History Trivia / ChildsPlay

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* ChannelHop: The movie was by MGM/United Artists. In between the first film and the sequel, MGM was in the process of being sold to another company, Qintex, that had no desire to do horror movies, leading to David Kirschner buying back the rights to the franchise and in turn, sold it to Creator/{{Universal}}, which has produced all the sequels (sometimes through a subsidiary). Ironically, MGM and Qintex ended up dropping its merger negotiations shortly after Universal bought the sequel rights!
* CompletelyDifferentTitle: In Italy, both original and remake (and by consequence, the first two sequels) are called ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin La Bambola Assassina (The Killer Doll)]]''.
* CutSong: Composer Joe Renzetti and singer/songwriter Simon Stokes recorded an ending credits VillainSong about Chucky the Doll that wasn't used in the final finished film because studio executives thought it made Chucky seem less scary (ironically the song's nature reflected much more better with the horror-comedy sequels that follows then the first film, perhaps the song's tone was a foreshadow to what direction the franchise would lead to). The song can be heard in one of the trailers for the film.
* DeletedScene: To the point where the original cut ran ''3 hours long.'' Unfortunately, the scenes have never been released and have only surfaced through promotional photos and script details. Many rumors have swirled around through the years as to what happened to them, from the scenes being accidentally destroyed to Tom Holland owning the original film dailies/workprint with them intact. The only scene that has managed to surface so far is a slightly alternate scene of Charles Lee Ray’s voodoo chant at the beginning of the film.
* GenreAdultery: This franchise along with ''Film/{{Frailty}}'' and ''Kristy'' which starred Creator/AshleyGreene are the only projects [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail David]] [[Film/HocusPocus Kirschner]] produced that are not for a kids and family audience.
* InspirationForTheWork: Screenwriter Don Mancini first conceived of the concept while studying as a film major at the University of California, Los Angeles. He claimed to have been inspired by the consumerism of the 1980's, the Cabbage Patch Kids, ''Film/TrilogyOfTerror'', and ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E126LivingDoll Living Doll]]". The film's executive producer David Kirschner, who would produce all seven films in the Chucky series, claimed in the same interview that he had wanted to make a film about a killer doll after reading ''Literature/TheDollhouseMurders''. The director Tom Holland has also affirmed that the My Buddy dolls played a role in Chucky's design.
* MidDevelopmentGenreShift: In an interview, Don Mancini said the original script was at first a satire on toy marketing and merchandising for children, before the idea morphed into a horror film instead.
* TheOtherMarty: Jessica Walter who'd played the stalker had recorded lines as the voice of Chucky, but her audio was unused.
* ProductionPosse: Creator/ChrisSarandon and Jack Colvin, who played Mike Norris and Dr. Ardmore in the first film, had both previously worked with director Tom Holland on ''Film/FrightNight1985'' with Sarandon and an episode of ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'' with Colvin when Holland was an actor. Also, before being cast as Chucky, Creator/BradDourif a year earlier had been directed by the first film's director Holland before in ''Film/FatalBeauty'', which like the first film was distributed by Creator/UnitedArtists.
* RealLifeRelative: Chucky was played in a one scene by Alex Vincent's (Andy's) little sister when Chucky runs from behind the couch while the babysitter was watching tv.
* TheRedStapler: Inverted. Ever hear of "My Buddy" dolls? They looked a lot like Chucky. And the series effectively scrapped the line.
** Played straight as well as you can buy full-sized Chucky dolls, in both his original and stitched up states.
* RomanceOnTheSet: Creator/CatherineHicks (Karen) and Kevin Yagher (Chucky's creator) met on set and were married a year later.
* ScrewedByTheLawyers: As mentioned above, MGM owning the first movie and Universal owning the rest of the series has gotten in the way of producing a planned remake of the original.
* ThrowItIn: Creator/BradDourif ad-libbed Chucky's infamous "fuck you" in the first film's elevator scene.
* TroubledProduction: The film's development and production were plagued with turbulence. To wit:
** Don Mancini's original script was retooled by Tom Holland, who argued that [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy there was nobody to root for in it.]] Holland would go on to claim that ''Child's Play'' was his original script. When co-writers Don Mancini and John Lafia got the WGA involved, Holland had both barred from the set, greatly disappointing Mancini.
** Problems during production included but did not stop at subzero temperatures during location filming in Chicago. Chris Sarandon recalls his vocal cords ''freezing'' during a scene between him and Catherine Hicks.
** Tom Holland and David Kirschner had a highly contentious relationship on-set. It ultimately led to a physical altercation, largely due to Holland bullying Alex Vincent to get [[EnforcedMethodActing a believable performance]] during the scenes set at the mental hospital.
** Kevin Yagher's Chucky puppets were very unreliable, due to the technology to create them still being quite nascent. Hours of filming time were lost due to F/X-related frustrations. Yagher recalls Holland asking things of his F/X team that were impossible to accomplish, including Chucky throwing objects at John Bishop in a rage (a scene similar to one included in ''Film/BrideOfChucky'').
** Once post-production rolled around, things did not go much more smoothly. Holland's cuts of the film tested poorly with audiences. Jessica Walter gave a vocal performance as Chucky that Mancini claimed was unintentionally hilarious, citing that Chucky "sounded gay". Brad Dourif was brought in to redub the whole thing, resulting in some lip-sync issues with Chucky. Ultimately, Holland was let go in post, as he and the other filmmakers couldn't agree on how much screen time Chucky should have.
* UncreditedRole: Howard Franklin contributed to the screenplay. He remains uncredited in the final film.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Don Mancini's original conception was completely different. Originally titled ''Blood Buddy'', the dolls would have synthetic blood, and Andy would mix his blood with Buddy's fake blood as part of a blood brother ritual. The doll would come alive as a manifestation of Andy's ID, and kill the people Andy had unexpressed anger toward. Mancini also wanted the script to be more ambiguous about whether Chucky's actually alive and committing murders until late in the movie, unlike the finished film where his guilt is almost immediately clear.
** One abandoned concept was that one sign of Chucky turning more human the longer he spent in the doll was that the doll would grow stubble like Charles Lee Ray had when he was human.
** A Chucky video game for consoles was planned, but sadly the Kickstarter project only raised $585 of its $925,000 goal.
** The script reveals that the movie was originally supposed to start with Charles Lee Ray following a drunken lady (with her face covered by a scarf) leaving a bar from Eddie Caputo’s van, chase her into an alley, then rip her scarf away to reveal [[DisguisedInDrag Detective Mike Norris]]. This would then be followed by the chase that started the movie. A bit of this was left in the film, as Detective Norris is shown throwing away what looks to be the disguise’s dress as he starts chasing Ray.
** Maggie Peterson was suppose to be electrocuted in the bathtub. This was used in ''Film/BrideOfChucky''.
** Before Creator/BradDourif was cast, Creator/JohnLithgow and Creator/GaryOldman were considered for the role of Charles Lee Ray/Chucky.
** Creator/WilliamFriedkin and Creator/RobertWise were considered to direct.
* TheWikiRule: The [[http://childsplay.wikia.com/wiki/Child%27s_Play_Wiki Child's Play Wiki]].
* WordOfGod: In an interview, it was revealed by Don Mancini that Tiffany’s maiden name is “[[MeaningfulName Valentine]]”.
* WorkingTitle: The original working title for the film was ''Batteries Not Included'' before it became known Creator/StevenSpielberg was also making [[Film/BatteriesNotIncluded a film with the same title]]. It was then changed to ''Blood Buddy'' before settling on ''Child's Play''.

