The Marquette Golden Eagles mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #112 of 351. (View reference images.)
Holy Cross Crusader – No. 972
The Holy Cross Crusaders mascot, the Crusader, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #111 of 351. (View reference images.)
Note: Last week Holy Cross made history as the first Cinderella team of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament by winning their First Four play-in game. The 2015-16 Crusaders basketball team’s regular season record was 10-19 (including 0-9 on the road in its conference). However, in the Patriot League tournament, Holy Cross improbably won four consecutive road games to earn an automatic NCAA Tournament bid with a 14-19 record. Then they won their play-in game – a fifth straight upset – before getting crushed by the No. 1 Oregon Ducks in the round of 64.
Houston Cougar – No. 942
The Houston Cougars mascot, Shasta, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #110 of 351. (View reference images.)
Note: Since Houston’s football team qualified for one of the New Year’s Six bowl games this year, I figured it was time to make an 8-bit Houston Cougar. It’s going to be (18) Houston vs. (9) Florida State in the Peach Bowl.
Barney Rubble – No. 939
Barney Rubble is the secondary main character of The Flintstones, an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that was broadcast from 1960 to 1966 on ABC. The show, produced by Hanna-Barbera, fancifully depicted the lives of a working-class Stone Age man, his family, and his next-door neighbor and best friend. The show’s continuing popularity rested heavily on its juxtaposition of modern everyday concerns in the Stone Age setting. The Flintstones was the most financially successful network animated franchise for three decades, until The Simpsons debuted. In 2013, TV Guide Magazine ranked The Flintstones as the second greatest TV cartoon of all time (after The Simpsons). Barney Rubble and other characters from The Flintstones have been mascots of Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles breakfast cereal since 1969.
Fred Flintstone – No. 938
Fred Flintstone is the main character of The Flintstones, an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that was broadcast from 1960 to 1966 on ABC. The show, produced by Hanna-Barbera, fancifully depicted the lives of a working-class Stone Age man, his family, and his next-door neighbor and best friend. The show’s continuing popularity rested heavily on its juxtaposition of modern everyday concerns in the Stone Age setting. The Flintstones was the most financially successful network animated franchise for three decades, until The Simpsons debuted. In 2013, TV Guide Magazine ranked The Flintstones as the second greatest TV cartoon of all time (after The Simpsons). Fred Flintstone and other characters from The Flintstones have been mascots of Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles breakfast cereal since 1969.
Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawk – No. 918
The Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks mascot, Willy Warhawk, is NCAA Division III pixel art mascot #4 of 449. UW-Whitewater has won six of the last eight NCAA Division III Football Championships (Stagg Bowls) and has appeared in the national championship game in nine of the last 10 years. The Warhawks played the perennially dominant Mount Union Purple Raiders in all nine championships. (View reference images.)
Mount Union Purple Raider – No. 917
The Mount Union Purple Raiders mascot, MUCaw, is NCAA Division III pixel art mascot #3 of 449. Mount Union has appeared in 10 consecutive NCAA Division III Football Championships (Stagg Bowls), winning four. Since 1993, Mount Union has appeared in the national championship game a record 18 times, winning 11. The football team has won 94 consecutive regular season games and has posted a 204-1 regular season record since 1994. (View reference images.)
Beach Bear (Showbiz Pizza) – No. 899
Beach Bear is a character in The Rock-afire Explosion, an animatronic robot band. He is a “surfer” polar bear who would make sarcastic comments or ask other characters questions to throw off their act, but never in mean spirit. The Rock-afire Explosion played shows in Showbiz Pizza Place from the restaurant chain’s founding in 1980 until the early 1990s, when the Showbiz brand was unified with Chuck E. Cheese’s and Chuck E. Cheese characters steadily replaced the band. The Rock-afire Explosion show was created and manufactured by noted inventor Aaron Fechter, through his company Creative Engineering, Inc. (also known for Whac-A-Mole) in Orlando, Florida; in addition to overseeing the production of the animatronics, Fechter also provided the voices for several characters.
