Where Are They Now? Charlie-In-The-Box

The following is the untold story of an American icon. This is the meteoric rise and tragic fall of Charlie-In-The-Box….

The year was 1963. For decades the Jack-In-The Box was by far the most requested toy on Santa lists when December rolled around. Toy companies were raking in money hand over fist on sales of Jack-In-The-Boxes. They couldn’t stock the shelves fast enough.

In recent years, however, the Jack-In-The-Box had become passé. He was old news and was eventually nowhere to be found on Santa lists.

That’s when the suits at Hasbro Toys decided they had to come up with a brilliant idea to save their company. The idea was to replace Jack all together and create a brand new superstar toy: Charlie-In-The-Box.

The idea backfired, however, and Hasbro had a huge public relations disaster to wrestle with. They were getting hate mail by the bundles, all with the same complaint: “No child wants to play with a Charlie-In-The-Box!”

Once looked to as the savior, Charlie was now a major mistake. He was quickly and unceremoniously released from the company and marked as a Hasbro has-been.

Then the phone call came. It was Charlie’s agent.

The big wigs at NBC were putting together a one-hour animated special based on the story of “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” and needed misfit toys to play a pivotal role in the film. This was his shot at redemption. Charlie was back in the game.

The Rankin/Bass film was an instant smash when it aired for the first time on the night of December 6th, 1964 and it turned Charlie from yesterdays toy into an overnight sensation thanks to his breathtaking performance as the official spokesman for The Land Of Misfit Toys.

"No child wants to play with a Charlie-In-The-Box!"

Charlie was now making tens of thousands of dollars a week through syndication deals and live appearances at “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” conventions around the world. He eventually purchased a 100-acre mansion on the North Pole. He paid with cash. That was followed by expensive cars (even though he didn’t know how to drive them), expensive jewelry and the most beautiful women in the world at his beck and call. He was even on the cover of both Time and Newsweek on the same week.

It seemed like the good times would never end for Charlie-In-The-Box. Then the bottom fell out of Charlie’s box one more time and this time it was for good.

The first sign that Charlie’s fifteen minutes were soon to be up occurred when he was set to star in his own feature film: “Charlie-In-The-Box Saves Christmas”. It had all the makings of another smash hit for Charlie.

The project, however, was a disaster from the start. Charlie was late for filming most days. Some days he didn’t show at all. The days he did show up he was intoxicated with a lady of the night on each arm as he stumbled onto the set.

There were even incidents of inappropriate behavior towards his co-star A Dolly For Sue, who would eventually file a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Charlie for allegedly exposing his box spring to her in her dressing room. The case was ultimately settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

Charlie was eventually fired by the producers and replaced with a look-alike. The few scenes Charlie did manage to get on film were patch-worked into the final movie. When it was released, “Charlie-In-The-Box Saves Christmas” was panned by critics and went straight to video.

Charlie’s amazing ride had ended. He went through his entire fortune until finally he was forced to sell his mansion and his cars. All he had left was the box he was stuck in. What happened to Charlie since has remained a mystery. Weeks turned into years, years turned into decades and there was no sign of Charlie. He had simply disappeared from the public eye.

To this day no one knows what has become of Charlie-In-The-Box. Rumors of Charlie sightings have circulated throughout the internet. There are Charlie-In-The-Box fan websites calling for him to let his fans know where he is and how he is doing.

Some say they’ve seen Charlie wandering the alleys outside of bars in The North Pole area prostituting himself for crack. Others claim he even went into the porn business to make ends meet. There are even those who claim to have spoken with Charlie.

We may never really know what became of Charlie-In-The-Box but maybe it’s best that way. In our minds he will always be the young vibrant up and coming star who took the world by storm on the night of December 6th, 1964. And though it may be true that no child wants to play with a Charlie-In-The-Box, no adult will ever forget a Charlie-In-The-Box. Then again, there is only one Charlie-In-The-Box.