* RomanceOnTheSet: Catherine Hicks (Karen) and Kevin Yagher (Chucky's creator) met on set and were married a year later.

** The script reveals that the movie was originally supposed to start with Charles Lee Ray following a drunken lady (with her face covered by a scarf) leaving a bar from Eddie Caputo’s van, chase her into an alley, then rip her scarf away to reveal [[DisguisedInDrag Detective Mike Norris]]. This would then be followed by the chase that started the movie. A bit of this was left in the film, as Detective Norris is shown throwing away what looks to be the disguise’s dress as the starts chasing Ray.

** The movie was originally supposed to start with Charles Lee Ray following a drunken lady (with her face covered by a scarf) leaving a bar from Eddie Caputo’s van, chase her into an alley, then rip her scarf away to reveal [[DisguisedInDrag Detective Mike Norris]]. This would then be followed by the chase that started the movie.

* ProductionPosse: Creator/ChrisSarandon and Jack Colvin, who played Mike Norris and Dr. Ardmore in the first film, had both previously worked with director Tom Holland on ''Film/FrightNight1985'' with Sarandon and an episode of ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'' with Colvin when Holland was an actor. Also, before being cast as Chucky, Creator/BradDourif a year earlier had been directed by the first film's director Holland before in ''Film/FatalBeauty'', which like the first film was distributed by Creator/UnitedArtists.

