Child's Play (franchise): Difference between revisions

Child's Play (film series)
Directed by	Tom Holland John Lafia Jack Bender Ronny Yu Don Mancini
Written by	Don Mancini David Kirschner Corey Sienega Screenplay: Don Mancini Tom Holland John Lafia Story: Don Mancini
Produced by	David Kirschner Robert Lathan Brown Grace Gilroy
Starring	Brad Dourif Jennifer Tilly Alex Vincent Catherine Hicks Chris Sarandon Jenny Agutter Gerrit Graham Christine Elise Justin Whalin Perry Reeves Jeremy Sylvers Travis Fine Dean Jacobson Katherine Heigl Nick Stabile Redman Voices: Brad Dourif Jennifer Tilly Billy Boyd
Distributed by	United Artists (1988) Universal Pictures (1990-98) Rogue Pictures (through Universal Pictures) (2004) DreamWorks Pictures (through Buena Vista Entertainment) (2011-present)
Release date	1988-present
Country	United States
Language
Box office	$126,173,126

Child's Play is a horror film series created by Don Mancini, with the independent horror film Child's Play released on November 9, 1988. The film has so far spawned 4 sequels and has gone into other media such as comic books. The films all feature Chucky, a killer Good Guys doll with the soul of the 'Lakeshore Strangler' Charles Lee Ray.

The series started out in a more straight-out horror fashion, but as they went on became more horror comedy, especially starting with 1998's Bride of Chucky.

Major Characters

• Chucky (played by Brad Dourif) — The principal antagonist of the series. A murderer whose soul gets stuck in a doll. He usually kills 'anyone' who gets in his way and frames the main protagonist(s) of each film for them. Appears in all of the films.
• Andy Barclay (played by Alex Vincent and Justin Whalin) — The original protagonist who Chucky goes after to transfer his soul into the boy's body, as well as successfully framing him for the murders. Appears in the first three films.
• Tiffany (played by Jennifer Tilly) — Charles Lee Ray's ex-girlfriend (and later, on, ex-wife) who later gets her soul stuck in a doll like Chucky. Appears in Bride and Seed.
• Glen Ray (Tilly) (played by Billy Boyd) — Chucky and Tiffany's original child and Glenda's twin brother. He was an orphan for the first five or six years of his life until he saw his parents on television. Glen is a good person, and he doesn't like violence and definitely does not like murder like his parents. He fears but still loves his dad due to the fact he killed Chucky in a misunderstanding. He is the only living doll character not to be voiced by an Academy Award nominee. Appears in Bride (at the end as an infant) and Seed.
• Glenda Ray (Tilly) — Chucky and Tiffany's second child and the twin sister of Glen. Was originally part of Glen's mind but was reborn as a human. She is violent, sadistic, and cruel. She is even more ruthless than her father. Appears in Seed.

Overview

Film	Year	Cast	Director	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Distributor(s)
Child's Play	1988	Catherine Hicks Chris Sarandon Alex Vincent Brad Dourif	Tom Holland	Story: Don Mancini Screenplay: Don Mancini John Lafia Tom Holland	David Kirschner	MGM/United Artists
Child's Play 2	1990	Alex Vincent Jenny Agutter Gerrit Graham Christine Elise Brad Dourif	John Lafia	Don Mancini		Universal Pictures
Child's Play 3	1991	Justin Whalin Perrey Reeves Jeremy Sylvers Travis Fine Dean Jacobson Brad Dourif	Jack Bender		David Kirschner
Bride of Chucky	1998	Jennifer Tilly Brad Dourif Katherine Heigl Nick Stabile	Ronny Yu		Grace Gilroy David Kirschner
Seed of Chucky	2004	Brad Dourif Jennifer Tilly Billy Boyd Redman	Don Mancini		David Kirschner Corey Sienega	Rogue Pictures

Grosses

Film	Distributor	Release Date	Domestic
Child's Play	United Artists	November 11, 1988	$33,244,684
Child's Play 2	Universal	November 9, 1990	$28,501,605
Child's Play 3		August 30, 1991	$14,960,255
Bride of Chucky		October 16 1998	$32,383,850
Seed of Chucky	Rogue	November 12 2004	$17,083,732
Total			$126,173,126

Reviews

Film	Year	Percentage
Child's Play	1988	70%
Child's Play 2	1990	38%
Child's Play 3	1991	30%
Bride of Chucky	1998	43%
Seed of Chucky	2004	31%
Average		42%

Comic books

Innovation Publishing

Starting in 1990, Innovation Publishing released the first comic books based on the films, in the form of an adaptation of Child's Play 2. That lasted three issues, and was also collected in a trade paperback. The success of the adaptation led to a monthly series of new stories starting in 1991. The series , titled Child's Play although sometimes referred to as Child's Play: The Series, lasted through 1992 for five issues and features Chucky and Karen Barclay as its main protagonists. This was followed by an adaptation of Child's Play 3, which lasted for three issues.

Devil's Due Publishing

The next Child's Play comics wouldn't come until 2007, when Devil's Due Publishing obtained the license. They first released a one-shot crossover with Hack/Slash, title Hack/Slash vs. Chucky which takes place after the events of Seed of Chucky. This was followed by a four-issue series called Chucky. A second limited series, Chucky Vol. 2, began in early 2009.

Remake

A remake has been confirmed, with Brad Douriff as Chucky. It will be releasing in 2010. Originally planned for a late early 2009, production was halted for 3 months in January, and was delayed. Production is said to wrap up in December.

Alleged Relation to Crimes

The following crimes have been associated with the Child's Play films:

In December 1992 four people who tortured and killed a 16 year old girl, Suzanne Caper, were said to be influenced by one of the Child's Play movies. Furthermore during the torturing of the girl the perpetrators taunted her with quotes from the movies.

In 1993 youths who abducted and murdered a toddler named James Bulger were said to have been influenced by the film Child's Play 3. The supposed link between the murder and the film was denied by film censor James Ferman. This was also denied by the two boys .

According to a relative of two boys aged 10 and 12 who brutally attacked a nine-year-old and 11-year-old boy in Edlington, South Yorkshire in April 2009, the attackers watched horror movies, including Chucky films, from the age of about six or seven .

Warren Leblanc age 17 said that one of child's play movies and the manhunt video game influenced him to kill his friend Stefan Pakeerah age 14 and the police said that he killed Pakeerah similar to one of the child's play movies.