Awesome Adventure Machine robotic show

[MMBBfan327]

Question: How come they never installed AAM shows for CEC? Personally I think the show looks cool.

[captslappy]

I think the AAM was the Studio C prototype and ultimately they went with the Studio C format instead. For what it's worth the only AAM show that I know of was a prototype in the Monfort Store in Dallas TX which was formerly a Showbiz. The location has since moved down the street.

[MMBBfan327]

Ok, so is this why the stage was so big?

[dheineCECfan]

And why did the Awesome Adventure Machine become Studio C?

[tinafan80]

I worked during the whole process of the AAM, and it was AMAZING. I thought it was better than the stage shows and better than studio C in my opinion. I was told by some people at corporate who would come into the store all the time to check the show out that it was WAY too expensive to have. And it was only in one store, so imagine if they put it in a bunch of other stores.
Another thing too, they couldn't fit the show in corporate, so the guy had to come and program the show everytime a new one came out. He hated the Xmas show cause he had 1 night to program it, then he had to come back a little less than a month later to do the January show. LOL
But the main reason from what I understood was that it was too expensive. But WELL worth it in my opinion. It was an awesome show. Any more questions you have, I can answer them probably. That was a very exciting time working during the whole AAM era. LOL

[ChuckEZone]

Sweet! I'm glad this topic was brought up :D I'm sure I'll think of some questions

[pizzacam]

LOL, Yeah I visited this store in 98 when it was already a Studio C. It was the first time I'd seen this and had mixed feelings...like WTF? I remember I was pissed and left. :lol

[MMBBfan327]

I got a question:


Do you have any pics/videos of the AAM besides the ones on the site? I'd like to actually see a whole showtape if possible.

[tinafan80]

Actually I don't. I think I have a few pictures from our Christmas party where you can see a little bit of the show. We watched Mission Impossible 2 cause the sound was AMAZING. The show worked off a VCD. So we rented that movie and watched it off the 2 big screens. I don't have any videos though. I wish now I would have taken some.

[YoungCaliHottie]

i dont understand why it was so expensive? just one character and 2 projectors. am i missing something here? seems like the same price to run (if not cheaper) than the studio Cs around here. the one i went to saturday has chuck, & a bunch of TVs in the showroom. isnt that more expensive???

(side note: the studio C i went to sunday had chuck, pizzaphone, bird, awesome lighting, and FIFTEEN TVs in the showroom!!! ...used to be an alpha. ill post pics later! bird didnt move. looked dead. but pizzaphone actually moved and lit up during chorus. now maybe studio c woulda been a little bit acceptable to me if they were all like this. control panel in the center and all...)

[tinafan80]

It was expensive because it was the only AAM, and they had to do everything seperate from the other CEC's because they all had characters.
They used moving eyes and moving mouths on the heads of the walk around characters on the screen.
There were a bunch of lights all over the showroom. Alot more than Studio C or the stages now.
The sound system was AMAZING. It was surround Dolby sound I think. If you had it all the way up it would be REDICULOUSLY loud.
I think the main reason was because it was the only one, so it took extra special attention which cost the company alot of money.
The same thing happened with Studio C. When they 1st put that show in our store to test it, it was expensive at first. Not for too long cause once they decided that they were going to use that show, which was about a month or 2 later after the surveys they received from our store, they added the show in corporate for programming. And then it went into the rest of the stores that needed it or the ones that were being built.
I still think the AAM kicks more ass than any of the other shows.

[YoungCaliHottie]

i think it kicks ass too! but not than any other show... ...nothing will beat RAE!!!

[ChuckEFranchize454]

wow they had an AAM stage??!!:eek :eek :eek :eek thats crazy. i didnt even kno that. does anyone have any pics or video footage of it??

[CEC3066]

rock_afire.tripod.com/bulletin/02/picture_03-02.jpg (http://rock_afire.tripod.com/bulletin/02/picture_03-02.jpg)

there are 3 videos on the videos section of the homepage

[MMBBfan327]

That's an awesome pic of it. I love the 2nd video when Pasqually and Jasper go underwater.

