The Original 'Child's Play' Script Was Utterly Insane

The Child's Play remake hits theaters this weekend, cleverly opening opposite Toy Story 4 -- prompting many of us to wonder if Pixar's gang of lovable playthings may secretly be housing the disembodied souls of deceased serial killers. One big departure from the original '80s horror classic: Chucky the homicidal, foul-mouthed doll isn't a vessel for "Lakeshore Strangler" Charles Lee Ray. Nope, he's apparently just a smart toy that goes nuts, while also presumably violating everyone's privacy rights.

Loyal fans may raise an eyebrow at the change, but Chucky wasn't always the product of reincarnation. The first draft of Child's Play didn't feature a serial killer character at all. It was also completely gonzo. According to writer Don Mancini, the original script was "a dark satire about how marketing affected children" called Blood Buddy. Why Blood Buddy? Inspired by those dolls that peed and grew hair, Mancini conceived that the Good Guy doll would literally bleed. So if kids "played too rough with it the latex skin would break and then this blood would start to seep out." Jeez, even the coked-up maniacs that ran the '80s toy business never went that far.

Chucky's owner Andy then cuts his thumb and mixes his blood with the doll's, which A) likely voids the warranty and B) causes it to go on a murderous rampage. This version of Chucky only comes to life when Andy is asleep, because he's a manifestation of the child's "unconscious rage." Chucky goes after Andy's teacher, kills his dentist, even attacks the mom whom Andy secretly resents. Ultimately, though, producer David Kirschner nixed the idea because he was "a relatively new father" and suspected that no one "would buy a doll with blood in it." So the script was rewritten to include the more plausible development of a serial killer who learns to cheat death thanks to a voodoo priest.

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For more, check out How Will The 'Shining' Sequel Handle The Book's WTF Ending? and The Weird Detail In The New 'Shaft' Movie Nobody Noticed.

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