THAT’S RIGHT NEW WINCHESTER ARTICLE I FOUND FROM SEPTEMBER 28, 1979!
First, I want to note that one other person (maybe multiple) knew of this article beforehand. I also want to note that this paper now puts the 1979 Four Corners footage before this in the timeline, possibly significantly earlier in 1979 than expected. There were guesses filming was in October due to the Jasper T. Jowls Halloween Mask being present in a “The Pizza Time Promotions” case, but now we know these masks are dated 1978, so that promotions case likely shows year-round promotions and doesn’t date the footage.
TLDR;
- Sometime after the 1979 Four Corners footage, Dolli Dimples gets installed on the show floor right next to Chuck and Munch. (assumingly, they note her as being at the ‘front’ of the room with the games to the ‘right’, but they say that she has ‘drums, a cowbell, tambourine, wooden blocks’ above her which means she isn’t under Jasper. Technically she still has games to the right with the pinball room)
- Also this quote “With the exception of Dolly, these characters are at present time not in use, being updated elsewhere, according to Cameron, but they will be back” Uhhhh???
- Additionally, no guest star is mentioned, but Munch is mentioned. We know the Madame Oink II tape ran from early ‘79 to November 79, with Winchester having an exclusive Crusty variant of the audio, but the Four Corners footage is unclear if it has a guest star at that point. Either way the store installs Munch sometime between then and this article.
- One room now has a poster of Chuck E. welcoming President Carter to PTT? Have we seen this?
- One room now contains kiddy rides which are listed: Snoopy’s WWI Plane, a hippo, a caterpillar, an elephant, and more.
Full Text: (Article Link)
“DESPITE APPEARANCES, family entertainment is still alive and well in the local area and in this column. Living proof of that is tucked away in the Town and Country shopping center along Winchester Boulevard, next to Great Western Savings. There you will find the Pizza Time Theatre, a place to take the young ones of all ages in your family for good food and the latest in sophisticated electronic gaming.
THE PIZZA TIME Theatre is pizzadom’s answer to Farrell’s, and then some. You enter the large dining room, filled with crowd-sized tables and adorned around the ceiling with flags of America, California, the Confederacy, and Italy; suspended from the center is a red and gold-brocaded carousel with three large figures of magpies. You are served by a friendly derby-wearing staff; very ample pizzas of the thick-crust type; the menu also includes a complete salad bar, luncheon specials, and other foods aside from pizza.
YOU EAT WHILE being occasionally sung to by Dolly, the orange-haired hippo “playing” the large mock piano at the front of the room; she has a sultry female voice and does 40’s-jazz-old-time tunes. After the meal, you may want to wander along the right side of the room into any of several smaller rooms stocked with a wide range of electronic games, children’s rides, or pinball.
ASSISTANT manager Scott Cameron, who has been there since June, speaks with open enthusiasm about the restaurant; here is someone who is wrapped up in the spirit as well as the managing and promotion of the place. This Pizza Time has been open for a couple of years, and is the first in a series of them. (There is another Pizza Time in San Jose on Kooser Road, apparently larger than this one, if possible.) They were begun by Nolan Bushnell, the electronics genius who invented the first pong game and pioneered with Atari before entering the restaurant business. It was conceived as a place for people to come to enjoy themselves.
AND SO IT is. This is, says Cameron, a combination of the Muppets and Disneyland. It has its own cast of characters, real and electronic, who provide entertainment. The main one, the “Big Daddy”, is Chuck E. Cheese, a rat — not a mouse, says Cameron — a hard-nosed, James Cagney-type fellow who introduces his fellow performers and emcees the shows that they give. (Occasionally, he appears in human form, wandering around the restaurant to greet the children who follow him and try to pull his tail off.)
ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS are Pasqually, the singing chef who announces orders in Italian; Jasper Jowls, the canine country singer-comedian; the three Warblettes, the Soul Singing Magpies who fill the carousel on the ceiling; and Mr. Munch, only described as looking like someone who comes out of the Adams Family. And of course, Dolly, who mans the piano. Accompanying her songs is an arrangement of percussion instruments — drums, a cowbell, tambourine, wooden blocks — mounted on a shelf above her. Colored spots flash on each as it is played. With the exception of Dolly, these characters are at the present time not in use, being updated elsewhere, according to Cameron, but they will be back.
THERE ARE at least five individual game rooms along the right wall and front of the restaurant. The first contains five regular booths, where one — or four or five — can sit to eat, but there are coin-operated pong-like games installed in the tables. Most of the rooms contain a wide assortment of games — space invaders, wall games, racecar driving, pinball machines, and the like. One room has a poster on the wall of a jam band, with Chuck E. welcoming President Carter to Pizza Time.
THERE ARE plenty of things for the very little ones, too. One room contains animated figures to ride on: Snoopy’s World War I plane, a hippo, a caterpillar, an elephant, etc. And in the vestibule is a huge hollow wooden Swiss cheese with holes big enough for children to climb through and crawl around on the carpeted stair maze within. Even the corners and walls are made use of, with a game or two here and there.
THE ENTIRE setup encourages the too-oft-unusual activity of whole families participating in having fun together. Parents and children alike crowd and huddle in tense excitement around the machines, sharing the fun. Fairly filled on weekdays and jammed on weekends, the attendance suggests that the desire for such activity is there and this is certainly one place to go to find it.”
