The Walten Files

The Walten Files is an online animated series created by Martin Walls on YouTube. It is a horror series that shares similar style to the video game franchise Five Nights at Freddy's and another online-horror series, Local 58. The first episode of the series was released April 26, 2020. After Episode three was released, Walls confirmed that this would be a multi-part series, however, stated that he needed a break. A trailer for Season 1 was released on May 2, 2021. As of July 2021, three episodes and two shorts have been released.
Plot
Jack Walten and Felix Kranken came up with a new idea that hadn't been seen before: to create a restaurant aimed at kids with robotic entertainment. This idea stuck with the two until it came to fruition in the summer of 1974. The name of this restaurant was "Bon's Burgers." Bon's Burgers would operate under the management of Bunny Smiles Incorporated (BSI).
On May 2, 1974, one month before the opening of the restaurant, Felix Kranken drove Jack Walten's two young children, Edd and Molly, to a party at their school. The school event hosted bar for the adults in which Felix gladly drank, as he was dealing with problems with his alcoholism and his wife leaving him earlier in that day. He eventually started to drive Walten's kids back home. However, due to how intoxicated he was, Felix began to speed up and crashed his car, killing both Edd and Molly. Out of irrational fear and guilt, he buried the two children in Saint Juana's Forest.
Shortly afterwards, Jack Walten was declared missing on June 11, 1974.
The series revolves around trying to figure out who killed them and why they were killed, or if they're still alive somewhere. As well as trying to tie up rumors and/or incidents.
Characters
* Bon: The main animatronic, a blue, male bunny. The person inside could be one of the founders of BSI, Jack Walten, however, this has not been confirmed.
* Banny: A side animatronic, a purple, female bunny. The person inside is Susan Woodings, who had engineered the animatronics, and had been trying to fix them after they started malfunctioning on Day One. This was confirmed in Episode 3.
* Sha: A yellow, female
animatronic sheep. The person inside is Walten's wife, Rosemary Walten. This was confirmed in Episode 3.
* Billy: An animatronic clown, with red hair. The person inside this one is Ashley Parks. This was confirmed in Episode 2.
* Boozoo: An animatronic magician, one of the showstoppers and only human animatronic, along with Billy. The person inside is Charles, an unknown worker. This was confirmed in Episode 3. Altough, it has been hinted that Jack is in Boozoo, as Boozoos voice actor, Kyle, (@itsamewario48 on Twitter and Tiktok) hinted at in a Tiktok Live. There is also an unexplained photo of the Boozoo animatronic on findjackwalten.com, though, this information has not been confirmed.
Episodes
Three episodes for the series has been made so far.
Episode 1: Company Introductory Tape (Released on April 26, 2020): The Company Introduction Tape is the first episode of The Walten Files’ Season One. It introduces most of the characters, including the Showstoppers, some of the protagonists, and the ongoing mystery behind Bunny Smiles Incorporated. During the episode, a person named Brian Stells goes to the K9 facility where the animatronics are stored, only to be scared and killed by Bon. It has been viewed 4,300,000 times on YouTube.
Episode 2: Relocate Project (Released on June 28, 2020): The Relocate Project is the second episode of The Walten Files' Season One. It revolves around BSIs failed attempt at rebranding after an incident at one of the restaurants that caused the animatronics to be moved to the K-9 Storage Facility. This episode is split into four tapes. This episode has been viewed 1,900,000 times on YouTube.
*Tape One (07/02/1978): The first tape mostly revolves around a TTS voice explaining BSIs plan to reopen Bon's Burgers and BSI's overall plan as a company for the future, establishing the Relocate Project, as after a lot of legal paperwork, it was time. The tape brings lots of praise to Felix but does not bring up Jack Walten at all, only appearing as an abnormality. The final part shows Felix's plans for generating revenue to get the company back to its former glory; merchandising. Then, when cutting to Felix in cartoon form, The voice says that "Felix is a man with not only a giant brain, but also a giant hear-" before smash cutting to a cartoon version of Jack Walten, than his face hiding in the darkness as it darkens to transition to the next tape. One part of the link for Lucky You is found right in the start of this tape.
*Tape Two (08/13/1978): The second tape starts out with the words "REPROGRAMMING PHASE" slowly fading in, showing how the reprogramming could be done, and then the background slowly fades out to Banny, as we get to see tests on each expression before eventually, Banny starts showing the face of Susan Woodings. The Mighty Rabbit, looking similar to Banny, is shown running around a 4-path corridor to no avail with the repeating phrase "THE RABBIT IS STARVING", she then starts crying black tears before showing a field of bunnies running around, signifying a dust bowl, which is where many bunnies are killed. Banny shows up and scares the viewer with reversed opera music and a distorted face. The tape ends with a purple rabbit being trapped in a cage, signifying that Susan was trapped and couldn't get out of Banny. After that, a hard to see missing portrait of Susan Woodings can be seen.
