These Vintage Photos of Chuck E. Cheese Will Transport You Back in Time

Did you know our old pal Charles Entertainment Cheese is actually 47 years old? His “restaurant” has gone through a lot of changes since 1977, and so have he and his pals. While only five locations will hang onto the iconic Chuck E. Cheese animatronic band as the rest are phased out, the band continues to play on in our memories.

Want to dive back into the nostalgia of old-time Chuck E. Cheese? Let’s do it. 

Charles has a pretty stellar look here, in what seems to be the '80s. As somebody on Reddit points out, he looks like a "riverboat gambler.” 

The prizes were pretty epic back in the day. We’ve got awesome shirts. We’ve got sticky hands. We’ve even got NERF guns.  

The shirt thing is undeniably cool. I feel like these things sell for a pretty penny at vintage sales. 

It was ALL about the ceiling tubes. Nothing like crawling across the top of the restaurant like Spider-Man and spying on your friends below. 

One great thing about Chuck’s establishment was that from 1979 all the way to 2016, he released a special edition token with the year on it. Today, they’ve replaced them with a digital “Play Pass” system. 

Sad stuff. 

This '90s deal advertises a large pizza, three sodas, and a whopping 30 tokens for less than $20. Today, you won’t even find military discounts that generous. 

My word. Look at those things. It’s got those “Polar Express” eyes. Lifeless eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be living. 

It’s unclear what era of Chuck’s career this comes from, but based on his design, this looks like it’s from the '70s or early '80s. 

Like, honestly. Did they intentionally make him look terrifying? Why does he look so mad? It’s not hard to see the inspiration behind all the movies where these characters come to life and attack people. Chuck looks fully possessed by the devil.

The taker of this photo seems to suggest Chuck was spanking somebody with his tail in this photo. The '80s were quite a different time, it seems. 

My man is looking sleepy with those half-open eyelids, but he’s right to be psyched about his 2002 token. That thing could be worth something now. This look remains, somehow, less creepy than some of the '80s ones. 

I know we’re really focusing on how scary these critters were, but seriously. It’s all I can think about when I look at them. I’m not gonna sleep for a week. 

It’s fun how in the '80s, toys were barely toys. One of these “toys” is a watch. Hardly a fun toy. 

Did you know about this? I sure didn’t. Chuck apparently starred in a direct-to-video movie called “Galaxy 5000” and instead of wearing a spacesuit on the cover, he seems to be wearing a race car driver’s outfit. I simply must find this movie. 

Thanks to the digital switch Chuck E. Cheese has gone through with the Play Pass, there is no longer much use for the Ticket Muncher. Damn shame. Loved to see that thing munch up my tickets.