[dheineCECfan]

Following the AAM tryout show, CEC tested out their first Studio C show in a Brookfield, Wisconsin CEC location.

[MMBBfan327]

Yeah, Brookfield I think was the 2nd store to get Studio C Alpha when they moved form the other side of twon back in '97 or so.

[CEC3066]

that is correct.

[MMBBfan327]

Oh Yeah;)

[tinafan80]

Yeah. My old store, Montfort, was the 1st store to get Studio C to test it out first, get surveys, and blah blah blah.

[CEC3066]

Did Montfort get it b4 it was installed in Department 18 or the other way around?

[tinafan80]

I think we got it first, then once it was tested and ready to go, they added it in Dept. 18 since the programming would be for more than 1 store.

[stixcom92]

vcd? I thought it ran on laserdisc? clarification?

[chucki233]

vcd? I thought it ran on laserdisc? clarification?

studio c startedout running on laser disk and then they switched to dvd, not sure about the aam though

[bzier]

I wish there were more videos and photos of the AAM...it just looked so cool. Too bad CEC didn't stick with that concept over Studio C.

[amelovesjasper]

Sorry for sounding stupid, but what exactly did Awesome Adventure Machine show consist of? Are there any videos of it?

[ChuckEZone]

I also wish CEC kept going with the AAM. The only thing that bugged me was that Chuck's arm movements were kinda screwy. Luckily, there are a few videos here on the site:

http://rock_afire.tripod.com/videos/cec/homevideos/index.html

[Larry the Tech]

I also wish CEC kept going with the AAM. The only thing that bugged me was that Chuck's arm movements were kinda screwy. Luckily, there are a few videos here on the site:

http://rock_afire.tripod.com/videos/cec/homevideos/index.html
You're right!

[junebug09az]

How many discs did it take to run this show? Was it three like studio c ?

[Vega III CEC]

You know, this show seemed to me like something Disney would have. It was certainly up there! It's a shame the concept didn't fly. I don't see how it could possibly cost more than fifteen televisions running all day long plus the Studio C Alphas.... Unless they overpayed for the sound system they installed and the projectors, but still. It's also a pity you guys don't have more vids of it. That show could take your imagination places.

[PuroMax]

This brings up an interesting topic. Now that we're 10 years removed from the awesome adventure machine and studio c inception, which would be cheaper with today's technology? I know that Studio C's are starting to show their age with the console that still runs off Windows 98 and has monitors that have been running forever. How long do you think until the next overhaul happens and there is a "new show" for better or for worse.

[bzier]

I think it's time for a new show AND another remodel starting this year. Studio C was introduced roughly ten years ago, and the Phase 4 remodels started roughly 5 years ago. I think CEC can stick with Garner Holt on the bots, but I think a Studio C overhaul is definitely a good idea. As for the stores being remodeled, I'd like to see them try a completely different remodel from the Phase 4 concept. Move all the dining into one room(showroom!) Skill games and kiddie games separated, rides area, and different color schemes. Try black ceiling tiles, those cool blue hanging lights, and how about dark blue or dark red walls with 'classy' looking CEC posters? Just something different from the bright and 'kiddie' look of the Phase 4 remodels.

[CEC3066]

darn straight! i meean the way the Phase 4's are now the noise from the games overpowers the show and I don't go yo CEC to hear a dang skeeball bell coming out of Chuck and his buds mouths lol!

[junebug09az]

Was their a excisting stage version of the three Awsome Adventure Machine shows?

[Vega III CEC]

Well, there was, but it didn't live very long since it was a prototype and was deemed "too costly" by the corporates...

[rodhoutx]

Yes, there were "Existing Stages" versions. The same audio but of course without the cool separate video like on the "REAL" AAM stage.

Some of the first Studio C shows were also made for 2-stage and 3-stage, but of course didn't carry over so well since they were just watching video clips and making comments. There were at least two showtapes like that.