Dook LaRue (Showbiz Pizza) – No. 898
Dook LaRue is a character in The Rock-afire Explosion, an animatronic robot band. A dog who aspired to space travel, his costume is an astronaut suit. His character, when set up properly, had the ability to play a four-piece drum kit in time with the music. A bit of a dimwit, Dook would often lose focus during shows and miss his cues. The Rock-afire Explosion played shows in Showbiz Pizza Place from the restaurant chain’s founding in 1980 until the early 1990s, when the Showbiz brand was unified with Chuck E. Cheese’s and Chuck E. Cheese characters steadily replaced the band. The Rock-afire Explosion show was created and manufactured by noted inventor Aaron Fechter, through his company Creative Engineering, Inc. (also known for Whac-A-Mole) in Orlando, Florida; in addition to overseeing the production of the animatronics, Fechter also provided the voices for several characters.
Mitzi Mozzarella (Showbiz Pizza) – No. 897
Mitzi Mozzarella is a character in The Rock-afire Explosion, an animatronic robot band. A mouse and teenage cheerleader, Mitzi is obsessed with gossip, boyfriends, pop music and (appropriate for the time) Michael Jackson. The Rock-afire Explosion played shows in Showbiz Pizza Place from the restaurant chain’s founding in 1980 until the early 1990s, when the Showbiz brand was unified with Chuck E. Cheese’s and Chuck E. Cheese characters steadily replaced the band. The Rock-afire Explosion show was created and manufactured by noted inventor Aaron Fechter, through his company Creative Engineering, Inc. (also known for Whac-A-Mole) in Orlando, Florida; in addition to overseeing the production of the animatronics, Fechter also provided the voices for several characters.
Billy Bob Brockali (Showbiz Pizza) – No. 896
Billy Bob Brockali is a character in The Rock-afire Explosion, an animatronic robot band. A bear in overalls, Billy Bob was the mascot for Showbiz Pizza Place throughout its existence, and his image was on most of the chain’s merchandise. Sweet and naive, Billy Bob was usually a mediator to the band’s minor on-stage squabbles. The Rock-afire Explosion played shows in Showbiz Pizza Place from the restaurant chain’s founding in 1980 until the early 1990s, when the Showbiz brand was unified with Chuck E. Cheese’s and Chuck E. Cheese characters steadily replaced the band. The Rock-afire Explosion show was created and manufactured by noted inventor Aaron Fechter, through his company Creative Engineering, Inc. (also known for Whac-A-Mole) in Orlando, Florida; in addition to overseeing the production of the animatronics, Fechter also provided the voices for several characters.
Fatz Geronimo (Showbiz Pizza) – No. 895
Fatz Geronimo is a character in The Rock-afire Explosion, an animatronic robot band. A silverback gorilla who plays the keyboard, Fatz is a parody of real-life entertainers Fats Domino and Ray Charles. As the band’s unofficial front man, Fatz introduced most shows, ordered other band members around and had a tendency to ramble. The Rock-afire Explosion played shows in Showbiz Pizza Place from the restaurant chain’s founding in 1980 until the early 1990s, when the Showbiz brand was unified with Chuck E. Cheese’s and Chuck E. Cheese characters steadily replaced the band. The Rock-afire Explosion show was created and manufactured by noted inventor Aaron Fechter, through his company Creative Engineering, Inc. (also known for Whac-A-Mole) in Orlando, Florida; in addition to overseeing the production of the animatronics, Fechter also provided the voices for several characters.
During my 1980s childhood, I had a lot of good times at Showbiz Pizza and Chuck E. Cheese’s. For an entertaining history of singing animatronic robots in pizza parlors, I recommend watching The Rock-afire Explosion (2008), a documentary about Chris Thrash, Aaron Fechter and the remaining Rock-afire Explosion fan base.
