Stars of the freshly released Chucky television series have detailed how scary the Chucky doll can be, even when off-camera. First announced to be in development in January 2019 under longtime franchise writer and director, Don Mancini, the series features a star-studded cast of both brand new and returning characters from various points of the franchise. The series stars franchise newcomers Zackary Arthur, Björgvin Arnarson, Alyvia Alyn Lind, and Teo Briones. As for the returning stars, Brad Dourif reprises his role as the titular doll, Jennifer Tilly reprises her role as Tiffany Valentine from Bride, Seed, Curse, and Cult of Chucky, Fiona Dourif reprises her role as Nica Pierce from Curse and Cult of Chucky, and Alex Vincent and Christine Elise reprise their roles as Andy and Kyle from the original Child's Play and Child's Play 2, respectively.
The Chucky show itself centers on the fourteen-year-old Jake Wheeler (Arthur) who discovers the Good Guy Doll at a local yard sale, deciding to include the doll in his own personal sculpture. However, once he begins to notice Chucky's own horrible history, the young boy's life is forever changed as the people in his life are put into the murderous doll's crosshairs. Still keeping all of the Child's Play franchise's previous events as canon, Chucky picks up after the events of Cult of Chucky, with the paraplegic Nica being possessed by the titular doll and teaming up with Tiffany Valentine.
The Chucky doll seen in the series is similar to the others throughout the franchise in that it is primarily a practical effect as opposed to being created with CGI. In an interview with TVLine, stars of the series detailed the creepy nature of the doll, even when off-camera, and how it could appear even creepier when it was not being used. Alyvia Alyn Lind stated: "It was so creepy, they had a room just for doll parts, and there’d be like ten different Chuckys sitting there, just staring at you, and you’d be like, 'Oh that’s… I can't!'" While Bjorgvin Arnarso recalled walking around on set and seeing an occasional Chucky doll being sat off to the side, contemplatively watching cast and crew traversing the set.
"I think it was creepier when they weren’t using him. I was walking around set, and I’d see Chucky just looking at me. I didn’t know if he was going to start blinking or moving, and I was just like ugh."
As previously mentioned, the majority of Chucky's scenes within the series use animatronics and practical effects, an aspect that has been a large part of the franchise since the original film was released in 1988. The use of animatronics to create horror was made influential by the franchise and could be argued to have attributed to its success and security as a cult classic. While 2019's Child's Play reboot also used an animatronic, many audiences were not pleased with the film's frequent use of mediocre CGI, particularly in the climax, taking away from the horror aspect of the character and making the film seem almost as comedic as Seed of Chucky.
With Chucky going back to using mostly an animatronic, audiences can rest assured that the creepy and disturbing nature of the doll continues in the franchise's latest entry. Furthermore, with the cast being more afraid of the doll itself off-camera, many can hope that the same level of terror will translate for viewers once the cameras are on. Audiences will just have to wait for Chucky to continue with a new episode on October 19.
Source: TVLine