** Don Mancini's original script was retooled by Tom Holland, who argued that there was nobody to root for in it. Holland would go on to claim that ''Child's Play'' was his original script. When co-writers Don Mancini and John Lafia got the WGA involved, Holland had both barred from the set, greatly disappointing Mancini.

* DeletedScene: To the point where the original cut ran 3 hours long. Unfortunately the scenes have never been released and have only surfaced through promotional photos and script details. Many rumors have swirled around through the years as to what happened to them including the scenes being accidentally destroyed, Tom Holland owning the original film dailies/workprint with them intact. The only scene that has managed to surface so far is a slightly alternate scene of Charles Lee Ray’s voodoo chant at the beginning of the film.

* TroubledProduction: The film was plagued with issues. To wit:

* CutSong: Composer Joe Renzetti and singer/songwriter Simon Stokes recorded an ending credits VillainSong about Chucky the Doll that wasn't used in the final finished film because studio executives thought it made Chucky seem less scary (ironically the song's nature reflected much more better with the horror-comedy sequels that follows, perhaps the song's tone was a foreshadow to what direction the franchise would lead to). The song can be heard in one of the trailers for the film.

* CutSong: Composer Joe Renzetti and singer/songwriter Simon Stokes recorded an ending credits theme song about Chucky the Doll that wasn't used in the final finished film because studio executives thought it made Chucky seem less scary. The song can be heard in one of the trailers for the film.

[[AC:[[Film/ChildsPlay The film series]]]]

* ActorSharedBackground: In the second film, the role of foster mother Joanne Simpson reflects on her portrayer Creator/JennyAgutter's real life charitable services that involves helping children, which includes the Diabetic Association and NCH Action for Children, a charity which provides home and other help for homeless children, with which Agutter has been involved for five years. The role also reflected on Agutter's real life aspects that were recent at the time she filmed her role as Joanne including Agutter's then-latest marriage and her expectance of becoming a mother for the first time to her then-unborn child Jonathan who was later born on the same year ''Child's Play 2'' was theatrically released, which is considered [[IronyAsSheIsCast ironic as Agutter's character in the film was unable to conceive children of her own while Agutter herself was able to so]].
* BillingDisplacement: Creator/JennyAgutter is given second billing in the second movie, despite her role to be nothing pivotal and more of an irrelevant InnocentBystander who [[spoiler: ends up an AssholeVictim after she shortly TookALevelInJerkass by finally taking Phil's somewhat inconsiderate recommendation to send Andy back to the orphanage]], while Christine Elise, who plays Kyle and is given fourth billing, is the true SupportingProtagonist next to Andy. Same goes to Phil, who's given third billing, but is not as important as Kyle's or Andy's roles and [[spoiler: he ends up an AssholeVictim as well]].
** However, the second and third billings of the Simpsons are made more sense in the television cut, due to the theatrical cut gave them little screen time to make Andy and Kyle the focal points, while the television cut gives them more screen time to a point their roles are equivalent to being {{Decoy Protagonist}}s (akin to Karen Barclay's role in the first film as a parent initially concerned for her child and why he blames the murders on a seemingly inanimate doll before realizing the child was telling the truth all along), [[spoiler: until they get bumped off]] and the points of view shifts to Kyle and back to Andy.
* ChannelHop: The first movie was by MGM/United Artists. In between the first film and the sequel, MGM was in the process of being sold to another company, Qintex, that had no desire to do horror movies, leading to David Kirschner buying back the rights to the franchise and in turn, sold it to Creator/{{Universal}}, which has produced all the sequels (sometimes through a subsidiary). Ironically, MGM and Qintex ended up dropping its merger negotiations shortly after Universal bought the sequel rights!
* TheDanza: Grace Poole (played by Grace Zabriskie) in the second film.
* DeletedScene: Various throughout the series, but more infamous in the original film to the point where the original cut of the film ran 3 hours long. Unfortunately the scenes have never been released and have only surfaced through promotional photos and script details. Many rumors have swirled around through the years as to what happened to them including the scenes being accidentally destroyed, Tom Holland owning the original film dailies/workprint with them intact. The only scene that has managed to surface so far is a slightly alternate scene of Charles Lee Ray’s voodoo chant at the beginning of the film.
* DevelopmentHell: The remake of the first film. According to Don Mancini in the commentary track for ''Curse'', it's due to legal issues between MGM and Universal. The remake was finally given the green light in 2018 and premiered on June 21st, 2019.
* FakeAmerican: British actress Creator/JennyAgutter as American foster mother Joanne Simpson in ''Child's Play 2''.
* FilkSong: A [[SoBadItsGood hilariously bad]] one in Portuguese by a Brazilian band, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw_9izjfXZw "Segura o Chuck"]] ("Hold Down Chuck [sic]").
* IronyAsSheIsCast: Hannah Spearitt - famous pop star and later cult TV star - playing a PA on a film set
* OldShame:
** Creator/JennyAgutter regrets having done ''Film/ChildsPlay2'' (likely due to how her character was DemotedToExtra in the theatrical cut, while the deleted scenes that were later ReCut for TV she filmed fleshed out her character more long with her co-star Gerrit Graham's character), saying "It was much less than the script I read."
** Creator/JasonFlemyng has said the only film he'd erase from his filmography is ''Film/SeedOfChucky'' - "I was dressed as Santa, getting killed by a doll, on a set in Romania, thinking: 'Where did it go wrong?'"
** Writer Don Mancini has called ''Film/ChildsPlay3'' his least favorite because he felt he was out of ideas so soon after the second film.
* ProductionPosse:
** Creator/ChrisSarandon and Jack Colvin, who played Mike Norris and Dr. Ardmore in the first film, had both previously worked with director Tom Holland on ''Film/FrightNight1985'' with Sarandon and an episode of ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'' with Colvin when Holland was an actor. Also, before being cast as Chucky, Creator/BradDourif a year earlier had been directed by the first film's director Holland before in ''Film/FatalBeauty'', which like the first film was distributed by Creator/UnitedArtists.
** Terry Wills, who plays the ill-fated garbage man in the third film directed by Jack Bender and produced by David Kirschner, had another a bit part as a photographer in another Bender/Kirschner production a year earlier in television film ''The Dreamer of Oz''.
** Creator/JohnRitter, who played Jade's SmugSnake DirtyCop DaChief uncle in ''Film/BrideOfChucky'', had worked with the franchise's producer David Kirschner before in the aforementioned ''The Dreamer of Oz'' and the short-lived animated series ''WesternAnimation/FishPolice''.
** Kathy Najimy, who had TheCameo as the hotel maid who discovered the remains of the thieving couple in ''Film/BrideOfChucky'', had previously worked on the franchise's producer David Kirschner's family-oriented productions ''Film/HocusPocus'' and ''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance''.
** In a reversal sense, Gerrit Graham playing the ObstructiveBureaucrat foster father in the second film would be his first collaboration with the franchise's producer David Kirschner and a couple years later would work with him and the franchise's distributor Creator/{{Universal}} again on a short-lived television animated series of the ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' franchise, ''WesternAnimation/FievelsAmericanTails'', as TheOtherDarrin for Creator/JohnCleese's character from ''Fievel Goes West''.
* RealLifeRelative: ''Curse of Chucky'' and ''Cult of Chucky'' star Fiona Dourif, the daughter of Chucky himself Brad Dourif.
** Also in the original ''Child's Play'' Chucky was played in a one scene by Alex Vincent's (Andy's) little sister when Chucky runs from behind the couch while the babysitter was watching tv.

