Child's Play
Child's Play logo as used in the original film (top) and theChucky logo (bottom)
Created by	Don Mancini
Original work	Child's Play (1988)
Owners	United Artists (1988) Universal Pictures (1990–1998;2013–present) Rogue Pictures (2004) United Artists Releasing (2019) Orion Pictures (2019)
Years	1988–present
Print publications
Novel(s)	List of novels
Comics	List of comics
Films and television
Film(s)	List of films
Short film(s)	Chucky's Vacation Slides (2005) Chucky Invades (2013)
Television series	Chucky (2021–2024)
Games
Video game(s)	Chucky: Slash & Dash (2013)
Miscellaneous
Theme park attraction(s)	List of theme park attractions

Child's Play (also known colloquially asChucky) is an Americanslashermedia franchise created byDon Mancini. The films primarily focus onChucky (voiced byBrad Dourif in the original films and television series, andMark Hamill in theremake), a notoriousserial killer who frequently escapes death by performing avoodoo ritual to transfer his soul into a "Good Guy" doll. The original film,Child's Play, was released on November 9, 1988. The film has spawned six sequels, a television series, a remake, novels, comic books, a video game, and tie-in merchandise. The first, second, and fourth films were box office successes with all of the films earning over $182 million worldwide. Including revenues from sales of videos, DVDs, VOD and merchandise, the franchise has generated over $250 million.^[1]

Several short films have been made featuring the Chucky character: on the DVD release ofSeed of Chucky, a short film entitledChucky's Vacation Slides, set after the shooting of the film, was included, and a series of short films inserting Chucky into the events of other horror films entitledChucky Invades was released in the run-up to the release ofCurse of Chucky. On television, Chucky has appeared in commercials and also onSaturday Night Live, with a separate voice actor voicing the character. Chucky appeared in a pre-taped segment during an October 1998 episode ofWorld Championship Wrestling'sMonday Nitro program as aheel, taunting wrestlerRick Steiner who was aface at the time and promotingBride of Chucky. He later appeared onWWE'sNXT program for the special "Halloween Havoc" episodes in October 2021 and 2022, in which Chucky served as a host to announce several of the matches. These appearances were to promote theChucky television series, which began airing on October 12, 2021, onSyfy andUSA Network.^[2]

Directed by Tom Holland from a story by Holland, John Lafia, and Don Mancini,Child's Play was released on November 9, 1988. It was the first film in the series and the only film (not counting the 2019 reboot) to be distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists before the franchise was sold to Universal Pictures. The film starredCatherine Hicks,Chris Sarandon,Brad Dourif, andAlex Vincent in his first film performance.

Gunned down by Detective Mike Norris, dying murderer Charles Lee Ray uses voodoo magic to put his soul inside a doll named Chucky—which Karen Barclay buys for her young son, Andy. Tragedy strikes when Chucky kills Andy's babysitter. The boy then realizes the doll is alive and tries to warn people, but he's institutionalized. Now Karen must convince the detective of the murderous doll's intentions, before Andy becomes Chucky's next victim.

Directed byJohn Lafia, from a story by Don Mancini, and released on November 9, 1990,Child's Play 2 is the second film in the series and the first film produced byUniversal Pictures. The film seesAlex Vincent andBrad Dourif reprise their respective roles asAndy Barclay and the voice ofChucky, whileChristine Elise plays Andy's foster sister,Kyle.

Two years after serial killer Charles Lee Ray inserted his soul into a Chucky doll, a toy company attempts to re-create the doll, bringing Ray back in the process. The possessed doll, intent on claiming a human body, kills his way toward former owner Andy, who now lives in a foster home. Andy's foster sister, Kyle, tries to protect him, but his foster parents believe Andy is just a troubled kid—and Chucky's murderous path continues.

