Chuck E. Cheese’s animatronic rock band comes back to life at Volo Museum with help of Crystal Lake teen

The animatronic rock band that once graced the stages of ShowBiz Pizza Place and Chuck E. Cheese locations will have a new home at the Volo Museum this summer.

The Rock-afire Explosion is a seven-member band of animatronic bears, a bird, mouse, wolf, mongrel and gorilla that were popular attractions at family entertainment centers about 40 years ago.

Volo Museum Director Brian Grams bought the complete matching-numbers set in 2019. He is setting up the robots to perform on a newly constructed, enclosed 40-by-10-foot stage with three garage-style doors that will open during shows. A tentative opening date is set for June 1 for Rock-afire Explosion’s re-debut at the Volo Museum, at 27582 Volo Village Road in Volo, publicist Cynthia Wolf said.

“This is the holy grail of pizza animatronics,” Grams said in a news release. “I believe we will be one of only two locations in the U.S., and three in the world, with a full Rock-afire show operating in the public. The rest are owned by collectors.”

Much of the work to reanimate the characters was done by 17-year-old Crystal Lake-area resident Jacob Mickan. Powered by his self-taught passion for the robotics, he purchased his own Rock-afire Explosion character Dook LaRue on eBay in 2021 and brought it back to working order by watching YouTube videos, he said.

Mickan, who graduated early from Crystal Lake Central High School, knows how to hook up the 40-year-old animatronics properly to a series of pneumatic tubes, from which pumped air brings them to life by moving their limbs and blinking their eyes. He started working with the Volo Museum after Grams sent out a request for help on the Facebook page.

“I like being here,” Mickan said. “It’s a lot of fun and something I really enjoy, working on these guys. I’ve already had people stopping over to check on the progress. They’re excited to see it when it’s done.”

Mickan said he’s loved the characters since he was a child going to Chuck E. Cheese, but what really sparked his interested was when the popular video game “Five Nights at Freddy’s” was released in 2014. Now, he sees recovering old robotics and technology as a possible career path.

“I’m really excited to see people’s reactions to this because a lot of people remember them from their childhood and a lot of people know them from ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s,’ so it will be very cool,” he said.

Grams said he was surprised to see someone as young as Mickan to be so interested in Rock-afire Explosion. When Grams was searching for additional help on the project, he assumed he would get someone much older that maybe used to work on the robots in the past, he said.

“The audience base is absolutely blowing me away,” he said. “The fanatics are about 20 years old and younger. It’s ridiculous how much they know about this band.”

Total costs to revive the band of Mitzi, Fatz, Billy Bob, Rolfe, Dook, Looney Bird and Beach Bear, including licensing, is estimated to be about $250,000, according to the release.

“Our investment will be well worth it when we see the smiles on the next generation to fall in love with this band,” Grams said. “We’re thrilled to preserve this iconic piece of history and put it back on public view.”

The stage is set to be nearby the Munchin’ Junction food court so families can enjoy the band performances on the grass while enjoying a snack. The animatronic band is capable of learns hundreds of songs, but the team plans on sticking to the classic Rock-afire songs for now, Grams said.

”This has been a long time in the making,” Grams said. “During fair weather and at set times, the doors to the stage will open and play a free show. We are also looking into bill acceptors that would allow people to see a show on their schedule.”