Is Annabelle 2 Creation Based on a True Story? The Doll Holds the Answer
Was the real Annabelle doll made by a doll maker?
No. As you might have guessed from the above photo, the Annabelle doll that inspired the movies is actually a vintage 1970s Raggedy Ann Doll manufactured by the Knickerbocker Toy Co., not a doll maker. Specifically, the original doll measures 32 inches long and is adorned in a calico dress and white apron. It's readily available on eBay. This debunks part of Annabelle 2's premise. Annabelle was not created by a doll maker years before the events of the first film. Now let's get to the rest.
Was the Annabelle doll ever owned by a husband and wife whose daughter died tragically?
The young girl dying is actually a little more in line with the real backstory of the Annabelle doll than what was presented in the first film, which is why Annabelle: Creation is being treated as a prequel. If you recall from our research into the history behind the first Annabelle movie, the spirit in the actual doll was supposedly that of an innocent young girl named Annabelle, who had died in an automobile accident when she was 7. The actual doll was purchased at a hobby store in 1970 by a mother who gave it to her 28-year-old daughter, Donna, as a birthday present. Donna was allegedly told by a medium that the spirit of the child had at some point entered the doll, and that the tragic accident that claimed the child's life had happened close to Donna's apartment building.
In the Annabelle: Creation movie, the doll belongs to a doll maker and his wife, Samuel and Esther Mullins, whose daughter Annabelle Mullins (who they call Bee) died after being hit by a car. This is somewhat in line with the story the medium had told Donna, at least with regard to a child named Annabelle dying tragically in an automobile accident.
Does Annabelle: Creation shed more light on the supposed true story?
Not necessarily, but it does help us to understand the events in the original better. If you recall from the first movie, a female member of a satanic cult named Annabelle Higgins died while holding the doll (it was not explained that Higgins had a previous connection to the doll). Her blood dripped into the doll's eye, triggering it to become possessed by either her or a demon her cult had worshiped, or both. In that story, Annabelle dies during a break-in when she is an adult. For that reason, the original Annabelle movie didn't seem to line up with the alleged true story, which has Annabelle dying when she is a child and in an automobile accident. The prequel Annabelle 2 (officially titled Annabelle: Creation) helps to clarify things.
In Annabelle: Creation, following the tragic death of a doll maker's daughter, Annabelle Mullins, he and his wife pray to see their beloved little girl again. Her spirit (or what they think is her spirit) appears to them and asks permission to move into a doll so that it can be with them forever. They grant the request but quickly discover it is not their daughter's spirit in the doll, prompting them to lock it away in a closet wallpapered with pages from the Bible. Twelve years later, after they decide to take in children from a sheltered orphanage, the "spirit" is freed. The demon attached to the doll targets and possesses an orphan named Janice (Talitha Bateman).
We learn at the end of the movie that after Janice disappears, she ends up at an orphanage in Santa Monica and changes her name to "Annabelle" when she is adopted by the Higgins family. She grows up and forms a cult called the Disciples of the Ram with her boyfriend. This is where the first movie begins. Annabelle and her boyfriend murder her parents, who live next door to John and Mia Form. Mia hears the disturbance and calls the police, but Annabelle and her boyfriend have already made their way over to the Forms' home. John and the police arrive and Annabelle Higgins slits her throat while holding the doll, her blood dripping into the doll's eye.
As far as what's in line with the supposed facts, the Mullins' daughter's death in an automobile-related accident is at least somewhat true to the alleged real story, but that's where the similarities end. There was never an orphan named Janice who became possessed by the demon in the doll and she never later changed her name to Annabelle Higgins.
So, is anything else in Annabelle 2 based on the true story?
While the doll maker, his wife, the nun and the orphans were all created for the movie, the little girl named Annabelle and her death in an automobile accident is in conjunction with what a medium allegedly told the doll's owner. The doll appearing in different rooms and positions like it did in the first film is also in line with the real version of the story. However, it is important to note that the movie's trailer makes no claims about Annabelle: Creation being inspired by a true story. It seems the filmmakers realized that trying to promote Annabelle: Creation as a true story would be too far of a stretch, especially given the already largely fictional first film.
Can I buy my own Annabelle movie doll?
Yes. Mezco Toyz released two versions of the doll, one via their Living Dead Series and one that looks closer to the doll in the movie (the more accurate version is pictured below). As of the writing of this article, the replica Annabelle doll is still available. Now you'll just need a creepy rocking chair to make your nightmares come true.
Annabelle 2: Creation Movie Trailer & Related Videos
Watch the Annabelle: Creation preview for the horror movie.
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