Directed byJack Bender from a story by Don Mancini and released on August 30, 1991,Child's Play 3^[3] is the third and last film in the series to be titledChild's Play, as all future installments would later use the titleChucky (prior to the 2019 reboot). The film sawJustin Whalin (replacingAlex Vincent) asAndy Barclay, whilePerrey Reeves and Jeremy Sylvers play new characters Kristin De Silva and Ronald Tyler.Brad Dourif reprised his role as the voice ofChucky, becoming the only actor to appear in all films and the television series.

It's been years since Chucky, the doll with the soul and the voice of a psychopathic killer, was apparently destroyed at a doll factory. Now Chucky's manufacturer is remaking the same line of toys with the old, still haunted materials. This resurrects Chucky, who goes after Andy, his former owner, who now attends military school. Chucky slashes his way through a string of grotesque murders as Andy tries to stop the homicidal doll and the spirit within it.

Directed byRonny Yu from a story by Don Mancini and released on October 16, 1998,Bride of Chucky is the fourth film in the franchise, and the first film to be titledChucky. The film once again seesBrad Dourif reprising his role ofChucky, whileJennifer Tilly,Nick Stabile, andKatherine Heigl play new characters. Unlike the first three films, this film focuses almost entirely on the titular dolls.

After being cut apart in the previous film, killer doll Chucky is resurrected by Tiffany, his ex-girlfriend. Following an argument, Chucky kills Tiffany, transferring her soul into a bride doll. To find the magical amulet that can restore them both to human form, Chucky and Tiffany arrange to be driven to New Jersey by Jesse and Jade, a teenage couple who are unaware that their cargo is alive.

Directed and written by Don Mancini and released on November 11, 2004,Seed of Chucky is the fifth installment of the series and the second film not to be distributed by Universal Pictures. The film starsBrad Dourif, reprising his role asChucky,Jennifer Tilly, reprising her role asTiffany Valentine, while also playing a fictional version of herself, andBilly Boyd as their child, Glen/Glenda.

Gentle Glen is a ventriloquist's dummy, the offspring of evil dolls Chucky and Tiffany, both of whom are now deceased. When the orphaned Glen hears that a film is being made about his parents, he goes to Hollywood and resurrects them in an attempt to get to know them better. He is horrified when his parents embark on a new mass assassination, and Chucky is equally horrified that his son has no taste for evil.

Directed and written by Don Mancini and released on October 8, 2013,Curse of Chucky is the sixth film in the series, and the first direct-to-video installment. It starsBrad Dourif, reprising the role from previous films, while his daughter,Fiona Dourif, plays new characterNica Pierce.

Looking for revenge, Chucky the killer doll infiltrates and terrorizes the family of a woman, her sister, and her young niece.

Directed and written by Don Mancini, and released on October 3, 2017,Cult of Chucky is the seventh installment and the second direct-to-video film in the franchise. It starsBrad Dourif,Jennifer Tilly,Alex Vincent, andFiona Dourif, all reprising the roles from previous films in the franchise.

Chucky returns to terrorize his human victim, Nica, who is confined to an asylum for the criminally insane. Meanwhile, the killer doll has some scores to settle with his old enemies, with the help of his former wife.

Directed by Lars Klevberg,Child's Play (2019) is a remake and reboot of the original film. It is the first and only film in the franchise to not be written byDon Mancini or feature longtime Chucky actorBrad Dourif. It starsAubrey Plaza,Gabriel Bateman, andMark Hamill playing new versions of characters from the original film. In this film, Chucky is not a doll possessed by a serial killer but instead an AI-powered Buddi one.^[4]

After moving to a new city, young Andy Barclay receives a special present from his mother—a seemingly innocent Buddi doll that becomes his best friend. When the doll suddenly takes on a life of its own, Andy unites with other neighborhood children to stop the sinister toy from wreaking havoc.

