I went to Chuck E. Cheese’s once or twice when I was a kid, and all I can remember is that it was a ton of fun and absolute sensory overload. One thing that always kind of freaked me out, however, was the animatronic band that played there. As it turns out, there was another competing pizza chain back in the ’80s that had even more advanced animatronics called Showbiz Pizza Place, but they eventually merged with Chuck E. Cheese and their robot band The Rock-afire Explosion was pulled from the restaurants.

Twenty years later, The Rock-afire Explosion has been kept alive due to a cult following of fans who have managed to acquire the old animatronics equipment and learned to program it to perform in restaurants, theme parks and also on YouTube. This documentary follows one such fan who opened his own restaurant, and also Aaron Fechter, the original creator of the band. The movie, entitled simply The Rock-afire Explosion, has been getting rave reviews as a moving look at creativity, nostalgia, and the “eternal quest to stay young”. The movie is now available on DVD (although the official website says it is currently sold out). Check out the trailer below.