Is Chucky In ‘Child's Play’ Based On A Real Doll?

In 1988, the film “Child’s Play” broke new ground in the horror genre with the introduction of Chucky, a murderous doll possessed by the spirit of a serial killer. Now that the remake of the horror classic is on its way, many wonder how the concept of Chucky came to be and whether or not it took inspiration from real life.

“The Conjuring,” one of the most haunting film series of all time, was based on real supernatural events witnessed by Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were also featured in the film. Aside from “The Conjuring,” many other horror films that made it to the big screen actually took inspiration from true events, from notorious serial killers to true crime stories. However, “Child’s Play” is not one of them.

Charles Lee Ray, the serial killer whose spirit possessed Chucky in the original film, was purely fictional, in the same way that Chucky was purely fictional. Although some publications linked Chucky to the legend known as “Robert the Doll,” original screenplay writer Don Mancini debunked the claims and revealed that the villain actually had roots in the eighties consumerist culture.

Robert the Doll is currently on display at the East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida. The doll allegedly mutilated the other toys of its owner and knocked their furniture over during the night. Years later, the new owners of the house where the original owners of Robert the Doll once lived found the doll in the attic. Eventually, the doll tried to kill the 10-year-old daughter of the new house owner.

How the story of Robert the Doll resembled Chucky’s story made many people think that it was the inspiration behind “Child’s Play,” but it was not. According to Mancini, Chucky took inspiration from the Cabbage Patch Kids and My Buddy Doll crazes in the eighties.

Intrigued by how marketers stoked the need of kids to have the latest hot commodity, he came up with the idea of making a doll the focal point of his story. He also said that he was partly influenced by his father’s job as a liaison of a pharmaceutical company to ad agencies in New York when he conceptualized the evil doll.

“Madison Avenue refers to children as ‘consumer trainees’ and I discovered that as a child,” he said. “I thought, I wanted to write a dark satire about how advertising affects children,” he added.

The “Child’s Play” remake will feature a different Chucky. Voiced by “Star Wars” star Mark Hamill, the new Chucky will not be a possessed doll but a robotic doll programmed to do evil.