In October 2017, Don Mancini stated that he intends to have Glen and Glenda fromSeed of Chucky return in a future film, and acknowledged that most references to that character had been cut fromCult of Chucky.^[5]Child's Play television series continuationChucky was released in October 2021 and Mancini said that following the TV show, feature films will continue to be developed in the future.^[6][7]

In an interview withBloody Disgusting, Mancini discussed the potential of aChild's Play film set on a train,^[8] as well as revealing plans for a crossover film with theA Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, tentatively referred to asChild's Play on Elm Street.^[9]

I would like to do Freddy and Chucky, just because I think they would be a fun double act. I'm more really interested in the characters. My pitch for Freddy vs. Chucky isChild's Play on Elm Street. Chucky ends up in some kid's house on Elm Street, and Chucky and Freddy inevitably meet in the dreamscape. Chucky sleeps. Why not? Chucky sleeps, Chucky dreams. And they have this admiration for each other. But they realize quickly that Elm Street isn't big enough for the two of them, so in a riff onDirty Rotten Scoundrels they have a contest: who can kill the most teenagers before the sun comes up?

Mancini confirmed his intent to make the crossover film, describing it as "cool and doable", saying that the film would be titledChild's Play on Elm Street and that he was in discussion withNew Line Cinema about the film.^[10] The foundation for a crossover film was previously laid inBride of Chucky, in whichFreddy Krueger'sbladed glove had appeared in the Lockport police evidence depository at the beginning of the film.^[11]

In March 2024, Don Mancini announced he is in early stages of development on a newChucky movie that would work in tandem with the series.^[12] In September the same year, Mancini assured the franchise's continuation despite the cancellation of the television series.^[13]

A television series adaptation, titledChucky, was released on October 12, 2021, with involvement from franchise creatorDon Mancini and producerDavid Kirschner. The show aired onSyfy andUSA Network and shares continuity with the original film series, and is a continuation of that story. Mancini stated that besides the TV series, feature films will still continue to be developed.^[6]Brad Dourif returned to voice Charles Lee "Chucky" Ray.^[14] Executive producers of the series includeDavid Kirschner andNick Antosca.^[15][16][17] Mancini directed and wrote the first episode.^[18]

In addition to Brad Dourif,Jennifer Tilly reprised her roles, as both herself and as Tiffany Valentine in the series.Fiona Dourif reprises her roles as Nica and Chucky.Billy Boyd as Glen and Glenda,Alex Vincent andChristine Elise McCarthy reprised their roles asAndy Barclay andKyle.^[19][20] Other cast members includeZackary Arthur,Teo Briones,Alyvia Alyn Lind, Björgvin Arnarson,Devon Sawa,^[21]Lexa Doig andBarbara Alyn Woods.^[22][23]

In September 2024, the series was canceled after three seasons.^[13]

On the home mediaDVD andBlu-ray release ofSeed of Chucky in 2005, a short film entitledChucky's Vacation Slides was included in the special features. The short, set after the shooting ofSeed of Chucky, follows the movie stars Chucky, Tiffany, and Glen after having returned from a family vacation. While browsing through their photographs of their vacation on a slide projector, Tiffany notices various corpses in the background of certain photographs, realizing that Chucky has been killing people again. Tiffany leaves, with a distraught and sickened Glen, while Chucky continues to view the photographs. After a delivery man arrives with a pizza, Chucky leads him to his garage and kills him off-screen. Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly and Billy Boyd all reprise their roles from the films.

Leading up to the DVD release ofCurse of Chucky in 2013, a series of short film videos were released. The clips showed Chucky interrupting the events of several other horror films. Brad Dourif and Edan Gross reprised their roles as Chucky and the Good Guys Doll, respectively.

