Fatz Geronimo was the larger than life leader of the Rock-afire Explosion. Despite his immense size, outspoken nature, and commanding attitude, Fatz has always been a fan-favorite and central focus of Rock-afire showtapes.
In the very beginning, Fatz was a member of an earlier animatronic group – the Wolf Pack 5. He was present at the first ShowBiz, and at the time was called simply Fats Gorilla. A year later in 1981, the spelling of his name was
changed to include a "z" (possibly for trademark purposes) and he inherited the last name “Geronimo” – most likely a play on the famous Fats Domino.
The voice of Fatz, Burt “Sal” Wilson, was a pivotal writer and musician behind the Rock-afire. Many of Fatz’s personality traits were not just a character invention - they were simply Sal being himself. It’s often hard to distinguish where the artist Sal ended and the character of Fatz began.
Being the leader of the Rock-afire, Fatz occupied center stage, positioned dead center in the middle of all the action. Fatz’s presence was accentuated by his Rock-afire keyboard aka the Tune Machine, and the Rock-afire sign. Even in the earliest showtapes, before Fatz was able to showcase his roughly charming personality, his popularity was quite apparent. In a
consumer study done in August 1982, Fatz was clearly the most popular character among all age groups – except for pre-teens, where he essentially broke even with Billy Bob.
From that point on, Fatz became in essence the voice of the entire show. He made most of the announcements and was very active in the opening skits.
Antioch the birthday spider became his personal pet. Fatz was also the Grand Poo-bah of the Colander Head Movement. He was boisterous, often telling the audience to “shut up” and occasionally threatening bodily harm to characters such as Rolfe. But underneath the brooding attitude was a softer side, recognizable by his relationship with Esmeralda Jones which he was always trying to downplay.
Other traits bestowed upon him by Sal were quirks such as his obsession with Lawrence Welk (Sal was genuinely infatuated with Welk), and his passion for Cajun culture – Louisiana and New Orleans were featured in the majority of showtapes.
Toward the end of the ShowBiz-era, Fatz’s place in the spotlight dwindled, as focus was placed heavier on Billy Bob & Looney Bird. Fatz was included as a member of the prototype Mijjins show, and also present in the New Rock-afire Explosion show and the smaller Billy Bob’s Adventure Shows. Through the 1990s, he also made several show selector announcements that were used in post-ShowBiz restaurants.
In the most recent past, Fatz has been given a bit of an international revival of sorts. A new restaurant slated to open in the country of Jordan is planning to use a variation of Fatz named “
J-Fatz” as their mascot. He was altered at the customer's request, so the mascot of J-Fatz’s Pizza is pale skinned and brown furred - making him a monkey instead of a gorilla.