Niagara Falls, Ontario company Enter-Tech (formerly Waxattract) has been discussed in great detail on this site, even getting a rare special article which can be read here. They were by far one of, if not the most important companies in the development of the Canadian amusement industry as we know it today, and the worldwide industry in general. It's tragic then that most, if not all historians in the amusement history corner of the internet have never heard of them. In brief summary - I first dug the name out of the copyright archive around 5 years ago when researching Niagara's legendary Castle Dracula, and instantly got a feeling that this company was much, much bigger than just that. After years of research, browsing newspaper archives, and interviewing members of the sole family who ran the company, my suspicions were confirmed. They were hugely important to the industry - from designing and building scenes for the majority of Niagara's many wax museums, haunted attractions, and exhibits, to being innovators in early lightshow and projection technology, to pioneering the first electronically programmable animatronics outside of Disneyland for The House of Frankenstein in 1971. By 1980, the company had rebranded from Waxattract to Enter-Tech to reflect changes in the industry as the company's animatronic technology got more advanced, and animated shows became the forefront of the business.
Even after learning so much about this company and their vast portfolio, I still can't shake the feeling the company was bigger and more influential than even those involved with it know. One thing that stood out to me when I interviewed members of the Dunham family (who ran business), was that their work didn't stay local to Niagara Falls - far from it. The company built displays and exhibits across Canada, and more importantly than that for today's topic, sold pre-built haunted walkthrough attractions, stage shows, displays and figures to attraction operators at trade shows in the States. That's the work that to this day, remains mostly lost to time. A 1980 newspaper article states that by that point the company was producing "around 60 figures a year", which would have made them one of the largest animation companies in the world at that time, certainly the largest in Canada. Where all those figures went, the ones that didn't end up in iconic Niagara Falls attractions at least, remains largely a mystery. There's tidbits of information buried out there - people remember a "Boris Karloff Wax Museum" in Wildwood, NJ that was likely one of their pre-built haunted attractions, a newspaper article mentions they built an animatronic W.C. Fields for a bar in the States, and they had some sort of work relationship with Creative Presentations out of Schaumburg, IL, possibly even doing early commissions for them until Creative Presentations began building their own shows. But several recently uncovered photos and anecdotes in corners of the internet may just shine some light onto where at least some of this work that has been sadly lost to time was located.
Exhibit A gives us Circus Time Pizza in Flint, Michigan, and actually connects back to a strange newspaper article covering the Hillbilly Bear Jamboree show. The article on the Hillbilly Bear Jamboree's construction in 1982 shows a photo of a panda bear in front of a circus backdrop, stating he is "Big John" who leads Enter-Tech's Hillbilly Bear Jamboree. However, what limited footage and photos of the Hillbilly Bear Jamboree exist show a different large bear leading the band, who is presumably Big John. The panda bear seems to be totally absent from the show, unless it was outfront the attraction in the hallways of the mall, or on a side stage, which the show doesn't seem to have had. It also doesn't seem the mysterious panda's outfit or circus backdrop match the woodland theme of the Hillbilly Bear Jamboree. What the panda does match however, both in style and theme, is an illustration of a bartender panda character in the above newspaper advertisement for Circus Time Pizza. Circus Time Pizza opened in 1983 and unfortunately only lasted until 1984. It's possible that upon visiting Enter-Tech's studio to report on the construction of the Hillbilly Bear Jamboree, the reporter also photographed other works in progress, which Circus Time Pizza's show would have been at that time. It's possible the newspaper's editors then used the incorrect photo assuming he was part of the Hillbilly Bear Jamboree, or even possible that he shared the named "Big John" for the Circus Time show if it's a name Enter-Tech enjoyed using, adding to the paper's confusion. You can faintly make out the words "Bear Jamboree" on the panda's hat however, furthering this mystery.
The mysterious panda isn't the only piece of evidence here tying this show to Enter-Tech. The company frequently blended art styles even within the same show, usually creating a varied cast of characters instead of all the characters in a show being done in the same art style. Some characters would have sculpted latex masks, whereas characters right next to them would have foam sculpted heads done in a more plush style similar to the animatronics found at Chuck E. Cheese's. This is a distinct feature of Circus Time, which actually had multiple shows. The main stage consisted of the aforementioned panda bartender, a drumming rabbit, a tiger vocalist, a bear on guitar and a saxophone-playing elephant.
Side lounge rooms contained side-shows (pun not intended), one being a circus performer who was a spoof of Kenny Rogers, and the other being a panther in a cage alongside a clown named Jell E. Bean, the restaurant's mascot. These characters, specifically the panther, match the contrasting character styles of Enter-Tech's shows. While no photos exist of the main stage, the circus-themed stage the mysterious Enter-Tech panda figure was photographed on appears to be larger than what's seen in the photo, alluding to him being part of a larger show. This is all speculation, but it's very possible this character was on the main stage at Circus Time Pizza. It's also possible, of course, that the panda was somehow part of Hillbilly Bear Jamboree after all or a different restaurant/stage show entirely, and that Enter-Tech was involved in Circus Time Pizza, but this panda figure was not. Finally, there's the possibility this is entirely coincidence, and they weren't involved in the restaurant at all, but with nobody online having a clue who produced the Circus Time Pizza shows, and Enter-Tech's work being as vast as it was, it's a strong possibility.
