Artie Antlers--the Swing Daddy of the Piano

[MMBBfan327]

Hey! I noticed nobody had started a thread on Artie Antlers, who is pretty cool, no--AWESOME!!! Some people think the character himself was not created until 1981 or so, but here's what I think-- as seen on the 1977 menu, look at the character page. Under guest stars, it mentions "Elkton John." It turned out, that instead of being a guest star, he would become a Cabaret Act and have a name change to Artie Antlers, so technically, wouldn't Artie be an older character (from the start), due to mentionings in old menus?

Here's another thing I've come across of Artie: The company that provided Artie's Antlers had to come up with a new idea for them, here's why--when Artie had his first Antlers, they were plain antlers made of wood, however when the character would turn, they'd crack every single time, so this new company had to come up with a new idea, which was make a design out of styrafoam, and then coat it with a light layer of fiberglass cloth, and when they tested it out, it worked perfectly.

Also, some of you may know about Jungle Jim's. They had an old Artie robot sitting in storage, however it's been said that a couple years ago it was thrown out. DANG!!!!!!!!!!


BTW, here's a link to the Artie's Antler Problems story:

www.riordanco.com/projects_success.htm (http://www.riordanco.com/projects_success.htm)

The story's near the bottom of the page, and it turns out this company made more items for the show, including Jasper's Banjo and the Flag Wavers.


For those of you who remember Artie, tell some of your storys. I'd love to hear some!

[pizzacam]

yeah, that's really cool, someone's posted that link before but it's cool the they have pics and there's pieces of PTT's history if you just look around and spent time surfing the net...

[dheineCECfan]

Never saw an Artie Antlers show (but heard audio of Artie's show from Jenn), but I first recognized Artie Antlers in a CECPTT ad flyer in 1983.

[pizzacam]

There IS a tape out there..but it sounds bad :(

[MMBBfan327]

I've never had the opportunity of hearing any songs of Arite Antlers. What does he sound like? I've heard it's a deep voice with a boogie-woogie type of sound. Anyway of uploading that sound clip on here?

[pizzacam]

yeah it's Jenn's cassette tape maybe she can explain more about him.

[pizzacam]

Well, Great News!! I've tracked down one of his reels so we'll have more info and audio soon :) :eek

[MMBBfan327]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



PIZZA CAM!!!!! PLEASE OH MAN MAKE ME A COPY!!!!!! EMAIL ME OFF THE BOARD, MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!

MAN, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR YEARS NOW AND IT FINALLY CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

[pizzacam]

oook lol :lol

[MMBBfan327]

What's the name of the show and what year is it?

Where'd you find it?

Have you listened to it yet?

[pizzacam]

No, I haven't recieved it yet, It's called "Artie I" and it's undated...as a lot of them in the early 80's were :(

[MMBBfan327]

Yeah, so the Artie I reel turned out to be Helen Henny Broadway. Dang:(

[dheineCECfan]

MMBBFan: Be careful when you locate CECPTT show reels, sometimes they can be mislabeled.

[captslappy]

Never saw Artie myself and didn't know of him until I found this site. The mention of Elkton John and Glenn Campbell has come up before as has the theory that Elkton John became Artie later on. From what I understand he did Rock-abilly style music probably along the lines of Jerry Lee Lewis. I think he would have worked much better as "Elkton John" since the name is clever as is the fact he is a piano player. Not sure what the reasoning was in changing him. He is identical to Dolli D and could play all her reels and BB Bubbles. There was one difference to him and Dolli. Dolli has a breath movement that makes her chest go up and down and this movement was removed on Artie. BB by the way had a trunk swing in place of the breast movement I believe. Although the trunk movement may have been done in place of the ear levers. I'm not sure on that. Artie/Dolli and BB used to character cards in the computer which gave them more than the standard 8 movements of a balcony character. Artie (And Dolli's) movements are:

1. Mouth
2. Eyes Right
3. Eyes Left
4. Eye lids
5. Ears
6. Head Right
7. Head Left
8. Head up/down
9. Right hand
10. Left hand
11. Breast movement (Dolli only)/Trunk (BB only) -Artie did not have an equivelant to this movement.

[dheineCECfan]

Artie Antlers could have been retrofitted as a Billy Joel billy goat "Piano Man" character just like 1 Canadian CECPTT location retrofitted Dolli Dimples from hippo to a cow.

[captslappy]

Yes but in that case it used the same show reel material minus the references to PTT. You are talking about recostuming it and making a whole new show with new material.

[MMBBfan327]

JUst like how Dolli had breast movement, and B.B. had the trunk, would it be possible for Artie to have an antler movement, or did he have one?

[captslappy]

No, he didn't. His ears twitched though.

[MMBBfan327]

Ah, ok.

[captslappy]

2 other comments on variations of Artie. "Officially" I think he had brown eyes. All the pics I have ever seen show him with brown eyes like Jasper and Pasqually. However, in his caberet now appearing poster he has blue eyes. This is the only time I've seen him portrayed with blue eyes. Another interesting thing I saw only one time at corporate in a picture was the character had a King style nose. I am sure this was a prototype version of Artie. Everywhere else he had 2 nostrils and not an actual nose. Who knows, maybe the first Artie actually did have a nose and got installed somewhere. I will say he looked odd and by giving him two nostrils instead he looked much more like a real moose. It makes me wonder if the character wasn't initially supposed to be a reindeer or something.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yeah, the Elkton John connection i brought up a few months back. I am certain that he is the direct desendent of that character. More then likely the main reason Elkton became Artie is the cost of buying the rights to Elton John songs was far too expensive. PTT already had copyright issues to deal with early on with the King singing Elvis tunes...so to avoid further issues PTT Inc. probably decided to scratch the novelty of having a piano playing Elk singing EJ songs. That's my therory anyway...

Regarding B.B. Bubbles.....yes, she had ear movements. Her trunk also could swing back and forth during her performance as she had her prop mic held in her trunk. Artie did not have any unusual animations....only the standard moves similar to the regular show figures when compared to the other Cab acts.

Yes that recording in question is from a cassette recording i made on location in 1982. It is two Artie shows and you can clearly hear him along with some random atmospheric sounds. He was awesome...a real entertainer. Artie ranks up there as one of my big faves. He really had character. I'm glad in a way they did'nt just do another character that did cover songs ( King, Beagles, etc.). The built-in appeal of Elton John would have overshadowed a otherwise great original PTT creation!

Artie did "officially" have brown eyes with yellow flecks. He had the same eyes as Jasper did, then and now. It is true that he as pictured in his PR photo with blue, but more then likely this was the original Elkton prototype that was switched over to the more generic Arite. Elton has Blue eyes, so it fits.

