studio c

in december of 1997, studio c debuted. the location in brookfield, wisconsin was the first to get it, followed by the now-closed location in dallas, texas on montfort dr. this first version of studio c is called "studio c alpha." it's themed to a late night talk show, and is the first widely produced stage to have one animatronic, that being chuck e, instead of five animatronics. this animatronic has 32 movements. the first two locations had some minor differences: the c on top of the building is different, the desk has edges, and the apple tv has a bigger screen. a smaller variant was made for the cec entertainment home office, and was used to program studio c showtapes. the finalized version was first installed in grand chute, wisconsin in march 1998. to the far right is a blue screen area where a camera would record whatever was in front of a blue screen, displaying it on the tv screens. the center has a wall that projects the showtape that is playing, and the blue screen area. below this was the interactive console. the interactive console had three screens and buttons that would play sound effects and character voice clips. a tv on the far left could be used to play games on the official website, and there were two other tvs that displayed the feed from different cameras. 1997 and 1998 showtapes were made for this stage, and would have chuck talking abt what's going on onstage with his bird. his friends were made into puppets that would be shown on the tv, and chuck would interact with them. studio c alpha was costly to produce, and the desk caused wear and tear on the animatronic, so it was discontinued in 2001. the interactive console and blue screen area were also phased out bc they were hard to maintain.

a special stage was created for the chuck e cheese's 1998 general managers convention in las vegas, nevada. it was intended to showcase the new studio c concept. chuck e and bird were in the center of the stage on two black platforms. there were 5 tvs behind them, a golden streamer backdrop, and a "star cap" chuck logo behind them. to chuck's right was a podium for the event. a custom showtape was made so chuck and bird hosted the event. the bird animatronic is in the chuck e cheese's corporate office in irving, texas, and his outfit is supposedly in a private collection, but it's unknown what happened to the chuck animatronic or the stage props.

in august 1999, a chuck e cheese's location opened in west st paul, minnesota. this location used to be a circus pizza, and before that, it was a showbiz pizza place. the animatronics there were in poor condition, so a studio c alpha was installed. instead of removing the previous stage, the studio c alpha was built into it. it had 3 tvs, which weren't seen again until studio c beta was created in september 2000. unlike other studio c alphas, it didn't have an apple tv. the stage remained at the location until its closure in fall 2019.

in april 2000, a prototype of what would later be known as "studio c beta" debuted in april 2000 at the athens, georgia location. it saw the removal of chuck's desk and the interactive console, as well as the late night talk show theme being dropped. it also featured a different background, the blue screen was closer to chuck, and the tvs were higher up. this only came to five locations: athens (georgia), brownsville, tyler, midland (texas), and clarksville (tennessee).

in september of that year, studio c beta (also called studio c 2000) was created, debuting in birmingham, alabama. like the prototype, it doesn't have the desk or interactive console, or the late night talk show theme. the bird animatronic was removed, and the background was changed to be a swirl with tubes that light up. the floor is usually studio c carpet or the store's carpet. replacing the interactive console are 3 tv screens with the letters "cec" under them; these letters were originally gold but were changed to be red. smaller locations recieved a variant with one screen. on stage right is the blue screen, and the chuck animatronic is on stage left as usual. early animatronics would have 32 movements, but most of them had 16. some 2012 studio c beta designs don't have the blue screen, and have the ticket blaster instead. these were built until 2012. my closest location had studio c beta before it was unfortunately remodeled in 2023 :< i don't remember it well tho cuz i didn't go there much. the last time i went was for my cousin's birthday a few years ago. i was like 14 and just wanted to be on my phone. it's rly too bad...

in december 2000, the chuck e cheese's in jeddah, saudia arabia recieved a unique stage that was a mix of studio c alpha and the studio c beta prototype. it had a 32 movement chuck e bot in the middle, which wore a tuxedo outfit. it had the bird animatronic and pizza phone from studio c alpha, and the pizza time clock seen on alpha, beta, and gamma stages; it also had the backdrop from the beta prototype. there was an alpha monitor, interactive console, and blue screen on each side of the stage, tho the interactive consoles would eventually be removed. there were also 3 tvs above the stage. this stage was there until the store closed in july 2019.

in june 2002, the "studio c kappa prototype" was released. the first location to get it was waco, texas. it had no animatronics and only had the blue screen with 3 tvs in front of it. it was intended to be a cheaper version of studio c for smaller locations. it was poorly recieved and all three kappa prototypes were removed by late 2005.

in july 2003, "studio c gamma" debuted at the joplin, missouri location, intended to be a cheaper version of studio c beta. it was similar to beta but there was a mirror background behind the chuck e animatronic. it doesn't have the pizza time clock seen on alpha, beta, and kappa stages. it originally didn't have the blue screen, but it was later added in, and then replaced with the ticket blaster mural. the last one was built in september 2003.

in november of the same year, "studio c kappa" was introduced at the tuscaloosa, alabama location. it was meant to be a cheaper variant of studio c beta, for locations that were too small for beta's single-screen version. it has a swirl design similar to that of studio c beta's. like gamma, it features 3 tvs with the blue screen underneath them. there is also a variant of it that's a mix with the beta design; it has the beta background with the kappa tvs. the last store to open with a studio c kappa used this variant, and it opened in october 2006 in new hartford, new york.

from april 2010 to august 2012, the dallas location on montfort dr had a test stage known as the "star stage." it had a 32 movement chuck e animatronic, and behind him were computer operated cutouts of pasqually and the singing flowers. there was a tv on each side, and they would play showtapes. there were two lowering backdrops, of a recording studio and a stadium, respectively.

while not using the studio c name, a test stage using the same animatronic, called the "galaxy stage," debuted with the opening of the west melbourne, florida location in april 2011. it was exclusive to this location. it had the animatronic on stage left, with a light-up railing around him. the background was a futuristic city, complete with ufos. in the center was a projector that would be replaced with a tv, which would play the current showtape. on stage right was a moon that lit up, and in front of it was a ticket blaster designed to look like a rocket ship. above the stage was a banner that said "where a kid can be a kid." some theorize that this was a prototype for the "circles of light" stage. it was removed when the store remodeled in april 2023.

the circles of light stage started being used in august 2012. again, it didn't use the studio c name but had the same animatronic. it debuted in the dallas, texas location on montfort dr. the animatronic is rly the only similar thing to studio c. it features a large screen and a bunch of circles on the wall that light up. the montfort location had a 32 movement animatronic but the rest have 16 movement ones. these would continue to be opened until october 2021, but the ones built in 2014 and after don't have the animatronic.

in 2022, chuck e cheese's started to use digital showtapes instead of discs. studio c and its system used special file formats, which caused issues, so cec stopped programming studio c shows. all remaining animatronics are now set on random movements.

in july 2024, the nanuet, new york location got its 2.0 remodel. however, it kept its studio c beta stage and animatronic. it's like any other studio c beta, but with a dance floor in front of it.

personally, studio c is my fav chuck e animatronic. the older ones look creepy, which is cool and all, but studio c chuck looks so friendly and huggable. i wanna pet his fur... hopefully i'll get the chance !