Jack Turner discovered his life's path at age 11 while watching YouTube videos of Five Nights at Freddy's. Unlike most players who focused on the game's jump scares, the young enthusiast became fascinated by the real-world engineering of psycho animatronics. That curiosity led him to discover the Rock-afire Explosion, an iconic band of singing and dancing robot animals created by inventor Aaron Fechter that entertained families at ShowBiz Pizza Place and Chuck E. Cheese during the 1980s. Eager to dive into the hobby, Turner convinced his father to purchase a complete character from a Kickstarter campaign in 2015 for one thousand dollars, hoping the investment would prove educational for the teenager.
The arrival of Mitzi Mozzarella on his doorstep presented an immediate challenge since Turner lacked any mechanical or technical background. For the first year and a half, he manually operated the robot's air cylinders, valves, and linkages using a bicycle pump. Eventually, his father connected him with an engineer who provided remote tutoring over Skype. Through trial and research, Turner mastered the inner workings of the pneumatic machines, eventually winning Best in Class in Robotics at the 2017 Bay Area Maker Faire with a half-restored Mitzi.
Key takeaways
- Jack Turner started restoring animatronics at age 11 after seeing Five Nights at Freddy's online.
- His first robot, Mitzi Mozzarella, was operated with a bicycle pump for over a year.
- Turner traveled to China to have original 1980s replica fur manufactured for his 2019 show restoration.
- He currently runs Jack's Animatronics Warehouse in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Restoring the Rock-afire Explosion
In 2019, Turner tracked down an entire Rock-afire Explosion show and spent the next four years completing a meticulous restoration from the ground up. The massive undertaking required reproducing authentic materials to match the 1980s aesthetic, including traveling to China to source exact replica fur since the original fabric was no longer produced. He also worked alongside Aaron Fechter for roughly two years to recreate new molds and rebuild portions of the stage hardware.
Operating these complex mechanical bands relies on a system rooted in player-piano technology. While the original shows were programmed using Apple IIe computers, a friend named Layton developed a modern Windows-based control system for Turner's setup. Despite the updated software, the foundational work requires choreographing each individual movement separately, including complex mouth synchronizations. While original teams in the 1980s spent a week programming one minute of a show, Turner's first song took six months to code, eventually leading to modern covers of tracks by Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, and MGMT.
The Art Form of Animatronics
Today, Turner operates Jack's Animatronics Warehouse in St. Joseph, Missouri, serving as a hub for vintage robotic preservation. Having fixed up and sold nearly one hundred Rock-afire Explosion characters and hand-painted over one hundred masks, his business caters to a growing community of enthusiasts seeking long-lost mechanical parts, molds, and fabrics. Visitors can book private tours of the warehouse for four hundred fifty dollars to experience a full theatrical show on a forty-foot stage equipped with specialized lighting.
While horror films and video games introduce many modern fans to the medium, Turner views animatronics primarily as a vibrant artistic medium rather than a source of scares. He compares the craft to the pioneering work of Walt Disney, who used animatronics to place historical figures like Abraham Lincoln directly in front of audiences. As digital media and generative technologies dominate contemporary entertainment, Turner believes the resurgence of interest in physical formats like vinyl records and tangible mechanical shows highlights a broader public desire for authentic human craftsmanship.
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