Examination of Chucky: An Unauthorized Dissection of the Child's Play Series

By Troy H. Gardner

In this unauthorized collection of film theory essays, author Troy H. Gardner closely examines the history of pop culture icon Chucky the killer doll.

With a look at all six films in the series, as well as drawing from the horror genre as a whole, Gardner explores such topics as character studies of Andy Barclay and Tiffany, the psychology of Chucky's family, and how each film's opening is constructed.

This is the perfect book for any Chucky lover, horror enthusiast, or slasher fan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Troy H. Gardner
• Release date: Oct 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301859818

Troy H. Gardner

Troy H. Gardner grew up in New Hampshire and graduated with a B.A. in English/Communications with a dual concentration in film and writing from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. He spent ten years working in the banking industry dreaming up numerous stories to write. When not writing, Troy busies himself jet-setting from Sunapee, NH to Moultonborough, NH.

Book preview

Preface

The following essays were written about a film series that I love. And if you’re reading this book, then you probably do, too. The slasher sub-genre achieved the peak of its popularity in the 1980s with major studios releasing multiple films each year. Of the franchises that reached mass appeal in pop culture, starring such cinematic killers as Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, and Jason Voorhees, only one slasher icon continues in his original context—Chucky. This book will examine several facets of Chucky, his loved ones and enemies, and the six films in the Child’s Play series, as well as why he has endured so well and continues to be a pop culture icon.

I discovered Chucky in the same way as those other maniacal slasher killers, at the local video store. I don't recall the first time I watched Child’s Play, but I do remember going to the video store when I was young and renting the first sequel on VHS. Looking at the tagline Sorry Jack, Chucky’s Back I hoped to see the return of Officer Norris (I didn’t recall that the character's first name was Mike—this was before I was obsessed with such details). Norris never came back, but I did, time and again for each sequel.

This book is a collection of musings and analytical looks at the series. I’m a firm believer that film is an art form and can be studied in a vast array of contexts to better understand characters and themes. At the same time, these movies are meant to entertain and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

I am the co-author of the Mad World series, supernatural young adult books available from MuseItUp Publishing tackling themes of mental health and homelessness. In addition, I’ve authored solo horror and fantasy stories and a book examining the Sleepaway Camp horror films.

While some elements of the Child’s Play movies may be contentious with fans, such as Glen/Glenda, this book is a celebration of the entire series. Even if you don’t love every sequel, they are Chucky movies and they add to the mythology and semiotics of the series as a whole.

It should be noted that these essays will not only discuss the six movie Child’s Play series in whole, but include information on other films, such as mentioning killers’ identities and ending material. Consider yourself warned.

One of the reasons the horror franchise is so popular is due to nostalgia and familiarity. Just as senses combine, so too do memories bundle. When you experience something, all the senses encode memories together, meaning sights, sounds, feelings, all combine (How Human Memory Works). This means where you were when you first watch a movie can be engraved in your memory of the movies itself. Who you were with or a certain time in your life become connected with the film itself, even if subconsciously. Thus, seeing a sequel reminds you of childhood, or good times, or previous friends. A part of you reflects on being a kid at family movie night twenty years later renting the latest Chucky flick.

So if you’d like to think about old times, and scary-fun movies in a new light, sit back, read these essays, and enjoy.

Series History

Child’s Play was created by Don Mancini while he was a college student at UCLA in the mid-1980s. Many influences converged, such as the popularity of the Cabbage Patch Kids and improvements in animatronics in such films as Gremlins, in crafting the original screenplay (Buzz).

The original script, Blood Buddy, was a dark satire of advertising and featured a killer doll name Buddy who was brought to life to kill a child’s enemies. Producer David Kirschner liked the script and brought it to Disney, as he had a deal with the company to give them a first-look at all of his future projects. Disney turned him down, unsurprisingly, and Kirschner found a studio that was interested, United Artists. Once the film was greenlit, director/writer Tom Holland was brought on board. Buddy’s name, and the film’s title, was changed to avoid a lawsuit from the popular My Buddy toys (Turek, Ryan).

The screenplay was doctored by John Laffia and Holland; the latter of which added the voodoo aspect of the film, separating the killer doll from the child’s psyche (Turek, Ryan) and signed stars Catherine Hicks and Christopher Sarandon by promoting the film as a crime thriller.

In actually creating the doll, Mancini’s script described him as two and a half feet tall, red hair, freckles, blue eyes, red sneakers, blue overalls with the hair being a spiky, punky kind of look cause that was popular at the time. Kirschner, an artist who had worked on the highly successful An American Tail, also tweaked the design, giving the doll shaggy hair (The Arrow Interviews).

Holland worked with special effects supervisor Kevin Yagher, who had created the iconic looks for Freddy Krueger and The Cryptkeeper previously. Holland bought several popular dolls to use as inspiration and told Yagher that:

I wanted Buddy, but I wanted the Raggedy Andy coloring—those button overalls, and I wanted the freckles and all that. And then I wanted the meanest-looking son of a [expletive] Raggedy Ann and Andy doll that you could create, but I wanted it with the creepiness of that infant doll (Onda, David).

On a side note, for those who don’t think horror films promote family, Yagher met actress Catherine Hicks on set and the two married shortly thereafter in 1990.

The eventual VHS release offered the following as a synopsis for the final product:

Nobody believes 6-year-old Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) when he says that Chucky, his new birthday doll, is alive. And when Andy’s babysitter is violently pushed out the window to her death, the boy tells his mother (Catherine Hicks) and the detective (Christopher Sarandon) the simple truth—Chucky did it.

In this clever, playful thriller (New York Times), voodoo and terror meet when an innocent-looking doll is inhabited by the soul of a killer who wasn’t ready to die. Only young Andy realized that Chucky, promises to be his friend to the end, is responsible for the ensuing rampage of gruesome murders. But the real terror takes hold when the deranged doll becomes determined to transfer his evil spirit into a living human being!

With a modest budget of $9 million, the film came in first its opening weekend in 1988 and ended up grossing $44,196,684 in the box office (Box Office History). It's no surprise that such a success would lead to talks of a sequel. MGM/United Artists sold the sequel rights to the franchise in 1990 to Universal shortly before work on Child's Play 2 began.

Kirschner again produced the film and Mancini returned to pen the script, using a few ideas from the original, such as killing Andy's teacher. After the reported disputes between the production and director Tom Holland, Jon Laffia was hired to direct the picture.

The eventual VHS copy of the film described the synopsis as thus:

Chucky’s back! The notorious killer doll with a satanic smile comes back to life in this new chapter depicting the terrifying struggle between young Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) and the demonic doll attempting to possess his soul.

Despite being roasted to a crisp in his last escapade, Chucky rises from the ashes after being reconstructed by a toy factory to dispel the negative publicity surrounding the doll.

Back in one piece, Chucky tracks his prey to a foster home where the chase begins again in this fiendishly clever sequel to the enormously popular original.

Child's Play 2 was released two years to the day after the original. Gone was the ambiguity of Chucky being the killer and the Chicago atmosphere, and in its place was a more straight-forward slasher with the killer doll again seeking Andy Barclay's body to possess. The sequel cost $13 million and grossed $35,763,605 (Box Office History). While