Chucky (character)

Charles Lee "Chucky" Ray is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Child's Play slasher film franchise. Chucky is portrayed as a notorious "dead" serial killer whose spirit inhabits a "Good Guy" doll and continuously tries to transfer his soul from the doll to a human body. The character has become one of the most recognizable horror icons, and has been referenced numerous times in popular culture. In 1999, the Chucky character was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for the film Bride of Chucky. He was created by writer-director Don Mancini and is portrayed by Brad Dourif in both live action and voice over.[4] For the 2019 remake of the same name, Mark Hamill voiced Chucky, having previously voiced the Charles Lee Ray version of the character in an episode of Robot Chicken.

Chucky
Child's Play character
Good Guy doll, as seen in Child's Play (1988)
First appearanceChild's Play (1988)
Created byDon Mancini
John Lafia
Tom Holland
Adapted byDon Mancini
Portrayed byBrad Dourif (human form)
John Franklin (walkabout; 1988 film)
Brock Winkless (puppetry; films, 1–3, Bride of Chucky)[1]
Tony Gardner (puppetry; Seed of Chucky to Cult of Chucky)
Ed Gale (stunt double)[2][3]
Fiona Dourif (Cult of Chucky; possessed)
Voiced byBrad Dourif (doll form)
Edan Gross (Friendly Chucky)
Mark Hamill (reboot film, Robot Chicken)
In-universe information
AliasThe Lakeshore Strangler
NicknameChucky
SpeciesHuman (formerly)
Doll
OccupationSerial killer (before death)
Voodooist (before death)
Possessed doll (currently)
SpouseTiffany Valentine
ChildrenGlen (son)
Glenda (daughter)
RelativesJames Ivory "Jimmy" Ray (older brother)
ClassificationSerial killer
Power and abilitiesVoodoo

Appearances

Film

Chucky made his first appearance in the 1988 film Child's Play. In the film, serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) uses a voodoo ritual inside a toy-store to transfer his soul into a Good Guys doll in an effort to escape from Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon). Now living in the form of the animated doll, Chucky (voiced by Dourif) is given to young Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) and begins terrorizing the family.[5]

Chucky made his second appearance in the 1990 sequel, Child's Play 2. In the film, a resurrected Chucky continues his pursuit of Andy, who has been placed in foster care after the events of the first film.[6]

In Child's Play 3 (1991), Chucky again returns from the grave eight years after the events of the previous film to terrorize a now teenage Andy (Justin Whalin) who is currently in a military academy[7]

Bride of Chucky (1998) continues the story, with Chucky being resurrected by former accomplice and girlfriend Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly). After transferring Tiffany's soul into a bride doll, the two terrorize a young couple in an attempt to transfer their souls into human bodies.[8]

Seed of Chucky (2004) follows six years after the previous film when Glen/Glenda (voiced by Billy Boyd), the child of Chucky and Tiffany, brings his parents back to life. The trio then set their sights on actress Jennifer Tilly (in a fictionalized version of herself), for whom they have sinister plans. [9]

The 2013 film Curse of Chucky saw the series return to the straightforward horror elements found in the first three films.[10] The film takes place twenty-five years after the events of the first film, as Chucky torments Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif).[11]

In Cult of Chucky (2017), Chucky returns to torment a now institutionalized Nica, while a now adult Andy (Alex Vincent) attempts to stop Chucky's plans once and for all.[12]

In the 2019 remake of Child's Play, Chucky (voiced by Mark Hamill) is presented as a high-tech artificially-intelligent Buddi doll created by the Kaslan Corporation. Primarily designed to be a life-long companion to its owner by learning from its surroundings and acting accordingly, Buddi dolls can also connect to and operate other Kaslan products. One such doll has its safety precautions disabled by a disgruntled Kaslan employee during the assembly process, and as a result, Chucky gradually develops murderous tendencies as he tries to eliminate anyone or anything who's stopping him and his "best buddy" Andy Barclay (Gabriel Bateman) from staying best friends forever.

Concept and creation

Design

Child's Play creator and co-writer Don Mancini explained that Chucky draws heavily from the My Buddy dolls: "In my original script, he was originally called Buddy, and we couldn't use it because of the 'My Buddy' doll. The director went out and got a 'My Buddy' doll, a Raggedy Ann, a Raggedy Andy and one of those life-size baby infants. What I told [designer] Kevin Yagher was, I wanted something similar to a My Buddy doll. I described "Buddy" in my original script, now "Chucky", as wearing red-buttoned overalls, red sneakers, striped sweater, with red hair, blue eyes, and freckles. Kevin went off and sketched many designs of Chucky, until the final was picked. Yagher then built the first doll from those sketches and my details".[13]

Performance

For the first three films, Chucky was controlled by a team of nine puppeteers, led by Brock Winkless, who moved Chucky's mouth via radio control, wearing a rig that captured his own mouth movement. The others were in charge of operating the doll's head, face, and limbs. By the time of Curse of Chucky, Chucky's mouth, now performed by lead puppeteer Tony Gardner, was now operated via a radio-control unit without the need for a rig, and the doll himself now required fewer people to bring him to life.

See also

References
  1. Cheng, Cheryl (2015-07-30). "N. Brock Winkless IV, the Puppeteer of Chucky in 'Child's Play,' Dies at 56". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  2. "Chucky Was Played by a Real Person Exclusive Interview with Ed Gale". iHorror | Horror News and Movie Reviews. January 29, 2015.
  3. Navarro, Meagan (April 15, 2019). "[It Came From the '80s] How Actors and Effects Made a Killer Doll a Horror Icon in 'Child's Play'".
  4. Langshaw, Mark. "'Revenge of Chucky' in the works, says Brad Dourif". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  5. Tom Holland (Director) (1988). Child's Play (DVD). United States: United Artists.
  6. John Lafia (Director) (1990). Child's Play 2 (DVD). United States: Universal Pictures.
  7. Jack Bender (Director) (1991). Child's Play 3 (DVD). United States: Universal Pictures.
  8. Ronny Yu (Director) (1998). Bride of Chucky (DVD). United States: Universal Pictures.
  9. Don Mancini (Director) (2004). Seed of Chucky (DVD). United States: Rogue Pictures.
  10. "Quint chats up Don Mancini, David Kirschner and Michelle Gold about the CHILD'S PLAY REMAKE and the new DVD!!!". Ain't It Cool News. August 19, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  11. Don Mancini (Director) (2013). Curse of Chucky (DVD). United States: Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
  12. Don Mancini (Director) (2017). Cult of Chucky (DVD). United States: Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
  13. "YouTube". www.youtube.com.
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