Trivia: In the evidence depository in the beginning you can see Jason Voorhees' hockey mask (Friday the 13th), Leatherface's chainsaw (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Michael Myers' mask (Halloween), and Freddy Krueger's glove (Nightmare on Elm Street). (00:00:45)
Trivia: The decision to turn the Child's Play/Chucky franchise from a slasher-horror to a dark comedy series was inspired by several factors. In addition to 1996's meta horror-satire "Scream" making self-aware horror-comedies popular, series creator Don Mancini also felt that by the time "Child's Play 3" had come out, Chucky had become such a pop culture icon, he might never be properly "scary" ever again, since people were too familiar with him. And thus, in order to keep the series fresh, he and producer David Kirshner decided to make the fourth film more comedic and self-aware in tone.
Trivia: The "Voodoo for Dummies" book Tiff reads was a prop made for the movie. The apparent author is Don Mancini, the script writer. There is however a "Complete Idiot's Guide to Voodoo".
Trivia: Though it was released seven years after the prior film "Child's Play 3," this movie actually only takes place about one month later, as "Child's Play 3" had a significant jump in the timeline following the previous two films.
Trivia: The opening scene at the evidence depository that shows things like Michael Myers' mask and Freddy Krueger's glove was originally written for "Child's Play 2," which was meant to open with a courtroom scene. The scene would have shown Chucky's remains being collected and taken to court. However, the scene was cut. Series creator and writer Don Mancini really loved the idea of an evidence locker full of references to other horror movies, so he reused it as the opening scene for this film.
Trivia: Chucky's line, "Why does that look so familiar?", was ad-libbed by Brad Dourif.
Trivia: Chucky voice actor Brad Dourif has stated that "Bride of Chucky" is his personal favorite film in the franchise.
Trivia: A rather peculiar tie-in product was planned for the film - an album featuring Chucky and Tiffany performing covers of various rock and love songs. Voice actors Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly even recorded several songs, but the album was quietly cancelled before it was completed.
Answer: There's two possible explanations. First, and the most likely, is that this is simply what's referred to as a "retcon." (Short for "Retroactive Continuity") A term to describe new information/rules/backstory/etc. that are introduced in order to alter the path of a story, or impose new ideas into a narrative. In this case, the series creator and writer Don Mancini needed a reason for the characters to go on a road-trip, hence he created this new idea for an amulet that Chucky need to obtain. And basically, Mancini himself has admitted that he will often change the rules for the series as needed from film to film based on the story he wants to tell, which makes this the more plausible explanation. The second possible explanation is that you could argue that the amulet will allow Chucky to transfer his soul regardless of how long he's been in the doll's body, surpassing the time limit imposed in previous films. But in all seriousness, the former is the more likely explanation. They just needed a new story-element to justify the road-trip aspect of the story.
TedStixon
Both answers work for me. Thank you.