History Trivia / TheRockafireExplosion

** As mentioned above, Fechter originally voiced Beach Bear and Mitzi, and voiced Fatz from 2007 to 2020 after original actor Burt "Sal" Wilson left the group due to a salary dispute. [[TheOriginalDarrin Wilson returned to the role in 2020.]]

* {{Dedication}}: The song [[ParentalLoveSong "Oh Dawn"]] from the Fall 1984 showtape was dedicated to Alyssa Dawn, Aaron Fetcher's then newborn daughter.

** In the early 1980s, Creative Engineering was developing second-generation animatronics. During the Colander Head Telethon in 1983, Aaron Fechter showcased the G2 Mitzi, who had a wider range of movement in her arms and hips, allowing her to dance rather than simply flailing her pom-poms around. G2 versions of Dook and Beach Bear were also planned: G2 Dook would have had articulated arms and wrists that would allow him to actually play his drumset, and G2 Beach Bear would have been able to stand up. At the same telethon, Aaron stated that eventually, they were going to develop animatronics that could ''walk around''. Budget cuts at [=ShowBiz=] meant the second-gen animatronics were never installed.

** There was going to be a Rock-afire Explosion version of the [[Creator/ChuckECheese Pizza Time Theatre]] "History of Rock & Roll" showtape, produced by [=ShowBiz=] corporate. It never made it past [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_PoJU9Z14Y a demo version]].

** Also considered were various original characters, all of whom were never given names, as well as another stage integrating Yogi, Boo-Boo, Cindy Bear, and WesternAnimation/{{Snagglepuss}}.

** Also considered were various original characters, all of whom were never given names, as well as another stage integrating Yogi, Boo-Boo, Snagglepuss, and Cindy.

** Also considered were various original characters, all of whom were never given names.

** During [=ShowBiz=] Pizza Time’s financial struggles in the mid-1980s, they decided to produce their own tapes in-house. After CEI responded with an unauthorized showtape around Christmastime in 1986, they gave back the recording rights to CEI, but not the programming rights.

** One reason why Fechter refused to hand his characters over to [=ShowBiz=] Pizza Time, Inc. (in addition to the company offering little-to-no monetary compensation) was because he was planning a cartoon series based on the band. As of 2022, it’s unlikely to happen.

* TheWikiRule: The [[https://showbizpizza.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page ShowBiz Pizza Wiki]].
* WriteWhatYouKnow: In the earliest shows, Billy Bob makes a new gas called "Gasahol" as part of a plan to solve the energy crisis. Fechter had previously made an energy-efficient car in the early 1970s, but it never caught on.

** Amid disputes with Creative, [=ShowBiz=] looked into replacing the band with licensed characters. Before they decided on [[WesternAnimation/YogiBear Yogi Bear and Boo Boo]], they considered ComicBook/SpiderMan, ComicBook/{{Superman}}, and ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}. According to Jul Kamen in [[https://www.showbizpizza.com/info/articles/spp/spp_86chicago.pdf this article]], [=ShowBiz=] also considered licensing a ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' character.

** The voice actors for the [=ShowBiz=]-produced tapes are not the actors from CEI’s tapes. To date, all but Billy Bob's voice actor (Bob West) and Rolfe's voice actor (Joe Conti) are still unidentified.
* RoleReprise: For the WesternAnimation/YogiBear showtape, Creator/DawsButler and Creator/DonMessick reprised their resepctive roles as Yogi and Boo-Boo. For Butler, it would be one of the last times he voiced Yogi, as he passed away the following year.

* TheDanza: Duke Chauppetta as Dook [=LaRue=]. While spelled differently (though it was spelled as "Duke" pre-1981), it’s still pronounced the same way.

** The voice actors for the [=ShowBiz=]-produced tapes are not the actors from CEI’s tapes. To date, all but Rolfe's voice actor (Joe Conti) are still unidentified.

* ChildrenVoicingChildren: Shalisa Sloan was 11 when she was hired to voice Mitzi. She has continued voicing Mitzi well into her adulthood.

