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Your children are not safe with CatNap.
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Still, damage it, and you risk losing your hearing.
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CatNap Recall, previously known as the Smiling Critters Cartoon during its respective ARG, is a VHS Tape recording, and was featured as the opening cutscene for Chapter 3: "Deep Sleep" of Poppy Playtime. The tape plays an episode from the Smiling Critters cartoon series before cutting to a news broadcast, which describes the recall of all CatNap products and promotional material.
The video was initially revealed during the Chapter 3 Interactable ARG after using the password "hypnagogia" on the Smiling_Critters folder. In this version of the VHS Tape, it only revealed the Smiling Critters Cartoon segment of the video before the final version was revealed after the ARG officially locked all access to its contents.
Analysis[]
The tape begins with the Smiling Critters cartoon, one of the shows that was produced by Playtime Pictures. The show begins with a lively intro scene featuring the Smiling Critters engaged in various activities like playing soccer on a rainbow, eating a burger, and painting. The critters gather on the Smiling Critters logo before the screen fades to black, transitioning to the cartoon's setting: DogDay's house.
The scene unfolds on a stormy and windy night, depicted by the dark and unsettled atmosphere. The time on the clock depicts 10:06 PM, DogDay, Bobby BearHug, Bubba Bubbaphant, CraftyCorn, Hoppy Hopscotch, KickinChicken and PickyPiggy are huddled together in the house, wrapped in blankets and looking worried. Bobby BearHug breaks the silence, expressing her fear of the howling wind. As if to emphasize the tension, a tree branch snaps off, causing CraftyCorn to cower in fear and seek refuge under her blanket. DogDay tries to uplift the mood by assuring everyone that everything will be okay, stating that "All winds blow away... eventually."
Just then, a knock on the door scares the Critters, and it opens to reveal CatNap. The Critters' faces light up with relief as they all simultaneously call out CatNap's name with glee. Bubba Bubbaphant, PickyPiggy, KickinChicken and Hoppy Hopscotch desperately plead for CatNap to help them fall asleep. In response, CatNap exhales red gas from his mouth. The critters start laughing hysterically, displaying euphoria. The Critters' laughter turns eerie and distorted as the gas fills the cabin as their laughter slowly turns into screaming. Suddenly, the screen flickers with static and the Critters collapse onto the floor, except for DogDay sleeping on the couch. Meanwhile, CatNap is left sitting beside DogDay, staring directly at the camera and surrounded by the sleeping Critters, all in abnormal positions. As this scene freezes, the credits roll, revealing the producers and the cast involved in the cartoon.
The cartoon then cuts to a news broadcast from WLE 4 where a news anchor introduces the Smiling Critters toy line to the audience. A demonstration of how CatNap's scent is deployed plays, before the WLE-4 Newscaster discusses the aforementioned controversy surrounding CatNap and subsequently, Playtime Co. itself. He mentions that Playtime Co. issued a recall of all CatNap toys from the lineup, resulting in his presence being removed from all promotional material featuring the Smiling Critters.
The anchor proposes that recalling the CatNap toy from the market may not help Playtime Co. as the damage was already done. As he concludes that CatNap isn't a safe toy for children, a chorus of crying children and ominous music builds, transitioning into the logo for Chapter 3: "Deep Sleep".
Transcript[]
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Unknown: "What's the time?" Children:"Playtime!" All:"S-M-I-L-E everyday!" KickinChicken: "When you are down and out," Bobby BearHug: "No need to frown and pout!" Bubba Bubbaphant: "The Smiling Critters' are here to say" All:"S-M-I-L-E everyday!" wind howling, clock ticking Bobby BearHug: "The wind's really scary..." *tree branch snaps* CraftyCorn: *screams* "I can't sleep!" DogDay: "Hey, we'll be okay, guys! I promise! All winds blow away... eventually." *door knocking* *door creaks open, wind clears* All:"CatNap!" Bubba Bubbaphant: "Please, help us go to sleep, CatNap!" PickyPiggy: "We need it, CatNap!" KickinChicken: "Please help us!" Hoppy Hopscotch: "Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!" CatNap: *exhales gas* All except CatNap:*laughing hysterically, gradually getting louder and more distorted* All except CatNap:*loud distorted crash* Newscaster:"Everyone knows Huggy Wuggy and Poppy Playtime, but are your children safe from Playtime Co.'s latest toy? What you've seen here is Playtime Co.'s own 'Smiling Critters', a limited series cartoon meant to celebrate the release of the toys sharing it's name, yet both now face the fires sparked by the inclusion of one key member. This, is CatNap, and, like the others in his line, you just pull his little tail, and..." *Gas ejects* Newscaster: "Seems innocent enough. However, parents across the country report their children experiencing strange and often violent nightmares, and beside them, their little, grinning, CatNap doll. Now, with controversy growing, Playtime Co. has announced the recall of all CatNap toys from the Smiling Critters line; his image cleared from all promotional material. But, damage already done, will disappearing be that easy? The exact cause of these 'incidents' still unknown, only one thing appears glaringly certain: Your children are not safe with CatNap." |
Trivia[]
- When the camera points towards the clock, it ticks to 10:06, presumably referencing The Prototype, with his experiment number being 1006. The clock hands are also bones, possibly referencing the bones that are a part of the Prototype's arm.
- However, the bones could just symbolize dogs' love of bones, as since the setting is DogDay's house.
- After the Smiling Critters pass out from inhaling the Red Smoke, DogDay's lower half is obscured by his blanket and his arms are positioned above his head, resembling his eventual fate of his legs being severed from his torso and being chained up in a cell by CatNap.
- Bobby BearHug is also positioned in the same way as her Bigger Bodies counterpart, who is seen in the Orientation Notebook.
- The painting of a bone with the text, "This is not a bone" in DogDay's house, references the painting This Is Not a Pipe by René Magritte.
- Some of the 2D animation was provided by Opossol, a contact artist for Poppy Playtime.
- The news anchor saying the Smiling Critters "now face the fire sparked" by the inclusion of CatNap was likely foreshadowing CatNap's fate at the end of Chapter 3.
- The video features elements of American culture and media from the late 1980s to early 1990s, echoing the year the toy line was created, 1989.
- In the first segment, the Smiling Critters cartoon episode seems to take its art style from cartoon shows of that era, such as Care Bears, The Get Along Gang and My Little Pony Tales.
- During the cartoon's opening sequence, KickinChicken is shown surfing a wave over a patterned background reminiscent of Memphis Design, an aesthetic style that emerged during that period.
- In the second segment, the news report is expressed in a tone of moral panic by the news anchor. This is likely a reference to the satanic panic, a particular social phenomenon that originated in that period.
- In the first segment, the Smiling Critters cartoon episode seems to take its art style from cartoon shows of that era, such as Care Bears, The Get Along Gang and My Little Pony Tales.
- The password to the Smiling_Critters folder in the ARG, "hypnagogia", is the transition between wakefulness and sleep.
- According to the BTS Smiling Critters Cartoon, the animation took five months to make and was made using TVPaint and Photoshop.
- The scene of Bubba Bubbaphant and CraftyCorn’s background is a reused background from the Test Animation.