Artie was great...it's a shame so few of you have seen him "live" in his element. Am i the only one who has here?

He was freakin' cool!!

[MMBBfan327]

Mind me asking but what does PR mean?

[captslappy]

Public relations. Also what is known as a promo photo.

[MMBBfan327]

Oh, ok ic now. Say, Jenn--

What kind of cool stuff did you get from the Brandon, FL location when you lived there?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Some of the finest peices in my collection to date..that's what.

I'm not talking about Bots' or anything....i'm talking about old PTT merch from way back that they still stocked there back then. I also bought 3 Caberet posters there when they sold them off after there use was over. Can you beleive they actually had these for sale at Jasper's General Store back then?? Spring Hill had Foxxy and Artie...Brandon had Dolli. Years later i ended up with the original Oink Guest poster from Danvers. They are some of my fave items in my archieve.

They had some ancient stuff there....Brandon was awesome. Someday i hope to go back and see what it's set up like now. Someday......

[MMBBfan327]

They actually sold posters there? How much were they? That's what I call AMAZING!!!!!!! So, if Spring Hill sold a Foxy poster to you when you went, does that mean that you went a little after Foxy was taken out? Or did they save it then sell it?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Spring Hill had a couple of used Guest and Caberet posters for sale at the General Store back in 82' when i was frequenting there. I did'nt go to this location a lot...it was cramped and crappy when compared to the fab Brandon Store. I think they were like $15 or maybe $10, but in 1982 it seemed like a lot of money. Most posters back then from anywhere were $2/3 bucks. I bought a 1980 Classic Rat poster in Brandon in 81' for about that...$3 i think.

Foxxy and Artie came from Spring Hill...so they no doubt did actually have a Foxxy when it opened in late 80/ early 81. The building layout was in specs with very early PTT ( 78/79' layout) complete with a walk a round cashier stand if i remember right. Brandon was more "modern" at the time so everything was more new and streamlined when compared to SH. I'm not even 100% sure this 2nd location i used to visit in FL was actually Spring Hill.....i did some research last year to try to find out more about it and this was the only other close location near where i lived at that time. I could be wrong, so take the location name with a grain of salt. Regardless, this location was a truly original PTT built in the late 70's. I have a photo from a PTT way back then and it reminds me of this location a lot. Sorry i can't post pix here....or i would!

Anyway, Foxxy was the Guest and Artie was the Cab act. The Beagles were in the Lounge. I bought the poster that the store had originally displayed outside in the PTT window boxes, It's incredible that these were even considered to be resold...i was very lucky. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! I also bought a Dolli Dimples poster at this same location...all 3 came from here...so originally they opened with Dolli and Artie came along shortly afterwards. Sadly, of the 3 the Dolli poster did not survive. Thankfully the others have.

[captslappy]

Interesting they went from Dolli to Artie. I could see them going Dolli to BB. I wonder if they kept the same robot and just changed cosmetics out. That seems the most logical thing to do. Change the eyes, eye lids and costume and mask and disable the breast movement although it probably wasn't even programmed at all for Artie so they could have just left it in place.

[MMBBfan327]

Yep, you're right, Captain. I believe that's how it worked. And I think they totally removed Dolli's breast mechanism, otherwise Artie would have *more features.*

[captslappy]

Actually that has more to do with the shape of the costume. They probably removed it anyway but it really didn't provide as much shape to her as you might think.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yes, it was more then likely the same mech, just a change out.

That was a rare old store.....i wish i knew for sure it's location name!

[MMBBfan327]

How long would you say a change-out from one character to the toher would take in any case (KING to Beach Bowzers, guest to guest, Dolli to Artie, etc.)?

[captslappy]

Really not very long. If you are just switching the cosmetics it's cake. Although in cases like BB to Dolli some mods had to be made. The eyelids went from pink to blue. The "trunk rod and cylinder would have to be installed and the breast movement had to be removed. Minor things like that probably added thirty minutes to the job but it could generally be done in less than an hour. Same with guest stars. Now Helen's lids went from pink to blue. The other 4 had pink lids so same deal. Changing out a completely different character like King to The Beagles was a much bigger task. You pretty much had to dismantle everything carefully (unless the character was going in the trash and not being reused) for future set up. Plus the lights needed to be changed out. The King's leg assembly was very heavy so it probably had to be put together because it was likely totally taken apart. His base along is well over 100 lbs. It may be more like 200 lbs. I'm sure a change out of that nature going to a completely different show was an all nighter.

[MMBBfan327]

So I take it when Danvers switched from The KING to The Beach Bowzers, the room was totally blocked off for some time?

[captslappy]

No it was probably done overnight. It's not like concept unification where it took several days but it probably took several hours. The switch should have been doable by morning when the store opened. I'm just saying that a switch out that is cosmetics only isn't a big thing at all but doing a different show switch like King to Beagles was a little more involved but not by much.

[MMBBfan327]

Ah, ok see I thought they did this during the day.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

For Danvers, it took several weeks before the Bowzers appeared and were ready to perform. At the time they were installed in 89', the store was under a major remodel. The Cheese Factory was literally ripped out. The Lounge was destroyed and the King sent up to Newington NH's location. The extra Game Room area they had beside the Showroom that was originally BB Bubbles' Caberet Room had to be converted to accept the Bowzers. So it was quite a project. J would know the details in more depth, as he was working there at the time of the installation. He even filmed a lot of the remodel work...some of you have seen this footage already.

If the store originally opened with a Dolli and a couple years later they recieved a BB Bubbles to replace her, then the changeout would have been quicker. It does'nt take long to completly change a characters cosmetics if they are essentially the same robot frame underneath. As the Captain desribed above, it could be done in a night.

Changeout with different character cosmetics was a very clever way to make it seem as if you were seeing a totally different show. I really wish they kept the concept.

[MMBBfan327]

Dang! So I guess '89 wasn't a good year in business for Danvers? Did they ever have to just close it down for a while to remodel or was it done during business hours?

[dheineCECfan]

So Artie Antlers is a retrofit Dolli Dimples which is the same for B.B. Bubbles.

[MMBBfan327]

Yep, pretty much.

[MMBBfan327]

However, if a store had just opened with either Artie or B.B., would it still be the Dolli mech or did they make a whole different robot?

[captslappy]

They did make characters that were brand new. Ie- robots that started as BB Bubbles and Artie Antlers. BB in particular many times ended up being a retrofit kit that went on an existing Dolli bot or Artie bot.

PS- Darryl, you already knew Dolli, Artie and BB were the same robot. This has come up numerous times.