Next we have the ultra obscure Pizza Planet of Buffalo lore. Another spot just across the border, the only evidence of it's existence is a 1984 commercial that went viral for it's low-budget production and unsettling narration, as well as the nightmare-inducing Peppy Roni walk around costume. No other photos, videos, and only a handful of vague newspaper articles featuring the attraction exist, leaving little tangible record of it. Coupled with the fact that the fictional arcade restaurant in Toy Story shares the same name, this means any browser search for this place turns up completely empty, except that commercial. What that commercial does feature however is a brief clip of the restaurant's animatronic band in the background of a birthday party. The figures on this stage bear striking resemblance to Enter-Tech's work, specifically the mechanical shapes of their "All Star Mouse Review" show, the only show of Enter-Tech's that is *quite literally*, lost. As in, it was never installed and nobody knows where it went or what happened to it. You can read more about that fascinating story here. The art style on these panda characters is also extremely similar to the panda figure discussed above. The restaurant opened in 1983 and lasted until around 1985, so the timeline also lines up.
Exhibit C brings us to Paul E. Parrott in Pheonix, AZ. This is definitely the biggest speculation in this post, as the band featured at this F.E.C. is totally lost. No photos or video exist of this band or the interior of this restaurant at all. All we have to go off is detailed illustrations of the characters in a newspaper advertisement, and while they do look strikingly similar to Enter-Tech's art style, it's hard to say based off illustrations alone. The restaurant was also located on the opposite side of the U.S. from where the bulk of Waxattract/Enter-Tech's confirmed or suspected works abroad ended up. Their influence can be found mostly along the East Coast due to the company owning and operating attractions in Lake George, Myrtle Beach and Panama City Beach, with some more of their confirmed commission work found in the North half of the country. An animatronic toucan is seen in an early 80's Enter-Tech IAAPA brochure, and is the only figure seen in the brochure who's purpose hasn't been made clear, however the species of bird doesn't match. While it does prove they produced a bird mechanism, any relation stops there, and until photos surface of Paul E. Parrot and friends, we'll likely never know.
Finally, and most excitingly, we have the only find in this post that without a shred of doubt, proves the existence of a previously unknown and lost Enter-Tech show. Huckleberry Junction Playhouse Theater, also located just outside Flint, Michigan, needs no introduction when it comes to animatronic pizza restaurants. The attraction has been around since at least 1982 or '83, and is still going strong to this day. The attraction now features the popular mass-produced "Daniel and the Dixie Diggers" animatronic show built by the legendary Sally Corporation, which can be found at various amusement parks and restaurants across the world along with their side-stage counterpart, Jethro P. Hogg. However fans of the attraction's 80's glory days remember a different band there, that up until recently, we've had no photos of. These images were recently brought to my attention of the illusive "Animal Krackers" show, which operated at Huckleberry Junction from opening day until it was replaced in 1994. Apparently, fans of animatronic shows have been searching for the manufacturer of this show for as long as it's been mentioned on the internet, with theories ranging between everything from the band being created as a project by a local career skills college to being produced by Dave Thomas, former lead artist at Creative Engineering, who built the animatronics for the giant Showbiz Pizza chain. The truth however, is that this show was made right here in Canada by Enter-Tech. Let's take a deep-dive into why.
First of all, the art style is instantly familiar, but upon closer inspection, these characters seem to be direct retrofits of Enter-Tech's other confirmed works. The dog (or lion?) at the piano, the female singer sitting on the piano, the moose drummer, and the mouse railroad conductor all appear to be direct cosmetic makeovers of characters from the Mouse Revue, with the conductor even using the same face mask with different coloured fur surrounding it. The dog on guitar has a similar posture and art style to all of Enter-Tech's confirmed works, but the biggest tell is the panda bear on the stand up bass. He seems to be an almost exact copy of Beverly Bear, the seated fiddle player from the Hillbilly Bear Jamboree, his fiddle has just been swapped for a bass and his fur is a different colour. This incredibly unique and specific character design in particular, when put together with all the other evidence presented here, proves almost without a doubt that this show is the work of Enter-Tech.
There were allegedly two more characters over the pizza pickup window, presumably calling out orders ready for pickup, but no photos of them have surfaced. It's a shame the Animal Krackers have been largely lost to time, but at least another piece of Enter-Tech's history and the Dunham family's story has been preserved in at least some form. It's a great example of how this company was far bigger and far reaching than anyone realizes. Even with this find and these other leads, I still have that feeling that these will be far from the last pieces of this puzzle to fall into place. We will probably never know the true scope of their work, but I have a feeling we'll track down a lot more of it in the future.
Special Thanks to:
The Dunham Family
Animatronic Appreciation Blog on Tumblr
Pasq Notrook on Facebook
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