Bryston Spohr of Plumas Lake, left, helps film "Withered Chica,” a costume puppet inspired by the popular video game series Five Nights at Freddy's, at the Back in Time Arcade in Marysville on July 17. Courtesy photo

MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - Horrifying animatronic creatures were spotted inside Back in Time Arcade last month on the evening of July 17 in Marysville. Those familiar with “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” a popular video game series created by Scott Cawthon, might have recognized the characters as Chica and Mangle.

“They were huge, we had to move a bunch of stuff and turn off the fans because we worried that the ceiling was too low,” said Damien Granados, the arcade's owner.

According to Granados, the culprits were four young creators who had just struck an advertisement deal with a prominent up and coming toy company, Youtooz.

“What I gathered from the whole story was they needed to make a promo video for a new toy, and they were running out of time,” explained Granados.

This account checks out with Bryston Spohr of Plumas Lake, one of the aforementioned creatives dabbling in puppetry and film.

“It’s a bit of a long story but it starts with my friend Riley Nelson,” said Spohr.

Sphor and Nelson have been friends since middle school. Together the two have enjoyed making small advertisements for yearbook sales, silver graduations, or other private events, but Youtooz has been their biggest commission. Nelson, who now resides in Lincoln, only recently took up puppet making and specializes in “The Mangle,” work that quickly earned him a couple thousand followers on Instagram.

“It hasn't even been a year yet since I started posting,” said Nelson. “So, it's been a really fast couple months and I'm excited to see where it goes.”

Nelson’s online presence put him in touch with a much bigger influencer known as WitheredCreationZ who preferred not to have his legal name published. WitheredCreationZ was the first to be approached by Youtooz and later decided to team up with Sphor and Nelson while on a trip to visit family in Sacramento.

“We started reaching out to every arcade you could think of,” said Nelson. “Back in Time Arcade was the perfect everything. We are very thankful that we chose them.”

This Marysville arcade has hosted a handful of modeling shoots in the past, but last month's adventure was their very first filming endeavor.

“It was a great time, I was so into it,” said Granados. “They were running around and rushing, and I said you ‘guys relax, take as long as you need.’ Really cool to be a part of.”

The resulting promotional material will be used by Youtooz in the coming weeks to help sell a variety of its products, specifically Five Nights at Freddy's merchandise.