• The first clip,Chucky invadesPsycho, has Chucky using a stepladder to killMarion Crane in the shower; he is then discovered byNorman Bates.Janet Leigh andAnthony Perkins appear in archival footage.^[24]
• The second clip,Chucky invadesThe Purge, has Chucky invading the Sandin family's home.Ethan Hawke,Lena Headey,Adelaide Kane andMax Burkholder appear in archival footage. The film is designed in the form of a trailer for a film.^[25]
• The third clip,Chucky invadesMama, follows Chucky as he hides under the bed of Victoria Desange before attacking her.Jessica Chastain and Isabelle Nélisse appear in archival footage.
• The fourth clip,Chucky invadesDrag Me to Hell, follows Chucky attacking Christine Brown in her car.Alison Lohman appears in archival footage.

List indicators

• A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film or that the character's presence in the film has not yet been announced.
• ^A indicates an appearance through archival footage taken from a previous film in the franchise.
• ^C indicates acameo appearance.
• ^H indicates an appearance as the human form of an occasionally non-human character.
• ^V indicates a voice-only role.
• ^Y indicates a younger version of a character

Joe Renzetti composed the firstChild's Play, followed byGraeme Revell, who composed the soundtrack forChild's Play 2 andBride of Chucky.John D'Andrea andCory Lerios wrote the score forChild's Play 3, whilePino Donaggio composedSeed of Chucky.Joseph LoDuca composed the score forCurse of Chucky,Cult of Chucky, andChucky.

TheChild's Play series, when compared to the other top-grossing American horror series—A Nightmare on Elm Street,Halloween,Friday the 13th,Saw,Scream, andThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre—and adjusting for 2023 inflation, is last in box office performance at $305.2 million.^[27]

Halloween is the highest-grossing horror series in the United States at approximately $1.09 billion.^[28][29] Next in line isFriday the 13th at $908.4 million,^[30] followed by theNightmare on Elm Street series with $793.5 million.^[31] TheScream film series is in fourth place with $779.5 million,^[32] followed by theSaw series with $688.3 million,^[33] and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with $459.7 million.^[34]

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

In December 1992, four people whotortured and killed 16-year-old Suzanne Capper were said to be influenced by one of theChild's Play films. During the torturing of the girl, the perpetrators taunted her by playing her a song, ("Hi, I'm Chucky (Wanna Play?)") by 150 Volts, featuringsamples from the filmChild's Play.^[65]

In 1993, two youths who abducted and murdered a toddler namedJames Bulger were said to have been influenced by the filmChild's Play 3. The supposed link between the murder and the film was denied by film censorJames Ferman.^[66]

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, includingChucky films, from the age of about six or seven.^[67]

Elena Lobacheva, a Russian serial killer arrested in 2015, was reportedly obsessed with the filmBride of Chucky, which she cited as being an inspiration for the murders that she and her gang committed throughoutMoscow.^[68]

In August 2019, billboards and posters promoting the 2019Child's Play reboot were pulled in New Zealand after a complaint was submitted to theAdvertising Standards Authority (ASA) for being inappropriate. The complaint was made mostly with concern for the region ofCanterbury, claiming the advertisements are potentially traumatizing among children by reminding them of that region's high suicide rates, the various earthquakes that occurred, and theChristchurch mosque shootings. The ad depicted Chucky with red glowing eyes and a knife, the latter being intentionally obscured by the title. The poster was deemed not to cause any harm among the population, but the ASA concluded it would be frightening for children.^[69]

A tie-innovelization toChild's Play 2 was later written byMatthew J. Costello. The author added in some of his own plot scenes exclusive to the novel, such as going deeper into Andy Barclay and Chucky's past. Chucky is characterized to have an absent father and his abusive mother being a dwarf. Chucky got teased a lot because of this and later strangled his mother to death. Also, Chucky was put in special classes when he was younger. During the scene at the factory, Chucky sees a bunch of Good Guy dolls and wishes that he could bring them to life to do his bidding. This was partially used as the plot of the filmCult of Chucky.

