As the daughter of Chucky franchise special effects artist Tony Gardner, director Kyra Elise Gardner offers a unique perspective on the killer doll’s lasting impact in the Screambox Original documentary Living with Chucky.
Child’s Play creator Don Mancini and franchise alumni Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, Fiona Dourif, Alex Vincent, Christine Elise, Billy Boyd, John Waters, Tony Gardner, David Kirschner, and more spill their guts along with such notable fans as Marlon Wayans, Abigail Breslin, Lin Shaye, and Dan Povenmire, among others.
Here are 9 things I learned from Living with Chucky.
1. Gremlins helped pave the way for Child’s Play.
A lifelong horror fan, Don Mancini wrote the first Child’s Play script — originally titled Batteries Not Included, then Blood Buddy — while attending UCLA. “I realized that no one had ever done the living doll thing as a full-fledged feature where you treat the doll as a character who can actually emote...
Child’s Play creator Don Mancini and franchise alumni Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, Fiona Dourif, Alex Vincent, Christine Elise, Billy Boyd, John Waters, Tony Gardner, David Kirschner, and more spill their guts along with such notable fans as Marlon Wayans, Abigail Breslin, Lin Shaye, and Dan Povenmire, among others.
Here are 9 things I learned from Living with Chucky.
1. Gremlins helped pave the way for Child’s Play.
A lifelong horror fan, Don Mancini wrote the first Child’s Play script — originally titled Batteries Not Included, then Blood Buddy — while attending UCLA. “I realized that no one had ever done the living doll thing as a full-fledged feature where you treat the doll as a character who can actually emote...
- 4/6/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
Plot: Kyra Gardner, the daughter of special effects artist and puppeteer Tony Gardner, takes a journey through the Child’s Play franchise.
Review: Friday the 13th has Crystal Lake Memories (both the book and the movie). The Nightmare on Elm Street series has the documentary Never Sleep Again. But a lot of the big horror franchises are still waiting to receive their definitive documentaries. Last year, I read the book Reign of Chucky, a film-by-film examination of the Child’s Play / Chucky franchise that was packed with interesting information about the making of the movies. But since it was assembled during the production of season 2 of the Chucky TV series, it was missing one major element: authors Dustin McNeill and Travis Mullins weren’t able to land interviews with some of the most prominent players in the franchise, like Don Mancini, who has written every entry in the series, or actors Brad Dourif,...
Review: Friday the 13th has Crystal Lake Memories (both the book and the movie). The Nightmare on Elm Street series has the documentary Never Sleep Again. But a lot of the big horror franchises are still waiting to receive their definitive documentaries. Last year, I read the book Reign of Chucky, a film-by-film examination of the Child’s Play / Chucky franchise that was packed with interesting information about the making of the movies. But since it was assembled during the production of season 2 of the Chucky TV series, it was missing one major element: authors Dustin McNeill and Travis Mullins weren’t able to land interviews with some of the most prominent players in the franchise, like Don Mancini, who has written every entry in the series, or actors Brad Dourif,...
- 4/4/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Last month the documentary feature Dear Santa proved to be the perfect film to coincide with the upcoming holiday. And though this week’s doc is only a couple of days away from its holiday, it couldn’t be more timely and relevant to today’s headlines. This coming Monday our nation once again celebrates the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Of course, he wasn’t as revered then, during his own lifetime, as he is now. Some groups openly despised him. At the top of that list, white supremacists like the Ku Klux Klan may have been the most vocal (and violent). But Dr. King had a more powerful enemy, very close to the President, none other than “G-man number one” J. Edgar Hoover, who put considerable effort into spying on and discrediting him. How did Hoover’s obsession over King begin? And just how far did it go?...
- 1/15/2021
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Exclusive: Oakhurst Entertainment has come aboard to finance Slay The Dreamer, the film based on the life of civil rights activist and advisor to Martin Luther King Rev. James Lawson from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger.
Berlinger is directing from a screenplay by Donald Freed and Mark Lane with a rewrite from Joshua Michael Stern. It follows Lawson’s efforts to reopen the investigation of King’s murder. Lawson, who was instrumental in the Sanitation Workers’ Strike in Memphis, Lawson invited King to the city to speak to the workers the night before his assassination.
In 1976, Lawson discovered that Grace Walden, the only eyewitness to the man who shot King, had been involuntarily held in a mental institution outside Memphis since the assassination eight years earlier. Walden was held under a fake name after turning down a $100,000 reward from the FBI and refusing to sign an affidavit stating that James Earl Ray...