* RefittedForSequel: Several sequences:
** The death of the teacher and the factory finale in ''2'' were both intended to be featured in the original.
** The opening scene in ''Child's Play 3'' was originally how ''Child's Play 2'' would have ended (and, in fact, a different version of it is used in some TV versions).
*** It was also how ''Child's Play'' was going to end back when the factory was the intended finale.
** The evidence locker scene in ''Bride of Chucky'' was going to be the opening of ''Child's Play 2''.
** The electrocution of Tiffany in ''Bride of Chucky'' was how the babysitter died in an earlier draft of the first film's script.
** The ending of ''Curse of Chucky'' with the court case and Chucky being among the evidence and Nica being declared legally insane was intended for the beginning of ''Child's Play 2'' with Karen Barclay's character.
** ''Child's Play 3'' was going to have multiple Chuckies, but was changed due to costs. The idea wound up being used in ''Cult of Chucky'' 26 years later.

* TalkingToHimself: In ''Seed'', Tiff's voice actor, Jennifer Tilly, is a separate and very main character. They lampshade this a lot.
* ThrowItIn: Brad Dourif ad-libbed Chucky's infamous "fuck you" in the first film's elevator scene.
* TroubledProduction: The original film was plagued with issues. To wit:

** Kevin Yagher's Chucky puppets were very unreliable, due to the technology to create them still being quite nascent. Hours of filming time were lost due to F/X-related frustrations. Yagher recalls Holland asking things of his F/X team that were impossible to accomplish, including Chucky throwing objects at John Bishop in a rage (a scene similar to one included in ''Bride of Chucky'').