[Larry the Tech]

Does anyone know how many movements the Chuck E bot had there? Also, who made it? Was it Garner Holt or was he a Cyberamic?

[chuckrules]

not sure cause i never seen the actual AAM Chuck Bot in person. I would think origianlly 32 movements?:)

[chucki233]

Was their a excisting stage version of the three Awsome Adventure Machine shows?

No there was only one version of the AAM (physically, probly more on paper or in somones head). And by exsisting Stages version, I think you mean one with the whole group. The term "exsisting stages" means stages that were "exsisting" prior to studio C. But AAM was before studio C so the excisting stages were probly refering to stages before 1,2, and 3 stages, so they couldn't build something completly new thats also excisting. but anyway to answer your question, no they didn't have one with all the characters. But that would be pretty sweet if they did.

[CEC3066]

I think wha junebug means is did the existing stages have a tape counterpart of the 3 AAM shows. the answer is Yes I don't know how dfferent they were as i'd never seen the AAM in person to analize the differences.

[CEC TechMan]

The original character was done by Garner Holt and had the same movements from the waist up. There were misc things that moved in the set behind Chuck. The final roll-out was done with a more realistic set up that could be placed in a large volume of stores.

[CEC3066]

actually there were some differences in the script because on the AAM stage in place of curtains there was a door that concealed the character. Chuck Makes reference to this in the 20th Anniversary show. there is a clip of it in the Video Archive.

[chuckrules]

Yes and chuck's wondering what's holding his door shut. then a little later on ya see Munch and Jasper holding Chuck E's door shut. lol those two sneeky bugger's.

to bad the aam show didn't survive. That looked like a awesome stage show format.

[Larry the Tech]

Did that even make sense on Existing stages? I mean, if Chuck's curtains are closed, and he says door, that dosen't make sense. Also, which screen did they use for video? The left or right?

[CEC3066]

they did a seperate audio track for the exsisting stage version so he'd have said curtains

[bzier]

The Awesome Adventure Machine bot was created by Animation World. From what I've gathered, the AAM shows were different from the other existing stage show's showtapes.

And as for those 'Studio C/AAM' shows that were basically video footage and music videos where the characters just comment on the videos...those were TERRIBLE shows. I found one of those showtapes right before the old Lakeland store closed, and I was able to get the Cyberstar system to play it. Boy was I bored! Thank God they changed the format! If they kept going that way with shows, I think the animatronic shows would all be DEAD by now.

[CEC3066]

interesting fact: the AAM bot's Mac valve was recycled from the 3 stage Chuck it replaced.

[VegaNova]

Sorry to drudge up older topics, but thought it was better than creating a new thread. ;)

I was able to finally scrap together this info page about the AAM and I stumbled upon some last minute information which I thought was interesting (as in the names for Chuck E's AAM supporting characters)!

http://www.showbizpizza.com/ptp/stages/aam.html

And yeah, a lot of the info posted in this very thread has been archived on the page as well.

[Larry the Tech]

Awesome work, but I can't read the August 1996 showtape review for the AAM. It's nothing but a dead link: http://www.showbizpizza.com/review/cec/1996_august.html

[chucki233]

I posted the August 96 show on youtube under http://youtube.com/cectv

[Larry the Tech]

I posted the August 96 show on youtube under http://youtube.com/cectv
LOL the Planet intermission was very corny=)). Ru going to upload the other 3 segments?

[VegaNova]

Dang that link was dead... you're right!

Good thing I keep backups. I just fixed it so it should be working now. :)

[joshferrell]

LOL the Planet intermission was very corny=)). Ru going to upload the other 3 segments?

yes please do....I love that showtape........

[junebug09az]

I posted the August 96 show on youtube under http://youtube.com/cectv
Thanks to me for begging you to upload them.:)

[CEC3066]

there weas also a turntablle on this stage enabling te W/A to come down from the stage to perform Live's & Birthdays "Thanks TinaFan80 for the info