Questioning the Story:
How does the Annabelle movie relate to The Conjuring?
The Annabelle movie is a spin-off/prequel to The Conjuring. Other than in the opening scene, it doesn't feature any of the human characters from The Conjuring. It instead focuses on the backstory of the doll that was in the possession of paranormal researchers Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring movie. The story includes a fictionalized explanation of how a demon became attached to the doll. It also somewhat reveals how the doll came to be named after a deceased young girl named Annabelle, though the 2017 prequel Annabelle: Creation clarifies this further. Lorraine Warren is pictured below with the real Annabelle doll.
Left: Lorraine Warren holds the real Annabelle doll outside...