| “ | I'm Bubba Bubbaphant! Hey! I remember you! | ” |
| — Bubba Bubbaphant's cutout | ||
Bubba Bubbaphant[1] is a toy produced by Playtime Co. who debuts in Chapter 3: "Deep Sleep" as a recurring antagonist. He resides within the Playhouse along with the rest of the Ruined Critters.
Appearance[]
Bubba Bubbaphant is an anthropomorphic cyan elephant with black eyes, a S-shaped trunk, a long tail with a bulb-shaped end, and large ears. His feet, hands, and tail end, as well as the inside of his trunk and ears, are blue. Similar to the other Smiling Critters, Bubba is depicted with a wide toothless grin (the inner mouth shrouded in darkness), and he possesses a zipper line running down his center, with the zipper sporting a yellow lightbulb pendant with a blue Edison screw base. Bubba also emits a lemongrass scent.
His cartoon appearance is roughly the same as his toy appearance, albeit with his zipper line removed, the addition of white pupils, and the zipper pendant attached to a black necklace.
Personality[]
| “ | Bubba Bubbaphant is the brains of the critters. Bright and attentive, he keeps his friends steady and always steers them to make smart choices, that way they all might grow up to be bright and brilliant, each in their own right. | ” |
| — Bubba Bubbaphant's Twitter/X description | ||
According to his Twitter description, Bubba Bubbaphant is the most intelligent Smiling Critter and acts as the brain of the gang. This behavior is backed up by his light bulb pendant (often used in cartoons to convey brilliant ideas), and by his interactions with CraftyCorn in the cartoon's intro, when he removed her painting from her easel to reveal a complex math equation. Bubba is observant and level-headed, keeping his friends on the right track to make smart decisions, so they can create a bright future for themselves.
Like the other Smiling Critters, Bubba showcased a more desperate personality when CatNap came to DogDay's house during their sleepover. His retained intelligence was the catalyst for the subsequent events, as he was the first critter to ask CatNap to use his abilities to overcome their fear-induced insomnia. When CatNap complied, Bubba showed signs of euphoria when inhaling The Red Smoke, laughing hysterically with the others until he passed out.
History[]
Backstory[]
Bubba Bubbaphant was created as a member of the Smiling Critters toy-line. Soon after, miniature versions of him were created, along with a Bigger Bodies version to work in Playcare. Sometime after The Hour of Joy, the Bigger Bodies version of Bubba Bubbaphant was presumably killed by CatNap, as DogDay refers to himself as the "last" of the Smiling Critters.
Chapter 3: "Deep Sleep"[]
A miniature/monstrous Bubba Bubbaphant appears as a hostile plush toy in Chapter 3: "Deep Sleep". Bubba, along with the rest of the Ruined Critters, chase The Player in the Playhouse. Using the GrabPack's orange hand, the Player has to shoot a flare at him to scare him away. If Bubba gets too close, then he jumpscares them by lunging at their face. Later on, several versions of him crawl inside of DogDay's exposed torso wound to control him and chase after The Player.
Trivia[]
- Bubba was the first critter to have his description revealed on Twitter.
- According to folklore, Bubba's scent, lemongrass, was used to protect against evil and spiritually clean a house.[2]
- This contrasts to Bubba's personality, as he focuses more on logic than folklore.
- Bubba's name is slang for brother.
- Bubba is the genius of the Smiling Critters due to him being an elephant, based on the scientific fact that elephants have extraordinary memory. This is also shown in his cutout, as he says, "An elephant always remembers!".
- In early concepts for the cartoon, Bubba's house was in the form of a jungle shack.
- Bubba Bubbaphant is the only Smiling Critter based off of a jungle animal.
- Bubba Bubbaphant's design and species could be based off of Lotsa-Heart Elephant from the Care Bear Cousins, with his brilliant personality and light-bulb shaped pendant being similar to Bright Heart Raccoon.
- Bubba Bubbaphant may also be based on Sniffles from Happy Tree Friends, as both characters are blue in color, very smart and have similar-looking trunks/snouts.
- According to Amber, Bubba Bubbaphant uses He/Him pronouns.[3]