[MMBBfan327]

We need to find some reels or footage of B.B. and Artie. I'm DYING to see some stuff!!!

[captslappy]

Me too! If we are patient it's gotta turn up sooner or later. I also would really like to see what the Little Shavers are like as well. I don't know if we'll ever find stuff for the earliest PTT shows and characters like Crusty and Foxy but we can hope.

[dheineCECfan]

Speaking of looking for early CECPTT showtapes, I have been still desperate to find someone on the net who went to the very first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre that was on Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, California after it first opened in May 1977 who has film/video footage of the 1977 CECPTT wall portrait robots filmed with a 1970's movie camera. Like you said, CaptSlappy, we can hope...

[MMBBfan327]

I say try that Disney guy you mentioned. He may have found it by now.

[captslappy]

Wall portrait stuff aside, I am confident there is more out there. I am certain reels for BB Bubbles and Artie will turn up anyway. They were in the time period that most of that stuff has surfaced. Foxy is iffy. I know there is a guy that keeps saying he has it. I'm not calling him a liar but no one has ever seen this reel he claims to own. That being said Sally's reel popped up and for a long time we speculated she was just a prototype that was never put in service. Now we know for sure she came before Harmony.

It is highly doubtful we'll find a Crusty the Cat robot or ever find Mopsy sisters or anything else portrait related. Especially the first year that they were in business. At one point a Crusty reel did surface though because Travis has a clip on the PTT character info section so we know at least one does exist so I wouldn't give up hope. Reel/audio wise in time we'll likely find all of them.

[MMBBfan327]

What do you suppose our best bet is to find stuff? Do you think ex-PTTs will still have old reels in the attics or basements or other storage?

[captslappy]

Maybe a few but most of that stuff is long gone. The best bet is to watch Ebay and contact ppl that list stuff to see if they have anything else. Do realize that stuff like that is few and far between and usually gets cancelled when CEC corporate contacts Ebay.

[MMBBfan327]

I'm surprised they didn't contact them over the CEC merry-go-round that's up, and also that old Pasqually mask.

[dheineCECfan]

You could even try antique stores and/or Goodwill/Salvation Army Thrift Stores, but its doubtful...

[MMBBfan327]

Actually, I think VegaNova (or someone) found a Balcony mech at a Thirft store once.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

MMBBFan...to answer your question from the previous page...Danvers was open the entire time the 89' model was going on. J's 'famous" video of this remodel shows this. The store never closed for this...it only blocked off the room they were working on for the Bowzers for a short period.

Sales were fine on 89'...it was'nt until later on when the Company insisted to open other locations 20 minutes away that brought things down to what they are now. What was once the top attraction in the area has now been reduced to one of the lower volume locations. Sad but true.

[MMBBfan327]

When did they decide to open another one? I just find it surprising with remodels going on that they stayed open the whole time. And how excatly was the Cheez Factory taken out?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

The Cheese Factory was just as i had said...literally ripped out! Seriously...they gutted the entire thing in a night. Pieces of it were everywhere. They covered the huge "hole" left in the Game Room where it was with huge black plastic bags. It was a terrible eyesore...but thankfully only lasted a week or so.

Danvers was the only PTT/CEC in the state up until the mid to late 80's. People used to travel from everywhere to go there...lines would go around the block multiple times just for a chance to get in and grab a table! It was crazy...but exciting times.

Once Burlington and a few other locations opened, business simmered down somewhat. Now all those thousands of people did'nt have to come here, they just saved themsleves the long trip and went to the 'new" location closer to them. Good for them, but bad for "D".

Eventually the final blow came in early 2002 when Everett opened. We knew it was the nail in our grave once it opened, as a lot of our business came from people south of Boston. With Everett now open, they would just go there now instead....and that's exactly what happened. Our party business dried up like a raisin and our weekend buisness dipped for the first few months Everett was open. Eventually folks came back as out location had the "magic" that the Big 'E" did'nt....but it was'nt enough to save the store from being lowered on the sales list for the District.

[MMBBfan327]

Dang. Hopefully The Big "D" will get its customers back. Wait, I just relized something, "The Big 'D'" is just like CEC's old nickname, "The Big 'C'"!!!!!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yeah...neat huh?

The place has had many nicknames over the years....

The Big "D"
The "Waffle House" ( actually a code word we sometimes use..J and i)
The Rat Trap ( personal favorite of mine at one time)
The Rat Hole ( or more specifically..."The Hole")
The Money Pit ( some managers at one time called it this!)
Shiney Happy Danvers ( ah yes....very famous name!)
Yuck E. Sneezes ( a CM came up with this years ago)
The Asylum ( only on school vacation weeks)
Many other names too rude to post...

You get the point anyway!

[dheineCECfan]

The CEC Danvers location nickname "Waffle House" has no relationship to the Southern states Waffle House restaurant chain.

[MMBBfan327]

Out of that list my favorite name would be "The Rat Trap" too. Espceially since employees are trapped with the horror of little kids screaming around...

[captslappy]

The CEC Danvers location nickname "Waffle House" has no relationship to the Southern states Waffle House restaurant chain.

Neither does the CEC in Atlanta Georgia affectionately known as "Kentucy Fried Chicken".

[MMBBfan327]

What? lol

[MMBBfan327]

Wait, another question:

How tall would you say Artie was? Like, 6 feet, or MMBB size?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

He was the same height as all the single character Cab acts..about 5 ft tall roughly.

[captslappy]

Height wise Dolli and Artie were the same as the MMBB stage characters, however, they were designed to look bigger... Dolli looks much larger for example because of her dress and the huge wooden base she is. King is the only one that is much much larger almost to the point of being out of scale with all the others. He's about 8 feet. But under all the cosmetics all of them used the same basic half body frames except for the Beagles/Bowzers/shavers and birds/mops. Those mechs are all basically the same style. So essentially CEC used to types of mechs for its shows and just modified each one slightly on a case by case basis to get the movements they needed for that character. With the right parts and cosmetics you could take a generic cosmeticless frame and turn it into pretty much any character you want it to be if you have the stuff.

[MMBBfan327]

Has any store ever consider testing out old cosmetics on some characters before? This would be cool to see. Imagine walking into the showroom and seeing B.B. Bubbles in Helen's spot. That'd be SWEET!!!!!

[captslappy]

No store still has any old cosmetics. As I have said before the company did not save any of this stuff. There are no old masks from retired characters available so I'd say probably not.

[MMBBfan327]

No, like if an employee or someone brought the cosmetics in and then put them on.

