series of merchandise. I think its because Im an early 80's to mid 90's kid(hey, I had a longgg childhood ok? :) but Ive always loved the MCD characters, even Mac Tonite and Grimacy O'Grimace.
(I have this idea to do a drawing of Apple Tree Pie, Capt Hook, Speedee, Sundae the dog, hamburger bushes and Mac Tonite)
I never thought i'd see "The Evil Grimace" comic con exclusive figures
(the original name of Grimace, when he had four arms in the early 70's)

[Harmony Howlette]

Oh, I didnt mean a harken back to PTT era. I just meant "whats the future of modern CEC"
Oh yeah, I know - I was just referring to your comment on us being a mostly nostalgia-based fandom, which is really pretty accurate.

As for modern day CEC, though - it's hard to say. Things do constantly evolve and change but I guess what counts as 'exciting' is pretty relative; as I said before, I'm in it for the shows.

Also - I totally want to design some awesome CEC shirts now, haha.

[Larry the Tech]

It would be so awesome if they sold some retro shirts for CEC. I think a good idea would be the 1980-1983 CEC on the cover of the 2007 annual report where his hands are in the air, couldn't you put a simple caption underneath him that said "Smile America!"? Idk, it seems like a good idea, I see people all the time wearing old McDonald's t-shirts, CEC would definitely make some good money if they sold a line at mall-recognizable clothing stores.

[bzier]

RETRO IS IN! I don't understand why corporate doesn't see this as a HUGE opportunity to get out there and sell some additional merchandise and make some extra cash. SPP and PTT were HUGE in the 80's, and EVERYBODY knows that. Bringing some things back nostalgia-wise would be a very smart move. Retro merch, shirts, commercials, modern-retro stores! Guess they just don't get it.

[MechaCory]

RETRO IS IN! I don't understand why corporate doesn't see this as a HUGE opportunity to get out there and sell some additional merchandise and make some extra cash. SPP and PTT were HUGE in the 80's, and EVERYBODY knows that. Bringing some things back nostalgia-wise would be a very smart move. Retro merch, shirts, commercials, modern-retro stores! Guess they just don't get it.

Well CEC's complete trashing and dislike of their PTT *and* Showbiz/RAE past is pretty well established.

CEC also just doesn't even seem interested in marketing their own characters. Usually, companies LOVE to push marketing as far as the eye can see. The most we see is CEC providing the "brought to you by" on some PBS morning shows and then cheese sticks at Wal Mart.

To me what is even the point? Im surprised they havent just gotten rid of Munch, Jasper, Pasqually and Helen. Theyve made it abundantly clear they dont even care about characters. They certainly have proven they have absolutely no plans to introduce new characters, let alone cool merchandise or anything interesting. I believe there's even an mp3 out there of Jasper and CEC joking how noone pays attention to the shows. Theres also that minute banter bashing Showbiz, Rockafire characters, etc that was programmed into all the shows earlier this year. CEC Ent and Dept 18 can find that funny, just like its funny how 100% of the creative spirit of PTT and CEI is long gone...with not even a micron of that magic left.

Chances are, in 10 years CEC will pretty much be the same. No new characters, no interesting merchandise, squandered oppurtunities to broaden appeal and market. Just an even more sterilized, homogenized and pure profit box outlet meant to squeeze money from impoverished inner city families and struggling suburban middle class families.
Their hiring onto the board of directors Bush's top war general was another sign that their minds arent on magic or creativity.
You look at the insane amount of creativity/merchandising/innovation both
PTT and CEI/Showbiz were doing in such a tiny amount of time...and you have to wonder what happened?

Eh...at least the kids dont seem to mind, and everything is a token. And theyve made an attempt to make a healthier menu.
I wonder how many creative and innovative ideas got floated about in the last decade and a half up in Irving only to be shot down?