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Don Mancini's original conception of ''Child's Play'' was completely different. Originally titled ''Blood Buddy'', the dolls would have synthetic blood, and Andy would mix his blood with Buddy's fake blood as part of a blood brother ritual. The doll would come alive as a manifestation of Andy's ID, and kill the people Andy had unexpressed anger toward. Mancini also wanted the script to be more ambiguous about whether Chucky's actually alive and committing murders until late in the movie, unlike the finished film where his guilt is almost immediately clear.

** Initially, there was supposed to be a shot in ''Curse of Chucky'' that revealed [[spoiler:that Andy owned a gun store, illustrating just ''how'' ready he was for Chucky's return.]]
** [[Film/ChildsPlay The first movie]] was originally supposed to start with Charles Lee Ray following a drunken lady (with her face covered by a scarf) leaving a bar from Eddie Caputo’s van, chase her into an alley, then rip her scarf away to reveal [[DisguisedInDrag Detective Mike Norris]]. This would then be followed by the chase that started the movie.
** Before Creator/BradDourif was cast, Creator/JohnLithgow was considered for the role of Charles Lee Ray/Chucky.

** Played straight as well, as you can buy full-sized Chucky dolls.

*** It was also how Child's Play was going to end back when the factory was the intended finale.

** The ending of Curse of Chucky with the court case and Chucky being among the evidence and Nica being declared legally insane was intended for the beginning of Child's Play 2 with Karen Barclay's character.
** Child's Play 3 was going to have multiple Chuckies, which wound up being used in Cult of Chucky.

** In a reversal sense, Gerrit Graham playing the ObstructiveBureaucrat foster father in the second film would be his first collaboration with the franchise's producer David Kirschner and a couple years later would work with him and the franchise's distributor Creator/{{Universal}} again on a short-lived television animated series of the ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' franchise, ''Fievel's American Tails'', as TheOtherDarrin for Creator/JohnCleese's character from ''Fievel Goes West''.

* ActorAllusion:
** In the second film, Grace Zabriskie's character [[spoiler:get killed by KillerDoll Chucky aka "The Lakeshore Strangler" at the film's climax, which is funny as a decade earlier prior to the release of this sequel, Grace had played an alleged murder victim in the climax of the Creator/DonKnotts and Tim Conway mystery comedy ''Film/ThePrivateEyes'', where her character is found with a doll staged to look like it was strangling her, before it's revealed she and the other seemingly murdered victims have [[FakingTheDead faked their own deaths]]]].
** In ''Cult'', Chucky refers the mental hospital is snuck in as a cuckoo's nest, a nod to his portrayer Creator/BradDourif's Academy Award-nominated film debut as Billy Bibbit in ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Child's Play'' creator Don Mancini original conception of ''Child's Play'' was completely different. Originally titled ''Blood Buddy'', the dolls would have synthetic blood, and Andy would mix his blood with Buddy's fake blood as part of a blood brother ritual. The doll would come alive as a manifestation of Andy's ID, and kill the people Andy had unexpressed anger toward. Mancini also wanted the script to be more ambiguous about whether Chucky's actually alive and committing murders until late in the movie, unlike the finished film where his guilt is almost immediately clear.

* WordOfGod: In an interview, it was revealed by Don Mancini that Tiffany’s maiden name is “[[MeaningfulName Valentine]]”.

** Kevin Yagher's Chucky puppets were very unreliable, due to the technology to create them still being quite nascent. Hours of filming time were lost due to F/X-related frustrations. Yagher recalls Holland asking things of his F/X team that were impossible to accomplish, including Chucky throwing objects at John Bishop in a rage(a scene similar to one included in ''Bride of Chucky'').
** Once post-production rolled around, things did not go much more smoothly. Holland's cuts of the film tested poorly with audiences. Jessica Walters gave a vocal performance as Chucky that Mancini claimed was unintentionally hilarious, citing that Chucky "sounded gay". Brad Dourif was brought in to redub the whole thing, resulting in some lip-sync issues with Chucky. Ultimately, Holland was let go in post, as he and the other filmmakers couldn't agree on how much screen time Chucky should have.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Child's Play'' creator Don Mancini original conception of ''Child's Play'' was completely different. Originally titled ''Blood Buddy'', the dolls would have synthetic blood, and Andy would mix his blood with Buddy's fake blood as part of a blood brother ritual. The doll would come alive as a manifestation of Andy's ID, and kill the people Andy had unexpressed anger toward.