[captslappy]

I think SHJ did once for a special event but I dont think most locations would allow something like that to happen. I'm sure somewhere after hours some one has done it at some point.

[MMBBfan327]

I bet you've all heard about the Artie in Jungle Jim's storage. It just so happens I emailed them about a year ago and they said they threw it out. :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( >: >: >: >: >: >: >: >: >: >: >: >: >: >: >: >: >:

[captslappy]

I doubt they threw out a good condition character. You have to understand a lot of this stuff is in bad shape and missing a lot of pieces sometimes. I bet it was probably just not worth salvaging. What does suck though is they probably threw out any reels they got with their shows as JJs custom programs its shows.

[dheineCECfan]

If Artie Antlers is 6 feet, how much in weight and height do you think Dolli Dimples and B.B. Bubbles are?

[captslappy]

Artie isn't 6 feet tall he's more like 5 and they all weigh about the same. They aren't that heavy really. Just big. The bases are wooden and basically they just have a half body frame mounted to the frame. I would guess around 80-100 lbs. Overall they are surprisingly light weight.

[MMBBfan327]

Really? That light? Wow, I thought they were around 300. Man was I off. Out of those 3 I think Dolli may have been the heaviest.

[captslappy]

THey all weigh the same because underneath the cosmetics they are the same. There is no reason why Dolli would weigh more. The PTT stuff is mostly wooden anyway. Only the actual half body frame is metal and there is nothing to it. The RAE stuff on the other hand is all steel. Beach Bear is the heaviest and weighs almost 300 lbs if not more.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hi guys...im back to comment on MMBBFan's question regarding if anyone ever put old cosmetics on modern Bot's in a store.

When i was making plans for the big 25th Birthday Bash at my location one of the ideas i was seriously going to do at one point was bring in my BB Bubbles and put her on the Helen bot. I wanted to do something retro and off the wall for that night, and even though we already had a lot of other neat things planned, this was something i always wanted to try out.

It was going to happen...and be filmed as well...but as the days got closer to the Event i realized that i am already bringing a ton of stuff for this Bash, and bringing BB too would have really been a lot to handle for me. So....sadly it never happened. It was also sad that the 25th Birthday Bash was NOT filmed ( my camera person bailed on me!) so only still photos exsist. Some guests filmed it on their videocams, so i suppose someday we may track down one of these videos. For now though, the only way you can see what went on is in my Photo Gallery section.

[dheineCECfan]

Dolli could be 300-400 pounds in weight for herself in a CECPTT cartoon image.

[captslappy]

Yeah true... although here is a thought for you. Would she weigh more than BB Bubbles who is a baby elephant? A full grown elephant would probably outweigh a hippo but how much would a baby elephant weigh?

[MMBBfan327]

Perhaps B.B. weighed about 50 lb less than Dolli. Also, Jenn--for CEC'S 30 Birthday you should try to get B.B on the stage. You could introduce a whole new generation to B.B.!!!

[captslappy]

And Madame Oink probably about 50 lbs less than her.

[MMBBfan327]

And Helen about 43 lb less than her! :lol

And Chuck about 7 lb 11 oz less than her!!! :rollin

[captslappy]

No way... new school Helen is all small and petite. She'd be the lightest of all of them unless you are talking classic helen. That would then be up for debate.

[MMBBfan327]

I was talking like if they were really the animals that they're meant to be.

[captslappy]

Oh yeah...

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

To MMBBFan...

I'd never be able to do things like that again in Danvers as i no longer work there. Such "creative" things are frowned upon...they are'nt even allowed to decorate the Show Stage for Christmas this year. Talk about depressing.

I'm glad i'm no longer there...i don't think i could deal with the way things are run there now.

[MMBBfan327]

That sucks SO much...

Yeah, all the WI stores are pretty much like that too. They just leave the stage the way it is. However I do remember seeing pics of the Burlington, MA store decked out for Halloween. That was cool!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yeah..it DOES suck.

The GM in "D" does want to do some things....he had a neat idea of setting up a small tree near the front counter and decorate it with CEC Gift Cards and such. That idea was shot down by the DM as he seems to want everything to be "non-demonational" for the Season....you know, a tree is too "Christmasy" in today's overly sensitive, politically correct world! Crazy if you ask me....how can you push for a non-Christmas season when the show itself is totally promoting it?? I mean really! At least the last edition of the Show ( Holiday Party 99/00/01) at least made a attempt to cover all the winter holidays like Hannukah, Navidad, etc. The "new" edition from 02' to today is ALL CHRISTMAS complete with Santa interaction! How then...HOW can you then say that you can't decorate and have a tree?? >:

Damn Political correctness nonsense!!

Sorry...i'm ranting....

Anyway...so this is the "excuse" why our District is totally viod of all Christmas/Holiday decor and may i also say CHEER.

Nice...|I

[Aaron]

Corporate has some very interesting rules, by which
I followed every one of them this year in decorating.
In their opinion, a Christmas tree is nort a religious
symbol, but commercial. They are allowed, but you
cannot put an angel or something like that on the top.
Santas, and suits are seen as commercial items, and
are allowed to be used. However, you may not set up
a Baby Jesus scene in the window of Studio C :rollin
ALL X-mas items such as stars, snowflakes, scares
and winter hats are all acceptable. Even the idea of a
Gift Card tree. We used it last year and this year again.
However....
you may not by any means set a menorah up, or
kwanza items because THOSE are religious symbols. :rollin

So yeah, my jewish manager doesn't quite agree... :lol

Have a magical day! (sigh)

Chuck E. Cheese of NJ

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

I can understand them not wanting stores to display overly "religious" items....but for a DM to discourage decorations of any kind at this time of year is such a bummer.

[captslappy]

Here is another question to sort of get this one back on topic. As far as I know The King was the only caberet to have a birthday and a Christmas show. What about Artie and the others? I am very surprised Dolli doesn't have at least a birthday show... or does she? If so then I would expect Artie would as well. Anyone know? Oh great Jenn who is Shiney and most of the time even Happy, you if anyone would know the answer to this!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Sorry to get off topic Captain....

As far as i know, there were no Birthday or X-mas skits produced for the Cab Acts except the ones you noted...and to be honest i did'nt know about those. I never heard any X-mas songs from the King! Nice to know that.

I'm pretty sure the others did'nt but i could be totally wrong about this. As far as i'm aware, only the main stage characters performed seasonal skits.

