Netclix Gold: Rock-afire Explosion

Sometimes you stumble upon gold on Netflix.  When I do I like to tell people about it.  This week I have found a documentary call "The Rock-afire Explosion."  This movie takes a look at Showbiz Pizza, which was a very kid friendly franchise in the 80s.  Beyond the restaurant the film takes a look at the animatronic band, "The Rock-afire Explosion.

This band made up of different animals, was always fund for me as a kid.  The commercials for Showbiz made a lot of use out of showing the electronic band.  I only remember going to showbiz Pizza one time in my childhood.  For me the band was a bit of a disappointment.  As I recall as a 8 or so year old I was, I was much more interested in playing the video games.  I was also disappointed in the band because it didn't look as cool as it did on the TV screen in the commercials.  If memory serves there were bits and bobs that didn't seem to work all that well.

Of course, there are others who have much more fond memories of Showbiz and the Rock-afire Explosion, and these guys are represented in this documentary.  Some of them like it so much that they have one of the bands in themselves.  They even program them to sing modern songs.

The Story of Showbiz, the band and the merger with Chuck E Cheese is one that effected many people.  Of course the Fans were effected by it because they no longer got to experience the thing they loved, but there was a company that created these animatronic joy makers.  Creative Engineering was a company owned and operated by Aaron Fechter, employed hundreds of engineers, sculpters, programmers,  Costume makers, and much more.  Today the building that all of these shows were created in stand just as they did when each of these employees were fired or layed off, because Aaron could no longer afford them once Showbiz parted ways with them.

The documentary tells a very interesting story that will hit home for anyone who grew up in the 80s going to to showbiz, or even just seeing the commercials on TV!  If you get a chance dig up this goldmine on netflix, it will be worth your time!