Old Wounds - Prelude to FNaF6 (Five Nights at Freddy's Animation)

This animation is an attempt to flesh out one of the most bare-bones areas of the FNaF lore: The events leading up to FNaF6. In that game, Lefty just shows up, already with the puppet trapped inside, with nothing but an Easter Egg blueprint to explain how it was supposedly specifically designed to retrieve the Puppet. It's left incredibly vague, and I imagine the real reason for that whole subplot (if you can even call it that) is merely to keep the return of the Puppet a secret from the audience a little longer.

I tried to convey some amount of disdain for the return of Freddy's in the Puppet despite her having no dialogue, namely the deliberate covering up of the looming billboard. This was to bolster the idea that the Puppet needed to be dragged back by force, being perfectly happy to just rot away in an alley rather than come investigate. All the other creatures in FNaF6, by contrast, show up willingly. The green security bracelet, intended to be the same one Charlie was wearing, is hinted at in FNaF6's blueprint Easter Egg as Lefty's means of luring her in. It's a connection to Charlie's short life that would surely grab her attention to see again.

The unseen figure who builds Lefty at the beginning is intended to be Henry, Charlie's father. It might at first seem like he's kept mysterious for the sake of drama, but really it's because I can't model convincing human characters yet. Several unrelated phrases from his in-game dialogue were cut up and rearranged to create the recorded message at the end.

This is my first animation to span multiple locations, and as a result I spent three times longer modeling environments than I otherwise would have. The near-monochrome yellow/orange color-palette of the exteriors is a deliberate stylistic choice: I've wanted for a long time to have something take place under that particularly oppressive kind of street lighting that I find strangely stressful and yet also atmospheric. It's a relentless sort of light that seems to crush any other color out of existence, and I found it perfect for a scene like this.

External resources used:
-Includes sound effects taken from FNaF2, Sister Location, FNaF6, Security Breach (along with samples from YouTube's audio library and plenty of good old fashioned foley work), and voice clips from Dave Steele as Henry Emily
-Puppet model is from Help Wanted, with only minor modifications

Find the Unigoat.

[TheNickofTime]

Since this animation gets into the weeds a little bit when it comes to FNaF lore, I feel some explanation is in order for those who need it.

The puppet was originally used as something of an automated child-minder, and kept track of its charges by the colored bracelets they were given. A young girl named Charlie, daughter of Henry Emily, was placed in the puppet's care and assigned a green bracelet, but the puppet failed to save her from being whisked away and murdered. This event led to the puppet becoming haunted by Charlie's ghost. This is why Charlie/the Puppet, now one conjoined being, recognizes the bracelet in this animation.

Henry Emily, father to Charlie and co-founder of Freddy's, is responsible in FNaF6 for resurrecting the Freddy's brand, as part of an attempt to lure in the remaining creatures for which the Freddy's incidents were responsible (Springtrap, the Puppet, and the remains of Ennard). Charlie/the Puppet is the only one who doesn't take the bait, and so must be collected by force. Lefty is Henry's solution to this: a specially-made robot clad in the shell of a Freddy animatronic, dispatched to retrieve the Puppet and smuggle it back into the Freddy's restaurant to be with the rest of the creatures for what shall referred to for the sake of spoilers as 'Henry's barbecue party'. The name 'Lefty' is a nickname for the acronym 'L.E.F.T.E', or 'Lure, Encapsulate, Fuse, Transport, Extract.'

All the business with the opening torso and Ennard-tentacles with claws on them is completely invented for this animation and not remotely canon. The Lefty model we actually get in-game is, infuriatingly enough, not at all customized to accommodate the Puppet, so I took some liberties when redesigning it.

[jamisanmatalonis]

I love how wholesome yet sad this is.

You can tell by how gentle the trapping mechanism is that Henry didn’t want to hurt Charlie despite what he was planning.

But at the same time you can see how scared she is

[Deluxe]

I always liked how lefty traps the puppet, slowly and carefully, gently putting the puppet inside, not intended to hurt it nor to rushed it, like a Father getting his daughter into bed while sleeping in his hands, trying to not wake her up. But with a different analogy.

