Circus Baby’s Entertainment & Rentals began in 1985, when engineer William Afton wanted to combine robotics and entertainment. He based the idea on his daughter’s drawings of a clown named Circus Baby and a dancer named Ballora, who was inspired by his wife. His goal was to build a family restaurant where mechanical characters could perform for guests and make the experience fun and memorable.

The first location was a small test restaurant that featured early versions of Circus Baby and Ballora. On its opening day, several technical problems and a lack of audience interest caused the project to shut down. Afton realized that his ideas were ahead of the technology available at the time, so he put the project aside.

During the following years, Afton kept working on his designs. He focused on making the animatronics safer, simpler, and easier to move. Although the restaurant had failed, he believed that the characters still had potential if they were used in a different way.

In 1999, Fazbear Entertainment, a nearby company known for its own family restaurant, went out of business because its main building was old and not attracting enough customers. Afton bought the rights to some of Fazbear’s main characters, including Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, along with others like Coils the Clown, Balloon Boy, and JJ.

That same year, he restarted his business under the name Circus Baby’s Entertainment & Rentals. Instead of running a restaurant, he turned it into a rental and event service. Families and organizations could book animatronic performers for parties and shows. This new approach made the characters easier to share with more people. The service ran for several years, helping Afton’s creations find new life as part of local events and celebrations.