[captslappy]

Yes King had a birthday show and he did do some Xmas skits. They were not specific to any certain reel. Just like some balcony shows contain holiday songs but are otherwise the normal reel (In Dec. releases of Harmony Howlette's wild west show and both oink reels have special Xmas shows and contain the normal songs and skits). This is the same deal with King. I have one special King III that has the Xmas show. Elvis did release a Christmas album and these are original Christmas songs Elvis performed. He also does I believe 2 b-day songs on one reel. I think this is really Elvis's voice but not positive. On the King Kat reel there was a special B-day song done to Billy Jean. It sucks really bad. Also as a note, the caberate power supplies do have a B-day button but do not have all the skit buttons that the main computer did for the balcony (like the cheer button for instance)

[MMBBfan327]

Also on King Kat--in this one reel where he talked like the child MJ, he sang "Thriller," which is from MJ's adult days.

[captslappy]

Ok here is the deal on the King Kat reel. There was only one reel done for that character period. They had a very bad voice impersonator that tried to sound like the current Michael Jackson. He did an ok job on it. The songs were a mixture from his early career as a child including "Ben" which he recorded as a little boy without the Jackson 5 (probably about age 12) all the way up to Thriller which was the current album at the time. This character was a cheap attempt to capatilize on MJ's popularity at the time cuz Thriller was huge and also making a new character as cheaply as they could. Basically they made a few simple modifications to the King. They didn't even change out his mask. From what I understand they just put an afro wig on him. The costume wasn't even that much different from the regular King outfit. People get confused on the voice thing because they used songs from when he was a kid and a young adult and he sounds totally different. It is all the same reel and it is all MJ's voice but from different times.

[MMBBfan327]

Hmm...did MJ ever have an afro? If not, then King Kat is one of the worst PTT characters of all time (not that he already wasn't).

[captslappy]

He did during the Jackson 5 days. They all did.

[MMBBfan327]

Ok, so like is King Kat suppose to be all versions of MJ from the Jackson 5 to his Thriller days?

[pizzacam]

LOL I really don't think they put that much thought into it right Mike....:lol :o

[captslappy]

To answer both of you, yes and yes. Had King Kat been made later I'm sure they would have used just as wide a range of material from his career and like Gabe said I don't think they put much thought into the character. He was just kind of thrown together to utililzed the King mech with minimal changes and to capitalize on the popularity of MJ at the time. Thriller was really huge around 84 and definately the high point of his career as a pop singer.

[dheineCECfan]

Also regarding Michael Jackson: In the 1990's he got plastic surgery when his skin turned from African-American to Causican.

[MMBBfan327]

I never knew that...|I

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

King Kat sucked!

You don't mess with Elvis ...and i think what they did to him proved this beyond a doubt! LOL! The King was fine the way he was....how on Earth could anyone at the time have thought King Kat was a good idea? How the heck does a lion fit in with the MJ character anyway? Keep in mind this was ages before the phase "King of Pop" was coined.

Man i'm glad i didnt see this in person. I'm a big MJ fan of his 70's/ 80's stuff but seeing his voice come out of The King would have not sat well with me.

[captslappy]

Like I said earlier, cheap attempt to capitalize on a popular performer at the time, poorly done and a quick way to make a new character on a very tight budget. They were in bankruptcy by then.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yeah..i know...but man what a lame idea!

I know how hot MJ was...he was absolutely on FIRE in 83/84/85'. I can see the appeal...but ...but...

Argh! King Kat sucked!!!

[captslappy]

Yeah and taking this back to Artie... if he was indeed one of the last characters and we know Artie was much earlier than King Kat (1980ish) and Jen's info clearly talks about guests named Glen Camel and Elkton John that brings up another question that was asked earlier. If Artie was indeed originally Elkton John and they renamed him and gave him a different direction avoid roylty issues and copyright infringement of using EJ's songs, then why on Earth would they turn around and and then proceed to use Michael Jackson's songs and make an MJ based character? To me that theory falls apart when you look at King Kat. Obviously they chose to just make the guests the one girl in the group so that is why Elkton and Glen were cut as guests. I still think surely the initial concept for Artie must have been Elkton John and he suerly must have come from this idea (Let's just make him a caberet singer like Dolli!) But you do have to wonder why they ultimately went with the direction of Artie Antlers. The name is similiar to Dolli D's so I can see that. But why Rock-abilly? Why go with different songs. Given the PTPs in the other room regularly did (and still do) popular songs and you still had King and King Kat and the Beagles and Bowzers, why did they abandon the elkton John concept? Maybe they just couldn't obtain rights specifically to EJ's catalog? Thoughts?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

King Kat came along when PTT no longer was running the show so this may have had something to do with it. Legal issues were'nt a priority with Showbiz ( who then owned PTT) as we know from the heavy use of popular songs contained in the RAE shows. It's been confirmed that most of the material the RAE used they did not pay rights for. This issue did'nt get "corrected" until many years down the road when CEC became so widespread they did'nt want to take ANY chances getting sued ( had to protect the Company assets and all...).

I am convinced that Arite was indeed originally slated to be based on Elton John. This is covered in my earlier posts in this thread. There is even the strong possibility that he goes further back and was also Glen Camel. Think about it...remove the antlers and he looks a LOT like a makeshift camel. Perhaps originally he was designed to be a "quick shift-out" characters like the hasty King Kat? Maybe Artie was originally going to start as Glen, then in a couple of months a quick costume change and a quick bolt in the head for the antlers and he becomes Elkton. After that, in another couple of months yet another costume change and he becomes Artie!

Hey, it's very possible really when you think about it. Talk about a great, cost-effective way to have many "different" characters. The only part that does'nt totally convince me is back then PTT was never about cost-cutting. They went all out with everything, exspecially when it came to the characters in the place. They spent tons of money on the Cyberamic figures. I don't see this happening then...sounds more like a "modern" CEC tactic..ala what happend with King Kat.

[captslappy]

I agree. I think likely a prototype of the basic artie was made for the balcony and then they went all female on the guest concept so that prototype was test fitted on a Dolli frame and the concept evolved for whatever reason from EJ or Glen to Artie. It may well simply have been something like whoever was doing it didn't like EJ or the head of the dept. didn't or some other inspiration came along. It is even possible that whoever voiced Artie was discovered the same way Dolli's voice actor was and they opted to go with this person and so they retooled the EJ prototype around this particular individual. Here is also another thought on things. Back then EJ was a little less comercial and a little more artsy. Many of his songs were quite long and elaborate similiar to Genesis's early stuff with Peter Gabriel or Meatloaf and other "art rock". He didn't do short 3 minute commercial singles in his early career. Back then extended solos, elaborate arrangements and long intros were the thing. That's quite a contrast to Dolli whose shows last a minute and a half to 3 minutes. That right there actually may well be our answer. EJ's stuff was just a little too long to use and a bit too elaborate.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Possibly, but if they really wanted to they could have shorted the EJ material. They did this with many Cab shows and even Stage shows later on....they would play only a collage of melodies instead of singing the entire song arrangement. The PTT era shows did this a LOT. If they reallt wanted to go with Elkton, i'm sure they would have. I think the legal issues scared them off.