A tie-in novel toChild's Play 3 was later written by Matthew J. Costello. Just likeChild's Play 2, this novel had some of the author's own inclusions. In the beginning (adapted from an earlier draft of the screenplay), in the Play Pals factory, a rat scours for food and, smelling blood within the plastic, chews on Chucky's remains. Blood then leaks out of the remains and somehow leaks onto another doll.

Chucky's death in this book is also different. In the novel, while defending Tyler on an exterior ride, Andy grapples with Chucky before finally shooting him several times, causing the doll's body to fall to the ground, and Andy watches the head shatter to blood, metal and plastic.

Beginning in 1992,Innovation Publishing released the first comic books based on the films, in the form of a three-issue adaptation ofChild's Play 2. It was later collected in atrade paperback. The success of the adaptation led to a monthly series of new stories starting in 1991. The series, titledChild's Play: The Series, ended in 1992 after only five issues. This was followed by a three-issue adaptation ofChild's Play 3.

In 2007,Devil's Due Publishing obtained the license to publishChild's Play comics and released a one-shot crossover withHack/Slash titledHack/Slash vs. Chucky which takes place after the events of theSeed of Chucky film. This was followed by a four-issue series calledChucky. A second volume began in early 2009 but ceased publication after only one issue.

In May 2011, a video game titledChucky: Wanna Play? was announced to be in development.^[70] It was set to be ahack-and-slash video game and was being developed by TikGames. It was planned to be released onXbox 360,PlayStation 3 andWindows. AKickstarter campaign was posted by the company in an effort to secure $925,000 for the development of the PC version of the game, with the intention of releasing the console versions shortly thereafter.^[71] However on November 12, 2012, it was announced that the project was cancelled after the Kickstarter failed to meet its goal.^[72]

Chucky and Tiffany are featured in the asymmetricalhorror video gameDead By Daylight as playable characters starting on November 28, 2023.

Zen Studios releasedChucky's Killer Pinball, a pinball table forPinball M on November 30, 2023.

Chucky is also a playable character in the 2024 video gameFunko Fusion.^[73]

Chucky and Tiffany appeared as playable characters in thebattle royale gameCall of Duty: Warzone and thefirst-person shooter gameCall of Duty: Black Ops 6 in an event called "The Haunting" starting on October 9, 2025.^[74]

Slimstown Studios made an endless runner video game titledChucky: Slash & Dash. The game was released on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android devices. It is the result of an agreement with Universal Partnerships & Licensing to develop and publish the first officially licensed smartphone and tabletChild's Play video game. The gameplay is inspired by the second film's climax.

In the game, Chucky and Tiffany are stuck in a never-ending nightmare in which they endlessly run through the factory that produces Good Guys dolls. Players control Chucky or Tiffany while sprinting through the factory floor, the catwalks, the warehouse, or even outside, and need to avoid conveyor belts, forklifts, acid pools, barrels and other obstacles. Chucky and Tiffany can also eliminate security guards patrolling the factory using a knife or other more outlandish weapons like a cleaver, screwdriver, or hatchet. As they play, gamers collect batteries that can be used to purchase in-game items or power-ups, such as a double battery bonus, a fast start, or extra lives that can extend a run after dying.^[75]

Since 1992,Chucky has starred in his own shows atUniversal's Halloween Horror Nights, entitled,Chucky's In-Your-Face Insults,Chucky's Insult Emporium, andLate Night with Chucky.

In 2009, the climax ofChild's Play 3 received its own maze, entitledChucky's Fun House.Curse of Chucky has also received its own Scarezone in the 2013 lineup.^[76] In 2017, Chucky was the host of the Hollywood event's Terror Tram, joining Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface in terrorizing guests as a promotion for the then-newCult of Chucky film. The following year, he featured in his own Scarezone at the Orlando event. In 2023, Chucky received a Haunted House based on the television series.^[77]

• Killer toy
• Haunted doll

• Child's Play (franchise)
• Universal Pictures franchises
• American supernatural horror films
• Horror film franchises
• Mass media franchises introduced in 1988
• Films about dolls

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