*Tape Three (07/09/1978): This tape is about Rosemary and her death, and the various locations of the K-9 Storage Facility. We're shown a slideshow of The Showstoppers altogether, than an exoskeleton of Banny or Bon, than a Bunnyfarm arcade cabinet, than a cartoon version of The Showstoppers, this time with Billy. It than finally shows Sha wearing 3D glasses and eating popcorn on a chair and a TV remote in her hand, but not before a logo for Bunny Smiles Technical Support appears. Than Sha finally appears. She introduces the viewer to Technical Support, and that the tape will be focused on Area Tour and Orientation inside the K-9 facility. She moves to the right and she says that they recommend that facility caretakers have all needed equipment and always wear the uniform, but most importantly, your BSI ID card, cutting to Brian's ID card after he died. Once they have the necessary equipment, they are ready to go. The scene cuts to Little Bon standing outside the K-9 facility with a BSI hat on. He says he sees they made it to the facility, and states they must be very excited and nervous to start working there, but asks if they have the needed items for job tasks. He states to grab a backpack and start getting them, and we see what the necessary items are. Lantern/Flashlight, Snack, Key, and Camera. After the camera is mentioned, Little Bon starts staring at the viewer, with Jack Walten appearing from the backpack. Sha states it's dark, and the viewer should turn on the light 4 times. After the 4th, the place is illuminated and we are seeing Sha in the facility as she says it's important to keep track of where you are in the facility, as it can be very easy to get lost. She shows the resting room, where other employees can rest or talk and sit down, and it's important to keep the room clean as "it helps tasks get done faster" and "a dirty environment makes a job harder to get done. She moves to another room, with The Shadow Man appearing very briefly. She shows the main hall, where there will be 3 doors, which are storage areas. The first is used for cleaning, supplies, or cleaning supplies, the second is used for prizes and merch that was in the restaurant. Before the third doors purpose is revealed, Sha's eyes turn black, the area is much darker, and she doesn't say anything. It cuts to black before we're shown room with Sha telling the story about Rosemary in reverse. After her husband Jack's disappearance, she went searching at Bon's Burgers every day to find him, until one day, she heard a voice calling out to her to come backstage. When she does, instead of finding her husband, she encounters Bon. Sha moves around various areas and switches to a crying face for a brief moment as well. At the end, she starts glitching into a crying version, a black eyed version, and Rosemary herself, with the final one being one that's all black, with white eyes and mouth. It shows Rosemary in cartoon form, before showing Bon as pictured, saying the same quote he has on the picture. She is dismembered, and shoved into the Sha animatronic, bloody all over, and the Shadow Man appearing again. A close up of Sha is shown, saying that "When she woke up, she looked beautiful. But on the inside... it felt like every single part of her body was BLEEDING OUT.", before showing Sha moving around all bloody. A distorted face of Sha is shown, and the tape ends with Rosemary's missing poster.
*Tape Four (07/12/1978-07/14/1978): The fourth and final tape of the episode revolves around three BSI technicians (Hilary B, Ashley P, Kevin W.) would stay in the BSI storage facility for the purpose of reprogramming the animatronics for the relocate project. They talk about incidents with BSI and Bon's Burgers, and attempt to reprogram them. It ends up being unsuccessful, as it was too complicated, and had a bad deadline and improper tools. However, Ashley decides to film a backroom, where she sees a clown and a tape. She plays the tape, but shortly afterwards, gets killed by Bon (or whoever was inside of Bon), and is stuffed into Billy. The tape ends with Billy saying something to the camera, before taking off the mask, showing a disfigured head, of Ashley P.
Episode 3: BunnyFarm (Released March 19, 2021): Sophie Walten, the eldest Walten family daughter, and her girlfriend, Jenny Letterson, find an arcade style game made by BSI titled BunnyFarm. The game centered around doing miscellaneous tasks in order to receive fruits from the farm owner. The game glitches out and shows disturbing and unusual imagery, which causes Sophie to quit the game.
The next day, Sophie plays the game again, where the mysterious and creepy glitches continue plaguing the game. But now, they begin to piece a story for Sophie, who has severe memory loss from pills that had been given to her. A story about how a few individuals lost their lives at Bon's Burgers 8 years prior and reveals what had happened to Sophie's siblings, Edd and Molly, in the hands of Felix Kranken. This episode has been viewed 1,500,000 on YouTube.