I agree with you Captain regarding the vocal talent of whoever voiced Artie. You can tell by the recordings and the voicework that the gentlemen who voiced/sang for him knew what he was doing and was experienced. I listen to my ancient cassette recording i made in 82' and his shows are fantastic and very entertaining. They are very reminisent of Dolli's style, but different all the same. Very well done. No doubt he was brought in to do the character based on previosu experience with this style of boogie-woogie music.

[captslappy]

Interesting. Having never heard him do you think this voice actor only did this character or do you think he might have also done some of the others? We are pretty sure the same lady did all 5 guests and I'm betting she did the Warblettes too and just laired the vocals. We know a lot about who did the guys over the years but the cabs are a mystery. Although we don't know a name, we do know the back story of the woman who voiced Dolli and unless she maybe did B.B. (again can't say cuz I never heard her) Dolli was the only character she did. I'm betting Artie's voice actor was discovered in a piano bar or similiar situation though and I believe this is the most likely reason they went with Artie Antlers. Also from what I can tell he is the rarest of the first run of side shows... those being Artie, Dolli D., King, and the Beagles. Actually if I was to rank them from most to least comman it seems they went like this: King, Dolli D., Beagles and Artie last.

[MMBBfan327]

Is it possible the same man who voiced Artie also did the early KING? I'm thinking because both have deep voices and were around at the same time. Also Jenn told me that Artie somewhat sounds like Baloo from Jungle Book. That's where I got the deep voice theory.

[captslappy]

Very possible... having not heard him it is hard to say though. I am wondering who did the voice of John for the Beagles who did all the intros. It's just your typical generic British accent impersonation so it is very unlikely a unique voice actor did it. I'm betting if it wasn't someone that voiced one of the balcony characters it is likely the same person that did the King and/or Artie. The same is true for the Ed Sullivan impersonator on the Beach Bowzers. I actually do believe in this case that he is the same guy that did the Elvis voice for King. It's just sort of a monotone bass voice. Artie may be a unique situation like Dolli but I am betting King, Beagles and the Bowzers at least are the same guy. If I can get a hold of Jenn's tape or an actual reel of Artie I'd like to see.

[MMBBfan327]

We actually found a cover for "Artie I" however some Helen Henny reel was in it.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yeah, when i would listen to Artie he reminded me of a old time characters....his voice was very "nostalgic"..think 50's. I mentioned the Baloo similarities just to give folks some idea of what his voice is like. I figured everyone here has heard Baloo at least once in there lifetime!

Captain, if you want a copy of my two short skits send me a cassette tape. It can be put on the end of one you already have filled up with something else as it's only about 3/4 mins long. Very short, but it's half of a show, and then a full show. Songs include "Tip Toe thru the Tulips", "Three Little Fishies" and many other bits of songs cobbled together.

It is very possible and highly likely that the voice talent hired to perform the various characters could very well have done multiple characters. It may turn out that Munch's voice, or even Pasqually did Cab Acts on the side. Listen to them and maybe you can hear some similarities. Artie's voice COULD have also been the King's speaking voice. They sound similar to my ears. Artie had a great voice...full of character like all the Classic PTP's. Dolli was definately all her own...i really doubt the singer who voiced her did other characters. Her voice is too unique it seems. Artie is excellent too....very entertaining.

Dolli and Artie to me had far better material and shows then the King and Beagles combined. I was never crazy about the Bowzers, so i'm not even going to talk about them. The King and Beagles over the years have been hailed as great but apparently these folks never saw the REAL acts worth remembering. King and the Beagles had the built-in appeal of covering very famous people and material. Artie and Dolli did not....this is why i think most people seem to "forget" about the original Caberet performers. The Lounge acts were like an afterthought really...in my mind at least. Seriously...if you saw the Dolli/Artie shows in person you would know. There was a difference in the quality. I'm not knocking the King or the Beags', but when you compare the shows D and A had the edge quality and show wise.

Now B.B. Bubbles on the other hand...LOL.....!

Her show was kind of lame from my memory. I remember seeing her and thinking she looked odd and did'nt quite fit in with the other characters. I also did'nt care for the show material ( mostly kiddie songs from what i remember...) and her voice made me cringe. As noted before, her voice was very hgih pitched and giggily. I guess the intent was to appeal to little girls...but i was a girl and this sort of cheese left me cold. I do hope one of her reels turns up someday....then you all can hear what i mean. It's been so long since i have heard her, but i remember it vividly and also remember not likeing it too much. B.B was definately a step down from the good material used in the original Cab shows.

[captslappy]

Interesting "Tip Toe Thru the Tulips" was done by Dolli also. Wonder if they used a lot of the same songs? 3 Little Fishies was of course used in the Rock-afire's Kid's show. The last full RAE show ever done in the context of Showbiz Pizza. Not sure if the PTPs did it or not on their kids reel but wouldn't be surprised to find they did.

As for BB I believe she was rare enough and late enough she prolly had only one reel. As near as I can tell the Bowzers and King Kat only had one also. BB Bubbles to me doesn't quite look like a real PTT character.

To me she sort of looks like a bad rip off of someone trying to make a PTT-like character as opposed to her being a legit character. If you have ever seen knock-of toys of well known stuff you'll know what I mean by this. Cheap Sailor Moon dolls at flea markets, or knock off Transformer toys from the 80s. I can think of a ton of crap-afied rip off examples. That is my impression of BB looking at her.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yes, she is very unusual looking. I think it's the way her trunk just seems to be "stuck" on her face. Seriously, that always kind of through me as it looks so..er, "fake".

Interestingly though, as late as she was arriving she still managed to be immortalized on a few peices of memorabilia and merch items. The only item to date i have seen with a authentic graphic of her is the PTT Candle Tin. I never saw the Bowzers drawn on anything, or King Kat of course, but by that time PTT was bankrupt and the "new" Company run by Showbiz did'nt really seem to promote or use the other characters much after 85' or so. Everything was CEC and his 3 friends mostly....

BB was indeed a one off. It's no small wonder why she was not as widespread as the other acts.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Getting back on topic now...regarding Artie...

I was thinking of other ways i could describe his voice/personality to those out there who never heard him. Today i was in a resturant after work and heard the Jerry Lee Lewis song "Breathless". It hit me that this sounded VERY similar to Artie's style of singer. For those older fans who know classic 50's rock, Jerry Lee's voice will ring a bell. If you listen to the song, lower his voice a notch and it's Artie!

