Chucky wants to be your friend to the end, or whenever he decides that playtime is over.
Toy Story would be a different story told only through endings if the Good Guy Chucky doll was Andy's favorite toy. Afterward, Sid Phillips would be turned into Mr. Potato Head. Imagination and batteries brought Pixar's toys to life, but life for the demented talking doll was inspired by the Hasbro My Buddy doll in 1985 and the earlier 1978 Cabbage Patch Kids. His backstory came from a voodoo ritual performed by one-stop shopper and serial killer, Charles Lee Ray, an amalgam of infamous killers Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald, and James Earl Ray. Brad Dourif played the murderer and doll, taking on a Jack Nicholson impression, after his notable role as Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Chucky shared his playtime in search of a new human body.
Playtime is a sacred event in childhood. It's a time to be carefree, let the mind wander, and make far away places closer. Andy, at six-years-old, is gifted the sought-after doll for his birthday. Poor Andy didn't know that the number seven is unlucky in some cultures. Toys are meant for children, but the box says for ages seven and up. Chucky went up to the inner child of adults and brought out the nightmares and death of consumerism for all boys and girls with a game of Hide the Soul.
In this direct-to-video sequel, Chucky finds his way to another family with a direct connection to the serial killer Charles Lee Ray. Unbeknownst to the family, the killer is still at large in a doll's body. Chucky's appearance is a revenge killing; after being discovered for kidnapping the protagonist's mother (leading to the events of the first film), he returns to finish off the rest of her family. Her husband Ian gets axed off with a sloppy Colombian necktie.
When you outgrow a toy, a few things happen. Either you donate, have a garage sale, or throw out the play thing. Any parents who have put their child's toy in the trash know the backlash and cries they get in return. Chucky also objects after he is tossed out of military school by commandant Colonel Cochrane (Dakin Matthews), who tells a 16-year-old Andy Barclay (Justin Whalin) to forget his past. Chucky yells for help and pretends to be trapped in the garbage truck's compactor until he leads the Garbage Man (Terry Wills) into an ironic demise.
Chucky is no longer a Good Guy, but an evil computer and surveillance system called Buddi (Mark Hamill). He is powered by a sweatshop worker who commits career suicide when he secretly removes the safety software in the doll. The malware virus infects other dolls after it learns through nuanced language processing and violent imagery. Buddi's sadistic AI kicks in when he attacks the new Andy's (Gabriel Bateman) mom's (Aubrey Plaza) unfaithful love interest, Shane (David Lewis), turning him into mulch.
Having a doll family while slaving away at your job as a damned murder-doll is the meta-sitcom for a select audience. After Chucky and Tiffany Valentine have unprotected doll sex in Bride of Chucky, they give birth to their gender dysphoric, pants-peeing, living-doll love child, Glen (or Glenda) who enters the family feud. Tony Gardner is the special effects designer of the movie, and his decapitation by wire is yet another ironic death.
A triple threat is hard to beat. Ever since Child's Play 3, franchise creator Don Mancini wanted multiple Chucky dolls wreaking havoc. His nightmare came true in Cult of Chucky within a remote psychiatric institution. The three devils undergo transmogrify with a horrific and hilarious tag-team kill. Chucky proves he is the ultimate patient zero.
We see what you did there, Chucky. The eyes are the window to the soul and Chucky will be the last thing your soul sees. In the Play Pals factory where Good Guy dolls are made, a factory worker on the night shift is interrupted by a doll jam. He gets on the factory floor to assess the blockage and remove the clogged toys. After clearing the conveyor belt, the Play Pals employee realizes he missed the company's walking, talking mascot. Chucky lays the man down to have his eyes pierced and assembled with a nice pair of Good Guy googly eyes.
Before Charles Lee Ray was Chucky, he had a relationship with his former accomplice, Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly). She steals the parts of Chucky from a police officer after setting him up with a bribe. Practicing the dark arts herself, she reassembles Chucky and decides to recite the incantation to bring his soul back to life. Tiffany was expecting Chucky to propose to her, but Chucky was a playboy by choice. She later keeps Chucky imprisoned in a playpen with a bride doll, but using the doll's wedding ring, Chucky chisels his way to freedom. Chucky electrocutes Tiffany in her bathtub with a TV showing the inspiration for the film, Bride of Frankenstein.
Babysitters and toys only get along when they need a distraction from taking care of a kid all night. In Child's Play, Maggie (Dinah Manoff) works at the mall with Karen Barclay and decides to watch her son, Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) while she stays late. Maggie says its curfew, but Chucky and his pitter-patter sneakers say its playtime (or hammer time!) Watching the news, sprinting down the hall, spilling and leaving sugar-covered footprints behind, and having fun with his Good Guy accessory was the perfect display of dark humor. Ever since Chucky played dumb with the audience, the ominous threat of a supernatural doll matched with a cherub's face remained imprinted on children and reduced adults to scared babies.
Brent is an author, educator, and freelancer from Lake Mary, FL. He was born in his local Blockbuster, teething on action, horror, and science fiction VHS tapes. Today, he runs his business, Wiggins' Words, as an editor, tutor, and poet on demand.
About Summ
Check Also
The best movies leaving Netflix, HBO, and more in March to watch now – Polygon
Use your Google Account Forgot email?Not your computer? Use a private browsing window to sign …