Berlinger is directing from a screenplay by Donald Freed and Mark Lane with a rewrite from Joshua Michael Stern. It follows Lawson’s efforts to reopen the investigation of King’s murder. Lawson, who was instrumental in the Sanitation Workers’ Strike in Memphis, Lawson invited King to the city to speak to the workers the night before his assassination.
In 1976, Lawson discovered that Grace Walden, the only eyewitness to the man who shot King, had been involuntarily held in a mental institution outside Memphis since the assassination eight years earlier. Walden was held under a fake name after turning down a $100,000 reward from the FBI and refusing to sign an affidavit stating that James Earl Ray...
- 10/14/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger has signed on to direct the feature film Slay the Dreamer, and he will also direct and produce a feature documentary on the same subject. Pic is based on the life of Rev. James Lawson, friend and advisor to Martin Luther King. A civil rights icon in his own right, Lawson was instrumental in the Sanitation Workers’ Strike in Memphis. During that strike, Lawson invited King to Memphis to speak to the workers, the night before his assassination.
Slay the Dreamer tells the true story of Lawson’s efforts to reopen the investigation of King’s murder. In 1976, Lawson discovered that Grace Walden — the only eyewitness to the man who shot King — had been involuntarily held in a mental institution outside Memphis since the assassination eight years earlier. Walden was held under a fake name after turning down a $100,000 reward from the FBI...
Slay the Dreamer tells the true story of Lawson’s efforts to reopen the investigation of King’s murder. In 1976, Lawson discovered that Grace Walden — the only eyewitness to the man who shot King — had been involuntarily held in a mental institution outside Memphis since the assassination eight years earlier. Walden was held under a fake name after turning down a $100,000 reward from the FBI...
- 4/3/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Sixty prominent citizens are marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day by calling for new investigations into the assassinations of 4 men -- assassinations that changed the world -- John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. The group -- The Truth and Reconciliation Committee (Trc) -- believes all 4 assassinations were the result of conspiracies that were covered up by the government. Members of Trc include Oliver Stone, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen,...
- 1/19/2019
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
That little Chucky doll has come a long way since he first landed on our screens on November 9th, 1988, and to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the original Child’s Play, writer Don Mancini took to Twitter with an ironic reminder of the death which helped spawn this series.
The image posted by Mancini features the gravestone of one Charles Lee Ray, the serial killer played by Brad Dourif in the franchise-starting film. But while Charles’ soul may have left his body that November night, the murderer’s spirit was reborn in Andy Barclay’s mischievous new toy, and thus a legend was made.
Don Mancini Celebrates 30 Years Of Child's Play With Anniversary Photo 1 of 2
Click to skip
More From The Web Click to zoom
The funny thing is that Charles’ human form almost had no part to play in Chucky’s origins, with Mancini recalling earlier this week how...
The image posted by Mancini features the gravestone of one Charles Lee Ray, the serial killer played by Brad Dourif in the franchise-starting film. But while Charles’ soul may have left his body that November night, the murderer’s spirit was reborn in Andy Barclay’s mischievous new toy, and thus a legend was made.
Don Mancini Celebrates 30 Years Of Child's Play With Anniversary Photo 1 of 2
Click to skip
More From The Web Click to zoom
The funny thing is that Charles’ human form almost had no part to play in Chucky’s origins, with Mancini recalling earlier this week how...
- 11/9/2018
- by David Pountain
- We Got This Covered
The upcoming Child’s Play reboot is currently drawing criticism from fans for its reported intention to rewrite Chucky’s origins, turning the face of this franchise into a robot gone psycho, rather than a doll with the soul of a serial killer. But according to writer Don Mancini, the murderous mascot of this series could’ve had a very different backstory right from the start.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the creator of the long-running horror saga recalled how the killer doll was initially written in a script titled “Blood Buddy” to be the result of a lonely child’s wish:
“In the original premise, Chucky — or Buddy as he was called then — was not possessed by a serial killer. Instead, in my script, the supernatural inciting incident was different,” said Mancini. “The way that the doll came to life was that because Andy is a lonely kid — no dad around,...
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the creator of the long-running horror saga recalled how the killer doll was initially written in a script titled “Blood Buddy” to be the result of a lonely child’s wish:
“In the original premise, Chucky — or Buddy as he was called then — was not possessed by a serial killer. Instead, in my script, the supernatural inciting incident was different,” said Mancini. “The way that the doll came to life was that because Andy is a lonely kid — no dad around,...
- 11/6/2018
- by David Pountain
- We Got This Covered
On Wednesday, C-span attempted to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King with a viewer discussion about his life and legacy. Unfortunately, the network’s decision to take viewer phone calls backfired as anchor Pedro Echevarria was swiftly inundated with racist trolls.