Hope this helps further in the mystery...

[dheineCECfan]

Wow, I wonder if there were any Artie Antlers covers of Jerry Lee Lewis songs (like "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" besides just mentioned "Breathless").

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Very, very possible Darryl.

Artie's style of music was VERY similar to Jerry Lee's. Even his voice was very similar.

I can easily see him covering some of his songs. He had that style.

[captslappy]

It would have been cool if they had worked it out to have Dolli and Artie both together. Have you guys ever heard of Dueling pianos? They could have really done something there with both of them.

[MMBBfan327]

I've been drawing stages like that for a while, with Dolli and Artie together. It's really cool looking, especially if it were real. I've also done some of a Jasper dressed as Indiana Jowls, Mr. Munch as Batmunch, and also 2-stage MMBB robots on their own stages spread out in the showroom. Neat stuff.

[dheineCECfan]

Can you imagine Dolli and Artie (or maybe Dolli, Artie, and B.B. Bubbles) on the same cabaret piano stage?

[MMBBfan327]

Yes, I can Darryl.

[captslappy]

That's what I meant with the whole dueling piano thing. Have them on the same stage or opposite ends of the room but they interact. If you have seen dueling pianos before you'll know what I mean by this.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

That would be flippin' sweet!

With today's technology, how cool would THAT be to re-introduce?

[dheineCECfan]

Speaking of dueling pianos (Dolli VS. Bubbles VS. Artie), if you have seen the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", you'll notice the dueling piano sequence with Daffy Duck and Donald Duck.

[captslappy]

Yeah! That's a great example of what I mean.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

It would be interesting to see them "face off" like that and have a duel in a Lounge room or something. I would pay to see that!

[captslappy]

Yeah BB wouldn't fit in with this concept. It would have to be Artie and Dolli in opposite corners. They ran off the same cards but they could easily adapt the system to make Artie run off a different set from Dolli. That would have really been a great show. Too bad they both took up so much room. I wonder if such a thing was ever considered. Also, I wonder if there ever was a store that had 2 caberets. Some stores had 2 lounges with the Beagles and King and sometimes also a cab lounge with Dolli but so far I have seen no evidence a store had both Artie and Dolli or BB at the same time. They probably didn't do it because it's too obvious its the same robot. I would be very surprised if the Beagles and Bowzers ever appeared in the same place. That definately would have been dumb.

[dheineCECfan]

How about if there was a duet song by Artie and Dolli? Like maybe they could cover a 1978 hit by Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond called "You Don't Bring Me Flowers".

[captslappy]

I don't think a straight up duet would really be interesting unless it's in the context of the dueling piano theme. They already had 5 singing characters in the other room. If you start doing the duet thing then you just have a smaller version of the same show in the other room. Dolli and Artie being solo is what set them apart. I think the only way it would work for them to both run as part of the same show is for it to be different. The whole dueling piano set up would really be the only interesting way to make it work.

[MMBBfan327]

What if back then, they used the same stage as the rotating CHuck on the 1-stage for Cabs, so when Dolli was done with a show and curtains went down, the stage would switch to become Artie. That'd be cool.

[captslappy]

Neat but very impractical as it would be way too costly. All of that stuff was built fairly cheaply but the side shows in particular were made inexpensively. That's mainly why they are only single characters to begin with or 4 small characters with few movements. That being said, having both Artie and Dolli together would have taken up way too much room and required lots of extra lighting effects too so they wouldn't have done that either but it's still cool to think about what could have been.

[MMBBfan327]

Yeah, it's REALLY cool! What if a SUPER large PTT back in the day had ALL of the characters ever used at PTT? That would be the greatest PTT of all time.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Something that i might have mentioned earlier in this thread..but thought if i did'nt i would now...

Glen Camel.

This was a early PTT Player that as far as i know was never made but looking at Artie one has to wonder if they were'nt "related" in some way.

[MMBBfan327]

Yeah, Artie's snout kinda looks like a camel's.

[captslappy]

Yeah I remember reading mention of him as an early planned guest. Very possible that they are related although Artie being a moose is more closely related to Elkton John. Also, for those who have never seen the piano playing caberet robots they are big. While they use the same upper body frames as a half body, the wooden frames they are mounted to and the way the swing levers are done make them very, very large robots. That is another reason the turntable idea while great as it is, would not have worked in reality. I definately think the caberet bots were not well designed and they would have been so much better had they been built more like today's Munch robot.

[MMBBfan327]

So their arms would not even play the piano, they just swung around?

also, going to the resemblance with the Who Framed Roger Rabbit and PTT piano duel, Artie, B.B., and Dolli wouldn't really try to kill each other though. :lol :o

[captslappy]

By "swing" I mean they go side to side. Munch and Fatz's hands go up and down. Fatz has a sort of elbow swing but Dolli's is different. The hands mount to spring loaded levers mounted to her base. Artie and Dolli's arms are not attached at the shoulders. The piano hides the levers and they sort of bobble back and forth but they look really well if you want her hands from over the top of the piano. B.B. Bubbles works the same way. Her trunk in case you are wonder works the same as Pasqually's mustache twitch.

[dheineCECfan]

How would you turn Artie Antlers into a camel (and for a current animatronic camel, the song suitable for him would be "My Humps" by Black Eyed Peas!)?

[captslappy]

Probably just removing the antlers would do it.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yep...that would just about do it. He already has the nose down pat!

Captain, i HAVE to ask...WTFudge is up with your avatar?? Is it a lampshade, or so retro Peter Gabriel avadent garde artwork man?? :rollin

[captslappy]

That is the news anchor character for a horrible awful show called "Wonder Showzen". I think they show it on M2. Anyway I thought it was time to do something different with my avatar. I've been hogging the good munch one far too long.

[MMBBfan327]

I was wondering who that was, too.

[MMBBfan327]

Anyway, back to Artie--Say Jenn, is there any special memory you have of visiting Artie, or even the Brandon location for that matter?

[MMBBfan327]

So, nothing new in the Artie discussion, I see. I feel that this thread is a very important one, with lots of new facts, so I am restoring it. :D

[captslappy]

Here is an interseting fun fact for you... Did you know the King and Artie use the same head back? How do I know? The tag on the inside identifies it as a king/artie head back. What does this mean? The front part of Kings mask must also be used. Why? The curves and shape of the front of the mask must match the back. So what is different on the mask? The nose/muzzle and maybe the jaw.