Unofficial episodes
Two episodes were also uploaded to YouTube that are unofficial to the lore or story, and are more easter eggs. They were released unlisted, but can since been seen on The Walten Files playlist without needing the link.
Short One: Lucky You (Released June 27, 2020): This short consists of many different images and clips.
*The first two images are of opening day, on June 28, 1974. (June 28 was also the same day Episode 2 of the series was uploaded.) The images include the front of Bon's Burgers, and a photo of Bon.
*The third image is of the first party taking place at Bon's Burgers, on June 30, 1974. The image is a bunch of children on a couch, one is wearing a paper crown.
*The fourth image is of the last show before Bon's Burgers was closed, somewhere between July 10, 1974, and July 19, 1974. There is also a video with Bon and Boozoo waving goodbye, with text stating "THANK YOU FOR THE SMILES! Bon's Burgers: 06/28/1974 - 07/20/1974"
*The fifth image is of an abandoned Bon's Burgers, taken October 31, 1974. Behind the wooden planks that seal the windows, Bon is seen inside, making an unknown hand gesture to the photographer.
*The sixth image is of the K9 Storage Facility where the animatronics were stored, taken December 10, 1974.
*The seventh image is of the animatronics in the facility, broken, taken on January 23, 1975.
*The next few images are the animatronics faces, with blacked out eyes and open mouths. There is dialogue stating that the person watching must be confused about what they saw. After that, the voice tells a story while other images are shown.
*The next image are rabbits in a cage. After that, it fades to a drawing of the K9 facility. It then cuts to video of Brian Stells from the first episode running away from the facility, while the voice is now repeating, "Safety in pills, Sophie."
*The last several images/clips are the death of Ashley from episode 2, and images of them acting lively with text over them saying that they are calling for help from what happened. During this moment, loud music plays over the background. The video ends on a black screen with distorted piano music, saying that they will see Sophie again.
Short Two: Guilty (Released October 16, 2020): This short consists of different voice recordings by Felix Kranken, one of the founders of BSI.
*The first voice recording is titled "Company Greeting," and was recorded on April 15, 1967, eight years before Bon's Burgers would open. The recording is of Kranken greeting any new employees in the future to the company.
*The second voice recording is titled "December Message," was recorded on December 10, 1972. The recording is Kranken wishing employees a happy holidays and Christmas break, and Kranken also stated his enjoyment for the company, stating that he's amazed on how far it has come.
*The third voice recording had it's title censored, but using the tips of letters that weren't censored, can make out the name as "Guilty," recorded on May 2, 1974, a month before Bon's Burgers would open. It consists of Kranken saying he messed up after he crashed the car that Walten's kids, Ed and Molly, killing both of them, after he got drunk at a party. Kranken said that if Jack found out, he would be devastated, so Kranken buried them in Saint Juana's forest. The video ends with an image of Bon zooming out and fading away.
Short Three Health Department PSA
This episode was uploaded but taken down shortly after due to ""references"" to COVID-19. Not much is known about this episode as few people have seen it, although there are several reuploads. The video is more or less a guide for the COVID-19 Pandemic using the characters from the series, mainly focusing on Bon. The video describes many protection methods, such as washing hands, wearing face masks, not hoarding supplies, staying at home if you are sick, and not following unofficial information. The video ends with Bon dying in the hospital after getting infected, only to be reanimated in a way similar to the rest of the series. as a slow robot voice states "FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS". It is believed that the video served as a teaser for the series.
Reception
The series has received universal acclaim. It is rated 9.2 out of 10 on IMDB, and all together, has been viewed 7.7 million times on YouTube (minus the two shorts). Many theories have been driven about this, including one where Bon is actually Bonnie the Rabbit from Five Nights at Freddy's, however, Walls disproved this theory through the YouTube community tab, where he said that in The Walten Files lore, Freddy Fazbear's place opened in 1983, while BSI dissolved in 1983. Furthermore, that in the universe, Fazbear's is a normal place, with no killings or incidents occurring. While the series did receive heavy popularity in 2020, it had a rebirth in popularity in 2021 following users on TikTok turning it into a "scary challenge." While Walls stated that he did not want it to become this, he is also appreciative of the support the series has been getting. Following the sudden rise in popularity, two YouTubers, Nexpo and MatPat had made videos discussing what The Walten Files were, as well as providing theories and decoding the series.

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