25 things you didn’t know about your favorite horror movies

Child’s Play – Killer doll based on a real children’s toy, and named after real killers

Like Annabelle, Child’s Play is about a possessed killer doll. But the similarities end there.

A single mom gets her son Andy the hot new doll that every child wants, but what she doesn’t know is that the doll is home to the soul of a killer named Charles Lee Ray. When he starts sharing the tales of his murders with his new pal Andy, the adults don’t believe the child, and actually suspect him of being up to no good. But when they finally do believe him, it’s too late.

The Chucky doll has gone down in history as the quintessential horror movie doll. He isn’t just a creepy porcelain doll-like Annabelle, he actually speaks obscenely and commits murders with his bare hands. A lot of people may not know that Chucky’s full name, Charles Lee Ray, was inspired by some real psychopaths. Charles comes from Charles Manson, Lee for Lee Harvey Oswald (who assassinated John F. Kennedy), and Ray refers to James Earl Ray (who assassinated Martin Luther King).

Not only was the name inspired by real killers, but the doll itself drew a lot of inspiration from the real My Buddy dolls. One of the film’s working titles was Blood Buddy, and when they were trying to come up with their killer toy, the director actually bought a My Buddy doll, Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, and a baby doll to give to the film’s designer.

Chucky’s red-buttoned overalls, freckles, blue eyes, and striped sweater were all heavily inspired by the My Buddy dolls in particular. The end result was the terrifying Chucky we all know and love today.