Other fun fact on mask: Pasqually's mask frame is also used for B.B. bubbles. I have studied this closely and am sure of this. Maybe SHJ can verify this for me absolutely.

We previously noted that Harmony and Foxy are the same mask with different fur and strongly believe Sally is the same mask as well.

One last one for you... this was noted in Ms. Dimples thread but it applies to Artie too since they are the same robot. The hands are actually to linked flag waivers turned sideways without the wooded plaquard. Pretty ingenious! Menutia realized this point at CV3.

[MMBBfan327]

Nice facts, man! Speaking of Pasqually, is it possible that Pasqually and Madame Oink have the same face? Think about it...the cheeks, the jaw, the lips...

sp-com.tripod.com/pizzaca...m98-10.jpg (http://sp-com.tripod.com/pizzacam/pizzacam/cecwalzem98-10.jpg)

sp-com.tripod.com/pizzaca...hony03.jpg (http://sp-com.tripod.com/pizzacam/anthony/anthony03.jpg)

Hmm...

[captslappy]

No they dont.

[MMBBfan327]

Oh, I see. Sorry, I could have sworn I saw a slight resemblance.

[captslappy]

In pics they look similiar but having owned both masks I can tell you that up close they are very different shapes and sizes. Pasqually and Oink's jaws are very different. The only ones that are the same are what I noted above. Obviously the Beagles and Bowzers were the same as were the Warblettes (although the beaks are a little diferent on the 2 versions), King/King Kat are the same too. Otherwise, the characters all had unique mask frames that were all a little difference.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

I will need to look at my BB Bubbles to see if i can confirm the Pasqually mask theory. I remember we talked about this before Captain. and i strongly agree that this is very possible but i need to compare the masks to be sure.


Nice facts by the way. Had no idea King and Artie were so "related"!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well i've had a look at BB's mask. I think it's too narrow. I have not gotten my Pasqually head out to compare it too, but after looking it over they look different to me Captain.


Back to Artie now...I need to send out a copy of that cassette recording i made of Artie in 1982. It is the only recorded show(s) that we know exsist, and you can clearly hear his great voice. Maybe i should just save it until me meet up again Mike? It's up to you. The tape is short, only 2 1/2 show skits if a remember right...but man they are nice. I think Menutia of all people would dig hearing Artie's voice...as all i can think of is classic radio days.

Love you guys!

[MMBBfan327]

Hey, Jenn. Do you think you could make me a copy of Artie? I can send you a cassette if needed. Email me off the board:

RyaMdwd@AOL.com

[RAFE CEC Guy]

"So, nothing new in the Artie discussion, I see. I feel that this thread is a very important one, with lots of new facts, so I am restoring it."

Just Restoring A Topic With LOTS Of Useful Info.

[captslappy]

Ok... do you have anything new to say on the subject that hasn't actually been said yet?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Artie is freaking awesome!

Mike, now that you have a copy of my tape, why not share your views on what you thought when you first heard him?

[captslappy]

Very true... so Jenn copied the tape for me. It's sort of what I expected but the voice was deeper than what I thought. I suspect this might be the guy that did King's speaking voice back in teh 80s. Artie is very much like Sonny Eclipse the singing alien at Disney. I spoke to an old Dallas area tech that said in 79 he was called Marty Moose. They probably changed his name because that was the same name used in the Griswald's National Lampoon Vaction to Wally World. It seems that Artie had 3 names: Elkton John, Marty Moose and finally Artie Antlers. He was definately in the Plano store as Marty Moose. That means there is likely a rare Marty reel floating around out there. Of course, box aside we have yet to find anything of Artie!

[MMBBfan327]

Hey Jenn, can you email me real quickly at RyaMdwd@AOL.com? Thanks

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Artie is too dang cool to see forgotten...so i am resurrecting his thread a bit higher on the list so it does not get lost in the forest of threads!

Artie was awesome. I really liked him a lot, he had a cool demeanor all his own. He was really the only reason i visited my "other" PTT near me when i lived in FL. Brandon had Dolli, The Beagles ( later The King..) AND the Little Shavers. Artie was cooler then any of them though. His voice was great as noted earlier too.....the voice actor who performed him really had his act together. It would be nice someday to know exactly who did his voice, as well as Dolli and B.B. Bubbles. I am guessing they may have been performed by some of the same artists who performed the Stage Characters...but only time will reveal the truth.

Artie was great......he could like so totally go on tour and pack em' in!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here are some photos from my personal collection ...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/deacy1/PTTHistoryArtieAntlersPosterjpeg.jpg

^^ 1980 Artie Antlers Poster

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/deacy1/PTTHistoryArtieAntlersinFLjpeg.jpg

^^ Instant Polaroid photos i shot at the Flower Ave. PTT in FL , 1981

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/deacy1/PTTHistoryMewithArtieinFLjpeg.jpg

^^ Myself ( age 10) with Artie at above said location, January of 82'

[MMBBfan327]

Awesome!!!!

[macrossmaster]

Well i've had a look at BB's mask. I think it's too narrow. I have not gotten my Pasqually head out to compare it too, but after looking it over they look different to me Captain.


Back to Artie now...I need to send out a copy of that cassette recording i made of Artie in 1982. It is the only recorded show(s) that we know exsist, and you can clearly hear his great voice. Maybe i should just save it until me meet up again Mike? It's up to you. The tape is short, only 2 1/2 show skits if a remember right...but man they are nice. I think Menutia of all people would dig hearing Artie's voice...as all i can think of is classic radio days.

Love you guys!

I know this is a way old post, but I bet its a great feeling to know you captured history and managed to preserve it all this time!

I think we need an MP3 to add to the website...

[dheineCECfan]

Here are some photos from my personal collection ...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/deacy1/PTTHistoryArtieAntlersPosterjpeg.jpg

^^ 1980 Artie Antlers Poster

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/deacy1/PTTHistoryArtieAntlersinFLjpeg.jpg

^^ Instant Polaroid photos i shot at the Flower Ave. PTT in FL , 1981

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/deacy1/PTTHistoryMewithArtieinFLjpeg.jpg

^^ Myself ( age 10) with Artie at above said location, January of 82'

Somewhat OT to Artie Antlers: I am still waiting for a 1980 Pizza Time Theatre presents Sally Sashay poster to surface...

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

I know this is a way old post, but I bet its a great feeling to know you captured history and managed to preserve it all this time!

I think we need an MP3 to add to the website...


Veganova made a file of it ages ago i believe as i sent him a copy of the tape years ago. It WILL be posted when the PTT Section is updated and more bits are added ( so i am told..)

Artie can then finally be heard by the masses!