From Book to Screen: ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Parallels
Every gamer has played Five Nights at Freddy’s at one point or another and watched it become a phenomenon. Scott Cawthon is the creator of this video game series and media franchise. The first instalment of Five Nights at Freddy’s was released on August 8th, 2014. This video game franchise takes place in locations connected to a fictional family pizza restaurant chain named “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.” The games are in the perspective of the security guard on watch at the Pizzeria. Players get to tap into security footage and control the lights, vents and doors in the Pizzeria while defending themselves from the animatronics.
The game has grown exponentially since 2014 and has branched out into graphic novels, mini-games, spin-offs and now a film adaptation. Video game adaptations are difficult to make because there is so much lore. And the FNAF lore is extensive, with a weird timeline created by Cawthon. The film adaptation, directed by Emma Tammi, focuses on the children who were taken versus the gameplay and sets it apart from the rest of the media in the franchise. There are plenty of Easter Eggs in the film that were directly from the graphic novels.
MOVIE VS. BOOK
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***
DRAWINGS CONTROL THE ANIMATRONICS
In the film, Abby tags along with her older brother Mike who is the security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s. After losing her parents, Mike becomes the sole guardian and he has been trying to make ends meet. She has taken up drawing as a form of expression to understand her feelings better. In the graphic novels the drawings end up controlling the animatronics. And in this film, Abby doesn’t control the animatronics but she connects with them because they are children.
HIDING FROM FOXY BEHIND THE ARCADE MACHINE
If Foxy isn’t your favourite character, then you’re wrong. In the film, we saw a great deal of Foxy because that animatronic has the best run out of all of them. In the graphic novels, Foxy does go after Abby while she’s hiding in the arcade. Abby wasn’t supposed to go to the Pizzeria with her brother Mike, but she didn’t have a choice. When she goes there in the film, we see the exploration of the Pizzeria and animatronics through a child’s perspective, which becomes the connective tissue to the ghost children locked in the animatronics.
SPRINGTRAP’S DEATH
The grande finale in the film is when William Afton is revealed and immediately regrets his suit. The springtrap is a vital piece for FNAF because the older the suit, the more a trap it becomes. There are steel blades on the inside of the animatronics to protect the wiring system (almost like a ribcage) and realistically no one is supposed to be in there. So because Afton’s suit is so old that’s the one way they could kill him. The final scene with his animatronics carrying him out after the springtrap locks inside his flesh is by far the best moment of the film.
ELLE
Similar to Afton’s suit, Elle is one of the oldest animatronics at the Pizzeria. The same doll on the cover of 1:35 am has a small scene with Abby in the film. We first see Elle when Mike is patrolling the Pizzeria in a corner with Vanessa. It was the introduction to the springtrap, which would foreshadow what would happen later. Abby was going to be placed inside Elle as well, but thankfully, that didn’t happen.
BALL PIT
Last but not least the ball pit is the one filled with fun. Not only did they use it for promotional material with character posters for each of the animatronics, but they actually put Abby in the ball pit at the end of the film as well. The cover of Into the Pit is iconic and had to be part of the aesthetic in the film as well.
Do you have a favourite character in Five Nights at Freddy’s? Let us know in the comments below!
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