“The blacks burned the town down after he was killed,” said Patrick from Trenton, New Jersey. “When you raise one group up — the blacks’ so-called civil rights — you’re taking privileges away from another group.”
“Today’s real meaning of this day — you have to look at it. It’s James Earl Ray, the lone-wolf assassin. He had a dream and James Earl Ray’s dream came true.”
Also Read: Hillary Clinton: 'Fox News Is Always Trying to Impeach Me' (Video)
Ray assassinated King in Memphis 50 years ago today.
In the style of all C-span hosts, Echevarria showed no emotion and stoically ended the call after the caller exceeded the sum of acceptable insanity.
“And I will tell you, here in Magnolia, the black people are more prejudiced against whites than we are against them,” said Anita from Arkansas before that call was ended as well.
Also Read: C-span Concludes Russia Didn't Hack Network's Online Feed
Robert from Florence, Kentucky wanted to talk about King’s history of plagiarism and some personal matters concerning the civil rights icon.
“He was beating up on prostitutes which he routinely saw. This was known,” he said before his call was also terminated.
This isn’t the first time trolls harassed C-span on-air. Radio host Howard Stern has routinely directed his listeners to prank the channel’s call-in shows to discourse about his penis. The channel — it seems — remains stubbornly committed to the practice.
Watch above
Read original story C-span Flooded With Racist Phone Calls on 50th Anniversary of Mlk Death (Video) At TheWrap...
“The blacks burned the town down after he was killed,” said Patrick from Trenton, New Jersey. “When you raise one group up — the blacks’ so-called civil rights — you’re taking privileges away from another group.”
“Today’s real meaning of this day — you have to look at it. It’s James Earl Ray, the lone-wolf assassin. He had a dream and James Earl Ray’s dream came true.”
Also Read: Hillary Clinton: 'Fox News Is Always Trying to Impeach Me' (Video)
Ray assassinated King in Memphis 50 years ago today.
In the style of all C-span hosts, Echevarria showed no emotion and stoically ended the call after the caller exceeded the sum of acceptable insanity.
“And I will tell you, here in Magnolia, the black people are more prejudiced against whites than we are against them,” said Anita from Arkansas before that call was ended as well.
Also Read: C-span Concludes Russia Didn't Hack Network's Online Feed
Robert from Florence, Kentucky wanted to talk about King’s history of plagiarism and some personal matters concerning the civil rights icon.
“He was beating up on prostitutes which he routinely saw. This was known,” he said before his call was also terminated.
This isn’t the first time trolls harassed C-span on-air. Radio host Howard Stern has routinely directed his listeners to prank the channel’s call-in shows to discourse about his penis. The channel — it seems — remains stubbornly committed to the practice.
Watch above
Read original story C-span Flooded With Racist Phone Calls on 50th Anniversary of Mlk Death (Video) At TheWrap...
- 4/4/2018
- by Jon Levine
- The Wrap
On Wednesday, C-span attempted to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King with a viewer discussion about his life and legacy. Unfortunately, the network’s decision to take viewer phone calls backfired as anchor Pedro Echevarria was swiftly inundated with racist trolls. “The blacks burned the town down after he was killed,” said Patrick from Trenton, New Jersey. “When you raise one group up — the blacks’ so-called civil rights — you’re taking privileges away from another group.” “Today’s real meaning of this day — you have to look at it. It’s James Earl Ray, the lone-wolf assassin. He had a dream and...
- 4/4/2018
- by Jon Levine
- The Wrap
Jackson Paints Railings Ahead Of 40TH Anniversary Of King's Murder
Actor Samuel L. Jackson painted the railings on the motel balcony where civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in 1968 on Tuesday.
The Pulp Fiction star helped clean up the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee ahead of the 40th anniversary of King's murder next week.
The civil rights icon was shot dead there by James Earl Ray on 4 April, 1968.
Jackson, 59, said, "Being a Tennessean, being part of the civil rights movement, growing up through it, being in it, of it, around it, knowing the significance of preserving our history and having a place people can come to and an emotionally connection is very important."
Bosses at the National Civil Rights Museum are expecting an influx of visitors to mark the anniversary of King's death next week.
The Pulp Fiction star helped clean up the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee ahead of the 40th anniversary of King's murder next week.
The civil rights icon was shot dead there by James Earl Ray on 4 April, 1968.
Jackson, 59, said, "Being a Tennessean, being part of the civil rights movement, growing up through it, being in it, of it, around it, knowing the significance of preserving our history and having a place people can come to and an emotionally connection is very important."
Bosses at the National Civil Rights Museum are expecting an influx of visitors to mark the anniversary of King's death next week.
- 3/26/2008
- WENN
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.