Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? In... SPRINGTRAPPED! is a 2023 crossover fan animation by animator Eagan Tilghman
. The ten minute short crosses over Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! with Five Nights at Freddy's, while also being animated in the style of Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (with an appearance from that short's character S. G. Kluger as the Freddy Fazbear's Pizza security guard).
Looking to find a place to celebrate Scooby-Doo's birthday, the Mystery Gang come across Freddy Fazbear's Pizza restaurant, but soon find a mystery on their hands when the security guard informs them that the location is haunted by the rabbit-themed animatronic Springtrap. Hijinks ensue.
Tilghman himself voices Scooby, while TikTok user SuiteLifeOfShaggy voices Shaggy and Daniel Kimball lends his voice to the Ghost of Springtrap. The original release uses AI-generated voices of Frank Welker as Fred, Mindy Cohn as Velma, Grey DeLisle as Daphne, and the late Don Messick as S.G. Kluger. Tilghman has since re-released the video with the AI voices redubbed by human actors, with Joey Sourlis as Fred, Raven Viceral as Velma, Michelle Oneida as Daphne, and Jayce Ghoul as S.G. Kluger.
The original version can be viewed here, while the redub can be viewed here.
Tropes:
- Accidental Truth: Velma mentions that whoever was with Henry Emily is wearing a bunny costume, despite seeing only a hand of said costume and said costume being a full animatronic as far as she's aware. Not only is it obviously Springtrap, Springtrap is actually a still-alive Afton in the functional spring suit.
- Adaptation Amalgamation: The short takes place in the Five Nights at Freddy's setting, with Springtrap replacing Bonnie on stage.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: While still an antagonist, this version of Afton is not a serial child killer, and only tries to spite Henry Emily and close down Freddy Fazbear's by scaring away customers.
- All-CGI Cartoon: Despite being animated to resemble Rankin/Bass' signature stop-motion style, the short was entirely animated in Blender.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: William Afton has purple-colored skin as a Mythology Gag to his role as the "Purple Guy" (a
Fan Nickname for Afton, who's often colored purple in stylized 8-bit portions of several Five Nights at Freddy's games. - Birthday Episode: The short revolves around the gang going to Freddy's to celebrate Scooby's birthday.
- Bizarre Taste in Food: Shaggy fantasizes about a chocolate-covered anchovy pizza.
- Creepy Mascot Suit: Revealed to be the true nature of Springtrap/William Afton's disguise. He was trying to lead people into thinking he was a possessed animatronic, when in actuality it was just an intricate disguise.
- Crossover: The short crosses over Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! with Five Nights at Freddy's and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town.
- Deadly Dodging: Shaggy and Scooby dodge out of Springtrap's jump, and he lands into the fake wall and knocks himself out.
- Handy Remote Control: Kluger has a pocket lightswitch with "creepy camera remote" label on it.
- Deliberate VHS Quality: The short uses a static filter and, at one point, on-screen text, to give the impression of a recording from The '80s.
- Driven by Envy: Revealed to be the reason behind Springtrap/William Afton's plan. Jealous of his former business partner's success, he dressed up as the haunted animatronic Springtrap to scare away customers.
- Dropped Glasses: Velma's glasses get knocked off when Springtrap runs by, though she quickly finds them.
- Hostile Animatronics: Subverted. Springtrap is believed to be a haunted and hostile animatronic rabbit, but is later revealed to be William Afton in an intricate disguise.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Kluger says that there should be nobody in the restaurant aside him, followed by an explanation that animatronics tend to free-roam.
- Lighter and Softer: Though not with the Scooby-Doo aspects, the gruesome nature of the Five Nights at Freddy's aspects has been notably toned down to fit with the former's tone: there are no murdered children, no lethal mutilations, and no dark and complicated lore. Afton is also revealed to still be alive inside the springlock suit and was simply trying to scare customers.
- Mythology Gag:
- The scribblings of "IT'S ME" across the restaurant's walls, as well as the crying child posters, are references to rare screens and events from the first Five Nights at Freddy's game.
- Shaggy whistles the "Toreador March" from Carmen, which was popularized as Freddy Fazbear's theme in the Five Nights at Freddy's games.
- The song for the Chase Scene is "Seven Days a Week". This has two references: one being that the song originates from the Scooby Doo episode "Scooby's Night with a Frozen Fright", the other referencing the week-long "five nights" formula of the Five Nights at Freddy's games.
- William Afton has purple skin, which references the games' 8-bit segments where he's depicted as a purple-colored silhouette, colloquially named the "Purple Guy" by fans.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: Shaggy and Scooby unconvincingly disguise as Chica and Freddy, which doesn't fool Springtrap.
- Offscreen Reality Warp: The door sign says "closed", which was "open" in the previous scene and Fred comments on it.
- Opening Shout-Out: The short starts with a faithful recreation of the first Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! opening, occasionally replacing elements with scenes from the short.
- Removed from the Picture: Velma picks up a torn photo of Henry Emily with a yellow animatronic being torn off from the picture.
- Scooby-Dooby Doors: During the Chase Scene, Springtrap chases Scooby and Shaggy in and out multiple doors in one of the pizzeria's hallways.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: As befitting a Scooby-Doo fan work, the so-called Ghost of Springtrap is revealed to be William Afton, Henry Emily's jealous ex-business partner who tried to scare customers away from his rival's business.
- Secret Room: Scooby and Shaggy unwittingly expose Springtrap/Afton's hiding place, a secret room invisible on the security cameras' by making Springtrap crash through the wall in a failed attempt to jump them.
- Spared by the Adaptation: William Afton in this version of events was not killed by the faulty springlocks on his costume like in the games. Here, the costume is just a disguise and Afton is very much still alive, even when he is defeated at the end.
- Wingding Eyes: After crashing through the fake wall, Springtrap lays on the floor with his Glowing Eyes of Doom showing spirals to convey that he knocked himself silly.
- You Meddling Kids: Afton blames the springlocks for him not getting away with harassing the restaurant.