Chuck E. Cheese – No. 894
Chuck E. Cheese is the mascot of Chuck E. Cheese’s, a chain of American family entertainment center restaurants. The brand derives its name from its main animatronic character Chuck E. Cheese, a comedic mouse who sings and interacts with guests. The establishment serves pizza and other menu items, complemented by arcade games, amusement rides and family-friendly animatronic displays. In 1977, Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California, was the first location to open. The concept was authored by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, credited with bringing video games such as Pong to the mainstream. Pizza Time Theatre was the first family restaurant to integrate food, animated entertainment and an indoor arcade. The chain merged with competitor Showbiz Pizza Place in 1984. In the early 1990s, the company unified the two brands renaming every location to Chuck E. Cheese’s.
Snoopy – No. 872
Snoopy is a pet dog owned by Charlie Brown in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. The original drawings of Snoopy were inspired by Spike, one of Schulz’s childhood dogs. Snoopy is a perpetually innocent and mindlessly happy dog who either fantasizes or dances around in joy. Snoopy cannot talk, so his thoughts are shown in thought balloons. In the animated Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy’s thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, monosyllabic utterances and pantomime. Snoopy has imagined himself as different things such as a pelican, a vulture, an author and a World War I Flying Ace (in which he battles the Red Baron).
Little Professor – No. 866
The Little Professor is a backwards calculator designed for children ages five to nine. Instead of providing the answer to a mathematical expression entered by the user, it generates unsolved expressions and prompts the user for the answer. The Little Professor was first released by Texas Instruments in 1976. As the first electronic educational toy, the Little Professor is a common item on calculator collectors’ lists. An emulator of the Little Professor for Android was published in 2012.
I still have my Little Professor calculator from the early 1980s in a box somewhere, as well as a couple of Tiger handheld games. I was quite fond of the robotic way the Little Professor spoke. If you play as the Little Professor in my retro artillery game, he throws money. In other money-throwing news, we officially closed on a new house today, and so the laborious process of moving across town begins. Keeping up with any of my hobbies is going to be difficult for a little while.
Providence Friar – No. 848
The Providence Friars mascot, the wide-eyed, big-headed Friar, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #109 of 351. (View reference images.)
Note: This is NCAA Division I mascot #5 of 5 in celebration of the first week of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The No. 6-seeded Friars play the No. 11-seeded Dayton Flyers (last year’s Cinderella team) today.
Creighton Bluejay – No. 847
The Creighton Bluejays mascot, Billy Bluejay, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #108 of 351. (View reference images.)
Note: This is NCAA Division I mascot #4 of 5 in celebration of the first week of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Pepperdine Wave – No. 846
The Pepperdine Waves mascot, Willie the Wave, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #107 of 351. (View reference images.)
Note: This is NCAA Division I mascot #3 of 5 in celebration of the first week of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Akron Zip – No. 845
The Akron Zips mascot, a kangaroo named Zippy, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #106 of 351. (View reference images.)
Note: This is NCAA Division I mascot #2 of 5 in celebration of the first week of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Winnie-the-Pooh – No. 911
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh (1926). This was followed by The House at Pooh Corner (1928) and two children’s verse books. All four volumes were illustrated by E. H. Shepard. In the 1940s, Agnes Brush created the first plush dolls with Pooh in his red shirt. Rights to Winnie-the-Pooh were first licensed to Walt Disney in 1961. Disney has released numerous animated productions starring Pooh and related characters, including theatrical featurettes, television series, and direct-to-video films, as well as theatrical feature-length films.
A stuffed Pooh Bear from my 1980s childhood is one of my daughter’s favorite toys. She also believes that old Pooh and Baby Margot are some kind of inseparable team. It’s sweet. I am often reminded of the final passage of On the Road by Jack Kerouac: “So in America when the sun goes down and I sit on the old broken-down river pier watching the long, long skies over New Jersey and sense all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast, and all that road going, and all the people dreaming in the immensity of it, and in Iowa I know by now the children must be crying in the land where they let the children cry, and tonight the stars’ll be out, and don’t you know that God is Pooh Bear? the evening star must be drooping and shedding her sparkler dims on the prairie, which is just before the coming of complete night that blesses the earth, darkens all the rivers, cups the peaks and folds the final shore in, and nobody, nobody knows what’s going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old, I think of Dean Moriarty, I even think of Old Dean Moriarty the father we never found, I think of Dean Moriarty.”