[ScoutO]

Everyone is talking about how Henry didn't want to hurt charlie and the details with green bracelet, but I got shivers from the ''not yet'' sticky note on the gun in the drawer. As a fellow 3d intusiast I can't express enough how great this animation looks, and I am in awe of your patience. Keep up the great work!

[scarigamez]

I love the added personality put into the Puppet with blocking the billboard with a piece of wood. Charlie is just done at this point XD

Edit: Nearly 6 thousand likes for a little joke?!

[Francis_here.official]

Oh my! The amount of detail that is put into this! From the Lefty mechanic to the music box implemented meant to calm Charlie, and the fact that the green bracelet was used as a lure! Very well done! I also liked how you used the audio of Henry telling Charlie to be still.

[punprincess]

you can see charlie's boredom, curiosity, confusion, panic, and calm... all without her face moving... it's rather sweet.

[random_dev]

I love how the trapping mechanism wasn’t intended to put Charlie in any sort of pain, and after she is contained, Lefty shows her Henry’s audio tape telling her to calm down and she’ll be safe with Lefty, then after the recording stops, the music box theme starts to play, soothing Charlie. You can tell Henry put in a lot of care to make sure his daughter did not go through any pain in the capture process and to also relax and soothe her if she experienced any distress in the process. Anyway, this is a amazing animation!

[notazombie...notatall]

Despite the puppet lacking expressions, you can see how confused and/or scared she is, and then it plays the music box to calm her down, such a good animation and really detailed.

[percentnothing]

This is the type of content this franchise is missing both by community and especially official sources.
In what is now 8 years of FNAF this has to be one of the most carefully crafted piece of animated media I have witnessed during this time and it needs to be commended.

[mcmoonball]

1:48

This single action, I...holy crap, this little thing adds so much character to the Puppet. I got shivers just from this small little movement she did. Love your stuff, bro! Keep at it!

[BonBunFilms]

It's ALWAYS great to see your short film works, and as always this one absolutely delivers! I love to see when people reimagine implied events from the games cinematically, and this rendition goes completely above and beyond. Personal highlight for me was how expressive you managed to make the puppet, despite its face not moving at all. The movement reminded me a lot of the characters from Wall-E, which I would say is an absolute achievement. I hope this gets more attention, because the effort put in really shows in every separate element. Phenomenal soundtrack, composition, writing, Foley, and character design. After this and "The Storm", I look forward to seeing what you create next!

[j-gems]

Everything from the cinematography to the foley is immaculate! Lefty’s walk has just the right amount of jank and jiggle. And she sounds so audibly pleasing. I’ve seen so many of your other videos and knew it was only a matter of time before you brought it all together to create short films like this. I really can’t wait to see more :D

[RemedyJLock]

Poor Puppet doesn't understand whats going on, but when she heard Henry she instantly knew what was going on

[grbr]

i love how when charlie is first captured she's scared, but when she realizes what's going on and the music box begins to play, she starts to be a lot more content with what's happening

[Chronically_Bored]

I adore the contrast of how puppet and lefty treat the green bracelet because they show the difference of what it represents to charlie and henry. Charlie treated it with care and hesitance, something almost like reverence, because that green bracelet is the reason she could possess the puppet and continue her life, even if it's in a roundabout way. So she, in an odd way, has a positive outlook to it. It saved her and gave her a chance to save others. But lefty doesn't give it a thought before crushing it under his metaphorical boot because to henry, that is his greatest failure, as a mechanic and as a father. The bracelet failed to keep charlie alive in the flesh, in the end the bracelet he designed to keep her alive let her die anyway. It is the physical symbol of how he failed his daughter, and so he has a negative outlook to it. I adore that detail.

[TsulaAngenati]

I love how Charlie/Marionette used the wooden plank to cover the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza sign- she looks so done with them (understandably)

[matesafranka]

I love the subtle visual reference at 3:03 where the puppet looks like an actual marionette, bound by strings at each appendage.

[jamesthegoo]

Without any dialogue you manage to convey so much emotion in The Puppet alone, A character mind you who doesn't even have a moving face.

[EnderQAZ]

Did anybody else spot the plane in the sky at 02:10? What a phenomenal detail.