* CrossdressingVoices: Aaron Fechter originally voiced Mitzi Mozzarella; this was derived from when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsVA1GIrXU8 a version of the Wolf Pack 5 show]] was quickly put together for the first [=ShowBiz=] Pizza Place as a placeholder show, and at the request of Showbiz Pizza the character Queenie Fox (who, contrary to earlier claims, was voiced by an actual woman, a female CEI employee) be retooled into Mini Mozzarella, a female mouse, to go with the pizza motif. In addition to recording new announcer spiels and Wolfman dialogue, Aaron also re-recorded Queenie's songs (most notably "Dragstrip in the Sky"). When the Rockafire Explosion finally debuted in July 1980, Aaron initially continued to voice Mini's successor Mitzi (in a more high, shrill-sounding voice that would better fit a girl mouse), until 1982 when an actual female, Monique Danielle, took over the role briefly, before the then 11-year-old Shalisa Sloan (now Shalisa James), [[TheOtherDarrin took over as the voice of Mitzi]], a character she still voices to this day.

* DescendedCreator: Aaron Fetcher, owner of Creative Engineering and creator of the Rock-afire Explosion, also voices Billy Bob, Looney Bird, Rolfe [=DeWolfe=] and Earl Schmerle. He also used to voice Beach Bear and Mitzi Mozzarella in the earlier shows, as well as Fatz Geromino from 2007 to 2020.

** When Uncle Klunk was introduced, [=ShowBiz=] didn’t like the way he was portrayed, so they forced CEI to change him. CEI hired a voice actor and outsourced the audio to another company (though they still did the programming).

* VoicesInOneRoom: How showtape production was generally done.

** As stated above, Fechter wanted Queenie Fox to be a member of the Rock-afire before ExecutiveMeddling from [=ShowBiz=] forced him to make her a mouse.

** Amid disputes with Creative, [=ShowBiz=] looked into replacing the band with licensed characters. Before they decided on [[WesternAnimation/YogiBear Yogi Bear and Boo Boo]], they considered ComicBook/SpiderMan, ComicBook/{{Superman}}, and ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}.
** One reason why Fechter refused to hand his characters over to [=ShowBiz=] Pizza Time, Inc. (in addition to the company offering little-to-no monetary compensation) was because he was planning a cartoon series based on the band. As of April 2022, it’s unlikely to happen.

* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: Both the unauthorized Christmas showtape of 1986 and the 1987 New Year's showtape were done completely unscripted. The latter was done to make that show feel like a real concert.

* TheDanza:
** Duke Chauppetta as Dook [=LaRue=]. While spelled differently (though it was spelled as "Duke" pre-1981), it’s still pronounced the same way.
** During the 1986-87 period when [=ShowBiz=] programmed RAE shows in-house, Billy Bob was voiced by Creator/BobWest.

** The voice actors for the [=ShowBiz=]-produced tapes are not the actors from CEI’s tapes. To date, all but Rolfe's voice (Joe Conti) and Billy Bob's voice (Creator/BobWest) are still unidentified.

** During the 1986-87 period when [=ShowBiz=] programmed RAE shows in-house, one of Billy Bob's voice actors was Creator/BobWest.
* DescendedCreator: Aaron Fetcher, owner of Creative Engineering and creator of the Rock-afire Explosion, also voices Billy Bob, Looney Bird, Rolfe [=DeWolfe=] and Earl Schmerle. He also used to voice Beach Bear and Mitzi Mozzarella in the earlier shows, as well as Fatz Geromino from 2006 to 2020.

** The voice actors for the [=ShowBiz=]-produced tapes are not the actors from CEI’s tapes. To date, all but Rolfe's voice (Joe Conti) are still unidentified.

* TheDanza: Duke Chauppetta as Dook [=LaRue=]. While spelled differently (though it was spelled as "Duke" pre-1981), it’s still pronounced the same way.
* DescendedCreator: Aaron Fetcher, owner of Creative Engineering and creator of the Rock-afire Explosion, also voices Billy Bob, Looney Bird, Rolfe [=DeWolfe=] and Earl Schmerle. He also used to voice Beach Bear and Mitzi Mozzarella in the earlier shows, and also currently voices Fatz Geronimo.

** One reason why Fechter refused to hand his characters over to [=ShowBiz=] Pizza Time, Inc. (in addition to the company offering little-to-no monetary compensation) was because he was planning a cartoon series based on the band. As of January 2021, it’s unlikely to happen.